Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Paul McGann, Rakhee Thakrar, Jaqueline Pearce, Nicholas Briggs, Guy Adams, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Anya Ayola, Jon Culshaw, Victor McGuire, Julia McKenzie, Tania Rodrigues, Amanda Root, Simon Slater.
The Time War rages on, and The Doctor, free of being pressed into Galactic Service as a recruit, still finds his freedom to help where he can, the reluctant warrior in a senseless never-ending war, curtailed by the machinations of the evil on both sides; be it the Daleks or the Timelords, the war between them is bringing destruction to a wider scope of existence…and at the very basis of life they both show how little they care for the innocent casualty, for the races that scream in horror as they are erased or slaughtered in the name of victory.
It should be a stated fact that the long-term devotee of Doctor Who will acknowledge that Paul McGann’s incarnation of the time traveller in the magnificent blue box is one that not only needs to be celebrated, but studied intently on how character development can be achieved in the face of the overwhelming understanding that time has moved them onwards, that time is the only winner in a long protracted war against ourselves.
Doctor Who: Time War 2 marches on with so much conviction that the listener can almost feel the drama being unwrapped slowly, piece by piece, the paper being lit on fire and causing an ignition, a pulse that envelops all and threatens to bring to a conclusion the fate offered by Big Finish that defies the knowledge and expectation of the fan.
The Time War was arguably one of the great inventions of the television age when the show was restored to the viewing public, it offered a reason of meta proportions to why the Doctor had been missing from human events for such a period of time. In effect it created its own lore, the explanation, a small line that regarded the effects of the B.B.C.s decision to effectively cancel the long running institution.
To directly focus on the ongoing narrative that would eventually lead to the eighth incarnation of the Doctor to that of the man forged in fire and anger is one that truly captures the imagination, and whilst the fan has known of this for over a decade, it still bares scrutiny and enjoyment to see it slowly take place.
Across the four tales by Jonathan Morris, Guy Adams, and Timothy X Atack, the events in the boot camps run by the sadistic generals of Gallifrey take a turn for the worse as The Doctor and his latest companion, Bliss, are pushed to even greater sense of danger and jeopardy as the foes from Skaro finally get their hands on their greatest enemy, and the doctor comes face to face with one he has fought and clashed with in various stories over the last few years, the insanity of The Eleven, now in her a 12th incarnation and portrayed by the immaculate Julia McKenzie.
From the heartbreak of The Lords Of Terror, the sense of physical change to be felt in Planet of the Ogrons, the dichotomy of going from boot camp to prison camp In The Garden Of Death that is well observed, and the confinement encapsulated in Jonah, the second set of tales that thrusts the listener into the vision of war at its most surreal and terrifying is fantastically portrayed, and with genuinely pleasurable performances by the likes of Jon Culshaw, Rakhee Thakrar, Victor McGuire, and Nikki Amuka-Bird underlining the immersive relationship between prisoner and guard, so the listener is taken through a sense of emotional grace.
A terrific set of tales, a vision of war and just how destructive it is to those who never even realise they are involved.
Ian D. Hall