Doctor Who: He Who Fights With Monsters

The War Doctor Begins #4

by Robert Valentine, Jonathan Carley (Performer )

The Doctor is no more. A warrior has joined the Time War between the Daleks and Gallifrey. But how far will he go? What lines will he cross? How much of himself will he sacrifice? The War Doctor has begun to find out who he is – and the consequence of fighting with monsters.

4.1 The Mission 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?

4.2 The Abyss The Doctor journeys towards his target through the ravages of the Time War, the trail leading him back into his own personal history. With the Daleks close behind and the mysterious Barber-Surgeon anticipating his every move, he comes to suspect that this is one mission he won't be coming back from.

4.3 The Horror 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?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction

Audiobook

First published December 13, 2022

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1 The Mission - Good start. Excellent start. I’m also happy to see only a single writer on this one, I’m expecting some good development and an excellent conclusion (4/5).

4.2 The Abyss - Daleks? Yep. Wait … Daleks with legs. Check! Spider-Daleks. Clearly the stuff of nightmares. Everything gets darker as the Warrior goes deeper into these plots and schemes within plots and schemes. Oh and the death of the Master. Whoa (4/5)!

4.3 The Horror - The Barber-Surgeon revealed! Meet D-9! The Death of the Warrior? “The Moment has been prepared for.” Oh my! Nope, not ominous foreshadowing at all! An excellent wrap-up to an excellent set and now I’m looking forward to another series with Jonathan Carley as the War Doctor (4/5).

[Jamie Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinly great!

Did not know what to expect from this and with the last 2 sets not being that great I wasn't super hopeful going into it, yet I loved this.

Loved the dilemma posed to the war doctor and the mystery and intrigue presented over this set. This set really does a lot for the war doctors character

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason why I wanted to get into this range is down to this set. When this was announced I was beyond excited and knowing it was going to be one epic story by Robert Valentine I knew I was in for a treat. But the completionist in me had to listen to the other sets first, which honestly I'm very glad I did because so far this has been a very underrated range that I think more should look into.

The Mission:
The Doctor is being sent on a dangerous mission by a group of Timelords, nobody but him can know about what he's up to, but this mistake may endanger the universe further. The Timelords and The Daleks are in terrible danger from a mysterious renegade who calls himself The Barber-Surgeon who intends to end The Time War, no matter what it takes. Unfortunately for The Doctor, he might be about to discover what becoming a monster is really like.

Wow, this opening story is an epic blockbuster, it really throws you into the deep end, establishing right from the start how bleak and desperate this grandiose story is going to be. It's intense, frightening, and action-packed with some really heartbreaking scenes where we get to see a few small moments where The Doctor's at his tipping point emotionally. Honestly, Jonathan Carley blew me away with his performance here, and I'm both excited and terrified to see what lies ahead for The Doctor on this journey. 10/10

The Abyss:
The Doctor is growing desperate as his life falls apart around him, it seems his last mission in this war will be to find The Barber-Surgeon and to dispose of him. But first, he must go through many trials and tribulations, those that may very well break his heart into making him give up.

This second installment really raises the tension of this set spectacularly, there are plenty of brilliant references and cameos in this story, some really sad and bleak. I have never seen any incarnation of The Doctor be this hopeless and honestly it's very unsettling and heartbreaking. 10/10

The Horror:
The Doctor is finally at the end of the road and in The Barber-Surgeon's dimension, now the two finally meet. The Timelords and Daleks are both advancing toward their end goal, but who will win, and if they don't how will the war end? The Doctor has to face up to his demons and his future.

This was an incredible conclusion to an amazing box set, filled to the brim with references, intriguing imagery, action, and plenty of heartfelt moments. Realizing The Barber-Surgeon's ultimate go with the foreshadowing towards the end is really haunting to me and definitely puts this Doctor on the road to becoming the man who ended the war. 10/10

Overall: 30/30

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
Verdict: Optional

It's unfortunately just OK. This story technically checks all the boxes I want from a time war story. Daleks, Time Lords, almost constant action which involves several fatalities, time meddling shenanigans, universe bending stakes etc. Unfortunately while that's all there, I feel the side characters are generic so I don't feel their loss, the running from set piece to set piece gives very little time for an actual story and mostly just results in setting up the final confrontation in the third act and talking of the third act, the resolution to that was always going to be disappointing, though to be fair it could have been much worse. I didn't find myself enjoying the fan service in the last section, it felt extremely forced and the Barber Surgeon felt both over explained and too vague. Can't recommend this but I can see people really enjoying this.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having now finished the series, this was pretty much the best release in the series so far.
It has an engaging exciting story, it challenges the Doctor as a character, it has some strong and distinct villains (and for one, the Dalek Hunter-Killer is just different enough so he does not add to my Dalek fatigue) and there are plenty of memorable scenes.
This might even be the most memorable War Doctor release yet! Yes, they do blur into one, at least for me.
I think it is especially well done with the character work for the Doctor- in this, he really is taking his first steps into becoming a monster. And Jonathan Carley rises to the challenge and gives an amazing performance- he does action scenes, he excels at torture and injury scenes and he even breaks down and weeps.
Stellar performance.

[Ollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best War Doctor set thus far for me. I think it helps by having one writer for the set and switching it up to have it be one big story as opposed to three stories that are linked. The quality is consistent throughout the episodes and I thought that the finale had some particularly good interactions between the Doctor and the Barber Surgeon, both Carley and Le Prevost giving excellent performances.

Individual rankings:

The Mission - 4/5
The Abyss - 4/5
The Horror - 5/5

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war doctor is recruited to fight a renegade evil time lord.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t believe it’s already been ten years since The War Doctor was introduced, and six months since I started listening to this range. The Barber-Surgeon makes for an interestingly mysterious character comparable to The War Doctor. There’s a question of whether he may be a future incarnation of The Doctor, but he claims to have never been The Doctor. Even so, the mention of a foggy memory and “missing episodes,” and saying “It’s not the end; the moment has been prepared for” makes him sound like he very well could have been The Doctor. There’s even a mention of “timeless progeny,” though I find it odd that The Doctor seems like he already knows something about that. In any case, the events that play out I guess kind of make for some wiggle room. It was great seeing The War Doctor still had the spark of hope and fondness of jelly babies, showing that he is in fact still The Doctor whether he wants to admit it or not. And it’s kind of funny how The Doctor is known for being a pacifist, but he clarifies that it was a lie he told himself, sort of hand waving away all the times he clearly wasn’t so pacifist.

[Garrett Emile · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first big finish audiobook. Really high quality, worth every cent. I found overwhelmingly good reviews for this one particularly of the war doctor series.
I thought all of the sections were great, I do have my issues with the execution of the war doctor’s character, but still it was amazing.