Gallifrey review: Disassembled gives us a dark vision of the Time Lords

Continuing to travel across parallel universes, Romana and her friends find one of Gallifrey’s darkest alternatives. Can they find help from an old friend?

The second episode of series four of Gallifrey is much darker than the first. While Reborn eased us into the new parallel universe format, Disassembled gives us a version of Gallifrey that’s absolutely horrifying.

The Doctor has always condemned the Time Lords for not interfering in the affairs of other planets. But what if they did? And on a regular basis? How obsessed would they become with power? And how would it change the characters we know?

Louise Jameson gives an excellent dual performance in this episode. Surprisingly, we don’t get too many of these in this series. Either we hear multiple incarnations of the same character, (as we got with Romana in the last episode). Or things are so different that they’re either dead in this universe or simply don’t exist.

So it’s nice that this episode gives Jameson the interesting task of playing two very different Leelas. There’s the one we’re all familiar with – the noble savage with strong views of morality. Then there’s the one we’re introduced to here – someone who’s been shaped and moulded to fit Gallifrey perfectly. Or at least, this version of it. She’s devious and ruthless, and it’s clear that Jameson has a lot of fun playing an incredibly different version of a character we all know.

But she’s not the only one who’s different on this Gallifrey, as another familiar face appears…

Colin Baker appears in this episode of Gallifrey as the Doctor. Or rather, who the Doctor might have become…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Lord Burner

Colin Baker guest stars in this episode as the Doctor. But definitely not a Doctor that we’re familiar with. Oh, it’s clearly him in his sixth incarnation. But in this version of reality, he’s a very different man. Different to the man that Romana and Leela are all used to. He even goes under a different name: “Lord Burner”. Can he really be trusted?

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Colin Baker clearly gets to have a lot of fun in this episode, playing such a radically different version of the Doctor we all know. His scenes opposite Miles Richardson are especially great, as the Doctor’s and Braxiatel’s (possible) familial history gets more strongly hinted at than ever.

Ah, Braxiatel. This is another very significant episode for him. We learn a lot more about his history (and possibly someone else’s). And we find out how far he’s really prepared to go to save his friends.

Unsurprisingly, like Pandora and Mindbomb – two of the most significant episodes in Gallifrey for Braxiatel – Disassembled is written by Justin Richards, the character’s creator. I personally wouldn’t rank Disassembled quite as high as those two, but it’s still an enjoyable story. One that pushes Braxiatel into brand new territory. Well, this version of Braxiatel, anyway…

Next. Why Patrick Troughton’s Doctor is hugely underrated. dark

Have you listened to Disassembled? Did you enjoy it? And are there any other alternative versions of the Doctor that you enjoy? Let us know in the comments below.

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