Doctor Who spoilers: Time Lord Victorious – Why the novels are the most crucial part of the event

Time Lord Victorious features (at least) three Doctors. But one Doctor is central to the whole event: David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, as revealed in the novels…

Credit: BBC Press.

Time Lord Victorious is a huge multi-platform event for Doctor Who, with stories told across comics, audios, and more. But, more important than anything else, are the novels.

It’s been a long wait for Time Lord Victorious. Particularly since, up to this point, very little had been revealed about it. Oh yes, we knew that the event was happening across various media. We also knew that it involved different incarnations of the Doctor – specifically, the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors.

However, even as more details were revealed, particularly of what stories we could expect, one question remained unanswered: what was it about? Why was the Tenth Doctor depicted in Time Lord robes on the official image for the event? And how were his two previous incarnations involved?

In some ways, we’re already a few weeks into the event. Particularly with two separate comic strips: Defender of the Daleks from Titan Comics with the Tenth Doctor, and Monstrous Beauty in Doctor Who Magazine with the Ninth.

But it’s only with the release of the brand new novel The Knight, The Fool and The Dead that it feels like the event has truly begun. More than that: it establishes that the novels – of which there are only two – are the biggest part of the whole event. Here’s why… (Spoilers follow.)

Becoming the Time Lord Victorious

The Knight, The Fool and The Dead by Steve Cole focuses on the Tenth Doctor, shortly after the traumatic events of The Waters of Mars. This in itself is a big clue to how important this story is, considering that the Tenth Doctor described himself as the “Time Lord Victorious” at the end of that special episode. At the start of the new novel, he acknowledges that, for a single moment, he went too far (you can see why in the clip above). He knows he’ll never cross that line again. Will he?

Of course, that’s the key story of The Knight, The Fool and The Dead. It’s essentially pushing the Tenth Doctor once more into “Time Lord Victorious” territory in a gradual and believable way. No, more than that – it’s about finding out what being the “Time Lord Victorious” actually means.

Over the course of the novel, when facing an enemy as dangerous and ruthless as the Kotturuh – essentially the personification of Death in the Doctor Who universe on a huge scale – the Doctor goes down a desperate path to stop them at all costs.

One problem though – since it’s the Dark Times, when the universe was still young, he really shouldn’t be interfering this far back at all. But that doesn’t stop him from acquiring an army, becoming an admiral, and even launching an attack on the Kotturuh’s homeworld.

It’s a huge journey that he goes on, and at the end of the novel, he comes close to succeeding in his aim of wiping out the Kotturuh for good. But that’s when two familiar faces show up to stop him – the Eighth Doctor allied with a Dalek army, and the Ninth Doctor with an army of vampires. It’s a huge cliffhanger ending and shows exactly how far the Tenth Doctor has gone in order for his former selves to want to stop him.

Other stories will connect to the Time Lord Victorious novels in other media, such as the Eighth Doctor’s audio dramas. But it’s the Tenth Doctor’s journey in the novels that feels central to the whole event.

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

Central story

In some ways, the cliffhanger ending of The Knight, The Fool and The Dead isn’t too much of a surprise, at least if you’ve checked out other details of upcoming Time Lord Victorious releases. Particularly the second novel to be released, All Flesh is Grass by Una McCormack. The cover alone – which features the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors plus plenty of Daleks – lets you know how major this novel is.

But what’s particularly intriguing is finding out that – despite all the other stories taking place in other media – All Flesh is Grass is clearly designed to take place right after The Knight, The Fool and The Dead. So essentially, you could read both books back to back, without experiencing anything else of Time Lord Victorious, and still get a complete story.

We’ve been promised this for a while. That you can enjoy one storyline in Time Lord Victorious on its own and not feel like you’re missing too much. While everything is connected, certain arcs in each medium are designed to be enjoyed on their own terms, even while they clearly connect with each other.

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Other paths

On top of that, it’s clear that The Knight, The Fool and The Dead won’t be the only storyline to lead into All Flesh is Grass. Both the Eighth and Ninth Doctors will have their own journeys to get to that point – the audios for the former, the comics for the latter. So while it’ll be a long wait for the next novel, it’ll be fascinating to learn how each of the other Doctors reaches the same point in their own separate ways.

However, having said all that, one thing is clear: Time Lord Victorious is essentially Ten’s story. While he might become an antagonist as much as a protagonist in this series, it’s because of him that the whole event begins in the first place.

So if you’re curious about Time Lord Victorious, but don’t know where to begin or simply can’t afford everything in the event (which is definitely understandable), The Knight, The Fool and The Dead and All Flesh is Grass feel the most central to it all. Even while speaking as both an Eight fanboy and as someone eager for more stories of Nine in any format, Time Lord Victorious is clearly Ten’s story. It’s because of him that the event begins, as he goes closer to the edge than ever before. But how will he come back from it? We can’t wait to find out.

What are you excited about most by Time Lord Victorious? The Tenth Doctor’s main storyline? The Eighth Doctor’s audios? The Ninth Doctor’s comics? Let us know in the comments below.