Casualties of Time

"History is waiting for me to make it."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: August 2016

Series: Fourth Doctor Adventures 5.08

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II, K9 

Synopsis 

The TARDIS crew have unknowingly become embroiled in a web of deceit. A trap has been laid across time and they have no possible means of escape. Destiny has ensnared them.

The Doctor is finally getting the chance to see the Conglomerate's work at first-hand. Romana is working to save the alien Laan once and for all. K9 is returning to Ancient Britain in search of an unusual power source.

The Doctor, Romana and K9.

Today one of them will die.

Verdict 

Casualties of Time was a very strong finale to round the out story already started in The Pursuit of History and the fifth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures as a whole! This really did finish things up nicely and whilst it perhaps didn’t have the high stakes feel or action of a series finale, it did a really good job in concluding Cuthbert’s story. He turned out to just be a pawn of the Black Guardian which was very fun and added even more credence to him as a godly villain, but I really wasn’t expecting Cuthbert to be an entire contraption and trap for the Doctor. It was fun to think that the Black Guardian always had tabs on the Doctor and Romana despite their efforts to avert him with the randomiser, but he was always watching. I liked that a lot and it was wonderful to hear David Troughton take on the role. He did so very well and whilst the Guardian himself didn’t feature in huge proportions, that booming presence was certainly evident. It’s also necessary as having him return is not something to be taken lightly. It’s a shame we didn’t get more to the White Guardian to combat him as that’s a battle on such a grand scale that I enjoy exploring, but it was nice to get the moment in the TARDIS at the end where he confirmed his involvement. I thought Cuthbert’s continued menacing across the timeline was terrific and going as far back as the Iron Age was an unexpected treat. Exploring history is good and whilst we didn’t really delve into the sixth century BC, it was fun to get a fleeting visit. The idea of the scale of sourcing the tritonium was strong and I liked the efforts going to create the Conglomerate that would prove so pivotal to much of history in the business world. That being a paradox was tremendous and I liked how the Black Guardian tackled the morals of the Doctor as despite it being what he wanted in order to create chaos, he knew the Doctor would have to stop it. I thought it was really fun to play with the idea of Cuthbert being a free man once the influence of the Black Guardian was removed, and it was nice for him to instruct Dorrick to help the Doctor when he transferred himself into the time engine but it went wrong at the critical moment. The link back to the bird in the TARDIS housing a copy of the Doctor’s mind was good continuity with the opener but a little silly for my liking. It was a very quick resolution to an idea that was actually excellent. If the cliffhanger was something like the Doctor’s whole mind being extracted rather than copied then I’d have enjoyed it a lot more and it would have a much stronger impact. With it coming in the last five minutes or so, a quick resolution was always expected. The meeting between Cuthbert and Romana was very fun with the former mocking the latter’s name as Ro-moaner and I was surprised how he just commented how nice it was that she’d regenerated since their last meeting. The disregard for life from both Cuthbert and the Black Guardian was strong throughout and they particularly weren’t bothered about small scale casualties. History was full of them after all. Overall, a great finale!

Rating: 8/10