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Post by omega on Feb 18, 2018 5:23:43 GMT
GALLIFREY » 1.1. GALLIFREY: WEAPON OF CHOICE Released March 2004SynopsisThe Time Lords of Gallifrey were the first to map the Web of Time. Now, under the reforming gaze of President Romanadvoratrelundar, the oldest civilisation is ready to shed its monopoly, sharing its secrets with a coalition of the Temporal Powers the Monan Host, the Nekkistani and the Warpsmiths of Phaidon among them. But the coalition is a fragile one, and despised in some quarters. When a team of Time Technology Assessors makes a horrific discovery on the barren moon of Kikrit, it seems their enemies are arming themselves to strike at the alliance. Has a terrorist group really acquired a temporal weapon so terrible the Time Lords forgot about its existence? In search of the truth, Romana sends the woman called Leela and the robot dog K9 to the enclave of Gryben, a reception centre for temporal refugees. But the truth is war's first casualty and the fallout could destroy them all. Written By: Alan Barnes Directed By: Gary Russell CASTLalla Ward (President Romana); Louise Jameson (Leela); John Leeson (K9); Miles Richardson (Cardinal Braxiatel); Sean Carlsen (Coordinator Narvin); Andy Coleman (Commander Torvald); Lynda Bellingham (Inquisitor Darkel); Hugo Myatt (Arkadian); Helen Goldwyn (Nepenthe); Daniel Hogarth (Ba'aruk); Stephen Mansfield (Scragbite); Trevor Littledale (Outsider)
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Post by omega on Feb 18, 2018 5:27:41 GMT
A good introduction to the ongoing affairs of Gallifrey. We get the main players, their intentions and allegiances and the seeds of conflicts Romana and Leela will have to face both on and off Gallifrey (the Inquiry of the third story and the Free Time arc).
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Post by thegreendeath on Mar 8, 2018 15:08:01 GMT
I listened to this a week or so back and quite enjoyed it. I does make me realize how far BF has come in their music and production though, listening to this after the Time War Gallifrey set makes this one sound almost primitive. That’s no huge complaint though as the actors were great and the story engaging. Actually I think I like where Lalla pitched her performance here better than more recent releases where she sounds perpetually annoyed and angry.
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Post by randomjc on Mar 8, 2018 15:21:28 GMT
I know I tried listening to this, but always felt lost because I never saw the Invasion of Time. I should give it another go, but I still haven't seen Invasion of Time either.
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Post by Ela on Mar 9, 2018 14:01:36 GMT
I don’t think having seen The Invasion of Time is critical to understanding the Gallifrey series. Not sure why you think it is.
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Post by barnabaslives on Mar 9, 2018 15:24:14 GMT
I listened to this a week or so back and quite enjoyed it. I does make me realize how far BF has come in their music and production though, listening to this after the Time War Gallifrey set makes this one sound almost primitive. That’s no huge complaint though as the actors were great and the story engaging. Actually I think I like where Lalla pitched her performance here better than more recent releases where she sounds perpetually annoyed and angry. I greatly prefer the original Gallifrey sound design, but possibly for having started at the beginning of the series it seems more "right" to me? Agreed about Lalla except I think she sounds "presidential" in the more recent 4DAs (and it does seem a bit out of place), whereas with all the stuff that goes on in the Gallifrey series, it would seem perfectly natural for her to sound perpetually annoyed and angry).  |
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Post by Ela on Mar 9, 2018 16:15:27 GMT
I love the theme music of the original Gallifrey. Love it! It makes me so happy every time I hear it.
