3.1 - The Shadow Vortex

Listening through The Shadow Vortex it's easy to see it as the weakest story in the range to date. The plot is a little shallow and features the Doctor trying to singlehandedly prevent Earth from being invaded and dragged into the Time War. The backdrop of the Cold War has been done better in other audios and the defector storyline doesn't do much to parallel the Time War or the main plot. A better metaphor of mutually assured destruction seems like it could have been a better fit with the same setting. As the story was winding down I was ready to chalk the whole thing up as a dud that was barely salvaged from mediocrity by a solid performance by Hurt. Then the clever bit came on and the ending turned out to be interesting enough to justify a rather bland ride. Add in that there are some subtle thematic seeds planted for the following 2 stories in the set and relisting to the story is even more satisfying. It's still not the strongest episode in the range but it doesn't lower the bar much.

The War Doctor is on the trail of a timelord turned Dalek agent Lara, he own hate and anger as turned her to assisting the Daleks, in their attempt to take over the planet Earth. It is down to the Doctor, ordered by High Command of the Timelords to attempt to stop her. This leads the Doctor to being, arrested by the Starzi along with Lara, and thrown in a Eastern German prison. All the jail cells in Eastern Germany don’t stop Lara and she is soon escaped over the wall and convincing the Allied armies to allow her to modify their ultra secret work. To allow the Shadow Vortex to be implemented and then once this is switched on her Dalek masters can invade Earth. The Doctor as you can imagine is on the trail so that he can stop this from happening. I do like the manner in which the pace of this almost races along, giving the story a lot of fluidity Well John Hurt rolls out another instalment of the War Doctor for us, that, incarnation that we only came to learn about due to the 50th anniversary and the tenure of Moffet at the Beeb. Is he a really a Doctor and is he really part of the established canon of the Doctor well I think it safe to say that by the work of Big Finish that he is, and that he is a fully paid up member of the whole Who Family. This story is not the most powerful or indeed the most complex, and for that matter it means that the listener perhaps does not need the knowledge of the more established Big Finish fan, I for one see this as an important part of the Big Finish marketing strategy of grabbing more customers to their fold.I don't blame them making a more accessible drama , audio can be a difficult format for many to adopt and readily consume so doing this is both good for the Who continuation and also for the expansion of the markets perhaps allowing them to indulge the more ardent and hardcore fan with something a lot more "meaty". That said and done this is a excellent first part with some nice setup for the following stories in the release.

Not as good as the previous instalments of The War Doctor series, just an average Earth in danger story.

The War Doctor travels to Cold War Berlin to stop a human Dalek Agent determined to facilitate a Dalek destruction of Earth. It's got a great sense of its setting and captures it brilliantly. It the shortest story in the box set, clocking in at fifty-five minutes but uses them nearly flawlessly and create a very pacey energetic story that finds the Doctor racing against time with the help of his temporary companion, a member of the East German Secret Police. The character is written three dimensionally and for any other Doctor, it'd immediately suggest he'd make a good companion, though this story explains why and how Earth was left out of the Time War and why the Dalek Time Strategist once Earth in.

Overall, this is a smashing start to the box set with superb characters, great action, and a thrilling ending worthy of the Time War.