REVIEW: The War Doctor, Agents of Chaos

It was terribly sad to hear of the death of Sir John Hurt recently. I'm in no way qualified to sum up such a glittering career but even his short foray into the world of Doctor Who showed him to be a class act. His role was a happy accident, born out of Christopher Eccleston's reluctance to return to the part for the 50th anniversary special. Mine might be a controversial view, but I think we ended up with something even better as a result.

It was more surprising still when he then agreed to pop along to Big Finish and expand on his brief TV appearance and take us into the Time War itself. If Big Finish had wanted the BBC to cast an audio-friendly Doctor then they really couldn't have asked for a better choice, Hurt's voice alone is enough to make you stand up and take notice and is perfect for this troubled and battle-scarred Time Lord who refuses to take his name. Whilst it's undoubtedly sad that he's gone, it feels like we were very lucky to have Sir John in the Tardis in the first place.

The news will make the upcoming release of Casualties of War all the more poignant as these three adventures will, presumably, be his last in the role. As that approaches I decided to pop Agents of Chaos back on for a second listen.

As usual, spoilers will follow. There are enjoyable plot twists to be had in this box so it's well worth listening before you read this, or anything else, about the stories.

Agents of Chaos begins with The Shadow Vortex by David Llewellyn. I was probably anticipating this tale more than most since I'd read that it was to be set in Cold War Berlin. Not only did I really enjoy visiting Berlin, but I'd also studied the period a little bit and thought it was ideal fodder for the War Doctor's adventures.

On first listen I couldn't help being a little disappointed, however. I was left feeling a little cold (no pun intended) and wasn't sure the events really mined the potential to be had from the setting. Not only that, but I was put off by the accent of Kruger, played by Timothy Speyer. This felt far too 'Allo 'Allo! for my liking (apologies for the dated cultural reference) and detracted from the seriousness of the action.

Yet, on this second listen, my mood had thawed a little. The accent still feels like an unnecessary caricature and that's especially a shame since the character of Kruger himself really isn't two-dimensional. Llewellyn has offered us a fairly rounded Stasi officer who is far from a generic 'bad guy'. The War Doctor sees enough good in him to enlist him as an ersatz companion and we briefly get to see into the mindset of a man traumatised by his own experiences in the Second World War, someone who can't bear to be a teacher because his pupils remind him of the soldiers who died in that conflict. I'd argue that this complexity and richness of character is lost behind the accent but it should be applauded nevertheless.

The story itself involves the Doctor's attempts to thwart the efforts of Agent Zannis - ably played by Neve McIntosh of Madame Vastra fame - who is working for the Daleks. The choice he has to make to end her plan shows the ruthless side of this incarnation as someone who, albeit reluctantly, has to make tough choices to fight the war.

The tale ends on a decent cliffhanger, with Cardinal Ollistra taken prisoner. This sets up the rest of the box, with the following two stories more closely linked.

The Eternity Cage brings the Sontarans to the party. I might be alone here but I thought it was refreshing to have the Sontarans back as a militaristic warlike threat after the jollity of Strax that we've become accustomed to in recent times. It's quite fitting that they should want to muscle in on the fight and they come perilously close to doing so.

Andrew Smith's story keeps us guessing long enough about how they were able to harness time weaponry and capture both Ollistra and the Dalek Time Strategist (who share a fun exchange as respective plotters). There's an ongoing thread of suspicion about both this and whether there's a 'mole in the camp' for the Doctor and his rescue party that keeps you on your toes throughout.

Eventually we learn that they are manipulating the power of a Time Lord who is 'stuck' mid regeneration...and that they're less in control than they thought. This all leads to another moral dilemma for this most put-upon of Doctors, leaving him to weigh up the least worst of the resolutions. The fact that he rails against his choice shows he's still the same character deep down.

Also in this story we're introduced to Kalan, a young native who helps the rescue team with the sort of wide-eyed innocence of a Lord of the Rings character. His description of the Sontarans as 'moon heads' and the Doctor as 'grey beard' adds a certain fairytale element to the events that is fun and thrusts Kalan into the 'short term companion' slot.

