Audio Drama Review | Doctor Who: The War Doctor - Only the Monstrous written by Nicholas Briggs

There has never been a more exciting time to be a Big Finish listener. Last year, following the collapse of fellow BBC licensee AudioGo, Big Finish’s sudden expansion of their own Doctor Who licence led to what felt like a seemingly never-ending procession of mind-blowing announcements concerning upcoming releases featuring characters and elements from the new series, the most thrilling of which was Only the Monstrous - a full-cast mini-series starring John Hurt as the... um... ninth incarnation of the Time Lord formerly known as the Doctor (let’s stick with the generally favoured “War Doctor” for ease of reference, if not accuracy).

On the show’s fiftieth anniversary, The Day of the Doctor finally lifted the veil on the Last Great Time War that had been alluded to for so long. Unfortunately, in rewriting history to make the Doctor “the Man Who Won the Time War”, rather than the altogether more interesting soul who had to kill his own kind to save all creation, Steven Moffat all but killed my interest in the once quasi-mythical conflict, and indeed the ongoing TV series from that point onward. Yet seeing Tom Webster’s stunning cover for Only the Monstrous cut straight through my disenchantment. For the first time in two years, Doctor Who had piqued my interest.

I was nonetheless a little surprised to see Nicholas Briggs’ name on the cover as the three hour-long plays’ writer. Whilst predictable in the sense that he’s the company’s executive producer and has a proven - no, stellar - record in box sets such as this one, in the past he’d always emphatically slammed the idea of exploring the Last Great Time War directly due to the intangible nature of the conflict. I remember in particular one mocking rant in which he cried, “Launch timonic missiles!” in a sarcastic voice, before going on to question how one could possibly dramatise such an unfathomable war in any sort of meaningful way. I disagreed with him as to the impossibility of the storytelling mechanics, but not with the other, more important, limb of his argument: that the mystery of the Time War was better left intact. Having since starred in The Day of the Doctor, however, and thus experienced first-hand Steven Moffat’s explosive - if surprisingly prosaic - take on a temporal battleground, Briggs had been handed his ready-made template for Time War tales, not to mention his excuse for writing them. With the mystery of the war already evaporated, there was nothing to prevent him taking his love of old British war films and transposing it into the Whoniverse.

The result is perhaps a little underwhelming at first, given the thunderous expectations heaped upon this release; however, it’s important to be mindful this isn’t a one-off, theatrically-released, 3-D anniversary special but the start of a new era for a new incarnation of the Doctor, and as such its slow burn is essential. In fact, the set’s first episode, “The Innocent”, subverted my expectations in the most interesting and intimate of ways. Sensibly picking up long after the coming of the young War Doctor at the end of The Night of the Doctor, and thus taking full advantage of the centuries of suffering buried in Hurt’s legendarily craggy voice, Briggs’ introverted opener draws listeners right into the heart of a particularly fan-pleasing battle before the rug is pulled from under them and the injured War Doctor finds himself far from the front lines on a comparatively primitive world assailed by its own genocidal enemies (Dalek Empire super-Scot Mark McDonnell leading the charge). Tending to the wounded warrior is Lucy Briggs-Owen’s soft-spoken Rejoice, a would’ve-been / should’ve-been companion whose relationship with “Captain Grumpy” will have far-reaching consequences for both her and her people.

 

This inspired setup gives Sir John the opportunity to make his mark in a relatively quiet and personal setting, showing us aspects of his character that The Day of the Doctor didn’t have the time to dwell upon. Quite rightly, Briggs is keen to stress that, despite his renunciation of his name and his apparent embracing of an alarming “ends justify the means” mentality, the War Doctor is still the Doctor whether he likes it or not. This much is borne out very quickly, as the self-loathing and battle-weary Time Lord finds himself inclined to aid the peaceful underdogs in what appears to be the Time War in microcosm. Even more so than on television, the heroism of the War Doctor is palpable - he just can’t see it himself.

As the story moves into its second and third instalments it picks up a lot of pace, but, pleasingly, not at the expense of substance. Briggs’ plot cleverly pits “Granddad” and an older, similarly war-hardened, Rejoice (now played by the perpetually regal Carolyn Seymour, veteran of countless 24th-century Star Trek episodes) against Seratrix, a dangerous Time Lord idealist who’s hell-bent on appeasing the Daleks in a desperate bid for peace. This unexpected anti-antagonist highlights the gulf between the Time Lord’s warrior incarnation - the “War Doctor”, if you will - and the Doctors either side of it. In any other story, and against almost any other enemy, the Doctor would be the one advocating peace. It’s a story that could only be told amidst the terrors of the Time War, yet there’s not a timonic missile in sight. Mr Briggs, it seems, has proven himself wrong.

Regrettably though, the Big Finish exec does succumb to the temptation to make his Time Lord turncoat morally bankrupt - the fascinating parallels with the Doctors dissipate once the accepted cost of the Dalek collaborator’s plot becomes plain. For me, the story would have been more compelling had Seratrix been less ruthless and more Doctor-like, as in the end it is questions of morality that make the Time War with its non-Doctor Doctor so fertile a field for storytelling.

And, inevitably, I’m a little disappointed that Briggs avoids Gallifrey, for the most part, limiting the War Doctor’s dealings with his own people to Jacqueline Pearce’s (Blake’s 7, Doctor Who: The Two Doctors) new character, Cardinal Ollistra, and her lackeys. This was to be expected, of course, given Big Finish’s ongoing Gallifrey series; 2017’s planned eighth Doctor Time War box set; and Briggs’ understandable reservations about tying up continuity (Steven Moffat and company could just merrily contradict whatever Big Finish establish in the future, should it serve the TV series for them to do so, so it’s wise for Big Finish not to get too specific or tackle key events). This is still frustrating as fan, though, as questions of the Gallifreyan presidency; of Ace; of Omega; of the Master; and of the last-seen-in-another-universe Rassilon; are all ones that we’ve waited a long time for answers to. And if Big Finish can get a legend like Sir John Hurt on board with relative ease, then maybe they can ensnare Sir Derek Jacobi and/or Timothy Dalton too? I’d pay good money to hear Dalton reprise his role as Rassilon in a handover from Don Warrington, pipe-dream though it may be.

For now, though, the promise of more from the mercurial John Hurt and the innovative Nicholas Briggs is more than enough enticement to ensure the success of subsequent box sets. Just like Paul McGann before him, the silver-screen legend is using Big Finish to bring his incarnation of Gallifrey’s most infamous son into the same stratosphere as the better-known, full-time TV Doctors. But, of course, Hurt has an edge that his chronological predecessor didn’t: his War Doctor is unique, in attitude if not necessarily in deed, and his theatre isn’t one of adventure – it’s one of war.

Doctor Who: The War Doctor – Only the Monstrous is available to download from the Big Finish website for just £20.00 until 29th  February 2016, at which time the price will rise. If you are prepared to make an additional £1.50 postage contribution, select the ‘CD’ option instead of ‘Download’ to receive a magnificent four-CD box set in addition to the download.