Their Finest Hour

"We must fight."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: April 2018

Series: Eighth Doctor Adventures: Ravenous 1.01

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Liv

Synopsis

In the early days of the Second World War a strange and elusive craft attacks British targets. Could it be a German superweapon? Churchill calls for the Doctor's assistance and with the help of a squadron of Polish fighter pilots the TARDIS crew take to the skies to investigate.

Verdict

Their Finest Hour was a great start to the Ravenous series of Eighth Doctor Adventures! Whilst this was a really solid episode I was a little surprised with how calm things were given how Doom Coalition concluded and Helen going missing. Admittedly, the Doctor did start things by tracing the artron trail that would lead to his lost companion but he was quickly distracted by the TARDIS phone ringing which took me by surprise. I thought it was good fun for the Doctor to have given the phone number to Ringo Star at some point but on this occasion it was the infamous Winston Churchill on the other end. I loved the affection in which the Doctor kept referring to the wartime Prime Minister as Winnie although when they arrived in 1940 this was not exactly the incarnation of the Doctor that Churchill was anticipating. I think it’s great that this is the Eighth Doctor’s first meeting with the legendary figure and their strict policy on not talking about their previous encounters was entertaining as they weren’t quite meeting in the right order. I loved the continuity with Victory of the Daleks in how Churchill desired the TARDIS knowing that with it his side would be indomitable. It would obviously change the course of the Second World War as we know it and the Doctor couldn’t let something so historically significant be altered. I thought Liv had a really strong outing as the companion in this episode and her being from Kaldor meant she was unaware of Churchill and the PM was actually a little hurt by how unimpressed she was with him! Her take on the War was intriguing and I thought it was nice for her to touch on Molly as her experience and knowledge of Earth’s world wars. The mystery of the invisible rectangle in the skies was intriguing but it never felt like there was a huge threat. It was good to explore though and I quite liked what became of the Heliyon. Their race was fascinating and the idea of a world where when war was declared they simply found another where conflict had broken out and chose sides. That’s incredible! I think that’s a fantastic idea and more could have been made of that. It made the ending quite efficient with Liv simply warning that no action was required as the Heliyon authorities were involved because of the interference, but talk about a way to save planetary resources! I thought it was an excellent concept and something I’d love to explore more. What other wars have they taken sides in? Jan and Wilhelm were really good characters and I was a big fan of their disdain for the Nazis. I mean, as Polish people in 1940, they couldn’t exactly be blamed! They were very keen to do anything that would hurt the regime shirt or long term but the fate of Wilhelm became a hugely sour taste at the end of the episode. Liv didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye after everything they’d gone through with the Heliyon, but then they learned that he was killed in war shortly after returning. That sold the horrors of war in incredible style and Liv was audibly stunned. It was a powerful way to end the episode and I’m surprised that it seemed to instil some patience into Liv with her appreciating that they had a time machine so what was the rush in finding Helen? I’m very surprised by that attitude! Even if the Doctor was running TARDIS calculations throughout the story’s events. Regardless though, a very good little story to kick off another exciting series! 

Rating: 8/10