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bobod
Chancellery Guard
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Post by bobod on Mar 13, 2018 8:35:09 GMT
I listened to this a week or so back and quite enjoyed it. I tndoes make me realize how far BF has come in their music and production though, listening to this after the Time War Gallifrey set makes this one sound almost primitive. That’s no huge complaint though as the actors were great and the story engaging. Actually I think I like where Lalla pitched her performance here better than more recent releases where she sounds perpetually annoyed and angry. There were people saying when Gallifrey first came out that compared to the TV show Lalla sounded perpetually annoyed and angry. |
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Post by omega on Mar 13, 2018 9:12:42 GMT
I listened to this a week or so back and quite enjoyed it. I tndoes make me realize how far BF has come in their music and production though, listening to this after the Time War Gallifrey set makes this one sound almost primitive. That’s no huge complaint though as the actors were great and the story engaging. Actually I think I like where Lalla pitched her performance here better than more recent releases where she sounds perpetually annoyed and angry. There were people saying when Gallifrey first came out that compared to the TV show Lalla sounded perpetually annoyed and angry. Certainly in the box sets her performance comes across as though Romana is trying to keep her patience and failing. She's best like that when facing down an uber-bitca like Darkel. Maybe she needs a day off, do some Gallifreyan laser tag with Leela. I would totally buy a story where they're on Earth following a list K9 has compiled by searching activities females find fun (he's got a Safe For Work filter). I'd suggest bringing Leela on an orienteering weekend, but she'd get it done in a couple of hours, without the compass and map. Yoga or Tai Chi! Romana can de-stress and it'd be like meditating for Leela. |
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Post by rran on Mar 13, 2018 11:14:53 GMT
I haven't see The Invasion of Time. I didn't feel like there were any missing links when I started with the Gallifrey series.
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Post by randomjc on Mar 13, 2018 18:09:25 GMT
I don’t think having seen The Invasion of Time is critical to understanding the Gallifrey series. Not sure why you think it is. Having not seen The Invasion of Time, I felt like I missing some things. It may not be because I haven't seen it, but I certainly felt lost while trying to start this. |
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Post by Ela on Mar 13, 2018 21:07:49 GMT
I don’t think having seen The Invasion of Time is critical to understanding the Gallifrey series. Not sure why you think it is. Having not seen The Invasion of Time, I felt like I missing some things. It may not be because I haven't seen it, but I certainly felt lost while trying to start this. You really don't need to know about The Invasion of Time to understand the Gallifrey series. Truly. Not sure what you felt you were missing. The only fact from The Invasion of Time that is relevant to Weapon of Choice is that the 4th Doctor and Leela visited Gallifrey, had an adventure there, and Leela met and decided to stay with Andred. And that is made fairly clear in the Weapon of Choice story itself. Everything else in the story develops in the Weapon of Choice story itself, including Leela's relationship with Romana II, her descriptions of her relationship with Andred, and the lot. None of that is really expounded on in The Invasion of Time. Maybe a re-listen would help? |
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Post by randomjc on Mar 13, 2018 21:10:39 GMT
Having not seen The Invasion of Time, I felt like I missing some things. It may not be because I haven't seen it, but I certainly felt lost while trying to start this. You really don't need to know about The Invasion of Time to understand the Gallifrey series. Truly. Not sure what you felt you were missing. The only fact from The Invasion of Time that is relevant to Weapon of Choice is that the 4th Doctor and Leila visited Gallifrey, had an adventure there, and Leila met and decided to stay with Andred. And that is made fairly clear in the Weapon of Choice story itself. Everything else in the story develops in the Weapon of Choice story itself, including Leila's relationship with Romana II, her descriptions of her relationship with Andred, and the lot. None of that is really expounded on in The Invasion of Time. Maybe a re-listen would help? Perhaps, granted I only attempted Weapon of Choice, but it was pretty much the Leila/Andred relationship that I felt the most like I was missing something about in the story. |
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Post by Ela on Mar 13, 2018 21:13:36 GMT
