In 2017, Big Finish released their first Eighth Doctor Time War Boxset, spawning a range which would continue in parallel with his adventures with Liv and Helen.
Which of Eight’s Time War stories are your favourites? Are there any Boxsets which stand head and shoulders above the rest? And do they live up to their potential of showing how 8 skirted the Time War before his fatal crash on Karn?
3/4 of the way through the first boxset, and I’m enjoying myself.
The Starship of Theseus and Echoes of War are both excellent examples of how I think the Time War should be treated. Constant fluctuations in reality and corrupted evolution due to time shifts really capture the idea of a war on an incomprehensible scale. 8 losing a companion to reality rewrites is such an excellent way of showing the damage the war is capable of. “Dal” is an interesting twist of the “good Dalek” trope, and his sudden destruction at the end of the story leaves enough ambiguity to keep the character journey compelling. Both stories get a 4.5/5 from me
The Conscript is a story I’m less keen on, although I still find it enjoyable. It’s a great story for 8, being a source of disruption amongst Time Lords at their most loyal. However, the execution of the Time War here is lacking, reducing it to little more than a standard boots-on-the-ground conflict, with none of the intrigue or ineffability present both in the new series and the two preceding stories. 3.5/5
The time is fast approaching when I’ll finally get around to these. I’ve no more 8DAs to listen to, and I’ll soon be out of Companion Chronicles; the Time War range seemed the natural next step. I think I’ve been hesitant because it doesn’t feel right for Eight to be taking part, even peripherally.
I’m quite enjoying the current run, which you haven’t gotten to yet. I think a lot of the 2010s-very early 2020s Time War stories feel very samey across ranges. A lot of them go for that more ground-level soldier narrative, rather than playing with the nature of temporal warfare (which in the Eighth Doctor’s case, doesn’t make a lick of sense). The past couple of years BF has been incorporating more writers into their regulars fold (Foley, Mooney and Pringle, etc.), the result being Fitton, Dorney, and Briggs aren’t being spread so thinly across all those ranges, so past like set 5, I’d say is where I’ve found the most enjoyment so far. The first four sets, despite having the occasional standout (looking at you Palindrome) all suffer from writers’ fatigue and an inability to conceptualize a Doctor living through the war without being directly involved in the war under the thumb of Gallifrey. Eighth Doctor Time War 3 is the worst offender of the range in my opinion, though there is an episode in there that I remember being pretty solid. State of Bliss, I think?
Current stuff also benefits from being pushed in a slightly more serialized direction. Uncharted’s episodes very much lead into one another. Meanwhile, each set in the War Doctor Rises series has been dedicated to one writer’s vision so far. It’s been giving individual writers as well as teams of multiple writers (not just a single duo with the occasional third) enough wiggle room to fully explore their ideas and some higher concepts in a way the format of the older sets didn’t allow for.
One Life was very good.
Quarren being the McGuffin was not something I was expecting, and I think I understand why people like Human Nature/The Family of Blood so much after experiencing the heartbreak of a chameleon arch through this story.
A 10/10 to round off the boxset
The Lords of Terror is very much a story of two halves. The first half is a bit predictable, and there are some questionable decisions made by Bliss. The second half is much better - as soon as we have 8 facing Carvil, the story really steps up - it really shows why Cass asks “Who can tell the difference anymore?” in Night
Planet of the Ogrons.
I liked this one a surprising amount. I like the idea that the Ogrons were retconned into the classic series, and the apparent death of the Ogron Doctor was surprisingly impactful.
8/10
In the Garden of Death
The central concept here is good - a prison in which the prisoners have them memories taken away from them. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the Twelve, and so the focus being more on her is unfortunate. Funny that 8 yet again loses his memory though.
8/10
Jonah
Another mixed bag of an audio - I liked the whole military submarine aesthetic, and the idea of and scenes with the Ourashima were good. For some reason I really struggled with following the dialogue in this one - probably just a me problem, but it felt off somehow. Also I’m not a fan of the Dalek Admiral being just Nick Briggs without a modulator
3.5/5
I’ve listened to all of Time War Three, and, well, it was a four story boxset. I really have nothing of note to say about any of State of Bliss, The Famished Lands, or Fugitive in Time, except that I feel like all of them should be great on paper, yet they failed to connect with me.
The War Valeyard was great though, I have no complaints about that one
I think Palindrome might be the best Time War story I’ve heard yet. It’s definitely one that I’m going to keep thinking about for the foreseeable future
I definitely think John Dorney is the best writer I’ve heard for doing interesting things with a Time War, rather than having everything devolve into shooty Dalek noises
Dreadshade sadly does not keep up the quality of Palindrome. The titular Dreadshade was annoying, the Twelve could have been pretty much any renegade time lord for all the impact the regenerative dissonance had, and it just felt like killing time before we get back to the real meat if the boxset with Davros and the Time Strategist.
And I am so so so so sick of Eight getting amnesia. Does no one have any better ideas of what to do with him