Doctor Who Review: The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1: One Life
By James Aggas
As the first set of episodes of ‘The Eighth Doctor: The Time War’ draw to a close, the Doctor and his new friends learn the value of even just ‘One Life’.
The final episode of The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1 is an interesting one. You’d expect it to be a big and epic climax. And in many ways, it is. However, it’s also more intimate than the other episodes in the set, too. With a title like One Life, that wasn’t too surprising.
It’s difficult for me to discuss the plot of One Life without giving too much away. Throughout the rest of the box set, there have been a lot of hints and clues about the larger overall story. And it all really pays off here. There are a lot of twists and turns with this episode, and it moves at a very fast pace.
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At the same time, it’s also finds ways giving us glimpses of an ordinary relationship. It doesn’t exclusively show us how this relationship has been affected by war, but everything before that too. We see the best and the worst moments shared by this couple, and how close they are as a result. It’s very nicely and beautifully done, and helps to add a lot of impact knowing how much the Time War has affected their lives.
I think what I’m most surprised about is how focused the story is on these two ordinary characters. Even more surprising is that new companion Bliss isn’t one of them. With the exception of her second episode, she hasn’t been given a great deal of exploration in this box set.
However, I’m not too worried about that. After all, there are three more box sets to come, so there’s still plenty of time to develop her character. And the people focused on in One Life are fleshed out and explored beautifully.
Weapons of war
Of course, while it’s wonderful that there is a lot of great character drama in this episode, it’s also fantastic that it features a fair amount of Time War action, too. While the Eighth Doctor and his friends (and Ollistra) try to escape from the Daleks, we get a large number of temporal weapons used in One Life.
It’s for epic moments like this that really make a setting like the Time War exciting and unique. Like Matt Fitton wrote for The Neverwhen and Echoes of War, writer John Dorney finds a lot of creative and interesting ways to show how time itself can be used as a weapon.
As previously mentioned, the episode’s best strength is its focus on character, and how ordinary people can be affected by war. But it’s also greatly appreciated how well the drama was balanced with epic sci-fi action.
A satisfying conclusion
One Life provides a very strong conclusion to a very strong box set. Personally speaking, expectations were really high with this one. For years, I had been eager to hear the Eighth Doctor in a Time War setting. Especially when epic stories like Dark Eyes (which I’ll be reviewing next year) wonderfully foreshadowed that. Then The Night of the Doctor came along and made the setting even more intriguing by revealing a time when the Doctor didn’t want to fight.
When The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1 was announced along with The War Doctor, I was understandably hugely excited. Of course, I had to wait another two years before I listened to it.
Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. I’ve listened to the whole set twice already, and I’m already itching for another listen. In just four episodes, The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1 has completely established its own identity, something that was absolutely vital to its success.
Every single story of this set either couldn’t have been told with the War Doctor, or events would’ve happened completely differently, and that’s exactly what this series needed to establish.
It had to be more than just stories about the Time War. It had to tell stories with the Eighth Doctor that couldn’t have been told with his next incarnation. And in that aspect, it’s definitely succeeded rather well. It even stands out differently from other Eighth Doctor series, like Dark Eyes and Doom Coalition.
Next: Should Craig Ferguson have been a companion?