He Who Fights With Monsters: The Mission

"Hello there, little Dalek."

Writer: Robert Valentine

Format: Audio

Released: December 2022

Series: The War Doctor Begins 4.01

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis

As the Time War takes a dark new turn, the War Doctor is tasked by the Time War Council with locating and assassinating a Gallifreyan renegade waging their own private campaign against both the Daleks and the Time Lords. Who is the mysterious Barber-Surgeon, and can the Doctor complete his mission without becoming all that he abhors?

Verdict

The Mission was an excellent start to the He Who Fights With Monsters fourth series of The War Doctor Begins! This looks to take different shape as a boxset in the fact that it has one writer and seems to be taking the course of basically a continuous story which is very exciting. I think more boxsets should go down this route because it really allows a writer to get to grips with a character and build something. The potential on offer with the War Doctor is exponential and I love the prospect of time locks around both Gallifrey and Skaro showing signs of cracking. That's a good way to highlight the scale of the Time War and it's fascinating that even with the War Doctor still relatively young as an incarnation, this is already labelled as the Last Great Time War. There can't and won't be another one following this and yet it will still last for a long time to come yet. That's pretty frightening to be honest! I liked how the General was on hand to foresee a time where the Time War came to an end thanks to both the Daleks and the Time Lords being wiped out, and whilst we know that is essentially correct, it wasn't the Doctor who was foreseen as bringing about that kind of end. Here that prophecy belonged to the Barber-Surgeon who without featuring much at all was a very intriguing character. He's something of a legend and the prospect of him being a Time Lord surprised even the Doctor. He knew of the Barber-Surgeon and it seems that everyone with anything to do with the Time War did too, but they didn't quite believe he was real. And yet here he was! I like the idea of building towards someone capable of ending the Time War and hearing how the Doctor will tackle that makes for a fascinating listen. I can't wait for them to encounter one another! Vellichor was a really strong character to essentially fill the companion gap for this episode and the fact that she wasn't a permanent traveller alongside the Doctor meant that she could die. That was a powerful moment and showed just how different and gruesome things can be in the Time War. It also showed how different the Doctor was because one of the first lines he says at the start of the audio is 'give me the gun'. That's very uncharacteristic even if he does immediately return it. I liked how he was willing to take on the mission of assassinating another Time Lord because whilst he wasn't exactly in good graces with the Time Lords, he seemed to trust their direction and he knew that if the Barber-Surgeon needed to be taken out, he was the only one he trusted to do it. I could understand that. Do the job yourself! The concept of the Dalek Hunter-Killer was really intriguing and gave some real humanised personality to a Dalek. The way it exterminated another Dalek to ensure the mission's secrecy was maintained was powerful stuff and I liked how it is almost playing with the Doctor in letting him get ahead whilst they followed. It's a clever tactic! The supply ship being named Bessie was a nice touch and whilst it was named after a planet, the Doctor remembered his old yellow car fondly. He needs gentle reminders like that at a time of conflict. So going back to Kembel counteracted that nicety very well. The Dalek Hunter-Killer taking things into its own hands at the end really highlighted its power amongst the Daleks and they seemed to cower in its presence which was something. The hunt for the Doctor is on and that's an exciting direction for the series moving forward. An excellent start to the series! 

Rating: 9/10