Gallifrey (audio series)
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| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Gallifrey |
| Abbreviation(s): | Gally |
| Creator: | Big Finish |
| Date(s): | 2004-? |
| Medium: | Audio |
| Country of Origin: | UK |
| External Links: | Gallifrey on Big Finish.com, Gallifrey fic on AO3, Gallifrey_Fic (Livejournal comm), More Politics (Gallifrey gift exchange) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Gallifrey is the name of a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish. They take place in the Doctor Who universe and within the Who canon established by Big Finish (specifically the series follows on from events depicted in eighth Doctor audio 'Zagreus').
The main characters are former companions of the Doctor: Romana (played by Lalla Ward, later Juliet Landau) and Leela (played by Louise Jameson), new character Narvin (played by Sean Carlsen) and Irving Braxiatel (formerly of the New Adventures books with the seventh Doctor and Bernice Summerfield and the Bernice Summerfield audios, heavily implied to be the Doctor's brother. Played by Miles Richardson). Secondary characters include K-9 units mark 1 and mark 2 (both played by John Leeson) and Inquisitor Darkel (the Inquisitor from sixth Doctor story 'Trial of a Time Lord'. Played by Lynda Bellingham). The title of the series refers to the home planet of the Time Lords.
The first play in the series, Weapon of Choice, was released in 2004. Although the sixth series (2013) was originally intended to be the final series, the series continued with Intervention Earth (2015) and an eighth series by the name of Enemy Lines is scheduled for February 2016
Fandom History
Although the first three series of 'Gallifrey' had been well received, there was relatively little fannish activity related to them until 2010. Gallifrey_Fic was established on Livejournal in 2007 by ladyvivien. Lizbee wrote several Romana/Braxiatel fics in 2008 as well as an introduction to Braxiatel as a character Braxiatel 101.
In 2010 Gallifrey was nominated as a Yuletide fandom. JaneTurenne, who would go on to become one of the main figures in Gallifrey fandom, wrote three linked Romana/Narvin fics (totalling around 40,000 words) for the fest. Two other fics were also written.[1]
In the wake of this Yuletide, Aralias established the Livejournal gift exchange fest More Politics, which ran for three years.
In around 2012, the fandom largely moved to Tumblr where a relatively small number of fans continue to be incredibly active, producing fanfiction, fanart and gifs, etc. Tumblr also hosts various Gallifrey RPs, which are often AUs.
In June 2015 the tumblr blog Gallific was created, with the purpose of collecting every single fanfiction for Gallifrey. The blog is run by tumblr users Irving-Braxiatel and Colinbakerstreet, both of which are also known to write their own fanfiction for the Gallifrey Audios.
Popular Pairings
Most shippers in the fandom seems to have some variant of Narvin/Leela/Romana/Braxiatel (commonly referred to as the Gallifrey OT4) as their main ship, although there is also a large number of people ship who only Narvin/Romana/Leela. Romana/Narvin constitutes the most popular pairing on AO3.
Popular Tropes
- Alternate Universe fics are very common, both the canon-divergence variety (often diverting at the end of series 3) or the alternative reality variety (for example, Age of Sail).
- Many fics deal with the Gallifrey characters experiencing the Time War implied by the 2005 series of Doctor Who.
- Braxiatel is almost always identified as the Doctor's brother, even though this is not confirmed in canon.
Example Fanfiction
- Time and Again by JaneTurenne (Romana/Narvin)
- Common Issues in Child Care by Neveralarch (gen, Accidental baby acquisition
- On Her Lady President's Secret Service by Neveralarch (gen, Romana-Leela)
- Prodigal by Lizbee (Romana/Braxiatel)
- A Family Affair by Bagheera (gen, Narvin-Leela, buddy cop)