Why I'm so Excited for Time Lord Victorious

The poster for "Time Lord Victorious", teasing the various elements of
the story.

Ever since the announcement of "Time Lord Victorious", the large-scale multi-platform Doctor Who crossover event, fans have been speculating and excitement has been building for what promises to be a huge event. Involving a number of high-profile Doctor Who content creators, such as Big Finish Productions, BBC Books, Titan Comics, Doctor Who Magazine and more, this event plans to bring together the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors in an adventure set at the dawn of the universe. The press release for "Time Lord Victorious" says:

"Follow several Doctors across space and time as they defend their home planet from a terrible race, this is a story like no other."

 

While, initially, I will admit I was a little skeptical (that poster tag-line does still make me laugh), as more and more content has been announced, I've started to get more and more excited. Because, for the first time in a long while, it feels like the expanded universe has been given the same free reign usually reserved for the TV series. Suddenly, we're seeing a huge new section of the Doctor Who universe being carved out, and there are so many new elements to explore. The audios, books, comics and all the other ancillary material is normally slotting into gaps created in the TV series, or taking old elements and finding new things to say about them. "Time Lord Victorious", however, is bringing a lot of new elements to the table, and seems to be using established Doctor Who elements only as a jumping-off point. And that's really exciting: taking Doctor Who stuff we already know, but throwing those elements into completely new territory.

The cover for the first of two
novels from BBC Books, "The
Knight, the Fool and the Dead".

The potential of the dark history of the early universe is one I think Doctor Who should have tapped into a long time ago. Apart from a few references in Doctor Who episodes like "The Runaway Bride" and "The Shakespeare Code", there is very little material actually set there. The closest we actually have got to anything set in that period is the Big Finish audio "Empire of the Racnoss", which was part of the second Classic Doctors New Monsters box-set, as far as I recall, so I think there's great potential in exploring this area of time and space. Our new recurring foes, the Kotturuh, look to be an incredibly interesting antagonist, and remind me a lot of the Inquisitor from the Red Dwarf episode of the same name. Judging when people live and die, this is a great modus operandi, and the images of them on some of the covers of the "Time Lord Victorious" stories look suitably intimidating and grandiose. There's a kind of Lovecraftian horror to them, which suits where the story-line is set, and the stakes the Doctors will be dealing with. And, of course, pitting them against the Tenth Doctor, immediately post-"Waters of Mars", is a great match, as the Doctor at this point in his life is suffering from a grandiose god complex, believing he has the right to alter and change history as he sees fit. Therefore, there's an immediately obvious conflict set-up between the two sides, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it is brought up and dealt with. And, even for the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, there's still interest in having these Doctors take on the Kotturuh, as they are either in the middle of the Time War, or dealing with its after effects, and, as such, are dealing with constant lose and tragedy. The monsters have so much potential, and, hopefully, that will be realised by the stories.

The cover for the second of three audios with Paul
McGann from Big Finish Productions, "The Enemy
of My Enemy".

Of course, it isn't just new elements that are showing up in these stories. The Doctors will be facing against old adversaries as well, such as the Daleks, the Ood and the Great Vampires. The Daleks are almost to be expected, but what's surprising about their presence here is their snazzy new designs, and how it looks like they are more ancillary characters to the events in the stories, rather than the main antagonists, as one might expect. It looks like they'll play bigger parts in the Titan Comics and Big Finish sections of the story, both of which seem like natural homes of the pepper-pot killers. Of course, while the Daleks and their new colour scheme were of interest initially, the most eye-grabbing monster elements of the poster was the Ood in a tuxedo. We have since come to learn that this Brian the Ood Assassin, which might be the single silliest and most genius idea in the history of Doctor Who. The Ood have always excited fans and writers, ever since their introduction in 2006's "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit". In fact, it is surprising that the TV show haven't made more use of them, since there is a great deal of unexplored potential with them. Brian's presence in a vast amount of the material is very welcome, as, from what we've heard about him, I have very high hopes for his character. It's also nice to see the return of the Great Vampires from "State of Decay", as they are a monster that I've long-felt were due for a return. While it only seems like they will be appearing in the Doctor Who Magazine section of "Time Lord Victorious", I'm very excited to see what they contribute to "Time Lord Victorious", especially in light of the fact that they will be facing off against the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler. This provides plenty of avenues, and we'll even be dipping back into the Vampire's war with the Time Lords, which I'm looking forward to seeing realised for, what I believe is, the first time. We even have two incarnations of the Master involved, although it doesn't look like they will encounter the Doctor, being confined to two Big Finish Short Trips. Nevertheless, it shows how wide the scope of the stories is, and how far the writers are prepared to push established elements, and I'm looking forward to seeing the old mixed with the new.

The cover for the first issue of the
Titan Comics strips for "Time Lord
Victorious".

However, while I'm generally happy with "Time Lord Victorious", and excited to see what everyone involved with the project has created, I feel like there is one element which has been ignored, and, as such, it does put a little damper on proceedings. I've very much surprised that current Doctor Jodie Whittaker doesn't have a role in proceedings, since, you know, she is the current Doctor, and it would instantly bring a lot of people who have recently become fans of the show onboard. For something that is filling in the gap while the show is off the air, it seems somehow strange that our current Doctor doesn't feature in the story in any way, shape or form. I get that, from the name "Time Lord Victorious", you'd expect the Tenth Doctor to have a big role to play, and the Eighth and Ninth Doctors are always welcome additions to anything official involving the BBC, due to their brief on-screen tenures, but I find it strange that, somehow, the Thirteenth Doctor is completely absent from this project. Jodie Whittaker won't be the current Doctor forever, and, due to this project's complexity, I can't imagine that this will be an ongoing thing. So, why then did the team not include the Thirteenth Doctor? Well, it is possible that Chris Chibnall and the current production team may have wanted to avoid dropping the Thirteenth Doctor into a huge story that not only may have greater consequences for Doctor Who cannon, but may have restricted their storytelling potential in the future. Whichever the reason is, I feel it is very much a missed opportunity, and may actually act as a barrier to some people coming onboard with this project.  Sure, all of the Doctors involved have loyal fans, and there are those who will buy anything with the words 'Doctor Who' printed on it, but I feel like "Time Lord Victorious" will put some people out due to its complete reliance on elements from the past, and especially with the fact that it is missing out on the Doctor's face that currently is the face of the brand.

The cover for the BBC Audio story "The Minds of Magnox".

Overall, though, despite a few reservations, I am onboard with "Time Lord Victorious". There's plenty of potential in the set-up, and I love the ideas that this crossover event seems to have created. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not these stories can carry it off, but I remain hopeful that this will be one of the biggest Doctor Who events in years! There's still plenty left to announce, and I look forward to seeing more exciting announcements over the coming weeks. And remember, when September rolls around, I will be reviewing everything related to "Time Lord Victorious", so keep your eyes on the blog for that! If you want to stay up to date, you can subscribe by clicking the icon at the top of the page!

All pictures copyright to the BBC, Big Finish Productions and Titan Comics. Thank you very much for reading.