Summary
The series focuses on political struggles within the leadership of the Time Lords, centred on Romana's presidency. In the first series, Romana's progressive policies and desires to open Gallifrey up to the outside universe faces opposition from more conservative cultures. In addition, a terrorist group known as "Free Time", who want to break the monopoly on time travel technology shared among the Time Lords and the few other temporal powers, steals a timeonic fusion device. The inquiry into Romana's handling of the incident reveals a dark secret surrounding the Time Lords' policy of non-intervention.
The second series sees the admission of non-Gallifreyans into the Time Lord Academy, leading to even more tension within the Time Lord political elite. Romana has to deal with Free Time infiltrators as well as an attempted coup by Inquisitor Darkel. In addition, an ancient Gallifreyan evil escapes from the Matrix: Pandora, a megalomaniacal personality who manipulates Romana and others with the goal of regaining life and power. At the end of the second series, Pandora manages to manifest herself in the form of Romana's first incarnation (played once again by Mary Tamm). Both Romanas claim the title of Imperiatrix, absolute ruler of Gallifrey, leading to civil war.
In the third series, Romana traps Pandora in the Matrix once again, and destroys her by sacrificing the Matrix. After an election fraught with political manoeuvring, one Lord Matthias becomes Lord President. The series ends on a cliffhanger, with Gallifrey on the brink of economic and social collapse as well as in danger of being overrun by a Free Time virus, while most of the cast are trapped with no apparent means of escape.
At the time Big Finish's license forbid them from using aspects of the revived television series, [3] the Gallifrey series does not explicitly acknowledge the events of the Time War. However, in the final chapter of the third series Irving Braxiatel speaks of "rumours out there in the big wide universe — more than rumours, in fact — that something's coming to Gallifrey, something worse than you could possibly imagine". Because of these rumours, Braxiatel engineers the removal of the Time Lord biodata archive from Gallifrey, in order that the Time Lords might someday be restored after their planet meets its doom. Former Big Finish producer Gary Russell indicated in the audio interviews for the fourth series that this was a reference to the television series' Time War.
The fourth series, sees Romana, Leela, K9 Mark II, Brax and Narvin unable to save the Gallifrey they know. Brax takes them to the Axis, from where they have access to a myriad of truncated timelines, and they look for answers in these alternate Gallifreys. During their travels, Brax falls into one of the portals of the Axis and is lost to them.
In the fifth series, Romana, Leela, and Narvin are stranded on an alternate Gallifrey, where time travel has not been invented and Time Lords are simply Regenerators. Romana and Narvin take over leadership and attempt to reform the planet, while Leela lives as an Outsider in the wastelands of Gallifrey with the former slaves she has freed. At the end of the series, the Daleks arrive through a portal in the Axis in their quest to invade the multiverse.
The sixth series begins with Romana, Leela, and Narvin foiling the Daleks' plot and returning to their original timeline with a cure to the Dogma Virus. Upon their return, Romana is greeted by her next incarnation in the Matrix and they enter into a deal to return Gallifrey to its former state. The Time Lords reinstate Romana as President following Matthias's resignation. When a Dalek force invades Gallifrey, Romana tricks them into entering the Matrix and traps them there. Unaware that Romana had survived, Narvin sends Valyes to recruit the Doctor on a mission to avert the creation of the Daleks, a move which becomes one of the opening acts of the Time War. [4]
The special Intervention Earth stars Juliet Landau as a new regeneration of Romana, who had made an appearance earlier as the Matrix projection Trey. It also introduces Sophie Aldred as Ace and features Stephen Thorne guest starring as Omega. In the special, Romana, Ace, and Narvin attempt to foil a plot to free Omega. [5]
The next special Enemy Lines saw Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson return, having remained absent in the previous release, with Seán Carlsen and Sophie Aldred continuing their roles. In the release, Brax returns and changes the timeline to prevent Romana's regeneration, averting the timeline in which Omega returns. Romana steps down from the presidency and names Livia as her successor, appointing herself as Coordinator of the CIA.
Having obtained the license to the revived series, Big Finish finally explored the Time War in a four-volume series from 2018 to 2021. In the first volume, Ward, Jameson, Carlsen, Richardson and Aldred reprised their roles, with Derek Jacobi guest starring as The War Master. Ace and Braxiatel head on a field mission together to obtain information, in which Brax wipes Ace's memory and leaves her on Earth, fleeing the Time War himself. Following Ace and Brax's disappearance, Romana recruits the Master in the fight against the Daleks. However, in a mission with Leela he betrays her and throws her into the Time Vortex.
At the end of the first volume, the Time Lords succeed in resurrecting Rassilon to lead them in the Time War. The second volume shows Romana and Narvin resisting Rassilon's increasingly authoritarian regime, even with all their allies gone. After an attempted coup, they are forced into exile from Gallifrey, where they decide to go search for Leela. The third volume shows Romana and Narvin in exile, and reveals what happens to Leela after being thrown in the Vortex. The fourth and final volume ends with Rassilon imprisoning Romana to a pocket dimension and conscripting Leela to fight in the Time War.
Big Finish Productions announced another four-volume series from 2022 to 2025 entitled Gallifrey: War Room with Jameson and Carlsen returning from previous sets as Leela and Narvin. They are joined by Ken Bones, reprising his role of the General from Doctor Who television episodes "The Day of the Doctor" and "Hell Bent" as well as Beth Chalmers, Chris Jarman, Carolyn Pickles as Veklin, Rasmus, and Ollistra. [6] The series bridges the gap of what happened before Leela's appearance in the War Doctor series. [6] Challands said “We heard the end of Leela's fight in The War Doctor: Casualties of War. We saw the end of the General's fight in The Day of the Doctor. The War Room is the heart of Gallifrey's manoeuvres and finally we are going to understand how all that strategy will play out.” [6]
