He Who Fights With Monsters: The Horror

"You plot to overthrow a god."

Writer: Robert Valentine

Format: Audio

Released: December 2022

Series: The War Doctor Begins 4.03

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor is missing in action. As Gallifrey and Skaro face total destruction, Time Lord and Dalek forces converge on the realm of the Barber-Surgeon. From his junkyard fortress in a lost dimension, the renegade warmonger is about to create his ultimate weapon... Who or what can possibly stop him?

Verdict

The Horror was an outstanding episode to conclude the He Who Fights With Monsters fourth series of The War Doctor Begins! This really was everything I could have asked for and more to see out what has been a very strong boxset in a terrific little series. We really are exploring the toil of the Time War now and I think that's tremendous. We know the Eighth Doctor experienced a lot of the Time War from the outside and that so much had happened to drive him to the point in The Night of the Doctor where he regenerated into the warrior. Pondering on that here with the Barber-Surgeon was fascinating and I liked the prospect of the Doctor becoming the most feared warrior in the cosmos if he put his mind to it. Slowly but surely, the War Doctor was stripping away all that he used to be up to and including the name, but the Barber-Surgeon needed to know he was still the Doctor deep down. I don't think that's ever been in doubt and this spinoff range has confirmed that to me, but it was really good to explore and think about. It was mentally stimulating for the Doctor and entering the domain of the Barber-Surgeon threw up some wonderful treats. We never truly find out who he was and I think that's right given the ambiguity and insinuations that occurred throughout the episode. This wasn't the first meeting the Barber-Surgeon had with the Doctor and the reference to Doctor Who and the Daleks and how Ian crashed a car on Barnes Common for he and Barbara to meet the Time Lord was just magnificent. It's such a niche reference but I absolutely adore it. It happened somewhere! Everything is possible, especially in the Time War. The Barber-Surgeon foreshadowing the events of The Day of the Doctor was very good and I really liked how he had come to realise that the Time War could only be ended, not won. No side of the Daleks or Time Lords was going to stand victorious, and what would they even be left with if they did? I think the suggestion of the Doctor and the Barber-Surgeon being the same was intriguing and I could certainly buy into him being some kind of warped alternative version. It would add up and can easily be explained by the referenced damage to the multiverse caused by the Time War. The Barber-Surgeon referencing The Twin Dilemma and how he strangled a companion to death was brutal stuff and I also liked how at the end there were strong feelings of Logopolis with how the moment was prepared for. It was excellent stuff. The Unforgiving Minute as the final weapon was really good in its poetry, although I read things at the end as the final weapon actually being the Doctor. I do think the demise of the Dalek Time Strategist was a bit of shock but the conflict between him and the Dalek Emperor is brilliant. I love a battle for command! Using Special Weapons Daleks to exterminate the Strategist is more great stuff. The Dalek Hunter-Killer surviving The Abyss was a bit of a surprise, but he met his final end here in style. I loved the throwbacks to An Unearthly Child and The Daleks with the use of everlasting matches and the Daleks only paralysing, and who doesn't love any sort of return to Totter's Yard? I think it's a shame that everything done by the Barber-Surgeon is undone as he unmakes himself with the aid of the Doctor, but that does at least mean the Master survives! As always. Overall, a sublime conclusion to the series! 

Rating: 10/10