Infernal Devices: Legion of the Lost

"I wasn't supposed to be a soldier..."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: 22nd February 2016

Series: War Doctor Adventures 2.01

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis

In a time of war, every means of victory must be explored. In the Time War, the unthinkable must be thought, and neither side can afford to be squeamish about their methods. 

When the destruction of an obscene weapon leads to the Time Lord once known as the Doctor uncovering a secret Gallifreyan initiative, he cannot believe what is being considered.

Should victory be sought at any cost? Or are there worse possibilities than losing to the Daleks?

Verdict 

Legion of the Lost was an excellent start to the second batch of War Doctor audio adventures! I've been looking forward to starting Infernal Devices, the umbrella title of the second series of stories, ever since I purchased the set off eBay just under a fortnight ago. I was lucky enough to get it for £15.99 including postage so I saved myself a good fiver by waiting three months and buying elsewhere. I absolutely adore what Big Finish have done but I must admit, I never seem to buy audios off of their own site! It's just wonderful that John Hurt agreed to do these audios and I love how the Time War is being explored in such specific detail. It's clear that the Time War has been raging for a long time before these audios and Only the Monstrous gave us an insight into that. The first series was referenced nicely in this story but I do like how this second series is clearly going in a different direction. Cardinal Ollistra was still present but only at the story's conclusion to provide the cliffhanger leading into the next audio in this collection. I enjoyed the action packed beginning to this story and a smile did cross my face when I heard the militaristic composition of the Doctor Who theme. It really does give the War Doctor audios their own feel and that's exactly how things should be. The scenes on Vildar were excellent and I loved that the Varga plants were present in protecting the Annihilator. They have cropped up since first appearing in The Daleks' Master Plan but I loved how they were specifically targeted to Time Lord DNA. It was a pretty decent defence for their destructive weapon but the Doctor was determined to see that the Annihilator was destroyed. I thought Collis was a wonderful character and I liked how she filled that companion role amiably. The Doctor killing her, despite her willing sacrifice, showed just how different things are in War Doctor stories. It's brilliantly different and I love it. It's exactly what the Doctor isn't and that makes this stage of his life incredibly intriguing. I'm just delighted that it's getting explored as it absolute deserves it. Once the story shifted to Aldriss, it got very sour for the Doctor. He didn't get along with Shadovar at all and once he learned the truth about the Time Lord resurrections, the Doctor was keen to put a stop to it. And that's exactly what he did. I liked the Time Lord involvement with the Technomancers but the sacrificing of the Vildarians was done in horrific style. The Daleks had already wiped them from history with the Annihilator but Shadovar was sacrificing them after plucking them from the mightily interesting Non-Time. That concept was outstanding and I think it could yet play a role in future Time War stories. The Doctor's relationship with Co-ordinator Jarad was a highlight of the story and I also loved how the psychic paper was used by an incarnation of the Doctor that preceded the Ninth Doctor. I really loved Solex referring to the Doctor as the Renegade and I'd really like it if that caught on in the War Doctor audios of the future. The foreshadowing of the events of The Day of the Doctor and the reference to The Night of the Doctor were both brilliant. I really liked the ending with the Doctor putting a stop to the murder of the Vildarians by, fantastically, retrieving the Annihilator from Non-Time after originally turning it on itself by reversing the polarity. He used it on Shadovar after learning that the Horned Ones were a part of each Time Lord that was revived. That was a pretty frightening prospect but the Doctor stopped it in excellent style. I was surprised that the Daleks appeared as little as they did in the story but I thought that was rather fresh. It was nice to hear the War Doctor in a story with a different enemy, in this case Shadovar and the Horned Ones. Overall, a brilliant audio and a great start to the second collection and series of War Doctor audio adventures.

Rating: 9/10