The Oncoming Storm

The Churchill Years #1.1

Released: 14 January 2016

Listened: 9/6/22

After having obtained the license to the new series in 2014, Big Finish was putting together as many pieces as they could, with the actors they had available, which usually excluded the big names. Ian McNeice, who played Churchill primarily in “Victory of the Daleks,” but also in a few other stories, is apparently willing to play Churchill any time someone gives him an excuse to. Hence, two boxed sets with McNeice narrating stories with various Doctors interacting with Churchill. They’re not just audiobooks; there’s a small cast, but there’s also some narration. Unlike Nicholas Briggs, McNeice doesn’t even try to mimic Eccleston’s accent; it’s basically as if Winston himself was telling the story later in life. In this one, it’s 1939, and the war has just kicked off. Churchill isn’t PM just yet, but the Lord of the Admiralty, which means he’s got teams trying to get information on Nazi secret weapons. Except they find one that’s rather more than anybody bargains for. Churchill’s assistant Hetty, a scientist he calls “Prof,” and a military aide make quite the little team as they run away from robots sent to retrieve the weapon. The Doctor appears to be trying to avoid WWII; he tries for quite some time to stay away from Churchill, who recognizes the TARDIS, if not this specific Doctor. It seems like the Ninth Doctor is still fairly young, and too close to his own war to want to deal with another one. Author Phil Mulryne paints Churchill as ambiguous – brilliant, driven, destined for greatness, but also arrogant and short-tempered. It’s an interesting character study of the two men, but not much of a story.