This is certainly a box set of twists and cliffhangers and the Eternity Cage again leaves us on a bombshell. This time we learn that the villain in the camp is actually Honeysuckle Weeks' Heleyna, the Cardinal's right hand woman and she literally kicks the Doctor out of a Battle Tardis to (apparent) certain death.

Of course, he's scooped back into the Battle Tardis at the start of the Eye of Harmony, by Ken Bentley, for the finale. This is a taught, character-driven story in which the Doctor and Kalan team up to track down and stop Heleyna (who now has Ollistra hostage).

It's all set inside the Battle Tardis - think Journey to the Centre of the Tardis but better - and sees Heleyna try to help the Daleks destroy the source of all of the Time Lords' power. There's a fair old chunk of pseudo-scientific gobbledygook here but if you can stay with it - and I just about managed it - there's a sufficiently epic air about the whole thing to carry it off.

Heleyna makes for a well-rounded character and we learn that this is her attempt to reverse the Time War and bring back her grandfather, a pacifist who railed against starting the conflict in the first place. There's a nod back to the first box and Ceratrix here and it's good to have a villain that we can sympathise with. It's a nice role for Weeks too who, until the final story, was very much playing the sort of role she's known for in the likes of Foyle's War.

It all makes for a fairly bleak ending really, with the Daleks thwarted but Heleyna dead and Kalan also dying. In his attempt to save his young companion, the Doctor even draws the Daleks and the conflict to another innocent world. A thought he's left musing as the box comes to a close. It's clear from his mood here that the Doctor is closer to the state of mind we find him in during the Day of the Doctor; desperate to end the suffering that the Time War is bringing to so many worlds and innocent people.

Overall, Agents of Chaos is another highly entertaining foray into the events of the Time War, playing neatly with the idea of double agents and their motivations. I'll even forgive that accent as a result.

Sir John may have left us, but not before leaving his mark on Doctor Who. His classy performance here is a real treat to enjoy and celebrate.

Catch up with my reviews of the rest of the series with the links below:

Only The Monstrous
Infernal Devices

REVIEW: Doom Coalition 3

If Doom Coalition 2 ramped up the 'doom', then the third box in this intriguing saga not only grabbed that baton but it also gave us much more of the mysterious 'coalition' too. This third box was a thrilling and intensely satisfying set of stories that will leave us with a long old wait until March until the climax.

Before I continue though, I probably ought to do the usual 'public service announcement' and warn you of the spoilers to come in the course of this review. Don't do it to yourself, you'll regret it. Oh, and while I'm at it, feel free to catch up on what I made of Doom Coalition 1 and Doom Coalition 2 in previous posts.

Right, good, on we go then.

One of the real joys of the Doom Coalition saga has been the combination of the slow and tantalising reveal of the big over-arching story combined with some stellar standalone plays. The Red Lady from box one is one of the best things Big Finish has ever done, for example. So, it was a good sign that John Dorney, the man behind that story, returned to open up this third set with Absent Friends, another (largely) one-off story.

Safe to say he certainly delivers the goods. Absent Friends is a clever piece of writing dominated by the emotional rollercoaster it sends the two companions on. Helen visits her brother and, while pretending to be her own daughter, learns of the ruin she caused the 'family name' by running away from her job. Liv, meanwhile, explores her past with a phone call from her dad from beyond the grave. There's some pretty smart plotting to get us to these emotional moments and both Hattie Morahan and Nicola Walker rise to the challenge with aplomb.

John Dorney also teases us into thinking the story will go down a very different path. The mysterious phone mast and shady telecoms company sounds like classic fodder for a Pertwee-esque Auton story, yet that's all a red herring. There's humour to be had when it's revealed that the Doctor and Liv have been flummoxed and it's also refreshing to see a story when there aren't really any 'bad guys'.

One thing remains a mystery too. Thanks to the time distortion caused by a piece of the Doomsday Chronometer (more on that in a moment), characters receive calls from the people they wish they could have said goodbye to. As if to tease us further, the tale ends with the Doctor answering the phone without revealing who is on the other end. Will we ever find out who he spoke to?

If that intrigue wasn't enough, Matt Fitton steps into the writing breach and sends us into a meaty mystery. Doctor Who fans love debating what constitutes a two or three-parter so I won't 'go there' but safe to say The Eighth Piece and The Doomsday Chronometer are heavily linked. The first story sets up the story of the clock established during Absent Friends. The Doctor and his companions are scattered across three different times, giving us 15th century Prague, Tudor England and modern day Rome as the backdrop.

