An impossible person fighting against insurmountable odds – but has he achieved the seemingly unachievable?

This is one of those audios that I suspect you’re going to want to listen to a couple of times to understand the nuances, and to get your head around all the timey-wimey elements. We’ve seen changes made to individuals’ timelines, even that of all planets, but this escalates things to a different level, and will make you reassess a lot of what’s come before.

John Dorney presents us with a Valeyard who can’t remember that that’s who he is – and a Valeyard with that degree of amnesia unsurprisingly believes he is the Doctor, and acts in a way (or tries to) that lives up to that name. It makes for an intriguing contrast with both the Eighth and the War Doctors (and indeed, to an extent to Peter Capaldi’s incarnation with his obsession on whether he’s a good man in his first season). Michael Jayston is given multiple challenges in this script, and there are clues in his performance(s) that foreshadow what we learn in the climactic scenes.

I don’t envy Lance Parkin and Lars Pearson when they try to chronicle the Time War for AHistory 5 – all of history can potentially be retconned, and you need to keep your wits about you as you listen to this.

Verdict: A great guest star turn from Michael Jayston brings this strong third set to a close. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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