Fortunes of War

"The tides of time can't be turned back."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: September 2018

Series: BBC Audio 04

Featuring: Sixth Doctor

Synopsis 

"You've seen what happens, Mark. You know what time can do if it's damaged."

Travelling alone for once, the Sixth Doctor elects to return to Earth, and the First World War. There he must solve, once and for all, a mystery he unearthed in earlier incarnations. Someone has been interfering to alter the course of the war – but to what end?

With Captain Mark Steadman and Nurse Annie Grantham, the Doctor travels to a forest in Germany, on a cold morning in November. At the heart of the forest is a massive temporal disturbance, and there he will rendezvous with whoever is behind significant changes to the accepted history of the Great War.

But the forces of Time bring other entities to the meeting place: a terrifying, corporeal ghosts of soldiers from many centuries of battle. If the Doctor, Mark and Annie are to escape with their lives – and return history to its proper course – they will need help from unexpected quarters.

Verdict

Fortunes of War was another great story to conclude the trilogy of BBC Worldwide adventures marking the centenary anniversary of the First World War. This really did feel like an ending which was good and I liked that the War actually seemed to take something of a back step here as the Doctor was mopping up past errors and works around it. I thought it was tremendous to have Colin Baker narrating and actually telling the story in that way with the Sixth Doctor himself as the narrator was tremendous. It was a rare occasion where this incarnation was travelling alone, so it was finally time to put things right after delaying and putting it off for multiple lifetimes! He had to go back to the First World War now and put right what started going wrong way back in his first incarnation. I liked that he explained why he hadn’t done it until now because he didn’t want anyone else to have to see what he’d have to do. That was good in selling the extent of what was required in this story, although I do think there were other opportunities he could have done that! I mean, the Third Doctor was solo between having Jo and Sarah Jane as companions, as well as the Fourth Doctor being alone between Sarah Jane and Leela as companions. But alas, better late than never! Arriving in 1918 was good and I liked how this kind of book-ended the First World War and the trilogy of adventures. That was a nice touch, as was reuniting the Doctor with Annie and Steadman! The Red Cross hospital felt like the right place to catch up with old friends and it was good to get the two narrators of the previous stories back here in the companion role. That was a neat move. Moving the adventure to Germany was excellent and I think it’s great to explore other countries during this wartime setting. We may not know as much about it so it’s fun to explore. The hunt for Caxton was good and I liked that he was traced to a forest, and for Steadman he was rather surprised to find the significance of this man as a threat. He didn’t really have much of an impact in Men of War so he was a little shocked, whereas for Annie his role in Horrors of War was profound and we knew we’d be encountering him again. I thought the moment where Steadman was asking about Sara was such powerful stuff and left the Doctor pondering over the death of a companion, something that is a very rare occurrence. Him asking if she died well was intriguing and the Doctor was able to explain her sacrifice and how Brett would be very proud. I thought that was a tremendous moment. The use of flowers replacing bodies and in particular having poppies almost flourishing was delightful and a fine way to mark the centenary anniversary of the War’s conclusion. That somehow felt right so incorporating the poppy into this trilogy was nicely done. It presented a timely and powerful image. Caxton felt more desperate here and I was fascinated that he actually seemed like he wanted to stop the changes happening to history centring on the First World War. The Doctor’s description of Time as a force was excellent and I loved that it was described as being implacable and unchangeable. The Doctor’s appeal to Caxton about saving the lives was good and it was all rather easy to get him thinking in alignment. The explanation of how Caxton actually got to 1913 and would then go onto change the course of the War was good stuff and explained a lot of what had been happening over the course of this trilogy. The Doctor’s ability as a time sensitive thanks to being a Time Lord fitted in well with the temporal theme and the idea of him just nudging the War and history back on track was pretty fun. There being a rift that pulled different points in history that shouldn’t meet together was good and pretty logical, and the image of the ghosts being seen just actually being glimpses of what has been or what will come was great. That worked really well. The simplicity of the Doctor stopping Caxton from going to 1913 in the first place was good and I liked how that meant the war interference never happened in the first place. History was getting back on track and that was evident with Caxton fading. The Doctor getting to save both Steadman and Annie was wonderful though and they had new memories now of how they were saved. Overall, a terrific listen!

Rating: 8/10