Yet it's two key characters from outside the TARDIS trio that catch the ear here. Firstly River Song is back and flitting between the three story strands with her trusty vortex manipulator. Cleverly, she chooses to shroud her appearance from the Doctor so not to spoil his own future deploying the hilariously named 'psychic wimple'. It's a funny device - and very River - which allows us to get lengthy scenes with Alex Kingston and Paul McGann in this and the next two stories. Alex Kingston is in great form too, injecting energy and fun into every scene.

Then there's Nicholas Woodeson's Clocksmith. A superbly sinister Time Lord with a passion for art, the Clocksmith has a wonderfully macabre take on 'still life' which has plenty of emphasis on the 'still' and less on the 'life'. Woodeson makes for a formidable foe as he bids to complete the aforementioned Doomsday Chronometer.

The start of the third story takes us into a Moffat-esque time-travelling caper with River having whisked off Helen at a moment earlier in the tale. It's still easy enough to follow though and is done with a skill that keeps us on our toes as much as it does the characters.

There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, not least at the end when it emerges that The Eleven's 'good man' eighth persona has been watching the action unfold all along. Liv and Helen end the story thinking that the regeneration they've witnessed is The Doctor's and not The Eight into The Nine, while the Doctor and River head off to follow the trail of intrigue set off by the chronometer.

Which brings us to The Crucible of Souls and back to John Dorney for the finale. Here we finally see that an evil band of Time Lords wants to wipe out the entire future in order to preserve their own skin, showing the sort of mad warmongering traits that they show in the Time War.

It was a surprising but very neat twist to hear the Doctor's old friend Padrac was behind the scheme all along meaning that, just like the Doctor, we've been hoodwinked since the very beginning of the first box set. Padrac's cool, calm evil contrasts neatly with the madness of The Nine and is no less menacing.

While the concept of the Crucible itself was a little confusing, it ends very neatly in the Doctor and his companions being trapped in an impossible position, sent off to their doom by being cast into a future that doesn't exist.

It's going to be a long old wait until March, when it will all come to a head, and details are still thin on the ground. The fourth set now has a hard act to follow. The Doom Coalition saga has been a real treat so far, and this third set brilliantly built on the groundwork laid out and delivered more cracking stories for Paul McGann's magnificent Doctor. No wonder he sounds to be enjoying the role so much at the moment.

No Padrac, you haven't won....we have.

REVIEW: Doom Coalition 2

Doom Coalition 1 (review here) was deliberately tantalising - setting up plot threads, introducing characters and generally hinting at 'something bigger' - which meant that this follow up had a lot to live up to. Luckily, the second set in the four-box saga is no disappointment, far from it.

(It's worth noting that spoilers follow, don't do it to yourself!)

For me, Doom Coalition 2 boils down to two big themes. Firstly, that the Doctor does make mistakes which have repercussions. Secondly, that absolute power is bad and can corrupt.

We begin the set with Beachhead, the latest in the long line of doomed attempts for the Doctor to treat his companions to a holiday. It's the equivalent of someone saying how happy they are in a soap.

Here, the Doctor returns to the scene of a mistake made by his third incarnation. Inadvertently, the Doctor, Brig, UNIT and co missed a whacking great Voord spaceship buried under a beach after investigating reports of an alien craft. The character of Phillipa Gregson brings home the emotional results of this error - recalling the impact it had on her now late husband who went the rest of his life with people believing he's been wrong to say he'd seen such a thing.

This is the strongest part of a story that is resolved a little too simply, with the Voord suffering a swift defeat at the hand of the Doctor and his companions. The demise of the Voord home world does, however, set the intrepid trio back on a mission.

It takes them to the second story Scenes From Her Life, yet another sterling effort from John Dorney. This is a clever tale that teases the listener with flashbacks and catches you off guard with a few twists. The idea of a decaying Tardis stuck in the vortex gives the story an intriguing backdrop that is perfect for a tale in which you never quite feel you know what'll happen.

