The Lords of Terror

"The Daleks will save us."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Audio

Released: July 2018

Series: The Eighth Doctor: Time War 2.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Bliss

Synopsis

When the Doctor takes Bliss to her home colony, they discover that the Time War has got there first. Bliss finds her world altered beyond recognition, and the population working to serve new masters. 

No dissent is allowed. The Daleks are coming. The planet must be ready to fight them.

Verdict

Have I Told You Lately? was an excellent start to the second series of Time War adventures for the Eighth Doctor! I think it's tremendous to have a whole host of adventures for the Eighth Doctor within the Time War as from The Night of the Doctor we know that it was not the War Doctor who was at its origins. It is what had driven that incarnation to exist in the first place and now we'll get a glimpse of events to drive him there. What happened in this adventure in particular would be a good starting point! I don't think it was quite drawn out enough how impactful this episode was for Bliss. Granted, I listened to the first boxset within this range some six years ago now as I've been doing some catching up on the entire Eighth Doctor Adventures, so my memory of her is a little rusty, but I love the description of her being an orphan of the Time War. That's so fitting for a companion! Bliss literally sees the destruction of her planet and not just physically but out of time and history. Her parents are not only dead but now they have never existed and it's all because of the Time Lords. That's quite the position to put a companion in considering the Doctor is a Time Lord himself! Hearing Tamasan alongside the Doctor in her new incarnation was good and I liked the continuity with The Conscript in having her now as a Major. The ranking system of Gallifrey is always something that intrigues me and she was keen to reiterate to the Doctor how he should now be addressing her. That was a fun dynamic. Tensions are definitely high on Gallifrey given the Time War, and Carvil was taking that to the extreme. His position in the Time War and what should be done was rather brutalist and wasn't something the Doctor was on board with. The use of Derilobia with no real regard for its people was horrifying and I think it's fun to assume that the title of the story will refer to the Daleks initially but that turns out to be far from the case. The use of Pollia as a Dalek agent was good and I loved hearing how she believed the Daleks were a force for good. They would save them! The appeal to Bliss obviously went on deaf ears and it's so fascinating to hear that at this point relatively early in the Time War the Doctor acknowledges that the Time Lords are just that little bit less evil than the Daleks. He'll reach a point by The Day of the Doctor where that isn't the case, but for now it's intriguing. He doesn't justify the actions of his race, but somewhat understands. Carvil challenging the Doctor and almost blaming him for the Time War being in existence because of his inaction in Genesis of the Daleks is excellent stuff! I don't think the Doctor would take that very well. He vehemently disagreed of course. I thought the twist with Carlin at the end in having his TARDIS sacrificed so the others could escape the Daleks was excellent and the symbiotic link with the time and space machine being it self destructed was quite the impactful ending! There was a lot going on here and from a personal perspective this served as a strong opener in reestablishing the Eighth Doctor's Time War adventures. Hearing the little scribble effect as time was rewritten was brilliant and the Doctor acknowledging that he couldn't do anything to save Bliss's planet with the Time War ongoing was a shock, but he would try his best when it was over. That's a long time from now! His desire to stray away from the battlefield is fantastic stuff as he tries to not get involved in the fight. I also think it's a slight shame that these sets of stories were intended for John Hurt in the further adventures of the War Doctor, but at least we're getting them in some form! Overall, a terrific start to the series! 

Rating: 9/10