Fortunes of War

👍🏼(7.65) = Good!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

The third and final story in Justin Richards’ WWI trilogy takes us to the last days of the war and reunites the Doctor with Captain Steadman from Men of War and nurse Annie Grantham from Horrors of War as they unveil the sinister secrets behind the altered timeline and the missing soldiers once and for all.

In this story, Sixie travels alone, so Steadman and Annie serve as his companions. As they venture into the core of temporal disruption, they encounter a peculiar sight: dead soldiers from battles spanning the entirety of human history. It's like The War Games again, in a smaller format.

Interestingly, the story is told from the Doctor’s point of view; Colin Baker narrates as the Sixth Doctor, and the story unfolds through his eyes. Justin Richards portrays the softer and more considerate Six from the BF audios, providing him with some excellent opportunities to resolve conflicts through dialogue.

Kaxton tackles a central role here, and Baker gives him a distinct voice and captures his emotional turmoil.

An army of dead soldiers surrounds the Doctor and his friends in a very exciting sequence, paying off the build-up from the previous two stories.

The whole narrative is more contemplative and slower, as it leans on the emotional exploration of the events and their various consequences, especially the weight of not being able to save the doomed lives of the war. It keeps following the same themes and doesn't evolve.

The story reaches a stunning and poetic conclusion.