Written by David Llewellyn Una McCormack Lisa McMullin Matt Fitton

Starring Lalla Ward & Seán Carlsen

Originally released: March 2019

Listened to: June 2026

Episodes:

10.1 Havoc by David Llewellyn

10.2 Partisans by Una McCormack.

10.3 Collateral by Lisa McMullin

10.4 Assassins by Matt Fitton

Context: smashing through these boxsets now, there are some new Who BF listens on my list however I am in a good space to listen to a lot of BF and I can see the goal of catching up with Gallifrey nearing completion now. There has been such a gap between listening to these boxsets and previous Gallifrey releases I struggle to retain all the elements here, so its been a bit tricky getting back into the Gallifrey machinations, characters and arcs etc. I have no doubt I am missing things here. Love to be up to date with a BF range though so I am cracking on and look forward to being in a place to listen to the imminent war room release in June 2026.

THE REVIEW

What I thought

10.1 Havoc by David Llewellyn – ok, so Rassilon is back, and he is the Demon Headmaster, which is possibly, for me, a rare casting misfire from BF. It’s more like something that would happen in 1990’s TV and I feel it leads to a rather stereotypical, posh white old man in charge, type baddie, which I thought we had moved on from? Possibly too harsh but that’s the immediate feeling I got from listening to this episode. Anyway, this story is all rather convoluted and political, and I am not 100% sure what was going on at times. There is the impact of Rassilon returning, the war council isolating Romana, Narvin and their allies, and warnings about what is coming…its an ok story, too dense for me this one though.

10.2 Partisans by Una McCormack – Ok, so this one I understand a bit better, with Narvin on a mission to the planet Ysalus, which is a planet constantly at War, which is a problem for the Timelords as the planet has strategic importance for the Daleks. Narvin champions one side, with young new Timelord agent, and a rival War Council Timelord championing the other side. It’s a good foray into the War and its impact, the HUGE collateral damage it causes to planets and populations like this, love this. The local population are not happy with the timelords and this escalates into a horrific murder, with multiple shots killing off all regenerations. Very much enjoyed this one.

10.3 Collateral by Lisa McMullin – is a direct follow on from the events of the previous episode, with Rassilon determined to destroy the planet and deny the Daleks the planet and its precious resources. This is where Rassilon goes fully mental, and shows himself to be the despot he is…which I get but dont like that much, doesn’t quite work for me considering the god status of Rassilon…anyway, its still a good story, and the ending is great, with Romana deciding the only option is planning on having Rassilon taking out (and others coming around to the idea of Rsssilon not being that great/a wee bit problematic).

10.4 Assassins by Matt Fitton –

This is another good one, with Romana trying to enact her plan to have Rassilon assassinated. The Sicari are the aliens that are recruited, not entirely clear to me how this happened, but leads to some mad scenes, with Rassilon refusing to give in even when he is being peppered with shots from the assassin’s guns. It’s really cool how the impending regeneration of Rassilon is left unresolved, other than the war council want it to be a public regeneration, which is a mental idea but very cool! As always Narvin and Romana are great together, some great planning, counter planning and scrambling going on when the assassination doesn’t quite work. Cool cliffhanger for them, exiled by the war council, and let loose in a non functioning TARDIS into the heart of the war!

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 sashes – I have to admit I was kind of disspointed in this one, with Rassilon being pretty underwhelming/nothing new, and a series of stories that are fine, but not terribly exciting. The war is supposed to be kicking off here but you only really get the odd glimpse of it, the machniations in Gallifrey comes across as a bit silly, slow at times. That is the vibe I felt anyway. Its fun nonetheless and there is some great stuff with Romanan and Narvin.

What am I left thinking?

• They all seem a bit too chill about Ace and Leela maybe being dead!!
• Rassilon is supposed to almost be a god isnt he, he is more a piund shop master in this one, rare miscast I feel for BF here

Memorable bits

• The ending of episode four is cool, with Rassilon regenerating, in public!, and Rommana and Narvin thrust into the timewar via war council excile!