The Edge of the War

Conflicts of Interest #2

Released: 5 April 2023

Listened: 5/14/23

This story, by Jonathan Barnes, has a different pace to the previous one; it’s nearly dream-like, or fairy-tale-ish. It starts out with one of those “I don’t remember how I got here, and I’ve been shunted into an identity that makes sense for the context” plots, but it doesn’t really stay there very long at all. The setting is a small town in France, near the Maginot Line, not long before the war. That seems like it should be tense, but instead everything is peaceful, languid even. Except nobody will tell team TARDIS what’s going on, for much longer than usual in these sorts of stories. The Doctor and Nyssa get on with working it out, while Tegan spends time with a local soldier. In fact, she gets pretty close to him, despite knowing what’s going to happen to France shortly. It’s nice to see Tegan doing something other than complaining, but she’s still Tegan, and pretty much shouts at people until they listen to her. The villain isn’t quite what you’d expect, or what the Doctor expects. In fact, it’s not really clear what’s going on there. On the whole, it’s more atmosphere than story, but the atmosphere is memorable.