Victory of the Doctor: The Last Stand of Miss Valarie Lockwood

"Everything that I had was taken."

Writer: Alfie Shaw

Format: Audio

Released: February 2024

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 6.03

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Valarie 

Synopsis 

R.I.P Valarie Lockwood, 6th October 5324 - 1st May 1893.

Verdict

The Last Stand of Miss Valarie Lockwood was an excellent episode to continue my way through the Victory of the Doctor sixth and seemingly finale series of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! For a penultimate episode this was really impressive and really did round out a lot of continuity that has been in place dating back to the Geronimo! third series, but first in the run for Valarie Lockwood as companion. As the title suggests, this would be her last stand and whilst she will obviously feature in the finale, the way she took matters into her own hands and found her way to Chicago and Hayden and ultimately her death was tremendous. There was a lot of emption at the start of this episode given how things finished in Daleks Victorious with Roanna losing her home, but the Doctor knew the stakes were a whole lot higher than that. There was some strong conversation and almost argument between the Doctor, Valarie and Roanna which was almost uncomfortable. It did a superb job in selling the threat of the New Paradigm Daleks and this series in particular just feels right in terms of Dalek continuity after Victory of the Daleks. I would argue the Daleks haven't really been utilised all that well since that episode which was amazingly fourteen years ago now, so to have them as such a prominent enemy here is brilliant. The Daleks should always be the biggest threat in Doctor Who and I love that this is how the New Paradigm are being presented here. This version of the Daleks never felt that way on screen so I'm delighted that Big Finish are giving us that opportunity here. The prospect of the Doctor ultimately defeating the Daleks and wiping them all out is intriguing as we know that doesn't happen as his next incarnation and beyond would encounter them, but maybe the New Paradigm will be? I'm very excited to hear what happens in that regard in the finale. But before we got there we had a great deal of setup! We finally got the answer regarding the mystery caller that's been following the Doctor and Valarie around on much of their travels, and I really enjoyed the similarities to The Big Bang in having a time machine explode in order to reset time. Except this time it wasn't the Doctor's TARDIS, but the return of Tim as the Dalek's own version! I liked how he initially called Valarie as her mother's contact in her phone and that's not something she was overly thrilled about. He wasn't exactly consoling of her either after Roanna was killed, but that was because he was offering to save her. And not just her but her mother and even the Doctor as well. The Time Lord's plan to trap the Daleks in a pocket universe by utilising the Archaeon device was good and I loved the emotion behind that decision. He would not let Valarie into the TARDIS because he knew she would try to come with him, but that couldn't happen as he would have to stay in the pocket universe with the Daleks in order to keep them there. No chance of survival. So Valarie's decision to essentially kill her own mother again was incredible and showed the trust she had in the Doctor. She went back to before Medruth was destroyed and Roanna was surviving, even showing through contact the Doctor what she had done. She met a version of herself and this would allow her now to go onto Chicago and keep the timelines intact, whilst her alternate past self would help the Doctor and Roanna go on and ultimately defeat the Daleks. At least that's the theory! Valarie's comments to the Doctor about the Daleks being defeated properly this time was brilliant. It was a fitting end for Valarie, who has been nothing short of incredible as a companion. Not for a long time has a character injected so much emotion into a story arc. This run has been superb and I look forward to hearing how it finishes! Overall, a fantastic listen. 

Rating: 9/10