The Neverwhen

The War Doctor #2.3

Released: 22 February 2016

Listened: 8/31/22

This story really seems to get at what this boxed set is supposed to be about, which makes sense, since it was written by Script Editor Matt Fitton. The “Neverwhen” sounds like one of those lovely Time War entities Russell T. Davies invented for Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant to toss off in one-liners and then never explain. It also definitely puts the “time” in the Time War. It apparently creates a zone where timelines are in flux, so armies and their gear shift up and down their own evolutionary scale, from high-tech armor and weapons to stone knives and bearskins. Worse, when they die, they come back in the next cycle. This is one the Doctor would legitimately consider an “infernal device,” but he’s also forced to deal with it in a way other than just wrecking it outright, and to accept the consequences. Ollistra is in much better form this time, mostly leading the Doctor around by the nose and cornering him every time he’s about to wriggle out of a moral trap. Even with that, she still thinks she’s doing the right thing, which makes her even more terrifying. There’s also a nice plot twist that you can see coming just a bit before the Doctor does, which is very satisfying. Definitely the best story of the set. On the whole, it’s not a bad idea for a boxed set, although having all three stories take place in sequence makes it look like the Doctor spent the whole war destroying each side’s weapons, which is hardly terrible. It also makes you wonder what weapons the Doctor considers acceptable to fight a war with, because it’s not entirely clear.