Doctor Who: How a crossover perfectly depicts the Time War’s epic scale
By James Aggas
A crossover between Gallifrey and the War Master gave us the perfect depiction of the Time War’s sense of scale and escalation.
(Image credit: Gallifrey/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
It’s difficult to imagine a war that takes place across the whole of history. But a crossover between two Doctor Who spin-offs may help us get an idea of the Time War’s epic scale.
It’s kind of difficult to imagine something as big as the Time War. After all, as Doctor Who revealed, it was a war that was fought across virtually the whole of time and space. A key reason Russell T Davies decided to avoid showing it for so long is that it’s incredibly difficult to conceive a war on that scale.
Thankfully, Big Finish have helped to give us an idea. Particularly with the crossover between the first box sets of both Gallifrey: Time War and The War Master.
The first War Master box set, released back in December 2017, featured the Master deep within the Time War at the very start of the series. It didn’t seem to be anything that had started recently, and had already spread across so much of space and time.
The end of the first episode, Beneath the Viscoid, has the Master being summoned to Gallifrey. This sets up a direct crossover with the first volume of Gallifrey: Time War, particulary its third episode, The Devil You Know. In that story, the Master is sent on a mission by the Time Lords to find out about a potential weapon.
Almost the whole of the War Master takes place during the first volume of Gallifrey. But how?
(Image credit: War Master/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.
Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)
Different time scales
Now, what makes this so interesting is that The Devil You Know is only the third episode of Gallifrey: Time War. And unlike The War Master, the beginning of the series is also set at the very start of the Time War. The third episode is only set a relatively short time into the war, too.
Having an entire War Master series set deeply in the Time War already seems extreme at this point, considering that it’s so early on. But then you’ve got to consider the other three volumes in his series, too. Now, while volume two is actually set before the Time War begins (officially, at least), the other two look set to be right in the middle of it.
The most important thing about this? The first series, which directly connects to Gallifrey, chronologically takes place last. So all the subsequent volumes are in fact prequels.
How can this be? How can three series show the Master in a universe with the Time War spread across the whole of space and time already?
This is what’s so fascinating about the idea of a war that’s fought across the whole of time itself in the first place. Even the very opening battles between two powerful armies are spread across history and would cause it to change at a moment’s notice, thus radically changing other battle fields, too. Virtually the whole of history is in flux. But while epic battles across centuries take place, the people in charge of everything are not only safe on Gallifrey, but hardly any time passes for them at all.
The Night of the Doctor is also put into a new context when you realize the Time War’s incredibly high level of devastation.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
The Night of the Doctor
This also puts The Night of the Doctor in a whole new context. When Ohila, leader of the Sisterhood of Karn, asked the Doctor to join the Time War, she acted like the universe was practically on the point of collapse.
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And yet, as we know, this was set a long time before The Day of the Doctor. Not just because it showed the regeneration from Eight to War, but also because of how young War looked at the end of that minisode.
So while the whole of history threatened to collapse, it looks like the Doctor’s active involvement helped to make things better. Not completely right, as they once were, but better, at least. Until he decided to end the Time War himself, anyway.
This is why it’s so fantastic that we’re now getting so many different perspectives of the Time War. Because even when we see it through the eyes of multiple Doctors, that’s still only a limited perspective.
So it’s great that we’re also seeing it through the eyes of his best enemy, or even better, from the viewpoint of those who began the Time War in the first place. Because it really does a great job of giving us a full picture of a war across time, with stories ranging from the epic to the political, and that’s why Big Finish have always been the best people to explore such a major piece of Doctor Who mythology.
Next. Gallifrey: Time War – five major moments for Doctor Who mythology. dark
Do you agree that multiple viewpoints help us to explore the Time War better? Is there a particular perspective that you’d like to see explored? Let us know in the comments below.