Men of War

"My dreams were haunted by the faces of lost soldiers."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Audio

Released: May 2018

Series: BBC Audio 02

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Sara

Synopsis 

"The Battle of the Somme is the pivotal moment of this conflict... History hinges on it!"

It's the start of August 1916, and war is raging on the battlefields of France. In the front line trenches, British soldiers are vanishing without trace. Captain Mark Steadman witnesses one of his comrades being pulled down beneath the mud, and realises that something is terribly wrong.

When three civilians and a large blue box arrive on the scene, Steadman finds himself helping in their enquiries. The Doctor declares that something has gone wrong with the timeline of the War; the Battle of the Somme should have already begun, yet there is no sign of it. He demands an audience with Field Marshal Haig! A crater in no-man's land reveals the grisly horror of the the missing men's fate, and brings the Doctor and his friends into terrible danger. There are forces at work here which even he can't fully comprehend.

Verdict

Men of War was a really strong story to kick off this trilogy of war adventures from BBC Worldwide! I’ve been very excited for a long time to blog this trilogy and it started really well here. I thought Peter Purves made an instant impact with the narration as he’s just a really strong actor and whilst he wasn’t narrating as Steven, he was brilliant and really added a lot to the listener experience. Establishing that soldiers Peterson and Hodge had gone was intriguing and Steadman served as a strong character for the narrator point of view. I’m not usually a fan of unfamiliar characters telling the story from their perspective, but I thought he worked well! The description of the tendrils from within the trench emerging and dragging Michaels down was excellent and really helped establish the threat at hand. It was pretty eery. The arrival of the TARDIS trio was good stuff and I really enjoyed how Sara’s uniform was taken as being of the military. Her gender caused issues there though and she didn’t react too well to the outburst from Haig about women not being recruited for the military when she was a high ranking officer of the SSS herself. Steadman’s first impression of the Doctor as being an ant antithesis of war was fantastic and I liked how he could just feel the aura of the old man. The Doctor effect was very much in play! I loved the Doctor’s reaction when he found out that the date was 1 August 1916 as there was no sign of the Battle of the Somme which was of course rather problematic. The importance of the battle is not lost on me and a whole month where it should have been raging not actually happening was quite the interference with history. Steven’s unfamiliarity with the First World War felt a little odd but it was a good reminder of just when he came from. His allusion that nothing was worse than the Daleks was great and a healthy reminder that this story takes place during the events of The Daleks’ Master Plan. They were still on the run from the Daleks with the Doctor having the taranium core in his possession. That was really good stuff. The story from Sara about being part of a military organisation and respecting rank was so powerful as she described taking orders and killing her own brother. Brett was lost now and that wasn’t something she would forget easily, carrying that burden with her wherever she went. Haig wasn’t exactly welcoming of the Doctor and his companions which presented a fun dynamic but the Time Lord’s credentials being a letter from Churchill was rather fun! By this point in 1916 he didn’t have a place in office but when the credentials were given he was Home Secretary so the Doctor pounced on the authority given by the office rather than the man in that position. Brilliant. He was a special adviser given all access which felt like an approach that would come later than the First Doctor era, but I certainly welcomed it. The Battle of the Somme getting back on track thanks to the Doctor was decent and I thought Headman’s reaction to finding that the battle would last until November was palpable. It really showed what it was like to be caught up in the perspective of the war. The direction of the story moved well when they all fell below the crater and the search for the bodies was good stuff. Upon finding them though they weren’t quite what they seemed! The concept of the mud actually stripping the skin from them and leaving bones within uniforms not even remotely muddy was excellent and pretty eery. The mud being sentient was decent to play around with and I liked how it was linked with time energy seeping out due to the Somme not starting as history intended. The tendrils actually being a means of the web of time trying to heal was really well done and I loved the Doctor’s explanation of that web. The mud becoming inert as the soldiers were dying putting history back on course was intriguing, especially when not enough were dying to compete the reversion. The threat of even the Moon moving as the absorption threat rose was fantastic. The mud not knowing that the battle had started was good and I really liked how it couldn’t measure by the lives lost, only from the time taken from its victims. That meant it needed something old and the Doctor was the perfect person. The fact he was prepared to sacrifice himself was admirable and I loved how he pondered on not getting to regenerate and wondering what those future incarnations would be like. Talk about a sacrifice! The use of the taranium core in his pocket in absorbing the mud was very clever and outstanding continuity with the story placement. The allusion at the end of there being a British girl that actually stoped the Arch Duke from being killed at the start of the War was interesting and appears to set us up for what’s to come, with the First Doctor preoccupied by the Daleks they would find him if he’d stay too long. This would be a job for a future incarnation after all. Overall, an excellent listen!

Rating: 9/10