Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, Geoffrey Beevers, Nicholas Briggs, Terry Molloy, Jason Forbes, Philip Hurd-Wood, Louise Jameson, Akshay Khanna, Lara Lemon, Nichola McAuliffe, Deeivya Meir, Sadie Miller, Remmie Milner, Christopher Naylor, Justin Salinger, Anna Savva, Alisdair Simpson.

Eventually the path that should have been taken will reveal itself once more, another chance, another shot of redemption, for Destiny in the hands of the deserving is seldom a one-off affair, for the responsibility of the name is what providence and fate hold dear, a tethered connection, substantial, unreserved, unbound by the road less travelled; for a hero and a good person will always find the right path in the end.

Forged in a very different fire, the Doctor of War is tempered by the moment coming too soon, that the eternal battle between supposed good and obvious evil had arrived at the doorstep of the sixth incarnation of what would have been The Doctor instead of the ninth…a man already coming to terms with the initial schism of his regeneration and now thrust into the rage of the Time War with less compassion, and with dubious company by his side.

The three tales that make up the second special boxset of Doctor Who: Unbound: Doctor of War 2: Destiny, Nigel Fairs’ Who Am I?, Lizzie Hopley’s Time Killers, and Tim Foley’s The Key To Time To Time, are in their own unique way excellent representations of the schism within the division of multiple personalities and multiple possible timelines, and arguably there is no finer demonstration of this than with Colin Baker at the helm, the finely woven characteristics he brings to the fore, and one in which in this new split time line he truly is able to merge together the brilliance of his Big Finish career, and that with the drama and discord of his television appearances as the Doctor.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the eminent American poet, insisted that, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be”. It is in that sense of self-worth that the answer to destiny is reached, that even the most abusive of entrances to a life can be tempered by growth and understanding; it just takes the right moment to see the other path available with clarity and honesty.

With terrific performances by the ever-reliable Louise Jameson as she returns as Leela, the engaging Terry Malloy as Davros, and Geoffrey Beevers continuing in his role as The Master, Colin Baker’s vision, directed by Nicholas Briggs, arguably the person who has pushed the actor to a huge height in the role, is one of gripping, dramatic intelligence, the sense that every word matters, and where the medium of visual is unobtainable, makes incredible use of aural and spoken word with definite, biting precision.

Doctor Who: Unbound: Doctor of War 2: Destiny engages with the listener in ways that are normally out of bounds, an alternative history, the possible futures that can be seen as metaphorical butterflies caught in a whirlwind of Time; and one in which destiny itself is perhaps out of reach.

Ian D. Hall