In the end Helen and the Doctor are duped into setting Caleera free and giving her the dangerous power she now seeks. Seeing the character's back story is a smart move and allows her to instantly feel like a well-established villain. The way in which we realise the true identity of Lord Stormblood, Lady Sepulchra and Swordfish feels macabre and a worthy pay-off.

So, after two stories in which well-intentioned mistakes are key - we move onto the next central theme in The Gift. While this doesn't quite hit the heights of the previous story the San Francisco earthquake setting helps create a tense tale.

McGann has a tough test here - verging from near-madness to defiant hero in a matter of minutes. It's a challenge that he meets with aplomb, of course. We should never take for granted just how good Paul's performances are though.

While the first box didn't quite nail the tricky 'finale' slot, The Sonomancer was probably my favourite of this second set. If 'San Francisco on earthquake day' gave The Gift a sense of pace and danger then the planet of Syra on the verge of destruction took it up a notch further.

This is a loud, fast, entertaining finale, peppered with great characters and suitably dramatic confrontations as the Doctor tries to face up to Caleera (the eponymous Sonomancer) and Liv squares up to the returning Eleven.

The addition of River Song just adds to the entertainment value here. Kingston's inclusion naturally causes you to sit up and take even more notice and she oozes quality in her interactions with both companions along the way. While she clearly can't meet her future husband, River certainly helps him out and then - at the end - intriguingly helps the Tardis crew on their way.

Taken as a whole, this is a box set that is greater than the sum of its parts. While Beachhead and The Gift didn't quite have the standalone quality of The Red Lady in the first set, they feed nicely into the broader themes and support Doom Coalition 2's stronger two stories. It's a collection of stories in which there is, aptly, a greater sense of 'doom' and yet still, tantalisingly. a sense that there is even more to come in boxes three and four, with hints that Caleera and The Eleven aren't acting alone.

Finally, it's worth noting how quickly the Doctor, Liv and Helen have come to feel like a classic line-up. The speed at which they've become firmly established is testament to the writing and performances of all involved. When the Doctor goes off on his own, it's fun to hear Liv and Helen form their own Doctor/companion dynamic. While I like Liv's character, the addition of Helen certainly gives the stories something extra that they might otherwise be lacking.

I'm already looking forward to the next outing for this team in October, when the Doom Coalition saga starts to head to its conclusion. Thrillingly, nothing about this feels remotely predictable, even eight stories in.

The cover for Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 3 by @tomwebsta. Pre-order now! https://t.co/po5w37Ye64 #doctorwho pic.twitter.com/i3d5FCmSUa

— Big Finish (@bigfinish) July 21, 2016

REVIEW: Doom Coalition 1

The arrival of the Doom Coalition 2 box set recently could mean only one thing - the need to revisit the first four adventures to get back up to speed with the Eighth Doctor, Liv and new companion Helen.

I've always been a fan of the Eighth Doctor. Perhaps it's because, barring the vaguest memory of McCoy, Paul McGann was MY Doctor - and the TV Movie the first slice of new Doctor Who I could enjoy. Then there's the fact that he was superb in said TV Movie and also the nagging feeling that he was hard done by in not getting a series to follow up.

Never mind though, his vocal talents have helped shape this incarnation on Big Finish and he continues to go from strength to strength. I'm yet to catch up with the rest of the Dark Eyes saga - I'll jump back when I can - but the chance to launch into the intriguingly titled Doom Coalition was too good to miss.

Yet, sneakily, we begin the saga with Sylvester. Matt Fitton's The Eleven opens with the Seventh Doctor at his R rolling, menacing best as he consigns his foe to the 'big freeze'.

It's a fun opening and a neat way to establish that there's clearly a long back story to these adventures. However, it doesn't take away from the fact that this is all about the villain of the title. In one of 'those ideas' that sounds so right that it surely must've been done before (but hasn't), Mark Bonnar steps up to the plate to play a demented Time Lord whose mind is filled with all 11 of his personas at once.

It amounts to one of Big Finish's finest creations to date and works superbly thanks to Bonnar's brilliance. The Eleven veers from the vicious to the bookish and everything in between, in a constant chaotic state of war with himself. It's vivid enough to avoid being 'Master-lite' and Bonnar's performance contains enough distinctive voices without descending into something that could have been confusing to listen to. Every second in which he's involved crackles with edge-of-your-seat energy.

