The Abyss

It’s always seemed clear to me that everyone wants me to find him. The Time Lords, the Daleks, even him.

The War Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor journeys towards his target through the ravages of the Time War, the trail leading him back into his own personal history. With the Daleks close behind and the mysterious Barber-Surgeon anticipating his every move, he comes to suspect that this is one mission he won’t be coming back from.

Review

The Abyss has the difficult task of having to keep up the momentum of The Mission, without really effectively wrapping anything up. It has to do a lot of exposition and build up tension to meeting the villainous Barber-Surgeon in the next part.

You taught me to put down my janis thorns and become something else. You could not have known that this war would make me pick up other weapons.

Leela

Robert Valentine does this with applomb though, keeping the ongoing narrative moving on, with the story not staying in one place for two long. This story jumps from Skaro to the Time Lord ship, the Eribus, to pre-historic Earth in the space of 50 minutes. We even have a cameo from Leela – well, if you’ve got Louise Jameson directing, you might as well use her! It’s a nice reminder that Leela is active in the Time War and that she has had to revert to using weaponry again due to the Time War. It all hangs together really well. Both the Time Lords and Daleks want the Barber-Surgeon’s Abominations, which are shown to be capable of nearly breaking through the shields around Skaro. Both sides continue to vie for the resources, information and technology to be able to gain the advantage in the Time War, highlighting that this is very much a pointless war wearing its way into a catastrophic stalemate.

The guest cast are solid here too. I particularly liked Narthex, played by Harry Kershaw, assigned to keep tabs on the Doctor by the High Council, and I was sorry to see him exterminated in this part. Jason Merrells embodies the Hunter-Killer’s threat well too. The Barber-Surgeon is not really present, although he is certainly staking his claim to villainy by murdering the Master. He is also hinted to be quite similar to the Doctor; his techniques and choice of Earth as a planet to hide away on certainly betrays that this could be a potential path the Doctor could take.

It is really Nicholas Briggs and the Daleks that shine through here. We have several different Daleks voices, from the softly spoken Strategist, via the robotic sounding Spider-Daleks, standard Daleks and the booming Emperor. I know that it’s mostly the ring modulator but Briggs does give each one a different approach which feels meticulous and different. There is Daleks infighting here, with the Strategist and the Emperor’s schemes being at opposite ends of the spectrum. This serves as a nice reminder of evil and, although the Daleks serve the same goal of becoming the only lifeform in the universe, they have different views on the best way to achieve their goals.

You will be exterminated.

Oh, very well then! But don’t just threaten me in the future tense – do it for once! Finally go on! It doesn’t matter any more, just do it if you must. Kill me! Kill me!

Dalek and the War Doctor

The story pushes the War Doctor near to breaking point, and Jonathon Carley does this really well. The Doctor is surrounded by death and destruction, including the death of his frenemy the Master, but also Narthex and the crew of the Eribus. I loved Carley’s performance when he is confronted with Daleks, especially when they identify him as the Doctor and him imploring them to finally follow through on their threats of extermination. I see a lot of commentary about the way the War Doctor is depicted in these audios and that his behaviour is not that different to both his previous and following incarnations. I’d beg to differ, as the Doctor normally would try and save as many people as possible, whilst on the Eribus, he recognises that the odds are staked against him. He makes the hard choices, rather than trying and failing to do a foolhardy thing. He is almost casually unaffected by the deaths and injuries around him; he does spare a thought for the crew of the Eribus, but equally, he takes the Daleks Hunter Killer’s arm weapon, stating that he won’t be needing it any more. This story does push the Doctor; showing him the involvement of Leela in the Time War, and the death of his TARDIS. Carley is great in both those scenes, and Jameson is good in her conversation with the War Doctor, with both moments giving Carley a chance to shine.

Verdict: The Abyss does a really good job of keeping the plot of this boxset moving. Carley and Nicholas Briggs shine. 8/10

Cast: Jonathon Carley (The War Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), Nicholas Le Provost (The Barber-Surgeon), Harry Kershaw (Narthex), Jason Merrells (Dalek Hunter-Killer) & Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks)

Writer: Robert Valentine

Director: Louise Jameson

Music and Sound: Howard Carter

Release Date: 13 December 2022

Cast Notes

• Jason Merrells also played Nikov in The Mission, another War Doctor story.

Best Quote

Commander, what’s the meaning of this?

The meaning, sir?

Scooping me out of space like a tadpole out of a duck pond!

Yes, they warned me you talked this way.

The War Doctor and Narthex

Previous War Doctor review: The Mission

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