One word: Daleks.
And that’s why I am Faction Paradox and War in Heaven for the win!
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From the BTS on Dark Eyes 1, Nick Briggs says (at 44:30ish):
People think “Oh, the ultimate thing to do would to be a story about the Time War” and I think that would possibly be one of the dullest things in the world.
Those words will come back to haunt me, I realise that.
I think the Time War is much more effective as a mythical thing.
It’s so weird, I think it’s best that it’s kept beyond our comprehension, and just a hint that it was something appalling.So, I think it’s best left alone.
I agree(d) with Nick Briggs, clearly before BF got the license to do new series stuff 
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He thought that until he realised it was an excuse to have every story be a Dalek story starring him 
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To be fair theres actually a lot of Time War stories without the Daleks at all. War Master has fairly few stories, whereas the War Doctor is Dalek centric. Susan’s War was Dalek light too, and the Eighth Doctors Time War stuff has a reasonable amount of Dalek to non Dalek stories.
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I know, and there is a lot of TW that I do like - Susan’s War is excellent. But it is also true that nobody will ever love anything as much as Nick Briggs loves Daleks
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On TV the Time War has been this nebulous thing: great and terrible and so high concept that the human mind couldn’t comprehend it. We could only really see the edges of the fallout from the War. Then in 2013, we got Day of the Doctor and got to see the end of the War, and then in summer of 2014 we got the novel Engines of War that showed us the War Doctor and the events leading into Day of the Doctor. And, at the time, that might’ve been enough. Sure, we wanted more (fans always more), but we’d gotten actual glimpses into the War and they were great. What are your thoughts on these two stories (Day and Engines)? And should this have been all we got of the Time War itself?
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When Big Finish got the license to do New Series things in 2015, this opened up the door to the Time War, something they’d been kind of skirting around here and there. Now the floodgates were open and Time War material just keeps coming. The first Time War related thing to be released was the War Doctor range with John Hurt reprising the role. The first set was released in December 2015 with the subsequent three sets releasing in February 2016, October 2016 and February 2017. What are your thoughts on those first four War Doctor sets and John Hurt as the War Doctor on audio?
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Controversiallly, I really like TITAN’s second year of Eleventh Doctor comics.
The Time War stuff in that is so good!
I want to listen to Big Finish’s Time War stuff, but I don’t know where to start…
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Honestly, there’s numerous jumping on points! There’s two separate 8th Doctor ranges with the Time War, either work. Also there’s I believe 3 jumping on points for the War Doctor range!
Gallifrey’s Time War sets are also intended to be a jumping on point but I’d highly recommend every series of Gallifrey prior to the Time War stuff.
Then you’ve got just like some one-offs I suppose or sets here and there which are Time War adjacent.
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Two? Itl thought it was just Eighth Doctor: Time War…
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Well, it is one range but two separate arcs. There’s not really an arc to the first series, which is just called Time War, but now there’s Uncharted which I believe is going to be an arc (only 1 set out so far). Uncharted I’d say has one prerequisite, being the Cass set.
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There’s also Susan’s War! I’ve enjoyed this series so far. Only prerequisite really is the 8/Lucie adventures and there’s a short trip that slots in right before it too. The War Master stuff too is incredible. It doesn’t really explore the Time War hugely as its not the main focus.
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I came here for a Big Finish Time War greatest hits list so far I’ve got Gallifrey Time War vol 2 and War Room, War Master and Susan’s War anything else I should have my ears open to?
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The Eighth Doctor and the War Doctor’s Time War series and some other ones also listed here:
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Once Thirteen quest is done, I may embark on a journey through the Time War
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As someone who doesn’t find the Time War as portrayed on TV very interesting, and wasn’t jumping out of their seat for more either, I’m always glad to see people checking out BFs Time War related things. I never went into stories with the thought: ‘Oh jolly, time for the time war,’ but almost all of them have ended up being great.
I think the Time War brings a lot of story opportunities for BF (and maybe more generally EU) writers. It kind of allows to unchain from the restraints of linearity, and I feel it sometimes makes some people write more freely than they usually might. And war scenarios work well with tragedy, which I like. Crazy stuff and sad stories go very well together, as it happens. Lots of very quality stories, they’ve really made me do a full 180 on the Time War.
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The recent War Doctor stuff has been especially good. He Who Fights With Monsters and Fallen Heroes were outstanding.
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Any Aspect of it that leans into the Fact that is such an ambitious kind of War, that you really couldn’t (and shouldn’t pull off) in a visual Medium. I think funnily enough, Russel T. Davies’s Doctor Who and the Time War pretty much showcases what I really love about the Time War. The Time war is at its best when it’s much more abstract than anything else.
I am not sure how controversial this is, but honestly, the Fact that our big Opponent is the Dalek. I get it, in the Context of the Revival and Stories such as Dalek it makes totally sense to do it this way, but still I am not 100% sold with this Decision, probably is also a big factor, why my preference usually goes to the other abstract Wars of Who rather than the Time War. That said, I think there have been quite a few brilliant Tales with the Daleks set around that ‘‘Time’’, like the one from the first 8th Doctor Time War Boxset, which also had ‘‘The Conscript’’, a fine Story but a very bad Time War Story. I honestly wish it wasn’t a Time War Story, then I might have liked it much more, to me that Story grounds things TOO much and is a showcase why I am a bit hesitated when it comes to exploring the Time War this much on Audio. Thankfully there have been plenty of positive Examples, that I really came around the Idea of Time War Audios.
I do quite like the War Doctor, like I mentioned before a few times, he is pretty great, I mean why wouldn’t he? Both Hurt and Carley are A-league Actors. Eight in the Time War leaves me a bit mixed, granted my exposure to him in that setting has been fairly limited, but I am not totally sold on it, personally speaking, maybe if I listen to more of his Time War Range, my Mind would change.
There is a lot I do like about it and equally quite a few Things/Decisions, that I am not too fond of, that said if there is a Medium for it, it’s easily Prose, as shown perfectly by Russel very own Short Story.
To summarize it: Be creative with it, and I might very much like it. Do a typical War Story and ground it more too much, and I will probably not like it as a Time War Story (mostly).
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