He returns to the action thanks to the academic interest of Academy student Kiani and quickly gives the authorities the slip, throwing Gallifrey into utter chaos.

The Doctor, by now very definitely the McGann incarnation and paired with Liv Chenka, is brought in to help his old school chum Padrac. There's plenty of rich moments as we discover a little more about the Doctor's past and race to a face off with the devilish Eleven.

Perhaps the only weak point comes with the ending. It's a little abrupt, although feels less so on second listen as The Eleven 'does a Doctor' and scarpers.

After pledging to follow the merest of leads to chase The Eleven, the second instalment has a fairly tricky brief. You'll soon come to realise that this box is far from a straightforward 'chase the baddie' exercise, just in the way that you feel that the whole 16-disc saga has twists and turns that we're yet to predict.

Yet in The Red Lady we find a story that is not only the best on the whole box, but probably the best I've heard from Big Finish for many a year.

The creepy tale of the mysterious Red Lady - a figure that crops up in a bizarre collection of artefacts - is gripping, wonderfully paced and rich with great moments and strong characters. As a standalone tale it'd be brilliant, but it also pushes the saga in a new direction and expertly introduces academic Helen Sinclair as a new recruit to the TARDIS team. Put simply, it's a great Doctor Who idea, wonderfully realised on the audio medium that still finds time to manage some important legwork. We'll take our Stovepipe hat off to John Dorney for this.

The Galileo Trap then, as you'll have guessed, sets the intrepid trio off on a mission to find the famous scientist. Galileo himself is brought to life excellently by John Woodvine (and Marc Platt's script). There's a nice idea here too and this is a story that certainly benefitted from a second listen.

Even after that repeat though, the villain still feels a little weak and slightly lets the side down. It's good, just not quite The Red Lady good.

In fact the second half of the box set inevitably suffers from the quality of the first. Faced with topping a triumphant introduction for a villain who deserves to become iconic and a story that should be hailed as a Big Finish classic it was always set for a challenge.

It doesn't fall away too much though. The Galileo Trap is fun and The Satanic Mill is also gripping. The return of the Eleven helps, as his motivation becomes clearer and the Doctor races to try to thwart him. There's also a tantalising hint that The Eleven's actions are part of something much larger, giving us a teasing nod to what might be to come.

The setting is interesting and the action allows Helen and Liv to develop their burgeoning partnership while the Doctor gets to go off and rail against 'the system' in which people are bread to work until they drop, quite literally. It's perfect for McGann's compassionate crusader and he rises to the challenge with top performance. In fact, it's fair to say he's flawless throughout, relishing the material coming his way.

Then, before we know it, it's time to pause and wait for the next set. These four stories are rich with ideas and seem to sew the seeds for plenty more to come. In any circumstances you might feel a little baffled to have bought a box set entitled Doom Coalition 1 and come away not even having the foggiest idea of what the Doom Coalition might be yet that can be forgiven. There's clearly much more to come and if it can match the start of box set one then it'll be a heck of a 16-story ride.

REVIEW: The War Doctor, Infernal Devices

The War Doctor's first foray into the world of Big Finish, Only The Monstrous, more than whetted the appetite for more from John Hurt et al and thankfully, in the shape of Internal Devices, the wait was a short one.

(Ps - don't read on if you don't want to spoil it. To paraphrase Skaro's finest, 'seek, locate and enjoy' the stories first if you want to avoid finding out anything in advance)

Infernal Devices differs from the first set in that instead of one long story, this is made up of three serials penned by three different writers. Yet there is a thread throughout, namely the 'weapons' that both sides turn to in a bid to end the hostilities.

Essentially the theme is realised through three vivid ideas. John Dorney's A Legion Of The Lost bring us a way to bring back the war dead to fight on and on, Phil Mulryne's A Thing Of Guile centres on a Dalek plot to 'reverse mutate' one of their own back into a Kaled and Matt Fitton's The Neverwhen looks at an experiment in which time itself is a weapon.

It's all juicy material and, throughout, these big ideas are littered with interesting characters and well realised guest turns. It's a consistent set - consistently good that is - and rattles along at a great pace. I had to check a couple of times to make sure each disc was 80 minutes in length, such was the way in which they raced by, even on second listen.

