The Lady of Obsidian

"The Lady of Obsidian. I know her as Leela."

Writer: Andrew Smith
Format: Audio
Released: 23rd February 2017
Series: Casualties of War 02

Featuring: War Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

As a Dalek strike fleet heads to destroy another defenceless world, the Doctor seeks help from a shadowy guerrilla force. The Time War leaves many casualties in its wake, and inside the Obsidian Nebula the monstrous Unlived are held at bay only by the 'Lady' and her dwindling band of fighters.

The War Doctor soon finds himself at the Lady's mercy, and two old friends face new revelations...

Verdict

The Lady of Obsidian was an excellent audio story and a great continuation of the Casualties of War boxset. It was a really strong follow up to the opening adventure and it saw the War Doctor reunited with an old companion, a prospect I absolutely loved when it was announced and I am happy to say that the delivery did not disappoint. There was some good build up prior to the reunion of the Doctor and Leela and things seem to had advanced slightly on from Pretty Lies in terms of story development. The Doctor and Ollistra were on Grend and had already acquainted themselves with some locals. They let it be known that the Daleks would soon be striking and that obviously raised questions. The concept of the Lady of Obsidian was terrific and the Doctor's reaction when he saw just who that turned out to be was superb. He would soon be reunited with an old friend and maybe that will rekindle some of the Doctor inside of him. Despite the emotion behind being reunited with an old companion, the War Doctor was still very much noticeable as being very different to his other incarnations, past or future. Even with some of the Unlived still on the hull of the ship, he demanded that they take off. To this incarnation of the Doctor, it seems that life isn't all that matters and that is quite a scary contrast to the Time Lord that we all know. John Hurt was once again magnificent and it is such a shame that this turned out to be his penultimate performed story as the Doctor. He is truly magnificent and has more than cemented his place as an incarnation of the Doctor with these audio adventures. The moment the Doctor and Leela met face to face was wonderful and the emotion that accompanied it really was something special. Leela was dealing with a tormented memory thanks to a Dalek Destructor blast during the first days of the Time War and she was misplaced in time but gained all of the memories of all of her potential lives because of it. That is almost incomprehensible but Louise Jameson was simply incredible in portraying that. The prospect of her not remembering the Doctor was devastating but there were just so many lives that she knew. The talk of her children was rather sad but I did enjoy the references to The Face of Evil and The Invasion of Time when the Doctor was trying to convince her who he was and what that meant. The Obsidian Nebula was a good primary setting for the story and I liked the Dalek Strike Fleet's reaction to discovering that the Doctor was close to them. They obviously wanted to exterminate him but that has been easier said than done over the years. Rosata was a great character and I liked her relationship with the Doctor, whom she labelled as 'stowaway' which was a nice touch. Her demise was quite horrific but the Doctor greatly appreciated her efforts in stopping the Daleks. Skaul and the Unliving were quite an intriguing race with them being a species of potential but once the bridge to their possibility of living was closed they were eradicated. Leela entering the TARDIS and the time machine helping fix her memory was a great moment and I loved how Leela wanted to now stand and fight alongside the Doctor in defending Gallifrey. They had gotten their hands on the plans of the Daleks and it seemed that the Time Lord homeworld would be their next destination. The prospect of a story similar to The Apocalypse Element and the Daleks invading Gallifrey really does get me excited. I can't wait to hear that in the final story but for now this was another wonderful audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10