All good things come to an end. It’s time for one last trip in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Valarie. But what a trip it is. Alex Hewitt shares his thoughts on the final instalment of ‘Series 7V’.

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Also, if you haven’t already, check out our exclusive preview of this boxset, where we spoke to all three writers as well as composer Borna Matosic,

**PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS INSTALMENTS IN THE SERIES**

Didn’t You Kill My Mother? by John Dorney

The opening episode of this boxset is an experimental affair, set entirely within an office where strange things are going on. There are only four characters in this story – the Doctor, Valarie, Mrs Hendricks (returning from Geronimo!), and Tim.

The Doctor and Tim are colleagues, the Doctor playing the arbitrator in the conversation between Valarie and Mrs Hendricks. Dorney’s setup (where the Doctor can’t remember who he is) allows for two strands of the story to be told – firstly, the emotional arc of Valarie following the death of her mother at Mrs Hendricks’s hands in an earlier episode. This is dealt with brilliantly, and Safiyya Ingar and Lara Lemon are both on top form.

The second strand of the story is what’s happened to the Doctor. This is the part that leans decidedly more into the unnerving, experimental storytelling, and it works a treat. Homer Todiwala’s Tim plays off superbly against Jacob Dudman’s Eleventh Doctor, and the events that are uncovered are bound to get listeners even more engrossed.

Didn’t You Kill My Mother? sets up the rest of the set perfectly, in ways that aren’t necessarily obvious until later episodes. A truly brilliant start.

Daleks Victorious by Felicia Barker

The Daleks are known throughout the universe as one of the most powerful, deadly forces around. This episode explores why. It’s clear that Barker threw any notion of the Daleks being at all light-hearted out of the window, and Daleks Victorious lets us listen to the absolute devastation that they can cause.

Interestingly, this episode becomes far more personal for certain characters than it may appear from the outset, with a lot of emotional drama injected among the action. It’s also worth noting that Nicholas Briggs gets the opportunity to provide a wealth of Dalek voices in this story – an opportunity he firmly grabs hold of and runs with, treating listeners to one of his best performances in the role to date.

Barker’s script is relentless, and there are some truly bleak pieces of dialogue that really sell the premise of the episode. Daleks Victorious manages to re-introduce the Dalek Paradigm, keep the emotional stakes running incredibly high, and prove that the Daleks should absolutely make you scared. Another instant hit.

The Last Stand of Miss Valarie Lockwood by Alfie Shaw

Valarie is an absolutely integral part of this series, so after her shock death in the previous boxset, it’s fitting that the penultimate episode is devoted to her journey. There’s little to be said about this episode without giving spoilers, so perhaps it’s time to commend the main two performers of the series.

Jacob Dudman is absolutely extraordinary in this episode. The fact that he sounds indistinguishable from Matt Smith aside, Last Stand gives him the opportunity to seriously show what he can do, and he doesn’t disappoint. Dudman is right up there with Smith himself and the other TV Doctor actors; it is impossible to overstate how good he is here. And that’s without even mentioning Safiyya Ingar. Their performance as Valarie is second-to-none, and this episode gives the character a huge range of emotional moments that Ingar tackles with sincerity and realism in spades. This might be the best Doctor-companion relationship that any iteration of Doctor Who has featured in a long, long time.

Additionally, Mia Tomlinson excels as Roanna, adding yet more drama to the story, and undoubtedly making listeners wish this series could just run on and on and on. Borna Matosic’s music is some of the best he’s ever produced for Big Finish, and there’s just nothing to complain about here. A truly extraordinary piece of drama.

Victory of the Doctor by Alfie Shaw

Exemplary.

Overall Thoughts

Victory of the Doctor as a boxset is an incredibly satisfying conclusion to the Doctor and Valarie’s run of stories. Events from previous episodes are brought together in a way that’s clever without being showy, elaborate without being self-congratulatory, and emotional without being melodramatic. Essentially, it’s all the best bits of the Moffat era hand-picked and weaved together with a careful precision the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Doctor Who for a long, long time.

It’s a huge shame that we’re saying goodbye to these characters, but with such an excellent run of stories it’s difficult not to simply relish what we’ve been given. To Alfie, Jacob, Safiyya, Helen, and Nick, plus all the writers and everyone else who worked on Series 7V – thanks for everything.

In a word: perfection.

Doctor Who: Victory of the Doctor is available to purchase now from bigfinish.com as either a CD or download.