Doctor Who: Why this Eighth Doctor story sums up the insanity of the Time War best

We know the Eighth Doctor tried hard to run away from the Time War. But which story best showcases why?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

In the past few years, we’ve heard many Doctor Who stories about the Time War, and how it affected the Doctor’s life. But which story is perhaps the best at showing us just how dangerous the Time War could really be? Especially to the Doctor?

Last year, Big Finish released The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 1. The first volume in a Doctor Who audio series exploring the War from Eight’s perspective, it was a very strong set of stories.

One story that always stands out to me is the opening episode, The Starship of Theseus. Not because it’s my favorite of the set. (That would be The Conscript, an excellent episode for showcasing Eight’s strong sense of morality in a difficult time.)

But because how it shows the Time War affecting the Doctor’s life. In a way, it really gets across just how dangerous and even horrifying a war like that is more than any other Time War story. (Spoilers follow.)

The episode begins with the Doctor and his companion Sheena arriving on a luxury cruise starship, the Theseus. The Doctor is keen to have a holiday, (well, Sheena is), but it’s not long before they start hearing about strange things going on. Particularly when they find out about the missing passengers…

So far, so basic Doctor Who, right? Nothing remotely hinting at the Time War, which is definitely an interesting way to begin a Time War series. So what changes?

The Starship of Theseus is an episode that changes the Doctor’s life. In a far more literal way than you might expect…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Changing history

The Doctor and Emma don’t notice anything strange immediately (well, no more than the usual, anyway). Of course, they find someone about to be sacrificed to a monster, just so the company can save some money, but that’s business as usual for them, and the Doctor and Louise rescue him in time. Except they don’t, and they get there too late. Despite the Doctor being sure that they had just saved his life.

It’s at this point that the Doctor starts to notice that something’s wrong. For example, his companion’s name. You’ve probably noticed that it’s changed a couple of times, right? The Doctor has, at least on some level. And so has Louise/Emma/Sheena.

He also starts to notice that things aren’t making any sense. He’s not sure how or why, but it feels like reality itself is changing.

The strangeness only increases when he finds out that it’s not a luxury cruise he’s on, but a refugee ship, fleeing from the war. Even the motivations for the sacrifices have changed. Before, the captain simply wanted to save money. Now, he’s doing it – with volunteers – so everyone else can survive.

But what war are they fleeing from? What are they so afraid of? And that’s when the Doctor suddenly remembers. The War that he’s been running from for a long time. The war that crashes into the rest of the story, as the Daleks arrive…

The Starship of Theseus revealed that the Eighth Doctor had been running from the Time War for a long time. But was that true for the start of the episode?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The beginning or the middle?

Here’s what makes this story so interesting. One way to take it is that at the start, the Doctor had simply been running from the Time War for a very long time, and it finally catches up with him in this box set. Certainly, the Eighth Doctor was trying to do that in his limited comic series.

But there is another way this episode could be seen. One that’s actually far more disturbing. When The Starship of Theseus begins, it’s very, very possible – even likely – that the Eighth Doctor has no clue about the war. That, with the exception of the very first scene setting up most of the story, the Time War hasn’t even begun yet.

The fact that the Doctor has no clue why, when he starts to notice his own history change, is a key hint towards this. If he knew about the Time War, he’d probably know from the start that it was a likely cause. But it’s not until he “remembers” it later in the episode that he realizes what’s going on.

This is a key idea that would be central to a Time War, and yet is insane to think about. Because the Doctor’s history is usually, in some way, “fixed”. At least, for the audience. We like to know what regenerations happened when, where each story takes place, exactly how he met certain companions etc.

So when something as big as the Time War affects even his history, that’s when it becomes clear just how dangerous it really is. Not just to space, but even to the history of our heroes.

Gallifrey: Time War has revealed to us the very beginning of the War. But in a war across time and space, even a short while on Gallifrey can lead to centuries of devastation elsewhere.

(Image credit: Gallifrey/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The Eighth Doctor and Gallifrey

It also shows how personal the Time War can get. It’s easy to think of the Time War just in terms of how it was depicted in The Day of the Doctor – Dalek ships attacking Gallifrey, lots of laser blasts and explosions, things like that.

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But that was on the last day, when the Daleks were preparing for their final assault. In The Starship of Theseus, it has both begun and has been around for a long time.

This idea is even clearer to imagine if you listen to the Eighth Doctor’s Time War series with Gallifrey: Time War. The spin-off series begins with the very beginning of the War itself, and hostilities rapidly spreading across the whole of space and time. While only a short amount of time passes during that first box set, to the rest of the universe, the War has already lasted for centuries. So while the Time Lords on Gallifrey can avoid the effects of the War, outside of it, the whole of history is at risk of changing at a moment’s notice.

This is why The Starship of Theseus is an episode that continually fascinates me. Because the Doctor’s own personal history changes across the episode to such a huge extent, it’s the best episode that showcases how dangerous a Time War can really get. More than that: it also shows just why the Eighth Doctor wanted nothing to do with the War in the first place.

Have you listened to The Starship of Theseus? What’s your favorite Time War story? Do you think a story on television could also get across this idea of a constantly changing history? Let us know in the comments below.