Stories Audio Drama The Fifth Doctor Adventures The Fifth Doctor Adventures Episode: 1 2 The Edge of the War 1 image Overview Characters How to Listen Reviews 2 Statistics Quotes Overview Released Wednesday, April 5, 2023 Written by Jonathan Barnes Runtime 117 minutes Time Travel Past Location (Potential Spoilers!) France Synopsis France in the summer of 1936. The village of Villy is in a state of contentment, tinged only slightly with unease. A kilometre away, construction is underway on a large underground fortification, part of the Maginot Line project which has seen the building of a series of defences against future invasion. A young artist has arrived in the village to paint the landscape. Her name is Nyssa and she has taken a room in the local inn, run in its owner’s absence by a young Australian woman called Tegan. But she's not the only newcomer. A detective called the Doctor has just got in from Paris. And he has quite a mystery to solve... Listen Listened Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Characters Fifth Doctor Nyssa The Count Tegan Jovanka Show All Characters (4) How to listen to The Edge of the War: Big Finish Audio The Fifth Doctor Adventures: Conflicts of Interest Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 2 reviews 30 July 2024 · 219 words Review by thedefinitearticle63 Spoilers This review contains spoilers! This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order. Previous Story: Friendly Fire This is a decent story that could have been so much better. It suffers from not really knowing what to do, it starts off as a typical "amnesia" story where the main cast have arrived somewhere and don't know how they got there. I'm usually a fan of stories that start like that, and I was definitely hooked, but then the story just wastes time wandering about a quite English town. This is all thrown away because they almost immediately remember their lives and half the mystery set up in the first part disappears. This story just feels a bit confused and muddled, a real shame considering the potential it had at the start. There are quite a few bits I enjoyed though, the overall timey-wimeyness of the story was great and mixed with the pre-war setting made for a brilliantly tragic ending. Overall this story isn't bad per-se, but it could have been great considering how strongly it started. Still, with great performances and a cool soundtrack, it's not a bad experience, it's just not a great story. Next Story: Snakedance Like Liked 0 29 April 2024 · 333 words Review by CrashedOnDido The Edge of the War was written by Jonathan Barnes, who was responsible for a personal favourite Fifth Doctor audio of mine: Echo Chamber, so I went in happy to see him writing a full story for the range. Fortunately, this story is another good one. Set in a sleepy French village in the 1930s with World War II looming, it opens with a strong mystery as our heroes arrive at different, unclear intervals and you can't quite tell how much Tegan and Nyssa remember who they really are, or how aware each of them are about the nature of the town they've ended up in. The residents seem oddly insistent on their visitors staying long-term, and having them blend in with new lives, cast like characters in a play. The Doctor is a character initially conspicuous by his absence, arriving late into the first part as the plot is already well in motion, giving Tegan and Nyssa time to introduce the listener to this world through their perspective. The story is all the better for it, the two of them shine as does Matt Addis - playing the suspicious Jean-Baptiste - who is a standout in the guest cast. The story features a sort of romance between Tegan and a man from the village, something that pains my "Tyssa" shipping heart, subject to bias but I wasn't particularly fond of that element of the story. An unwanted distraction from the real core of the story even if a small one. Though I must admit, it ultimately pays off well. While it comes quite suddenly, the story features a real gut punch of an ending that does work quite well and the story really does satisfy. I do wish that it hung onto the idea of those in the village being cast in particular roles a little longer though, I particularly wish we got more of that with the central characters because that's what hooked me from the blurb. Like Liked 0 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating38 members 3.09 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating14 votes 3.25 / 5 Member Statistics Listened 60 Favourited 1 Reviewed 2 Saved 0 Skipped 0 Owned 3 Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote