John Hurt’s War Doctor will be reunited with an old friend in the fourth series of Big Finish’s War Doctor range next year.
Saturday was a big day for announcements from Big Finish. Along with the return of Toshiko Sato in Torchwood, they also revealed details of the War Doctor’s fourth (and final?) series next year, Casualties of War, which sees him reunited with an old friend: Leela of the Sevateem.
For those who don’t know, Leela was originally a companion to Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor, introduced in the season fourteen story, ‘The Face of Evil.’ Louise Jameson eventually left the show in season fifteen’s ‘The Invasion of Time,’ with her character staying behind on Gallifrey. She has, however, continued to play the character across a number of ranges for Big Finish.
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Recently, Leela has been in several seasons of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures, set during her travels in the television series. But it’s the stories that have been set afterwards in various spin-offs, including Jago & Litefoot and most notably Gallifrey, that have been the most interesting to discover.
And Doctor Who: The War Doctor: Casualties of War just might be one of her biggest stories yet.
"‘I’d often wondered what became of Leela during the Time War,’ says producer David Richardson, ‘and working on these War Doctor tales has given us a wonderful opportunity to explore that. And it’s irresistible territory – the Warrior of the Sevateem reunited with an old friend, who has become a Warrior in the Time War.’"
I must admit, this is a story that I’m really excited to listen to. I’ve always enjoyed stories of companions meeting other Doctors after they’ve left. This is not because each Doctor has their own unique quirks as such, but because it’s always interesting to explore the reaction of a companion after the Doctor has changed so much, usually in ways more significant than his outward appearance.
It’s why I enjoyed the story of Sarah Jane Smith meeting the Tenth Doctor in ‘School Reunion,’ and also the Big Finish story, ‘An Earthly Child,’ which really hits the emotions hard when Susan Foreman sees her grandfather — for the first time in a very, very long time — in his Eighth incarnation.
While the idea of Leela meeting War doesn’t quite match the level of excitement that I had at the idea of Eight meeting Susan, (and short of her meeting Twelve, honestly, what could?), for me personally, it’s incredibly close.
In her travels with the Doctor, Leela always knew him as, essentially, a man of peace. Yes, he would get involved in conflicts and saving planets, but he’d always try to teach Leela to find any way other than violence to resolve the situation, and usually, he did.
So what happens when Leela discovers that her old mentor has given up who he is to fight in one of the biggest wars across time and space? I can’t wait to find out.
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Next: Toshiko Sato to Return to Torchwood
Are you excited about Leela meeting the War Doctor? Leave your comments below.