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“YESTERDAY IS TOMORROW AND TOMORROW IS TODAY – TIME LORD, TIME LOST”

The final instalment of Fallen Heroes doesn’t waste a second, picking up in the immediate chaos of Unit 26’s cliffhanger – Louisa Tickson regenerating… into the body of the previously deceased Mayor Mortimer Stewart. It’s a delightfully bonkers twist that propels Yesterday is Tomorrow and Tomorrow is Today into full-blown Time War mode: surreal, emotionally charged, and temporally tangled. Suddenly, everything we've experienced so far – the nostalgic small-town aesthetic, the UNIT-era callbacks, the mysterious Doctor doppelgänger – begins to make a strange kind of sense.

The story finally lifts the veil on the truth behind Oakview: it’s a manufactured reality, cobbled together from memories, regrets, and the lingering echoes of the Doctor’s past. Specifically, it’s inspired by the Doctor’s deep-seated longing for the golden age of UNIT – a safe, if imperfect, time in his personal timeline. It’s a brilliant use of the Time War’s reality-bending potential, thematically appropriate and emotionally charged.

TIME, MEMORY, AND THE CHAMELEON ARCH

Mortimer’s new body and identity drive the story forward, and Paul Panting does a fine job portraying a Time Lord in existential crisis. He’s literally walking in the shoes – and skin – of someone he never intended to be. There’s something both comical and tragic in Mortimer’s attempts to reconcile himself with a future that demands he must die, that he must become human, activate a Chameleon Arch, and live unknowingly among the people he’s come to care for. It’s the kind of layered, reality-warping storytelling that the Time War excels at: paradoxes folded into pathos.

Meanwhile, the Doctor must guide him through all this while also managing his own inner crisis. War is starting to feel the call of the Doctor once again, slipping back into that familiar role amid the chaos. But he’s not ready. Not yet.

A MOMENT OF QUIET BEFORE THE END

After the twist-heavy, rapid-fire first half, the story takes a breath. War steps into the background somewhat, as the townspeople band together against an alien invasion. It’s classic Doctor Who in setup, but the emotional tension lingers in the air. Mortimer tries to help, to restore purpose, while War wrestles with who he was, who he is, and who he fears becoming again.

This slower section does meander slightly – the narrative pulse weakens a little, and the story lacks the drive of earlier chapters. But emotionally, it remains compelling, grounded in character arcs rather than plot mechanics. Mortimer's growth into a self-sacrificing figure who may never truly understand who he is, and War's looming guilt and weariness, give the tale weight even when it falters in momentum.

A MAN WHO REGRETS, A MAN WHO FORGETS

Jonathon Carley delivers one of his finest War Doctor performances to date in the closing scenes. His outburst – raw, anguished, unfiltered – about why he had to kill his former self and why he must do whatever it takes to end the war, is utterly heartbreaking. We glimpse here a man teetering on the edge of choosing the Moment, on the brink of obliterating everything to bring peace. These final moments connect beautifully with The Day of the Doctor, and help frame War as more than a forgotten footnote – he becomes a tragic fulcrum between hope and horror.

LOUISA LOST… BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

With Louisa now gone – or, at least, transformed – we feel the loss. Daisy Ashford and Jonathan Carley had built a strong dynamic across the set, and her absence in this final chapter leaves a noticeable gap. Paul Panting does well as Mortimer, bringing pathos and warmth, but he’s not Louisa, and that chemistry can’t be replicated. Still, the transition is handled well within the story’s framework of identity and change, making it feel like a poignant narrative choice rather than a jarring replacement.

📝 VERDICT: 68/100

Yesterday is Tomorrow and Tomorrow is Today is a dense, paradox-laden finale that ties together Fallen Heroes with admirable ambition. While it stumbles slightly in pacing and loses some of the emotional spark with Louisa’s departure, the core ideas – Time Lord identity, memory as reality, and the emotional burden of the Time War – land with power. Jonathan Carley’s performance is outstanding, and the story cleverly uses its UNIT-flavoured setting as a mirror to War’s regrets. It’s messy, emotional, and quintessentially Time War – and that’s exactly what it needed to be.

