Review by Scott Lopes

---

The War Doctor Rises continues to be a fantastic new direction for the Doctor’s Time War incarnation at Big Finish with the release of The War Doctor Rises: Fallen Heroes. 

Since this range began last summer with Morbius the Mighty, following the end of The War Doctor Begins, it’s been exciting seeing some of the best writers at Big Finish get to take advantage of this new formula and craft their own standalone boxset arcs for the War Doctor, and now we finally get to see Alfie Shaws’s highly anticipated addition to the series.

Fallen Heroes is exactly what more Time War stories should set out to be: weird. It’s a very weird, very strange, very dark story that finds the Doctor seemingly living out the life of a homicide detective in a middle of nowhere town on the middle of nowhere planet Falk. It very quickly becomes clear, however, that the murder of the town’s mayor is the least of his worries – something is very wrong with Falk, and he is at the heart of it. 

A major problem many Time War stories suffer from is that they feel a little too normal and don’t always justify their placement in that era, but that isn’t a problem here. Fallen Heroes takes full advantage of its setting to tell a story that could only be told from the War Doctor’s perspective and not only gives one of the most unique and interesting explorations of the side effects of the Time War but gives the War Doctor himself one of his best outings since he was first introduced. The War Doctor has felt at times to be somewhat inconsistent, but recently Big Finish has done a fantastic job at nailing his character. 

Fallen Heroes is not a story that will leave you feeling sympathetic to the War Doctor, but rather make you understand exactly why future incarnations despised him so much. He’s cold, manipulative, and at times downright evil, and he always believes that the ends justify the means. He’s willing to do anything necessary to win the war, and at times even finds himself comparing his actions to the Master. Alfie Shaw does an incredible job at showcasing this in his writing, and Jonathon Carley does an even better job at portraying it. It’s safe to say that across both writing and performance, this is one of the War Doctor’s defining moments.

The War Doctor Rises: Fallen Heroes is a fantastic and compelling new addition to the War Doctor’s life at Big Finish. Whether you’re looking for a story that delves more into the darkness of the Doctor or you’re just a fan of detective stories, there’s no doubt that you’ll love this release. If you haven’t yet started to explore the War Doctor at Big Finish, there has, without a doubt, never been a better time to start.

Fallen Heroes is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com