Time War: Sphere of Influence

"Welcome to the Time War."

Writer: Eddie Robson

Format: Audio

Released: April 2020

Series: Susan's War 1.01

Featuring: Susan, Ian

Synopsis

Susan's first mission is one of diplomacy. The Sense-Sphere could prove a valuable ally to Gallifrey. 

But she is not the only one who knows the Sensorites of old. Susan will have the support of an old friend. 

Ian Chesterton is about to rejoin the adventure he left a lifetime ago!

Verdict

Sphere of Influence was an excellent start to Susan's War! This has been a range that has long excited me and after getting up to date on Gallifrey, consuming a large chunk of the Eighth Doctor's Time War series, and dipping into The War Doctor Begins, this felt like a good time to finally get into things. It's a very exciting prospect and I like the timeline here of Susan deciding to take part in the Time War and fight for her planet at a time where the Doctor was very much not partaking. That worked really well and whilst her grandfather didn't appear in this episode, I feel like there's going to be some very strong emotions between them in the boxset. The impact of Lucie Miller/To the Death is still being felt as you might expect with Susan reeling from then loss of Alex and being alone. The continuity with All Hands on Deck was tremendous with that story seeing Susan board a Battle TARDIS and answer the call for conscription, and now here she was arriving. She was thrust into the action which I loved and the way this episode was almost like a Time War sequel to The Sensorites was quite something! They wouldn't be my first thought when it came to a Classic return, but I thought it worked well and why wouldn't the Time Lords want to weaponise their incredible telepathic skills? The reminder of that Season One serial was strong and profound with audio a really good format to highlight their incredibly sensitivity to sound. A very good job was done but I thought they could perhaps have done even more to extenuate that! The hierarchical system of the Sensorites being explored was great and I think it's wonderful that the Time Lords valued Susan and company's past venture to the Sense Sphere. So they brought Ian along for the trip! The idea of a reunion between Susan and Ian is just wonderful and I loved that they got to caught up decades after their respective departures in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Chase. I thought the way Barbara was made to feel a part of the story was just lovely and a really nice way to pay homage to her character with her being on the other end of the phone as Ian heard the TARDIS materialising in their home. Susan's joyous reaction to finding out her former schoolteachers were now a couple was great and their whole catching up was just wholesome. I liked that we had some familiar Gallifreyan faces in the form of Veklin and Rasmus, with the former shocking Ian with the true intentions of the Time Lords. They feigned safety and protection for the Sensorites but really their motives were entirely selfish. This was wartime after all. I thought Veklin falling under a Sensorite control was good and given the telepathic nature of the race, I liked the mystery of who could have done that unknown ensuing. The way fears were used as basically physical constructs was great and I loved that they could be called upon to defend yourself. I also loved the line about falling as far as the next thought. That seemed beautiful in their way of living even if it meant no privacy! But that was the price of being symbiotically linked to your planet. The First Elder being on a trade mission to the Ood Sphere was pretty amusing and felt like a nice little nod to Planet of the Ood. I liked how the Sensorites had history of defeating the Daleks with their telepathy, but now there was a giant creature that was part-Dalek and part-Sensorite causing havoc to the telephonic hive mind. It had been drip feeding evil intentions and this explained Veklin's predicament. Ian getting scientific and modern in using his phone to help emit a god awful alarm tone to disconnect the Sensorites from the trap was really well done. He was completely necessary to the mission! I thought that was good and it felt right that he was the one to get the job done. It's a shame he won't be sticking around, but what a lovely reunion. The idea of Ian rooting for the Time Lords was tremendous, especially after touching upon the fact that the Doctor didn't often mention his own people. Overall, an excellent start to the series! 

Rating: 9/10