A Legion Of The Lost throws us straight into the action on Vildar, a once beautiful and artistic planet now ravaged by the Daleks who wiped out the hosts with the 'Annihilator'. This is another infernal war device that wipes a species from history while both letting them feel the pain of being erased and letting those left still remember and mourn their loss. It's a grim concept and totally fitting with the bleak Time War backdrop.

Despite an encounter with the returning Varga plants, the War Doctor destroys the weapon albeit being forced to kill Zoe Tapper's Collis in the process. Tapper and Collis aren't gone for long though, and are brought back on Aldris as part of a shady deal between the Time Lords and the Technomancers to revive and renew the war dead.

While it's tempting to get carried away with Hurt up against David Warner - as arch Technomancer Shadovar - Tapper probably steals the show here. She subtly shows how the process has changed her character and Collis rises to the occasion to help to end the whole sordid experiment.

With the Doctor now arrested as a war criminal, Ollistra then whisks him off to try to uncover the mystery of a  secret experiment on a Dalek asteroid. This middle story certainly improved with a second hearing even though it is, in essence, a more 'straightforward' mission tale.

Perhaps the only downside comes with the relatively unsatisfying conclusion. Having discovered the true nature of the Daleks' K006 experiment, I think I'd have like the War Doctor to have attempted to have taken him along for the ride, if not only to seen what would've happened in the Neverwhen.

The last story offers a bleak battlefield setting. On many occasions across the six discs so far I've felt the Time War has echoes of the First World War about it, not least the way in which the slaughter continues even when there appears to be little 'point' at face value. This is perhaps the closest we get to that yet, with the combatants dying and then, 'thanks' to the time flux, returning to die all over again.

That same flux means that the weapons used by the soldiers regularly pass through the cycle of technological 'evolution' - with fighters seeing the guns they brandish morphing into sticks or bows and arrows mid assault.

It's is a very neat idea, trumped only by the fact the War Doctor lands in among a group of Kaleds and sets about trying to help them, not knowing what they are about to 'evolve' into. The slow realisation that the hero is 'on the wrong side' is well handled and also goes to show that, to some extent, there isn't always much difference between the warring factions.

Nothing is what it seems and nothing is black and white. The Time Lords aren't the 'goodies' by any stretch and that approach makes for much richer storytelling.

Again, if I wished to be hyper-critical I'd have to say that the dialogue heavy last three tracks of this disc again lose a bit of the momentum built up by the plot to that point. That said it's good to end on a face off between a torn War Doctor and an ice cold Ollistra.

Jacqueline Pearce is even stronger in Infernal Devices than the initial box set and offers a nuanced character that is like few others in Doctor Who history. Part Master, part Monk, part companion, you always know something devilish and clever is afoot when she's on the scene.

The whole thing is, of course, underpinned by another brilliant performance from John Hurt. With the odd glimpse of a playful side - 'I have a screwdriver!' - we continue to get an insight into this embattled and embittered hero. The odd attempt at Doctor-ish heroism is thwarted by the relentless horror of the war and you feel events such as these must lead his character on the path to contemplating using The Moment to end it all.

Hurt's performances - alongside the consistently good scripts - are really helping to expand the mythology of the show into new and exciting territory. Any gripes really are very minor and any fan would surely revel in the chance to enjoy such adventures. Roll on the next box set.


Ps, after a bit of thought the War Doctor's theme tune is growing on me. How about you?

REVIEW: The War Doctor, Only The Monstrous

I have a bit of an unofficial routine with Doctor Who stories. Essentially, whether I've liked them or not, I don't return for another view/listen for a couple of years. It's nice to go back after a break and reassess (I recently did that with a couple of Matt Smith episodes and enjoyed them more than when broadcast) but, in short, I'm not one for multiple airings.

Except I did just that with Big Finish's first War Doctor box set. A joyously received Christmas present, this has been devoured twice already. I wouldn't be averse to a third spin before long either...

So, yes, it's fair to say that I enjoyed Only The Monstrous which lived up to my great hope and expectation for this range. Yes Big Finish is increasingly veering into 'New Series' territory and has previously mined unexplored parts of the excellent Eighth Doctor's past but this felt like something different. With the War Doctor, Big Finish is able to explore a world merely hinted at on screen, a character who can be very different to all other incarnations of the time travelling hero and, of course, gets to utilise the vocal skills of John Hurt, no less. The latter alone feels like a huge coup for the audio firm and should be seen as just reward for their hard work in building a reputation over the years.

The box itself should (spoilers further down by the way, sorry about that!) really be seen as one long story, very different in pace and tone to almost anything the on-screen incarnations of the Doctor have done. That straight away shows the strength of the audio medium and of having a very different character to play with.

Disc one - The Innocent - dives headlong into the heat of the action reminding us, if we needed it, that this is an incarnation of the Doctor that is defined by the war he feels compelled to fight. With a nice nod to the Daleks Masterplan, Hurt's War Doctor saves the day while heading to his apparent death. From here on we pause for thought on the planet Keska. Nick Briggs, quite rightly, takes time for us to get to know the War Doctor and the 'state of play' in his life. Hurt is grumpy, irascible and - over time - cheeky, giving us the closest portrayal to Hartnell's original of any Doctor since.

He's rude and troubled - and bristles at the mere hint of his 'name' being mentioned - yet still finds himself humoured by the saintly Rejoice, who nurses him back to health. The pair's dialogue brings out, in many ways, a very First World War debate about war - with the War Doctor feeling obliged to fight, moved to do 'the unthinkable' yet still railing against the fact that many innocent people suffer in the crossfire. He also carries the guilt of feeling that he started it all off through his actions in the Genesis of the Daleks.

The Innocent, therefore, does a lot of necessary character work and is rich with juicy dialogue that flows perfectly from the excellent voice of John Hurt. It might seem odd to start a Time War saga off with not that much, well, war but it works beautifully and you can't help but be hooked by his voice.

The Thousand Worlds is definitely the weakest of the three discs but that's probably inevitable given that it has to do much of the heavy lifting in terms of plotting. The one-dimensional and slightly shrill Veklin is perhaps the only performance that I didn't totally enjoy across the set but, to be fair to actress Beth Chalmers, she's not really supposed to be a likeable Time Lord and gives the War Doctor someone to rebel against and annoy on his own 'side'.

The plot borrows much from the Hartnell era Dalek modus operandi, with a big drill and the enslavement of the population of the previously peaceful Keska. There's a layer of intrigue that builds on this though, with Alex Wyndham's Seratrix proving to be on an unlikely peace mission. The ending of The Thousand Worlds - with the Daleks barking 'peace in our time' - felt a little cheesy and perhaps forced the 'war film' analogies a little too much.

Still, The Heart Of The Battle builds on the hard work of The Thousand Worlds, with the War Doctor uncovering the true nature of the Daleks' plan and exposing Seratrix's hope for peace as folly. The War Doctor's sadness that his fellow Time Lord had been proven wrong - and his grim reaction to the action he had to take to save Keska - showed us that this is still the same character we know and love, albeit buried under the baggage of conflict.

It's on this disc that Jacqueline Pearce comes into her own as Cardinal Ollistra. She's a devilish warmonger and emerges as a puppet master who has been in control of the whole plot all along. Pearce has the audio equivalent of a glint in her eye with such material to play with. At the start of The Innocent I was worried that Ollistra might be a little two dimensional - as some of Gallifrey's inhabitants have been down the years - but my fears were well and truly unfounded by the end. She's a 'baddie and a goodie' all at once and a joy to listen too.

Pearce and Hurt are lapping it up at the end and deliver an electric performance that leaves you wanting more (luckily that's not too far away...). The final line is chilling and superbly delivered. Ollistra asks where she can find our new non-Doctor in future and he replies: "At the heart of the battle, where the blood of the innocent flows and only the monstrous survive." Cue the music. I'm hooked, I've pre-ordered the next one, I loved it. Brilliant.

No TV, no problem: Why 2016 is a great year to be a Doctor Who fan

Barring a Christmas special, we've got no Doctor Who to look forward to on the television in 2016. It should be the cause of great consternation - surely there ought to have been a charity single by now? - but it isn't.

In part, of course, that's because we know there is plenty to come. There will be a full series in 2017 which will be a swansong for Steven Moffat, and then Chris Chibnall will take the reins.

