Agents of Chaos: The Eternity Cage

"Wherever there is war, Sontarans belong."

Writer: Andrew Smith

Format: Audio

Released: 6th October 2016

Series: War Doctor Adventures 3.02

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis 

Sontarans are the ultimate warriors - so they believe - and the Time War the ultimate conflict. Denied glory by Skaro and Gallifrey alike, General Fesk of the Eighth Sontaran Battle Fleet employs a dangerous strategy to draw both sides to the planet Rovidia and prove his forces worthy...

Meanwhile, the War Doctor leads a rescue mission, aided by Rovidian street-urchin Kalan. Neither Daleks nor Time Lords expect the Sontarans to be so fearsome a foe, until they uncover the secret of the Eternity Cage.

Verdict 

The Eternity Cage was another outstanding audio adventure in the Agents of Chaos boxset and I think it's already fair to say that this could be the best boxset yet to feature the War Doctor! Following on from an incredible story I thought this would do well to match it but given the ingredients I was quietly confident that it would. However, it actually exceeded it and for the third consecutive story to feature the incarnation, I have a new all time favourite War Doctor audio adventure. The quality just keeps on increasing and if that continues I'll be more than happy! I just love the cover of this story and it was brilliant to see the Sontarans trying to get themselves involved in the Time War. They really were bred for war and although they didn't understand the concept behind the war being fought on a temporal front, it was the finest war in existence and they wanted in. It was refreshing to hear the War Doctor come up against a familiar foe that wasn't the Daleks and I was particularly pleased because the Sontarans are one of my all time favourite enemies. I love how they don't fear death and just live the war. They didn't really know what they were getting themselves into here but they were doing everything they could to get involved. They were revealed to be the culprits behind Cardinal Ollistra's kidnapping at the end of The Shadow Vortex and I thought it was great that they were using her as bait for both sides of the Time War - Daleks and Time Lords. It appeared that they proposed an alliance with both fronts but neither was willing to accept. The Daleks wouldn't be seen as needing an ally and the Time Lords would not allow Sontarans into a temporal war. General Fesk was superb and I thought Dan Starkey gave another wonderful performance as a Sontaran. Rovidia was a good setting and I liked how Fesk had lured both the Doctor and the Dalek Time Strategist to the planet. I absolutely loved the plan of the Sontarans to literally use Ollistra as bait and get provocation from the Daleks and Time Lords and open up a third front in the Time War. The events of this story seem to have been referenced by General Staal in The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky which was brilliant because it was really seen here that the Sontarans were not allowed to take part. I thought it was intriguing that the design of the Sontarans represented that of the new era but I'm happy with the choice I must say. Muren was a good character and I liked that we also heard a lot more from Heleyna after her brief appearance in the previous audio. The moment she was revealed as the traitor amongst the ranks was excellent and I was glad that I only suspected it a couple of minutes before the reveal. It really was terrific. The concept behind the Eternity Cage was quite disturbing with the Time Lord Vassarian trapped in a stasis field at the moment of regeneration. The Sontarans were harnessing the continuous artron energy that the regeneration was producing but things weren't exactly as they thought. Vassarian was conscious and whilst exhausting his regenerative cycle, he was in control of the Sontarans supposed time weaponry. The corridors that they'd used to render the Daleks weaponless and wipe out some Gallifreyans on the climb could easily be taken away. And that's what happened, the Sontarans were denied their place in the Time War and the Doctor refuted that they didn't even get close to being apart of it. The cliffhanger finish leading into the next story was sublime with Heleyna seemingly chucking the Doctor out of the Battle TARDIS and to his death. I'm intrigued to see how this boxset concludes, but for now this was incredible. One of my very favourites!

Rating: 10/10