The original revelation of the Doctor’s origins was a slow burn: It took Doctor Who six seasons to finally give concrete answers to who he was and where he came from. But after the landmark reveal at the end of The War Games, going back to Gallifrey seemed to be an exercise in diminishing returns for the show. True, The Deadly Assassin gave a compelling new perspective on Time Lord society, though if you look at what came after — Arc of Infinity, The Trial of a Time Lord, and even Hell Bent — the Time Lords get blander and weirder, with shifting motivations that are forgotten about when it’s inconvenient.
The greater point is that Doctor Who seemed oddly unsure of what to do with the most important planet in the cosmos, and one could make a solid case that it was at its best when it was simply gone — destroyed in the Time War but remembered for everything it represented to the show and its central character. Now that it’s gone again in the post-Chibnall era, is that necessarily a bad thing? Is Doctor Who stronger or weaker with an active Gallifrey, full of Time Lords watching the universe to ensure it plays by their rules? And should the show bring it back — again?
Let’s enter the Matrix and talk.
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Pull To Open: The Trouble With Gallifrey
Season 4
Episode 19
Hosts: Pete Pachal and Chris Taylor
Music: Martin West/Thinking Fish
The Trouble With Gallifrey