Written by David Llewellyn, Lou Morgan, Helen Goldwyn and others

Starring Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson

Originally released: February 2020

Listened to: June 2026

Episodes:

3.1 Hostiles by David Llewellyn 

3.2 Nevernor by Lou Morgan

3.3 Mother Tongue by Helen Goldwyn

3.4 Unity by David Llewellyn

Context: another Gallifre Time War boxset on my journey to being up to date, I am very much enjoying this series and my focused listening to them, onward fellow Timelords…

THE REVIEW

What I thought:

3.1 Hostiles by David Llewellyn – this was an interesting episode to start with, with Narvin and Romana intent on finding Leela and Ace, but trapped on some kind of weird occlusion in the war, with lots of dead Tardis’ around and a Timelord, Trellick, that seems to be the only survivor (but not really) with this weird time monster thing (Qatal) chasing her and not letting her leave/escape the timeloop they appear to be in. It’s odd, but good, a change of pace from Gallifrey focused machinations to start the boxset with. It’s a base under siege vibe, all set in a crashed messed up battle TARDIS, love it. Turns out that Trellick is actually dead, and that the Qatal is actually keeping her alive, hence that is why she cant leave. The frantic end leads to deaths and our heroes off again, intent on finding Leela.

3.2 Nevernor by Lou Morgan – sees Narvin and Leela continue in their search for Leela, this time they end up trapped on a medieval-esque planet, with some weird stuff going on, for Romana in particular (hearing the echoes of some kind of fight). This ends up being related to Agatha, our episodes new character, also the narrator for the story. Turns out there is an old and new version of this character, the young Agatha is pregnant with a son that old Agatha has lost to war. Dark. This is another example of the collateral damage from the TimeWar, which is a great arc developing in this boxset, the massive, huge, fantastical amount of damage the timewar has caused. There is some great stuff here between Narvin and Romana, both of which are dumbfounded by the sheer extent of the damage the Timelords have wrought on the universe. The heart of the story is Agatha and her son, trapped in a timeloop and doomed to reply the loss, grief etc. There is somewhat of a happy ending for them, as they break free of the loop and have some kind of future. The ending of this one hits, with the birth of the baby boy who is doomed to die..but maybe not this time around.

3.3 Mother Tongue by Helen Goldwyn – screaming start to this one, which is back to Leela! Turns out she is on the planet Mattius, a pacifist planet on which Leela jumps back and forth in time, as a mother to gentle son Sholan, with the story defending into a fight with the timelords as they try to make use of the planets other inhabitants, The Trell. Leela manages to shift timelines in order to stop the timelords explotation however it all goes pear shaped with her son, who ends up becoming the ruthless Lord Warrior. This all ends in sacrifice to safe the Trell and the planet, but at the cost of Sholan’s life. Some great stuff here with Leela and Sholan, Leela as a mother is a great concept. Enjoyed this episode.

3.4 Unity by David Llewellyn – the final episode of the boxset is set on another planet, this time called Unity, which the Timelords have their sights set on for the War Effort. Romana and Narvin battle it out here trying to keep the population safe, by feeding intel to the Daleks! This of course doesn’t end terribly well, with Rommana having to use a chameleon arch in order to escape the Daleks (or does she?!?!) The cliffhanger to this one is so cool, with a TARDIS dematerliaing and a certain Braxiatel making an appearnece.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Rods of Rassilon – overall I really enjoyed this one, more so than the second boxset and on a par for me with set one. Back to Narvin and Rommana trying to help where they can, find Leela and stop the war. Lovely arc across these stories and lots of pathos.

What am I left thinking?

• Are we ever actually get to see any battles?!?
• What is Brax up to?
• Do we get any decent stuff with Richard Armitages incarnation of Rassilon (doesn’t feel to me he is in this one that much)

Memorable bits

• Lots of great cliffhangers in this boxset, namely Leela screaming, Barx returning, Romana being exterminated….loads of great moments in all the episodes.