It’s shit but good

Doctor Who – Doctor of War: Destiny

#2.03. The Key to Key to Time ~ 10/10

◆ An Introduction

It’s probably an understatement to say that I haven’t enjoyed ‘Doctor of War’. I genuinely think I would get more enjoyment out of sticking my head under a hydraulic press and being forced to play through Tiberian Twilight, whilst a man force-feeds me rancid yoghurt! But I can rest easy now that we have reached the conclusion. I’m sure that those of you with similar views to me on this series will be expecting another slice of dreadful writing… but Tim Foley is going to pleasantly surprise you!

◆ Publisher’s Summary

As battle continues to rage across the history of the cosmos, the White Guardian opts to provide the Warrior with a way out... located at the end of a dangerous quest, with an even more dangerous companion. But can a Time War ever truly end?

◆ The Warrior

For the first time in the ‘Doctor of War’ spin-off series, I actually feel like I’m listening to Colin Baker doing what he does best… and that is giving us a terrific performance. It’s a shame it took so long, but I’m just glad he got some good material in ‘The Key to Key to Time’.

The only person the Warrior trusts in this cacophony of chaos is himself, though it is inadvisable to trust even himself all of the time. He has told himself on multiple occasions that the Time War is ending. When the White Guardian tells him that her chair is woven from infinity, he is shocked she doesn’t have the Big Bang as her footstool! He is described by the Guardian as an aberration; a deviant of the timeline. He travels alone these days, it’s better that way.

◆ Davros (The Warrior’s Universe)

‘The Key to Key To Time’ reunites us with one of my favourite villain actors in the history of the franchise, who is coincidentally the first actor I actually met at a convention. Terry Molloy absolutely nails his performance here, and it makes me wonder what this series would have been like had he been in it from the beginning.

Davros’ first instinct is to kill the Warrior, and he could do so with the mere flick of a switch, but the Guardian showed what their failure would entail… and that warning made an impression.

◆ Story Recap

The Warrior’s timeline is in a dire state. The Lord President of Gallifrey is intent on ending the war by wiping out all of creation, but there is a better way to restore reality.

The last of the Guardians has placed two mortal enemies together – Davros; the man who instigated the war by creating the Daleks. The Warrior; the man who could end it across all realities… but only by acquiring the Key to Time.

With the Key in their possession, this unlikely duo will be able to reset the timelines by taking themselves out of time completely!

◆ Reality Damned

‘The Key to Key to Time’ appears to be extremely well-loved by the fandom, and for good reason. Despite all the monumental failings of this story arc, this manages to be a really satisfying ending.

Reality is pretty much damned beyond all salvation, so it makes a lot of sense to have the instigator of the war teamed up with the one who will end it – some might even call that destiny. The excellent Lance Parkin release ‘Davros’ showed how well Colin Baker and Terry Molloy work with each other, so it is amazing to hear them reunited in this twisted reality.

◆ The Collective Victorious

I’d like to briefly talk about the Collective Victorious, who are our antagonists for the finale. They are the survivors of lost dimensions, working together to win the Time War. Daleks and Time Lords; all on the same side now, because time itself is fighting back. The leader of this deranged faction, the perpetrator of this quest to extinguish all reality… is none other than Romana. In this incarnation, he is arrogant and vain, and utterly insane!

◆ Sound Design

Reality is ending, collapsing as the Warrior and Davros search for segments of the Key. Jack Townley does a splendid job with the sound design for this epic finale.

The TARDIS is stopped dead in its tracks, as the booming voice of the White Guardian erupts into the console room. The Collective Victorious fire at the Dalek base on Necros, using two decades as projectile weapons! The buzzing of a tracer as it detects a segment of the Key. Reality warping around the Warrior and Davros, as they begin to see the Wilderness Beyond Time for what it truly is.

◆ Music

This timeline is on the verge of being extinguished by the Collective Victorious, and the dramatic orchestral tones of this musical suite really help to ram home the dire situation the Warrior and Davros find themselves in.

◆ Conclusion

“Everything is ending, and it ends with me…”

The Warrior and Davros are forced into being comrades by a common goal: to stop this monumental temporal conflict and avoid universal collapse. With the deranged Lord President Romana on their tails, the Key to Time must be acquired… or all reality will fall forever.

‘The Key to Key to Time’ genuinely shocked me. Despite the dreadful writing, poor creative decisions and embarrassing acting we have had to endure for this entire mini-series, Tim Foley managed to salvage something excellent from ‘Doctor of War’.

We know from ‘Davros’ that Colin Baker and Terry Molloy have a phenomenal shared chemistry, and this story serves to showcase that fact once more. The beginning and the end of the Time War, Davros and the Warrior, working towards a common goal.

People are right when they say ‘The Key to Key to Time’ was an excellent episode, one of the best to be released in 2022. But I genuinely don’t think it’s worth the hassle of dealing with two near abysmal box sets to get to it.