"Every Time Lord must be a soldier now."
Writer: Phil Mulryne
Format: Audio
Released: 22nd February 2016
Series: War Doctor Adventures 2.02
Featuring: War Doctor
Synopsis
The Daleks are developing a secret weapon on Asteroid Theta 12. It is imperative that their plans are uncovered.
Cardinal Ollistra has her hands full studying the range of ancient and mysterious armaments the universe has to offer, but she makes it a personal mission to investigate the Dalek project.
On this dangerous assignment, there is one particular Time Lord she wants at her side - and he will be accompanying her whether he wants to or not.
Verdict
Legion of the Lost was a brilliant such adventure and continued Infernal Devices along very nicely. This second series of War Doctor audios seems to be rather different from Only the Monstrous as where that series followed on story by story, this seems to be more about a running theme of weaponry in the Time War. Now, the stories do follow on from each other but they seem to be standing more alone in this second series which wasn't really the case in the first. I'm fine with either direction as I'm just extremely grateful to Big Finish for providing us with performed stories for the War Doctor! These really are filling the gaps of the wilderness years and that's something I'm delighted about. Legion of the Lost was expectedly referenced and I liked how the story continued here where that left off. The Doctor was literally placed on a leash by Ollistra which was unexpected but I really enjoyed the predicament he was put in. He was helpless inside his own TARDIS. He must have been infuriated! The mission of the Time Lords, or particularly Ollistra, was fantastic and I loved the Trojan horse analogy in getting the TARDIS behind enemy lines and onto Asteroid Theta 12. The exploration of the asteroid was questionable from Ollistra with her sending Jarad and Solex out to see what faced them with the TARDIS scanner not working. Jarad died pretty quickly afterwards in horrific style after being eaten by a space worm. Once the Doctor and Ollistra headed out to see things for themselves, I loved the revelation that the tunnel they were exploring had been dug by the very same worm. But before that, the Doctor trying to interact with a ghostly species in the tunnel was very intriguing with the revelation that the shimmer field brought. It was of course the Daleks. That moment really put a smile on my face I must say. The idea of these Daleks being scientists was very good and I really enjoyed how their experiments weren't even known to high command in the Dalek ranks. The experiment itself though was outstanding. These Dalek scientists were trying to retro-evolve the Dalek species and revert back to the humanoid Kaleds! That was a pretty incredible concept and to hear a humanoid Dalek speaking was superb. It was in pain however and just wanted to die. So the experiments still had some way to go but thanks to the Doctor and Ollistra's intervention, there wouldn't be a seventh specimen. I enjoyed the diversion of the Tempest ship with Trelon and Valis providing the story with two great characters. I really loved the impact the Doctor had on the former's life and it was nice to know that the Doctor had even made huge differences in the lives of Time Lords by his exploration of the universe. The Doctor's talk of companions at the beginning of the story was of particular interest to me but I must admit I like how there hasn't really been a chance of the War Doctor having a companion in this series so far. That's how it should be. I mean, it worked wonderfully well with Cinder in Engines of War but I feel in the audios he should remain companionless. The references to The Myth Makers and Genesis of the Daleks were good and I liked the way the Doctor hid the fact that he had worked out what the Anima device's function was. It was a psychic weapon that turned allies into foes and Ollistra willingly used it on the Daleks which resulted in the scientific base and the high command squadron being destroyed. I wasn't sure why Solex sacrificed himself for the Doctor earlier on in the story but I did think it was brilliant that despite the Doctor revoking his name, deep down he was still the same person he's always been, whether he wants to admit it or not. Trelon sacrificing himself while Valis got away was valiant but I liked the somewhat comedic ending with the Doctor chucking Ollistra out of his TARDIS and leaving her on the asteroid. But she wasn't done tormenting him as she'd sent the TARDIS to its next destination already with the Dalek info input. Overall, a brilliant story and probably the best War Doctor audio so far!
Rating: 9/10
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