You really don't need to know about The Invasion of Time to understand the Gallifrey series. Truly. Not sure what you felt you were missing. The only fact from The Invasion of Time that is relevant to Weapon of Choice is that the 4th Doctor and Leela visited Gallifrey, had an adventure there, and Leela met and decided to stay with Andred. And that is made fairly clear in the Weapon of Choice story itself. Everything else in the story develops in the Weapon of Choice story itself, including Leela's relationship with Romana II, her descriptions of her relationship with Andred, and the lot. None of that is really expounded on in The Invasion of Time. Maybe a re-listen would help? Perhaps, granted I only attempted Weapon of Choice, but it was pretty much the Leela/Andred relationship that I felt the most like I was missing something about in the story. As I said, not much in Invasion of Time that will help you. She meets him during her adventure and stays with him. They interact some, but not in a way that is enlightening to what happens in Weapon of Choice. |
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Post by randomjc on Mar 13, 2018 21:18:48 GMT
Perhaps, granted I only attempted Weapon of Choice, but it was pretty much the Leila/Andred relationship that I felt the most like I was missing something about in the story. As I said, not much in Invasion of Time that will help you. She meets him during her adventure and stays with him. They interact some, but not in a way that is enlightening to what happens in Weapon of Choice. I guess. Its been a long time since I listened, so all I recall is getting confused about characters, and feeling like story was missing something. Like being dropped in the deep end. It's entirely possible that I'd have a different reaction today. But I'd still like to watch invasion first. |
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Post by Ela on Mar 13, 2018 21:20:12 GMT
As I said, not much in Invasion of Time that will help you. She meets him during her adventure and stays with him. They interact some, but not in a way that is enlightening to what happens in Weapon of Choice. I guess. Its been a long time since I listened, so all I recall is getting confused about characters, and feeling like story was missing something. Like being dropped in the deep end. It's entirely possible that I'd have a different reaction today. But I'd still like to watch invasion first. Fair enough. I often find that I understand more about a release upon re-listen. It can be hard keeping track of all the characters on a first listen, especially when it's a range that's new to me. |
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Post by randomjc on Mar 13, 2018 21:25:29 GMT
I guess. Its been a long time since I listened, so all I recall is getting confused about characters, and feeling like story was missing something. Like being dropped in the deep end. It's entirely possible that I'd have a different reaction today. But I'd still like to watch invasion first. Fair enough. I often find that I understand more about a release upon re-listen. It can be hard keeping track of all the characters on a first listen, especially when it's a range that's new to me. It would also be my second Gallifrey story outside of the Five Doctors. Perhaps on a relisten I'll feel better on it. But unfortunately it'll have to wait till later. |
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Post by barnabaslives on Mar 13, 2018 21:35:04 GMT
But I'd still like to watch invasion first. You could pretty much watch just the very last 5 minutes as a lead-in into the Gallifrey series if you wanted. When it's time to get in the TARDIS, Leela has a last minute announcement to make which surprises everyone, and the stage is set for the Gallifrey series. The rest of The Invasion of Time is all a separate adventure about the invasion of Gallifrey. |
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Post by Ela on Mar 13, 2018 21:42:46 GMT
But I'd still like to watch invasion first. You could pretty much watch just the very last 5 minutes as a lead-in into the Gallifrey series if you wanted. When it's time to get in the TARDIS, Leela has a last minute announcement to make which surprises everyone, and the stage is set for the Gallifrey series. The rest of The Invasion of Time is all a separate adventure about the invasion of Gallifrey. Pretty much. And your post made me realize I misspelled Leela in all my posts in this thread today.  Not sure where my brain was.  |
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Post by Star Platinum on May 25, 2022 1:53:38 GMT
Bumping this for the relisten thread.
As far as pilots go, this is a very strong one.
Honestly, there are a lot of good ideas introduced in this story, but I think that the best one is the handling of Andred. It removes the questionable reason for Leela’s departure in Invasion of Time, while crafting a far better status quo for her.
I don’t quite think that Free Time was quite the best name for the terrorist group of the story, while the name makes sense in context; to me it evokes a group of petulant students in a class room, harassing a teacher to get time to play games.
Narvin isn’t the character he’ll grow to be yet, but he’s a great character and I look forward to his character’s journey.
Hugo Myatt’s Arkadian is a delight to hear. He’s wonderfully slimy. I’d love to put him and Garundel in a locked room.
Romana handles the climax of the story with some brilliant political manoeuvring, and it shows a real sense of bravery to the character.
Leela is, as usual an utter delight. Louise Jameson Is always a treat to listen to and seeing her take Leela forward beyond the constraints of the end of her televised character arc is a real pleasure.
A very strong start to a great range.
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