Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - The biggest questions answered

Time Lord Victorious is an event that encompasses books, CDs, comics and even vinyl! But what exactly is it about? Where do you even begin with such an event?

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

Do you still have burning questions about Time Lord Victorious? Here’s our handy guide to the ambitious Doctor Who multi-platform event.

Last week saw the release of the exciting new multi-Doctor novel All Flesh is Grass. Not only did the story feature three Doctors, Daleks, and even Vampires. It was also what Time Lord Victorious had been building towards for the past few months. Across various ranges, the multi-platform event told several stories that lead directly into the new Doctor Who novel.

However, for those fans wanting to dip into the event, one question often gets asked: what exactly is Time Lord Victorious? Many fans know that it encompasses many different stories told across a wide variety of media. But what’s it about? Why does the title directly reference a quote of the Tenth Doctor? At the same time, why does it include several other Doctors?

This is what our little guide to the event is for. While Time Lord Victorious isn’t completely over – for example, we still have an Eighth and Tenth Doctor vinyl release to look forward to – the release of All Flesh is Grass makes it as good a time as any to take an overview of the project, while answering some of the biggest questions that fans yet to try it may have about it. Not just regarding the event as a whole, but also what are the most essential stories to check out.

First of all, let’s answer the biggest and most obvious question…

While the event focuses on several Doctors, there’s no question that it’s David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor who’s central to the event.

Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: BBC Press.

What is Time Lord Victorious about?

Time Lord Victorious is an event that features several different Doctors, various monsters, and even two incarnations of the Master. But central to it – and this is something that affects almost the entire event – is the Tenth Doctor trying to defy Death itself.

Let me explain. The first novel in Time Lord Victorious, The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, sees the Tenth Doctor visiting the Dark Times, at the very beginning of the universe. The novel takes place just after The Waters of Mars. After saving Captain Adelaide Brooke – a life that was never meant to be saved – and then facing the horrific consequences of his actions, the Doctor knows that he has gone too far. He’s also facing his own mortality, as he knows that something is coming for him.

To find some hope, he travels to the Dark Times – back when the universe was almost brand new. Initially, this seems like a good idea. He sees aliens and worlds that he’s never seen before. But then he meets the Kotturuh.

A race that travels across the universe deciding the length of each and every race’s lifespan, the Kotturuh are basically the living embodiment of Death itself. Naturally, they seem like the perfect enemy for the Doctor to fight. And he will go to any length to emerge Victorious.

Essentially, the two novels of Time Lord Victorious are primarily about exploring the Tenth Doctor during a particularly dark time in his life. We briefly saw his “Time Lord Victorious” phase in The Waters of Mars, but the new novels explore that side of him in far greater depth.

But hold on, if Time Lord Victorious‘s story is primarily focused on the Tenth Doctor…

Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor is just one of several other Doctors involved in the event. What role do these earlier Doctors play in Time Lord Victorious?

Courtesy BBC

Why are the Eighth and Ninth Doctors involved?

This is a key reason why Time Lord Victorious is being told in so many stories across various media. The Eighth and Ninth Doctors work out that something is going wrong with time. They want to put things right. However, neither of them expects the cause of the changes in history to be their own future self…

As mentioned, all three Doctors feature in the new novel All Flesh is Grass. But what lead them to those points? Just as we find out about the Tenth Doctor’s journey in The Knight, The Fool and The Dead, other stories reveal how the Eighth and Ninth Doctors made their own separate journeys.

The Eighth Doctor’s story is primarily told across three audios. The first, He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not introduces Brian the Ood Assassin, a key character in the event. The second, The Enemy of My Enemy, sees him become a reluctant ally of the Daleks. The final story, Mutually Assured Destruction, is set right after the events of All Flesh is Grass, and essentially ties up his story.

Nine’s role in Time Lord Victorious is much more straightforward. Outside of the novel, his only story in the event is the comic strip Monstrous Beauty, where he finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between Time Lords and Vampires.

So as you can see, each of the three Doctors has their own path to All Flesh is Grass. But does Time Lord Victorious go beyond that?

Along with releasing several full-cast stories for the Eighth Doctor, Big Finish has also released two short stories focused on the Master.

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

What other stories are told in Time Lord Victorious?

It probably doesn’t surprise you to know that there are other entries in Time Lord Victorious. Some are still focused on the Doctor, but are less directly connected to the core of the series, while others focus on the villains and monsters instead.

For examples of the latter, the YouTube series Daleks! focuses on the Dalek Time Squad – a group of Daleks specific to this event. It’s not essential to Time Lord Victorious in terms of its story. But honestly, it’s just fun to see Daleks exterminating everything they can while aiming to be devious about it.

BBC Audio release The Minds of Magnox is a decent enough story that features Ten having doubts about his mission. However, due to being set right in the middle of another story altogether, it’s definitely not the best jumping-on point for the event. Fourth Doctor story Genetics of the Daleks meanwhile is an enjoyable if rather grim audio drama.

But personally, if I had to pick a personal favorite, then my recommendation is to check out the Master’s two Short Trips from Big Finish. Focused on two much-loved incarnations from the Classic Series and narrated brilliantly by Jon Culshaw, Sophie Iles’s and Simon Guerrier’s short stories are fantastic explorations of the villain. You can purchase Master Thief / Lesser Evils on download directly from Big Finish.

Are these stories “essential” to the core story? Not exactly. Many of them are certainly enjoyable in their own right, at least. But if you just wanted to enjoy the main event, then here are our main suggestions…

The Enemy of My Enemy is just one of several key stories for the event…

Image courtesy Big Finish Productions

What are the biggest stories of Time Lord Victorious?

Certainly, if you want to enjoy just the “event” stories, then both of the novels are highly recommended. The Knight, The Fool and The Dead explores the Tenth Doctor heading down a dark path, and leads to him making a very dangerous choice. All Flesh is Grass continues directly from this, and while both Eight and Nine are heavily involved, you can definitely enjoy the two novels on their own.

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However, if you did want to check out the other Doctor’s stories, then you’ll certainly enjoy seeing the event from their perspectives. As mentioned, Eight’s storyline is almost entirely told on audio. (Which isn’t surprising – for a long time now, he’s been a primarily audio Doctor.) You can get all three of his stories directly from Big Finish’s website.

Monstrous Beauty works surprisingly well on its own. Even if you don’t read the novel, you don’t feel like you’re missing much reading just the Ninth Doctor’s comic story. Currently, the three-part story is only available to read in issues 556, 557 and 558 of Doctor Who Magazine. Each issue is available to purchase in print or on digital directly from their website. (The latter option is definitely useful for non-UK customers.)

It’s worth noting that, considering each installment is only a small part of each issue, getting those issues is rather costly. Certainly, there’s more to enjoy about Doctor Who Magazine than just the comic, but it is something to keep in mind if you wanted to just enjoy Monstrous Beauty. It’s also worth stressing that, while the other Doctor’s storylines do add greater context, you can enjoy the Tenth Doctor’s two novels on their own terms and not feel like you’ve missed anything.

As you can see, Time Lord Victorious has proven to be an extremely ambitious event, with a lot of material spread out across different media. We hope this guide helps to answer some of your biggest questions, as well as give you a few ideas of what to check out.

Next. Multi-Doctor novel All Flesh is Grass is the biggest story of Time Lord Victorious. dark

Has this guide helped to answer some of your biggest questions about Time Lord Victorious? Are you more curious to check it out? Were there any questions you have that we haven’t answered? Let us know in the comments below.

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Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious – What is it, what’s important and other major questions answered

By James Aggas | Dec 14, 2020