The Edge of the War

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

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.