Steven Moffat will step down after Series 10…
Chris Chibnall to take over.
FULL STORY @ https://t.co/7tjdSIGWO2 pic.twitter.com/1AU0neJQSR

— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) January 22, 2016

But that's not the only reason that I'm happy with my lot as a Doctor Who fan.

Firstly, it'll be good for the TV adventures to take a break. No matter which way you look at it, the ratings have taken a dent in the last couple of years. The last series really wasn't marketed that well and also suffered from being shifted too late into the evening. The switch to the spring, where Strictly Come Dancing doesn't dominate, should hopefully mean a return to earlier in the evening and should ensure that the show doesn't come up against as formidable an opponent as the X Factor (which also suffered a rating slump).

Absence, too, makes the heart grow fonder and you'd hope a longer gap alone should increase the excitement levels around the next series. The BBC statement made a promise to turn the next run into an 'event', which is probably, in part at least, a reaction to the poor promotion for Capaldi's second run ('same old, same old).

That's not in any way a reflection of the present TARDIS incumbent either. Peter Capaldi's breathtaking performance in Heaven Sent was possibly the greatest of any actor in the role (only the passage of time will allow a sensible judgement) and his Zygons speech rightly earned praise. If anything it's probably right to take a breather after such heavyweight events (the weakness of the finale was probably that it couldn't top the week before). He's been good and it'll be interesting to see him with a different companion now that Clara's adventures (on screen at least) are over.

Still, it might also be good to reassess the format too. Last series probably had too many sort-of-two-parters while Capaldi's first run probably had too many one-offs. I can't help feeling that watching his whole run 'on shuffle' might deliver a more satisfying experience than the order they were aired. I love a two-parter, but a mixed line-up might be nice for the next batch.

One thing worth considering, however, is the timeline we've now been given. Not only do we have guaranteed adventures next year, but the BBC has also committed to another run under new showrunner Chris Chibnall, which should, you'd think, air in 2018. As fans who always fear the axe, this should please us all greatly.

But the best thing about the delay to the next series of Doctor Who is in what it clears a space for. I don't know about you but I feel there's been a lot of Doctor Who in recent years that I simply haven't had the time nor money to catch up with. Books, audios and even some old series DVDs are still on the hitlist to catch up with and these can have our full attention.

Best of all is that 2016 is packed full of new adventures for us all to enjoy thanks to the people at Big Finish (I'm not really a comics man but I gather fans of these are pretty well catered for too).

Big Finish has upped the ante in recent months and you feel we really will look back on this as something of a golden era for Doctor Who fandom. Without wishing to be too morbid, we're lucky to be getting new material from several stars of the classic series who won't be around forever and should cherish this while it lasts.

The War Doctor box set released before Christmas also took us headlong into the Time War and it was excellent. (I'll do a review soon) John Hurt has a magnetic voice that makes him a perfect Big Finish Doctor and I'm looking forward to hearing where his upcoming stories take the character.

On top of that I've recently enjoyed hearing River Song's debut (if ever a character deserved a spin off...) and have just come off Doom Coalition 1 (Paul McGann is surely the only man with a better voice to listen to than Hurt). We'll have more McGann and Kingston to look forward too soon.

Then, of course, it's the return of David Tennant. It's the first time that I've seen a Big Finish announcement make the news beyond the sci-fi/Doctor Who world and will be a big deal for the company. It's even more perfect for them that it comes in a year with no TV adventures, meaning it will be the biggest Doctor Who event of the year. The pressure is on but the War Doctor adventures et al have shown that the team at Big Finish should be able to rise to the occasion and impress the casual buyer wooed by Tennant and Tate.

Beyond that there's an intriguing multi-Master trilogy and more from every other Doctor thanks to the effective way the first three have been realised. Tom Baker seems to be relishing returning to the role and continues to roll back the years (another great voice - it's almost as though these men were case with Big Finish in mind!).

The long and the short of it is that there is an awful lot coming up. In the days before the TV Movie (can you believe it is 20 years since it was on?) we'd have given anything for any of those projects. All this new stuff comes despite the fact I'd still like to catch up on the Sixth Doctor's regeneration, the 'locum Doctor' stories, Dark Eyes 2-4 and many many more.

All this and then at least two more TV series lined up for our viewing pleasure. A golden era indeed. It's time to make the most of it. Reckon I might finally get that second War Doctor set ordered...