Spoilers

The Doctor and Layla investigate strange goings-on at a lighthouse…

The third box set of adventures for Jonathon Carley’s War Doctor starts off with a story that gives us something that seems impossible – an exploit for this incarnation of the Doctor which could be taking place at any time in the previous incarnations’ lifetimes. The Doctor is referred to – and refers to himself – as the Doctor, rather than eschewing the name; there’s a mystery to be solved, involving sudden death and peril, on the Doctor’s favourite planet. There’s a new companion who’s very much at home with the Doctor and knows this incarnation’s foibles…

It all seems too good to be true.

So of course it is.

We’re used to actors doubling up for roles in Big Finish stories, but there’s a meta element to Phil Mulryne’s script – not just are two of the key characters played by key actors in the War Doctor series, but a third is played by someone who was central to the Eighth Doctor’s regeneration into the War Doctor. The Doctor is involving them in his scenario, albeit in some cases with very different accents, as part of the warnings to himself (along with “Easter eggs’ within the story) but their fates still hurt him despite knowing their lack of substance – leading to some excellent work from Carley.

Louise Jameson gives the “fantasy” sequences the gloss of a more standard Doctor Who adventure but there’s a shift in tone as the Doctor realises what’s happening, and Howard Carter’s sound design helps create the necessary uneasy feel.

Verdict: A very different sort of tale for this incarnation. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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