The War Master Part 1

Not really sure what was going on but I liked the vibes

I liked this one, but I think the 'I love Benny' bias may be in play. The story itself, I didn't even begin to start following it until 2/3 of the way through, and at about the halfway mark I did think to myself, 'I'm not getting this. What is going on?' which might not be a good sign. I think it is interesting to have an - I was going to say unique, but as other reviewers have pointed out, I can think of several other BF stories that also use this 'backwards' kind of structure, most notably to me the deeply uninspiring What Just Happened? from Stranded 3, which was a rare John Dorney dud.

But I digress. Bowerman and Warner are on fire in this, as always, and there were some sparks of ideas that were briefly touched upon and very intriguing - TARDISes being able to talk, and being kind of neurotic? Benny foreseeing Ace's death in the Time War? Benny and grief over her mother? All of those captured my interest, but now as I'm sitting here writing this immediately after finishing the episode, I am still a little struggling to see how they connected. I suppose it was the Imbomination - a creature (?) born of paradox (again, original...) - manipulating reality to trick Benny into letting it out...?

I think perhaps part of the issue with backwards episodes, for me anyway, is I spend so much time trying to figure out what's happening that I completely forget what the actual conclusion of the story from the first scene is.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy myself. Though I am deeply uncertain how John Hart, or even the Master (who wasn't even in this one) are going to connect to any of this at all.

⭐4/10

💩Underwhelming! → Skippable!

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

PRIMARY NOTES:

James Goss kicks off the second Dark Gallifrey arc with a story featuring Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman) and the Unbound Doctor, as played by the late David Warner in his last released Big Finish performance.

You quickly realise that this is yet another story told out of sequence, which has been done many times before. This means that you need to remain alert to piece together the story. The gimmick feels quite worn out already, and it remains as confusing as ever.

As explained by the interviews, this entire story is essentially a coda to the Dark Gallifrey arc, but released second after Morbius and before the others.

How Bennie's conversation with the TARDIS fits into the story's many plots and ideas is unclear. There are some emotional moments here that don’t carry the intended weight because I had no prior attachment to them.

There’s joy in listening to Bowerman and Warner act together as they bounce off each other effectively.

Even after it becomes clearer what is going on, the story only slightly pokes at the Dark Gallifrey idea without giving it any more context. The War Master doesn't appear at all, which makes me feel cheated. The end of the story does set-up a potentially interesting continuation, so I am intrigued to find out how it all develops in the next two chapters.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Isn’t it fun how, at one point, it's mentioned that the Doctor is “73 feet below” Bennie? An unintentional reference to 73 Yards (2024)?

this type of story has been done to death on big finish (time out of sync etc) and idk how i like it anymore. however, great performances lisa and david, and a lot more about dark gallifrey revealed finally!