The Time War returns with the second series of Eighth Doctor stories set during the universe-altering period. These first two stories are entirely stand alone, with the first one being quite dark and dramatic, and the second being quite campy and fun (while still being the Time War, so not all laughs, obviously…) It’s a good double bill, so let’s look at them a bit more deeply, shall we?
While the first two parts of Ravenous 1 were pretty much standalone, the second half of the set is a two-parter, clearing a few lingering things from Doom Coalition before setting the foundations for this series going forward. It features the return of crazy rouge Time Lord The Eleven, but also features the return of Z-list villain The Kandyman, though not as an evil Bertie Bassett this time. Does it all work?! Well, let’s find out, shall we?
When the Doom Coalition series of boxes ended with a cliffhanger, many were left confused as the 8th Doctor Time War sets soon began their run… Thankfully, a new series of boxes titled “Ravenous” was soon announced as being the continuation of the Dark Eyes-Doom Coalition story strand. So how does it start? Oddly, it starts completely in isolation, the first two parts being more like throwaway stories from the old Eighth Doctor Adventures range of one-hour tales, but I enjoyed them a lot, so it worked for me! After all the arc heavy stories and Time Wars it’s nice to hear Paul McGann in a somewhat normal environment again (normal for Doctor Who anyway!) So let’s take a look at the first two parts of “Ravenous 1”, shall we?
When the big 50th Anniversary stuff was going on in fandom, I kept hearing rumours of an Eighth Doctor regeneration, and I refused to believe it. I wanted it so much, but was resigned to the thought that it would most likely one day happen on a Big Finish audio release. Then, all of a sudden, this minisode was released, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! Paul McGann was back playing The Doctor, and even though it only lasts 7 minutes, it’s a glorious 7 minutes! Let’s take a good look!
“Doctor Who”, “The TV Movie”, “The Enemy Within”, whatever you want to call it, “the Movie” featuring the Seventh Doctor regenerating into the Eighth is a… interesting and unique look at the franchise at a time it was all but dead. I actually quite like it, but then I’m a big fan of Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor audio dramas, so it’s just nice to see him visually in the role. As this features the Seventh Doctor so much I couldn’t skip it for the Regeneration Marathon, which means I’ll have to come up with something else for the Eighth Doctor next year when I do a “first stories” marathon… ANYWAY, with all that being said, let’s take a look at the TV Movie…
The first box (or Series, sorry…) of The Time War comes to a close with “The Conscript” and “One Life”, two very different stories, but both equally great. I had my doubts due to the up and down nature of the War Doctor boxsets, but these four stories have been a triumph, both in terms of the storylines and in actually using the Time aspect of the war so well. So let’s take a closer look at Parts 3 and 4 then, shall we?
Well what do you know? A Time War story that actually has time-altering jeopardy instead of just Daleks and Time Lords shooting at each other! This is what I was hoping given this series (of series!) is set during the opening stages of the war, where Time Travel was the weapon of choice rather than on-ground combat, as it was during the War Doctor’s boxsets. So let’s look at the first half of the first set, containing “The Starship Theseus” and “Echoes of War”, shall we?
Classic Doctors, New Monsters Vol.2 comes to a close with the Eighth Doctor still avoiding the Time War, but ending up in a space station full of Vashta Nerada! It’s kind of a shame that my first McGann audio is this far into his life, there are so many great audios with him that have appeared over the last decade and a bit to cover for the blog! ANYWAY, this is a good little survival horror story with some nice ties to both the Time War and the War Doctor audios. Let’s take a closer look!
Hogan Reviews 