I think this is really good overview. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Each episode contributes something. I think Weapon of Choice and A Blind Eye are the best of the first four, though the other two, despite being more uneven, show promise. Romana and Leela shine through in every episode, whilst Narvin and Brax are established very effectively. Arkadian is a scheming lowlife and always entertaining.
From my stand point, A Blind Eye is a fantastic climax to the season. It isn’t the episode you might expect from the three that preceded it, yet this is a strength. It is bold, interesting and creates a lovely canvas for our main cast. And, from here, things are going to get more and more layered from S2 onwards.
I genuinely think Gallifrey is a triumphant spin-off. I’m glad some are, at least, beginning to get a little more drawn in. For those, like me, who love it… there’s so much good stuff still to come. Nothing is for everyone but, if S1 entertained you, strap in because the fun is just beginning!
Essentially, Torvald’s scheme relies on the plot points of Neverland being repeatable. In essence, that saving someone who historically would have died will allow anti-time to escape into our reality.
So, having listened a second time, I have more thoughts!
I really want to listen to the whole first series again because I feel like there were probably a lot of tiny hints regarding the reveal, I remembered Andred’s bio-data being tampered with and in this one he’s very clearly speaking of Torvald as a different person from the beginning.
I simply adore Leela in this. I especially love that her voice turns so soft when she realizes Torvalds is Andres. It’s such an excellent contrast to the rest of the audio when she’s fighting and out for revenge, and makes the character so much more interesting. She just has so much emotion in her voice.
Leela really gets a lot of amazing character moments in this one and she’s excellent against Sissy, the way she shows her competence and dignity and doesn’t let herself be demeaned in any way by her.
I think Sissy as a character is actually quite horrifying precisely because she is presented somewhat sympathetically. It makes quite clear that being a Nazi, or a bigot or falling for propaganda is not a trait unique to those born evil, but instead something anyone could be complicit in. I had an excellent history teacher when we covered this period in school who both made it very clear how much easier it would have been to look away, how human that instinct might’ve been but also how horrifying inaction is and how important it is that we stand up against fascism and bigotry. I kind of understand this character as a warning in that way. Also India Fisher is quite good at making her distinct from Charley.
I think Romana continuing her political strategies in her very own way is also quite fun. I love that she just always uses her power to do whatever she wants with only the barest excuse. It’s so entertaining!
In total, I am hooked for all future seasons but frankly this is way better than it would have needed to be for that. Loved it!
I enjoyed the confined location of this entry. This story incorporating a major Main Range event into its plot and character motivations helped connect the universe of Doctor Who for me and explore the ramifications of previous events. I would have preferred a more conclusive ending, but maybe more will be resolved in Gallifrey Series 2 or onward.
Overall, I think I would have benefited by rewatching a The Invasion of Time before starting Gallifrey as I had no recollection of Andred and was a bit surprised at Leela having a husband without any seeming introduction. I also multiple times caught myself visualizing Mary Tamm instead of Lalla Ward for Romana. Guess I need to do another pass through the classic run of the show.
This one sticks the landing, but I’m not in love yet!
I love the change of scenery and performances in this one. India Fisher is superb, and Sissy is an interesting character. We get a couple of gut-punching twists I didn’t see coming, and I audibly gasped as I heard them (the one with Erich being the biggest shocker). I loved Leela’s scenes, Romana’s sass, and the small connections to the 8th Doctor Main Range stories. The timey-wimey stuff felt a bit confusing, but the overall plot was more straightforward, and the pacing was good.
Yes, YES! 100 times this! I quite agree. We should be judged by the choices we make, by our words and actions, but it is dangerous in the extreme to present such people as caricatures. Evil is not born, it is made. It grows, it festers and infects minds.
These people, with their vile rhetoric and even worse actions, they could have been different. They were all, once, children with untapped potential for good as well as for evil. It’s why Tom’s “Have I the right?” speech in Genesis is so powerful. Sissy is awful, truly and abysmally awful in her beliefs, but she’s so very nearly Charley, who turned out so very different.
The path left untrod is a tragedy. The wrong path taken, equally so.
When I listened to and reviewed A Blind Eye for my marathon, I found out this little bit of historical detail which I included in the review:
It also seems likely that Sissy is based on Unity Mitford, a real life socialite who’s sister had an affair with and then married Oswald Mosely and who, herself, was part of Hitler’s inner circle of friends. Like Sissy, she was given an apartment taken from a Jewish couple. Her story actually ended with same fate as Sissy – she shot herself in Munich when war was declared. Unity survived however and returned to England. Unfortunately, the bullet could not be removed from her brain and Unity eventually died from meningitis as a result of the wound, passing away in 1948.
I really liked this episode, but like a few others have said above I was probably expecting it to be better than it was. Stop hyping things up!!
I do understand now that what you meant was all the pieces are now in place, and Series 2 will be better from here on out. But I was expecting to already fall in love with Narvin
I really enjoyed the setting, having fewer characters than usual helped to keep things a bit simpler (until the two trains split into different times…).
I went in totally blind without looking at the description or the characters (this is one of the few series that I am totally unspoiled for, and am really enjoying that) so I was surprised to hear India Fisher here. Charley’s sister is a Nazi?! Did she ever mention her sister to the Doctor?
I must admit I did at first roll my eyes a little, thinking to myself ‘it really hasn’t taken long for Big Finish to get their dartboard out in this series’, but then the way it tied things closely to Neverland was actually quite clever, so I’ll give them that. And India was very good playing a nasty little brat!
I like how it showed that you don’t have to be an evil, mustache-twirling villain to be a Nazi. All it takes is a bit of a superiority complex and a lack of empathy really.
The stuff with Torvald I thought was pretty brilliant. What other franchise could have someone murder a person and then swap identities because they regenerated and no-one can tell who is who? I’m still smiling at how clever that was and why I hadn’t thought of it!
Although I totally knew Joy was going to be a baddie as soon as I heard her. And I totally did not get the “Joy what?” joke they kept repeating, can someone please explain? lol
I continue to love Romana and Leela, although I felt Leela had less to do this time. I was a bit surprised at her reaction to finding out her husband is still alive…
Just so you know, I have bookmarked this comment and expect you to keep your word if this happens—and you have to live stream it for all of us to see! Muhahahahaha!
I’ll let you pick the hat and the condiments though; I’m not a terrible person!
Anyway. I am now listening to this again and god dammit Louise Jameson is good isn’t she??!! She breaks my heart every single time I love that this episode just ends up as a sorry mess. I love that it’s a tragedy. And I love that nobody wins. Maybe it’s just me but I love when things end badly and it’s not without reason here, because the whole point is that the Time Lords meddling ends in misery for everyone. That they shouldn’t, and yet still they do. That seeing people’s lives as a game is an awful thing to do, and that humans aren’t above doing that too.
I also did write an essay about Leela in this one which pretty much sums up everything I have to say about that, so I won’t rehash it here. I just love her forever. And she makes me sad
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I love that this episode just ends up as a sorry mess. I love that it’s a tragedy. And I love that nobody wins. Maybe it’s just me but I love when things end badly 
and it’s not without reason here, because the whole point is that the Time Lords meddling ends in misery for everyone. That they shouldn’t, and yet still they do. That seeing people’s lives as a game is an awful thing to do, and that humans aren’t above doing that too.