In Name Only

"Their ancient foes once invaded this world."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: April 2024

Series: Sontarans vs Rutans 1.04

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis

In the depths of the Time War, a Rutan attack on a Time Lord facility leads to Gallifrey declaring a vicious reprisal. But not all Time Lords support the action. One thinks there's more to the situation than meets the eye. And this Time Lord... was once called the Doctor.

Verdict

In Name Only was a very strong story to conclude what has been a terrific little Sontarans vs Rutans bonus series! I was very excited by this release when it was first announced to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of The Time Warrior in having the Sontarans debut and the Rutans mentioned. So to take their conflict into the midst of the Time War was very exciting! I think things did a little clunky and complicated when it came to the whole Rutans disguised as Sontarans and vice versa following on from the excellent Born to Die, but as a whole this was definitely an episode that delivered. The way things linked up with The Battle of Giant's Causeway in particular in terms of continuity was terrific and I thought it was fun to explain that the Sontarans encountered there were casualties displaced from time, a time that nearly was wiped out. The scale of the threat within the Time War was fantastic and I like how this setting can be used to play around a little. What might ordinarily be difficult or even impossible was more than plausible in a Time War. A paradox within a paradox? No problems in pulling that off. Blaxill was a strong character as the lead Time Lord for the story so I was thrilled when her true identity was revealed. She was disguised all along! That was a fun twist but one I should have seen coming really! The return of Skole was a nice touch all these years later relatively speaking and the lack of knowledge at Sontaran High Command regarding what had happened with the Rutan-Sontaran hybrids was shocking, but the Doctor was happy to get an explanation for why the Sontarans also perished in the aforementioned series opener. They were part Rutan so of course they would be wiped out too. It was nice to tie up a lot of loose ends here whilst also providing a really strong story from start to finish. I believe this is my first full length story to hear Jonathan Carley taking on the War Doctor role and I must say I was very impressed. He really delivers that raspiness associated with the incarnation and the fact this is a younger version of the grizzly veteran we see in The Day of the Doctor is a big help. He's obviously going to sound different! A stellar job. I look forward to exploring his War Doctor range in the future. Skole's relationship with the Doctor here was admirable and I was a little saddened by his passing at the end. Things got a little crazed but he was a rare Sontaran keeping his cool and thinking logically, whereas Blaxill was intending on wiping out the Sontaran race if it meant doing the same to the Rutan Host and taking them out as well. A glorious and honourable death. I thought it was fun for the Doctor to not correct his former moniker being used to identify him as a way of him being a Rutan as well, that was a really neat touch and a good use of this incarnation refusing to take the name of Doctor. Things got action packed by the end as the Sontarans tried to enter the Time War, and the very concept of them enlisting the Time Lords to wipe the Rutans from history without the Gallifreyans even realising was audacious! I couldn't fault the plan. It was some effort! The Doctor had foreknowledge chronologically speaking though and was quick to ensure the loop was broken and set time on somethign of a normal course. He wanted accreditation for Skole at the end which was lovely, but with him now never having existed it was going to be difficult. That saddened the Doctor which was nice to see, especially in this incarnation. Overall, a really strong listen! 

Rating: 8/10