Season 15, Episode 11

Episode 11: Reunion

Following her harrowing encounter with Amekh the Devourer, Penelope decides to take a short holiday with the two Anderson kids on the main island of Shetland, away from all the troubles of time, space and other dimensions. But the past is about to catch up with her, in the most unexpected manner. A tale of (not so) old memories and (not so) new discoveries…

This was a short episode, entirely based on emotion and interaction (as opposed to action, problem-solving and more adventure-oriented stuff) – the kind of scenario you can only play in one-on-one mode and which give the player a unique opportunity to explore the character’s feelings in play, turn some personal “pages”, etc. We really enjoyed this particular, off-beat episode, which followed a classic three acts sequence.

First act: Tourism.

Penelope and the kids simply enjoy the Shetland setting, hiking around, meeting some locals, etc.  

Second act: Unexpected emotional reunion.

Penelope is contacted by Torchwood Shetland (actually a single individual) because “someone wants to see her”. That someone turned out to be Judith, the little girl from Remembrance of the Daleks and from five episodes (and 55 years) ago – now a woman in her seventies. The reunion scene was very moving, highlighting the differences between time travelers and those who “take the Long Way”. The fact that the two Anderson kids were also “Dalek survivors” added a unique touch to the whole thing.

Third act: Setting things in motion for the next episode.

Contacted by her Torchwood Cardiff friends, Lady Penelope is given a very special artifact which was recently washed away from the dormant Rift – a Time Lord fob watch! Back on Avalon, she takes the ominous item to the Doctor, who confirms that it does indeed contain the memories and regeneration energy from a Time Lord and, thanks to his Matrix backup, later identifies this Time Lord as Narvin*, former right-hand man of President Romana and Celestial Intelligence Agency coordinator, declared “missing in action” during the great Time War. Thanks to his unique psychic abilities, Professor Chronotis managed to access the cache of the stored memories and found the when and where (but not the why) of their extraction – for some reason, Narvin last used his (?) Chameleon Arch some time during the Time War, after arriving on a forgotten, forsaken planet - the War Lords’ home world!  

* A character from the Big Finish Gallifrey audiobook series. 

To be continued…