Time War: The Uncertain Shore

"Killing me will only aid the Daleks."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: April 2020

Series: Susan's War 1.02

Featuring: Susan

Synopsis

Susan and Commaner Veklin are on the trail of a spy. Under cover on a ravaged world, they find a weary population, trapped, and waiting for the inevitable. But one among them is a traitor. 

The Time War is coming to Florana, and Susan will face a struggle to simply survive...

Verdict

The Uncertain Shore was another great audio in my listening of the first series of Susan's War! Considering the Time War setting and it being part of the umbrella title that Big Finish has going on across numerous ranges, this felt relatively calm which was perhaps a tad unexpected! That's no bad thing though as there are only so many ways a battle with Daleks can be told as a story. This was clearly part of a long term agenda which I liked and it was good that Gallifrey had intel on a possible Dalek agent. Susan and Veklin heading to Florana was a fun dynamic, but I'm not sure who they were trying to convince when it came to them posing as artists! I did though love how this allowed a rather beautiful anecdote by Susan about her mother and how she taught her to paint. She appreciated the beauty in the abstract and the colours which was nice. I was more on Veklin's side from a personal point of view on art, but I can appreciate the desire others have for it. It was just wonderful though for Susan to reminisce on her time growing up and get just a small taste of family life for her prior to running off with the Doctor as depicted in The Name of the Doctor. I thought the world of Florana was really good and provided a strong setting for this kind of story. I'd describe the plot here as methodical and I almost felt bad with myself by the end in not realising that the Dalek agent would be a shapeshifter. It's not typically something you would expect but it made so much sense in hindsight, especially when there were two versions of Faith! I thought she was initially an intriguing character and I liked the prospect of her being a part of the Anti-Dalek Force. That's a nice throwback to expanded Dalek media that I can appreciate. Something I loved in the episode was having Ogrons doing the dirty work of the Daleks again, but only this time they were also robotised. Susan obviously has experience of seeing the Robomen from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but the caveat presented here with the Robogrons as they were magnificently dubbed was that the process actually made them intelligent! That was a terrific twist and it was quite something to hear the Ogrons talking in more than just grunts. I think they're a terrific species as it is and work great as rubbish henchmen, but this was a new dynamic and I appreciated that in the Time War. Veklin proving her credentials and she was who she said she was to Susan by name dropping her late son and his genetic make up felt a bit on the nose! But I guess there was immediately no doubting her. I thought she was also clever in faking her death with the respiratory bypass system and I am intrigued that Susan has such a relationship with her already that she could feel that she had apparently died. That seems a tad soon! The link back to Sphere of Influence was nice continuity with the timeframe and the journey had, and finding out that the Dalek agent was actually posing as Monty was very good. I thought it was fun for him to be filming events so his death came as a sudden surprise. It certainly carried impact! The Time Lords turning his footage into propaganda against the Daleks was another stark reminder of their wartime motives but this was actually something I completely understood. Returning to Gallifrey with Faith was good and the culprit being a Brancheerian was fun, especially when I did research after listening and found that they featured in the Eleventh Doctor comics in Doctor Who Adventures! Talk about niche. Rasmus having some big plans for Susan moving forward is exciting and sets us up very nicely for the next episode in the series! Overall, a very good audio adventure. 

Rating: 8/10