dwtwd0403_theenigmadimension_1417The Doctor, Ollistra and Leela return to Gallifrey – but something surrounds the planet. Is this the Daleks’ great stratagem?

And so we reach the end of the road for John Hurt’s War Doctor, and his swansong is a terrific piece of writing and acting, with Nick Briggs providing Hurt, Jacqueline Pearce’s Ollistra, Louise Jameson’s Leela and his own various Daleks with plenty of dramatic material. Amidst the many revelations, there’s time for reflection and, in particular, for Leela to hold up a mirror to the man she has known through so many lives, and there are multiple twists that ensure you’re listening keenly.

As you might expect, Briggs layers in various elements that will come to fruition in The Day of the Doctor, but doesn’t try to suggest that this leads directly into that story – there could easily be many years of adventures to come, and I really hope that we might get some Companion Chronicles set during this period, narrated either by Pearce or Jameson. (What do you mean, Ollistra isn’t a companion? People have been counted as such with far less basis!)

John Hurt apparently asked when he was at the reception to mark the 50th anniversary if he counted as a proper Doctor – well, if his performance in The Day of the Doctor didn’t convince, then his portrayal of the forgotten incarnation in this series of audios would cement his place in the pantheon. He runs the gamut of emotions in this story alone, and we owe the Big Finish team a great deal for producing a further dozen adventures that allowed him to bring his talents to bear.

Verdict: A fitting capstone to the War Doctor’s audio career. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Casualties of War is now available from http://www.bigfinish.comdwtwd04_casualtiesofwar_1417sq