The Eleven, a Time Lord criminal who still hears all ten of his murderous prior incarnations as voices in his head, is brought to justice and returned to Gallifrey by the Doctor (in his seventh incarnation). Too dangerous for any normal imprisonment, the Eleven is confined to cold stasis.
The eighth Doctor and Liv Chenka, freshly escaped from their latest crisis, find that the TARDIS is out of their control, recalled to Gallifrey. The Doctor is tersely greeted by both an appointee of the High Council and the head of the Celestial Intervention Agency, reluctantly working together. Their goal: to recapture the Eleven, who escaped from confinement while being interviewed by a student from the Time Lord academy. Liv Chenka is able to spot the Eleven, thanks to his cloaking abilities being keyed to fool the senses of other Time Lords, but not humans. The Eleven tries to install himself as Gallifrey’s ruler in the absence of the President, but what he really wants is the President’s access to Gallifreyan relics of considerable power. His primary interest is in something called the Regeneration Codex, about which little is known, even by other Time Lords. Leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake across Gallifrey’s Capitol, the Eleven steals a TARDIS and leaves for Earth. All too familiar with this course of action, the Doctor is deputized by the Time Lords to retrieve the Eleven at any cost.
written by Matt Fitton
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Wilfredo AcostaCast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Ramon Tikaram (Castellan), Caroline Langrishe (Lady Farina), Bethan Walker (Kiani), Robert Bathurst (Cardinal Padrac), John Banks (Captain), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor)
Notes: The Omega Vault is mentioned, first cited in The Day Of The Doctor (2013) as the storehouse of the Time Lords’ most powerful weapons, though the Eleven seems to be particularly partial to the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, which are relics invested upon the sitting President of Gallifrey (The Deadly Assassin, 1976, and The Invasion Of Time, 1978). Flavia’s tenure as President is mentioned as well; she took office following the Doctor’s hasty retreat from being elected to that office in The Five Doctors (1983). Also mentioned are the current President, Romana, and her policy of allowing students from other time-sensitive species attend the Academy on Gallifrey; these events play out in the spin-off audio series Gallifrey.
Timeline: after Eye Of Darkness and before The Red Lady; before Night Of The Doctor
LogBook entry and review by Earl Green
Review: It’s got to be one of the most obvious plot devices you could imagine for a Time Lord character: what if he hears voices in his head, and they’re all his old voices? The first episode of Doom Coalition gives us that Time Lord character and his disquieting ability, setting things up for what would undoubtedly be as lengthy a chase as Dark Eyes was. Mark Bonnar’s ability to play not only the Eleven but the other voices in his head is almost scary…and yet, as it’s pointed out, every Time Lord shares this multitude of dichotomies to some degree, but not in the form of such a constant, debilitating dialogue with one’s past selves. Paul McGann continues playing the eighth Doctor as compassionate and yet less patient than he used to be, with Nicola Walker giving us a Liv Chenka who takes everything cautiously in stride. The millieu will be familiar to anyone who’s listened to the Gallifrey audios, though little time is spent explaining the particulars of life among the Time Lords for the uninitiated. The first Doom Coalition adventure may be the beginning a new mad chase through time and space, but it’s probably a confusing jumping-on point for those who have been waiting for the eighth Doctor’s TARDIS to make a stop so you can climb back aboard.