[Review for the whole boxset]

Damn this was some good Dr Who. As I'm still new to the audio format it really does get hard to navigate what's exactly happening but the story is pretty easy to follow. The crime drama vibes are really good & great performances from the cast. There's a particular bit from the War Doctor at the end by Johnathan Carly that is just so damn good & fleshes put War so well and what his mission is.

There's also some Truman Show vibes and the insane time travel plot twist at the end is just neat. I wish TV Dr Who got this creative considering it actually can.

The interviews at the end are great too. I loved everything Alfie Shaw, the writer had to say & nice to see Alan Wake as a reference. I definitely wanna check out more of his & War's stuff.

Oh my god?????

It’s just twist after twist after twist wow insane how this story just takes a complete 180 and it doesn’t feel jarring at all, I loved the detective vibe of the first two episodes but this final one finally shows why it’s a War Doctor story with maybe the darkest I’ve seen him? And it’s a very unique kind of dark unlike Seven’s manipulations or Ten’s god complex, War has sunken to the lowest depths imaginable in his mind and now he’s willing to do almost anything apart from becoming The Doctor again reminding him of what he was and what he (at the time) will never be again with the UNIT references serving as nostalgia for The Doctor in a bittersweet way which I really like as a retrospective of that era going as far as to say it was a “family” of sorts for him.

A highlight of this story was how it showed The Time Lords in the war without The Daleks, I love those tinpots but there was untapped potential in a story revolving around the extremes The Time Lords would go for the war effort at least to my knowledge until now where they’re downright villainous in condemning a planet to death but with the moral ambiguity that if they don’t destroy it every other time locked world would be in danger and it’s just brilliant drama I love it so much.

It’s no secret that this box set is inspired by Alan Wake as said by Alfie Shaw himself and I thought it was just the murder mystery stuff but nope it takes so much more like reality manipulating fiction, objects of power (which is also similar to Control) and even a time loop which I just find so cool that a Doctor Who story can take from a contemporary piece of media (and a video game at that) and use its ideas in conjunction with the universe of Doctor Who to create something new, I hope Big Finish does this more as I think it’s a great building block for new story ideas that can go beyond what Doctor Who is expected to be which this story also pokes at with this usual alien invasion happening in the background that gets more and more twisted as it goes on it’s just f**king brilliant stuff.

The ending too is bittersweet with both parties accepting that they’re gonna die and it’s the fault of The Time Lords & The Doctor, he goes back to try and save them but they see through him and choose to face death together which I thought was really poignant, I liked War but I think this younger version of him is so much more interesting due to the sad acceptance of himself and the brutal methods needed for The Time War.

I’ll definitely be looking at some of Alfie Shaw’s previous work, if it’s as creative as this I look forward to it!

It’s sooooo ironic that I decided the day I’d spend listening to all of Fallen Heroes after watching Interstellar Song Contest. Both stories attempt “morally gray Doctor” but only this one is obviously really great and really earned. I love Daisy Ashford’s character a lot, she was really compelling. It just goes in at 11 and astonishes me with a brilliant premise of a murder mystery in a quiet town but they don’t have time. It unfolds really well into a pertwee era homage, but there are a lot of fun twists, especially the cliffhanger in episode 2. The third act is a bit strange in its quaintness and its pointedness to really get under the skin of the war Doctor. This is the best war Doctor story, along with Engines of War and He Who Fights the Monsters. I feel like big finish is just putting out a lotta bangers recently in general, I definitely enjoyed this more than anything I’ve seen on tv recently

I really enjoyed the story overall. I was half expecting Louisa to become a companion, but it makes sense he never truly really gets one in the Time War.Something I’d say as someone who’s not delved into the Carley War Doctor range much, when I heard all the discussions of it being the darkest story I did somewhat expect a darker story than this. It was brilliant, and dark don’t get me wrong, but I did expect it to be a bit heavier. That being said, I’m sure one of the criticisms I’ve heard about this range is it not being dark, so this is a move in the right direction clearly.

Oh Alfie shaw understands the war doctor

An epic and timebendy ending to an epic story worth of the Time War.

I will have to relisten this boxset to get all the intricacies, but damn it was a ride. It showed the Time War at its most bleak and the War Doctor at his most ruthless. And in the end there are just more casualties.

Can't say much more, but I can't wait for when I do this one again.