Starring the maddest, baddest and most dangerous to know villains of the Whoniverse, Dark Gallifrey will play out across four years of audio dramas.
Across the aeons, the Doctor’s own people have generated a significant number of notorious renegades. Some have Time Lords head out into the universe to explore and ended up as a force for good. Others have not been so benevolent…
Now, Big Finish, the Doctor Who audio producers, plan to show case that villainy in a new series. The epic Dark Gallifrey, announced at this weekend’s Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, will focus on the most malevolent individuals Time Lord society has unleashed on the universe.
Dark Gallifrey
When things turn dark, and you’re all alone, there is one traveller of time and space… a wanderer in the fourth dimension… a renegade Time Lord… who will always be there to bring back the light.
But the thing about Time Lords… is they can’t all be heroes.
So far, the characters announced include Morbius, the villainous former Time Lord President whose brain famously took on Tom Baker for a revelatory mindbending duel. Plus, three incarnations of the Master; The War Master, Missy and the TV Movie Master!
While the latter three are unsurprising, as each enjoys their own ongoing audio range, the inclusion of Morbius is interesting. However, it’s not the first time he’s appeared, as Samuel West first played the villain opposite Paul McGann back in 2008.
This mammoth multi-series adventure releases monthly, and the action begins with a Morbius trilogy in April 2024. A second, featuring The War Master follows, taking us through to September. After that, six further trilogies fill the schedules until 2027, each centred on a different rogue Time Lord.
Notorious Renegades
We can only speculate as to which other Time Lord renegades might be involved. Big Finish have used The Rani before, so she’s surely a candidate. Also perhaps some of the various incarnations of The Monk, though they are more a meddler than a malcontent.
Then there’s Rassilon or Borusa, a multiplicity of other Masters, and even lesser known characters such as The War Chief (from ‘The War Games’). Might the young War Doctor even appear as a Time Lord villain (of sorts) from a certain point of view?
Additionally, Big Finish have bred their own Time Lord villains over the years, the most high profile being the Eleven whose previous incarnations remain as critical voices in their head. They might appear in one or many iterations, although the events of last year’s Once and Future finale seemed to put the character to bed.
Series Producer Rob Valentine said:
“Dark Gallifrey is a sprawling, multi-story event in which all the most dastardly Time Lords are being let out of the box in various unexpected ways. Some stories are very dark, others are wickedly funny, and some are absolutely insane.
“Expect a rogue’s gallery of now Gallifrey’s most diabolical villains all taking to the stage. Their stories are wildly different, scripted by some of Big Finish’s most acclaimed writers… and, behind it all, something massive is brewing.”
The Worlds of Doctor Who: Dark Gallifrey is up for pre-order now. It’s available on single-disc collector’s edition CD (+ download) or download only from Big Finish. Various money-saving bundle options are also available.
Into the TARDIS
The announcement of Dark Gallifrey comes hot on the heels of news about a new podcast called Into the TARDIS. Launching in March 2024, and hosted by Colin Baker, it plans to open up the 25 year archive of Big Finish by serializing stories for customers to enjoy for free.