A Mother’s Love

Outside, I had to take care not to harm you. In here, you’re nothing more than a virus.

M.O.M

Synopsis

Responding to a distress call, the War Doctor arrives on Haven: a state-of-the-art Time Lord field hospital, operated by the highly advanced ‘Medbay Operation Mainframe’ – or M.O.M.

But the station has been compromised. M.O.M.’s secrets run deep, time is running out, and the War Doctor must renew some old alliances if everyone is to get out alive…

Review

Comrades-in-Arms sees the War Doctor reunited with the human-Dalek cyborg Case from the second The War Doctor Begins boxset. It felt like an unexpected return for the character when the story was announced, however, it’s not one that I am going to grumble about. Having the opportunity to give the War Doctor a companion fitting for the Time War, one that is at war with her own instincts at times.

First and foremost, A Mother’s Love is a story about getting the War Doctor and Case back together as a Doctor and companion team. It has a secondary narrative regarding M.O.M, an artificial intelligence running a Time Lord field hospital, the Haven. M.O.M has pretty simple instructions – to ensure that wounded Time Lords are returned to full health. Those instructions have been taken to the extreme by the A.I. though, as it takes it upon itself to keep them safe moving forwards by cryogenically freezing those restored Time Lords. That’s almost a logical leap – the way to keep them safe is to prevent them from returning to the brutality of the Time War. The mystery of why this field hospital is deserted when the War Doctor, Veklin and Case arrive is a compelling one, even if the resolution of the artificial intelligence being responsible is a bit of a trite story. Writer Noga Flaishon does a good job despite the almost generic nature of the story. It is certainly an entertaining story, otherwise.

Other than Beth Chalmers as Veklin, the story only features two guest cast members. Chalmers has appeared in various War Doctor audios, both opposite John Hurt and Jonathon Carley, so could be considered as a member of the recurring cast rather than a guest appearance. Veklin has a wonderfully spiky relationship with the Doctor, with their viewpoints on how to deal with situations invariably being polar opposites. This is demonstrated best with Veklin’s relationship with and attitude towards Case. As M.O.M. views her as a threat because of the Dalek technology she has had installed, Veklin is more than willing to abandon the cyborg and leave her in Haven rather than continue working with her. It shows that she views Case as disposable, whilst Case viewed her as a friend and colleague. We also have Georgia Mackenzie playing the Medbay Operation Mainframe, or M.O.M. for short, and the medbots. I did initially find that there were similarities between Mackenzie’s performance here and Abi Harris’ as the Roboguide in The Artist at the End of Time, which did make me think that it was the same actor, but maybe Big Finish have a standard template for that AI voice. We also have Tiegan Byrne as Runa, who is the daughter of the Time Lords tasked with ensuring the safe running of Haven. Byrne is good in this role and the character of Runa is central to the twist that her parents aren’t where she thought they were – her mother is dead and her father has been cryogenically frozen in the field hospital.

The Daleks made me to kill Time Lords and spread their rule throughout the universe. Now, I’m out there saving it! This is my choice.

I – I didn’t want your path to be covered in blood.

Like yours?

Yes.

Case and the War Doctor

Case is a unique companion who would only really work within the Time War. She has broken her Dalek programming and allied herself with the forces of Gallifrey and the War Room in order to do some good. The tragedy of the character is that Case believes that she has been accepted by the Time Lords, but is seen by her comrades as disposable. When Veklin plans to leave Haven without her, despite their unseen (or should that be unheard) adventures together, that abandonment really hits deep. That follows on the Doctor leaving her with no option after the events of Saviour. Ajjaz Awad conveys the truth of the character really well, and it is ultimately her resilience and strength that overthrows M.O.M., which sees a part of that intelligence installed within her.

You missed one very important thing: I’m really really stubborn.

Stop!

And no-one’s going to tell me my purpose – not the Daleks, not the Time Lords and definitely not you!

Case and M.O.M.

Jonathon Carley continues to honour the legacy of John Hurt as the War Doctor. He is really good in the scenes where he explains to Case why he didn’t want to take her with him initially. Whilst Case drives the story, the Doctor is there to back her up and assists her by building a rapport with Runa, allowing him to learn more about Haven. With the War Council sending in a Battle TARDIS to blow up the field hospital, this allows our characters to learn how to reset M.O.M., and ultimately save the lives of all cryogenically frozen within.

Verdict: Whilst the story might be generic, it does provide an effective reintroduction to Case as she starts her travels with the War Doctor. It would have been nice if the story had done something slightly more interesting with M.O.M., but it is an enjoyable hour. 7/10

Cast: Jonathon Carley (The War Doctor), Ajjaz Awad (Case), Beth Chalmers (Veklin), Georgia Mackenzie (M.O.M/Medibots) & Tiegan Byrne (Runa).

Writer: Noga Flaishon

Director: Barnaby Kay

Music and Sound: Howard Carter

Release Date: 16 May 2023

Best Quote

Have you ever been in a room where you knew for a fact that you weren’t wanted?

Once or twice.

Case and the War Doctor

Previous War Doctor review: The Horror

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