I'll be honest, it's a little difficult to write these reviews separately for He Who Fights with Monsters because it really is suited to being judged as a single story. Collectively it's one of my favourite War Doctor stories and at the time of release (shortly before announcing further box sets), it really did seem like this was it for the War Doctor in Big Finish, this story had an air of finality to it and it would've made for quite the epic conclusion. The third and final chapter sees the Doctor imprisoned and tortured before going through his final tests that will lead him to a final confrontation with the Barber Surgeon, all while the Daleks and Time Lords amass their fleets for a sure to be massacre all to gain control of the Barber Surgeon's stronghold.

The best part of this story is easily Nicholas Le Prevost as the Barber Surgeon, he's such a captivating character that keeps hinting that he's more than what he appears, the story builds him up as this all powerful villain only to reveal that he's just as mortal as the Doctor and only did what he did to test the Doctor's resolve and know if he's ready to bring about the end of the war. The behind the scenes interviews talked about how this story is meant to be set later in the War Doctor's life and even towards the end of the war. Now I don't need to point to the obvious title of the series and the younger War Doctor to tell you that's a pretty dumb statement, but it does lend itself to that air of finality the story has. It is a story that feels worthy of John Hurt which Jonathan Carley excels at. Carley's performance in this and the set in general is probably his best work as the War Doctor, he really sells this being the end of a long and exhausting odyssey. The climax may be a bit disappointing for some people, if you were expecting an epic battle between the Doctor and the Barber Surgeon, trust me this story doesn't even attempt anything of the sort! And some of the more meta lines were a bit on the nose, I kept thinking if this were onscreen the Barber Surgeon would wink at the camera every few lines like Mrs Flood from the new series. But it's a great ending carried by two powerful performances from our leads.