As we all settle down for Christmas Eve in preperation for the big day tomorrow, let’s go over some of my favourites from the War Doctor. The War Doctor himself I’d rank towards the bottom of my favourite Doctors, but the character and his stories in Big Finish have been getting better in recent years. With all the love and respect I have for John Hurt and his performance as the War Doctor, the original series was very flawed, especially with his characterisation. I mostly just boiled down to the Doctor calls himself a monster repeatedly even though almost nothing he does in these adventures is all that different from what every other Doctor has done at one point or another, and he gets mad when people call him “Doctor”, rinse and repeat for four box sets and that’s the original War Doctor Adventures. Since the series has rebooted with Jonathan Carley as a younger War Doctor, you can tell Big Finish are trying to explore other avenues with this character and what makes him different from all the other Doctors.
Only the Monstrous - Despite my issues with the original War Doctor Adventures I do enjoy his first Big Finish story, a three parter written by Nicholas Briggs and as this was the first time, a lot of the repetitive writing that really drove me up the wall in later sets doesn’t bother me much here. I also think this release is John Hurt’s best performance as the War Doctor, he gets some really great scenes in this
Infernal Devices - I mainly include this for The Neverwhen which for a long time was my favoruite War Doctor story and as good as this original series ever got. The premise and setting is one of the most horrific ideas you can come u with for the Time War and you really feel the War Doctor’s anguish at trying and failing to bring peace between both sides.
Forged in Fire - Jumping all the way ahead to 2021, we have the first of the War Doctor Begins. As far as Carley’s impersonation goes, I wouldn’t say it’s like John Hurt’s voice at the time of him playing the Doctor, but it does sound like John Hurt when he was younger so in context it works a lot better than you’d think. This series takes us literally to the beginning with the War Doctor getting to grips with his new face in a geat story that’s more about him finding his feet before marching off to war. The second story Lion Hearts was the massive weak link of the set that made me worried we were gonna be in for more of the same. But The Shadow Squad made for a nice book end in an action packed finale that boasted some of the creative new ideas we would be in for in this new series for the War Doctor.
Battlegrounds - This set is worth it alone for Rewind, my new favourite War Doctor story and one of the few War Doctor stories I’d put among Doctor Who’s top tier works. Another horrifying premise for the Time War that I won’t give too much away on and it has a great dilemma for the Doctor and one of his earliest signs at not being the same man he was before, while his actions are well meaning you do stop and think if he’s caused more suffering than saving.
He Who Fights with Monsters - They did a great job convincing me this was it for the War Doctor audios, I mean I did figure they would carry on cos why stop when you’re starting to hit your stride. But He Who Fights with Monsters just has this air of finality to it that I was fooled. An epic three parter where the War Doctor is sent into the darkest parts of the Time War to track down and assassinate a rogue Time Lord who’s opened a third front in the Time War against Time Lords and Daleks alike. Jonathan Carley delivers some of his best work in a story that feels akin to how the Time War would be shown as a Doctor Who Movie.
Comrades-In-Arms - Thankfully it wasn’t the end for the War Doctor as we got two bonus box sets, both of which centering on a new character called Case, a cyborg Dalek-human hybrid built to be a killing machine but has somehow broken her programming and wants to find out who she is. She goes on to become the War Doctor’s first companion which is pretty badass for him to have a cyborg walking weapon assissting him. But there’s a lot of great drama to this angle where the Doctor keeps telling Case he wants to help her discover ther true identity, but a lot of his motives and actions give the impression he’s more interested in using her to help win the war. It leads to a great ending setting up the sixth and final box set of the series.
Enemy Mine - The War Doctor Begins ends on a high note with Case’s story reaching it’s epic conclusion, former companion now turned enemy to the War Doctor, and yet she needs his help more than ever, and if the War Doctor cannot help given how much the war has changed him, perhaps another Doctor can. McGann’s invovlement is a welcome appearance and I love how they play the multi-Doctor angle and showing the duality between the two Doctors in how much the War Doctor has changed since his beginnings. Again, another convincing trick that this was the end for the War Doctor audios
In Name Only - At this point I was convinced the War Doctor was staying for the long run in Big Finish and I’m very glad of that. Here we get his audio outside of his main series in the finale to Sontarans vs Rutans. Not a story a I recommend listening to without having gone through the mini-series, as you’d expect from a finale such as this, it draws on elements and characters that have appeared all throughout this quadrilogy. In Name Only ends things excellently, showing just how far the Sontarans are prepared to go in thier endless war against the Rutans.
Morbius the Mighty - Much as I feel the single story box sets is getting a bit overused in some areas, I think the format is well suited to the War Doctor as his style is more grand epic war films that do benefit from a longer runtime. And Morbius the Mighty is a great example of that, kicking off the next chapter of the War Doctor’s life strongly in an epic tale featuring the return of Morbius and the chaos he seeks to bring upon a universe already broken by the Time War.
Family Ties - Amazing how last minute this return to Susan’s War was announced when it seemed like her 2020 release was a one off. This set features Susan reuiniting with her grandfather only this time he’s much different to when she last saw him. Remembering back to the last Susan’s War box set and her meeting with the Eighth Doctor, Susan spent a fair ammount of time trying to convince Eight that it was necessary to join in the fight rather than watch from the sideline. Now she sees her grandfather in the thick of the fight and wondering if this change is for the best. Really interested to see where this goes in next year’s release
Unknown Soldiers - The most recent War Doctor release (as in just last week) so maybe there’s a bit of recency bias but I had a lot of fun listening to this, it almost has this Guardians of the Galaxy vibe as the War Doctor works alongside a thrown together team of different aliens with their own backstories and abilities.
And that’s my favourites from the War Doctor, this new line of adventures with Jonathan Carley has been a marked improvment on the original series, the War Doctor’s still one of my least favourites but if these audios keep up the high quality he could very well start climbing that ladder. And they do make me excited for the Fugitive Doctor Adventures next yeat and what they can bring to another relatively unknown Doctor.
Have a wonderful Christmas everybody and I’ll see you all tomorrow for the Ninth Doctor