Doctor Who spin-off review: Gallifrey: Time War: Nevernor

Romana and Narvin come across a seemingly ordinary yet haunted family, in the second episode of Doctor Who spin-off box set Gallifrey: Time War 3.

Nevernor is a rather unusual story for Gallifrey. The Doctor Who spin-off usually focuses on telling stories of intrigue, political or otherwise, and generally keeps things strictly within the genre of sci-fi. Sometimes, you get the occasional dip into other genres (Annihilation stands out as a strong example of this), but generally, you know which genre to expect.

Nevernor is different. Especially for a Time War story. Whereas previous episode Hostiles focused on Romana and Narvin struggling to escape and survive, all the while feeling like a war story in a low-key way, Nevernor feels much closer to a ghost story. It’s extremely atmospheric, giving us a story much spookier than what we’re used to from a Gallifrey episode.

This isn’t too surprising though. While the story is different for Gallifrey, writer Lou Morgan has given us equally spooky and atmospheric episodes for Torchwood (specifically, Flight 405 from God Among Us 2 and The Vigil). So this kind of approach suits her style nicely.

(L to R) Suzanne Bertish (Aldis), Seán Carlsen (Narvin) and Lalla Ward (Romana) feature in a rather spooky story from Gallifrey: Time War 3.

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

More from Winter is Coming

• For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
• Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
• Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
• Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
• Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”

Balancing atmosphere with emotion

Telling a story like Nevernor can feel like a big risk within a series like Gallifrey. While I wouldn’t exactly describe the series as “grounded”, it doesn’t aim to go too far with its sci-fi, and always presents at least some kind of explanation for what’s going on.

But what makes the approach work is that, eventually, the same proves true in Nevernor, and it’s an explanation that works extremely well. Once you realize what’s going on, it ties into the Time War nicely. Better still, it gives us an even better idea of how a war fought across time can affect even the smallest of lives.

And it’s this aspect that gives Nevernor some emotional impact, too. Because there’s a family that Romana and Narvin meet in this episode. Not a family that has anything to do with the Time War, just simple, ordinary people. But they still find themselves caught up in it, even when they don’t know it, and they suffer a terrible fate as a result.

Nevernor is a refreshingly different story for the Doctor Who spin-off that still remains true to the spirit of it. For Lou Morgan’s first Gallifrey episode, it’s definitely a strong one.

What stories do you enjoy in Doctor Who or its spin-offs that aim for a spookier approach? Do you think other horror stories could be told using the Time War? Let us know in the comments below.