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: 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.