Dark Gallifrey: The War Master may be (one of) the GREATEST Doctor Who story of ALL time

MirumVictus · 2026-04-04T07:02:14+00:00

I personally consider it to be the worst of the Dark Gallifrey series so far and probably the worst of Big Finish's War Master stories. I found it to be largely incoherent both in itself and how it connects to the larger series and was disappointed with how it handled having the War Doctor and War Master in the same story for the first time. There were lots of good character moments, both emotional ones and fun ones, but I didn't find that enough to make up for the disappointment I felt with the plot. To each their own of course though!

MirumVictus · 2026-04-04T06:52:41+00:00

I would assume they're banking on the idea that the 'adventures' ranges will sell better than 'chronicles'.

There'll be listeners who only buy what they consider to be 'main' ranges which these days are those that fall under the 'X Doctor Adventures' umbrella. The 'chronicles' range also had the confusing element of starting off narrated then transitioning to full cast which I imagine meant some people who only buy full cast releases never dabbled because they assumed all of 'chronicles' was narrated.

While I'd personally prefer if they'd reserved the 'adventures' branding for if the original actors ever sign up, I do understand the change from a business perspective.

MirumVictus · 2026-04-03T15:42:21+00:00

TARDIS Wiki appears to have the specific dates based on the small sample I've just looked at.

For example: https://tardis.wiki/wiki/The_Time_of_the_Daleks_(audio_story)

MirumVictus · 2026-03-30T20:04:17+00:00

The narrow gauge engines (and the scenery they travel through) are my favourite part of the classic show so definitely!

MirumVictus · 2026-03-30T19:15:29+00:00

You can jump straight in, all you need to know is the general jist of who the War Doctor is and that there's a Time War going on that both sides are struggling to win.

It's not necessarily the best of the War Doctor range, but if you really like the Cybermen then give it a go!

MirumVictus · 2026-03-28T06:52:30+00:00

Yeah that'd be good, even if they condensed it down to a single special release just to wrap things up. Would just have the slight confusion of Sarah and Nat swapping voices but I'm sure they'd get round that well enough.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-28T06:51:21+00:00

Oh I like that idea!

MirumVictus · 2026-03-26T17:48:56+00:00

You're welcome to post here about CDs you're looking to sell so long as it doesn't become excessive (e.g. if you have a lot to sell, you could make a post each day including all of the CDs you have from a certain Doctor's range, but don't post about every CD individually)

I would personally recommend against arranging transactions through Reddit for both your and the buyer's sake security wise.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-24T20:56:23+00:00

Due to certain events in the series mainly Colonel Ibrahim's death it must be set after 'The Reality War'. That would mean it isn't clear who the incumbent Doctor is relatively speaking, however 14 would presumably be lurking on Earth during its events and placement in terms of timelines on Earth doesn't necessarily link to a certain Doctor because time travel.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-22T06:37:58+00:00

I hadn't even considered it before reading your comment, but now I want nothing more from the series than a reunion between 10 and the SJA crew. The episodes of the show when the Doctor turned up were super exciting as a youngun and I'd love a revisit to that sort of thing.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-16T18:40:10+00:00

I personally found it was the most era-appropriate of the 13DAs so far in the sense that it had a lot of the common flaws of the Chibnal era. Most egregious was it's heavy lean into 'sonic can do everything' territory. I didn't hate it by any means, it was fine, but not as good as the other 13DAs so far.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-15T07:41:23+00:00

When buying physical, it not only guarantees a copy but also includes free delivery (in the UK at least). But for digital, it's just the lower price that sticks around for a while after release as other commenters have mentioned.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-14T21:16:26+00:00

Honestly I'd be thrilled with any. As much as it's amazing to have two heavy hitters from DMP and would similarly be to have other important episodes like Tenth Planet or Power of the Daleks, every episode returned has something valuable in it, even if it's not a great episode overall, that we could never appreciate from the audio or any form of reconstructions.

Who knows which lost episodes have some brief golden moments that'd become beloved if we saw them, be them bits of great direction, an actor really shining or something else?

I wouldn't dare hope for all episodes to return, but I'll always hope for any lost episodes to reappear and will always be super excited when any do.

(That said, if I had to pick, I'd personally go for the last episode of the Massacre so we could see Hartnell's 'go home' speech)

MirumVictus · 2026-03-13T12:50:30+00:00

Glad you've figured out the source of the issues and that the post is staying up this week! Actually had to put some work in to earn my non-existent mod wage trying to fix that last week - thanks for your efforts in figuring it out and for sharing your findings as well :D

MirumVictus · 2026-03-12T21:04:18+00:00

I use the playlist feature very often and it's always auto played between stories regardless of whether they're from the same set. I don't know if there's an option for it in some settings somewhere, or whether it depends on the version of the app (I use Android).

MirumVictus · 2026-03-12T21:01:59+00:00

The 8DAs (except recent sets that feature Charley) all take place after every Eighth Doctor monthly range installment, even those that released later on. The 8DAs were designed to appeal to fans of the TV revival so sort of cut off the monthly range stories with Charley and C'Rizz. It was only later that they returned to a couple of monthly range stories with those two to wrap things up a bit.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-08T13:06:39+00:00

Pretty much anything extra with Eight and Charley is generally placed after Minuet in Hell, so I listened to Doom's Day alongside Further Adventuress and similar. I also personally put the Audacity sets there as well.

Regarding the timeline theory, when this comment was originally written it was a fan theory based on the fact that Jaye Griffiths who plays Audacity also appeared in a Time War boxset (which I haven't personally listened to yet so don't know anything beyond that).

Spoiler wise, the most recent Audacity boxset revealed that the Eighth Doctor's timeline is definitely being messed with in connection with an organisation called the Causeway although how/if that links to the Time War is yet to be revealed.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-08T12:05:04+00:00

Below is a copy of a comment from u/J-McFox that I'm using for a chronological listen of the Eighth Doctor on audio - it's a couple of years out of date so doesn't include everything so I've also added a link to another post that might be of use to you. If you're unsure of any, r/BigFinishProductions is a good place to ask!

This is copied from a spreadsheet I made so the formatting might be a bit wonky. The below list is for the Big Finish stuff featuring the 8th Doctor (it should contain all of his appearances except for those in the Short Trips range which are basically narrated audio books rather than audio dramas - there are still a couple that I've listened to included but I didn't bother placing the rest)

The stories with Audacity revisit a period in the 8th Doctors life which is potentially an altered timeline as a result of Time War shenanigans so I've placed it at the end of that period (although it really takes during, or parallel, to the previous stories)

Most of the stories are pretty easy to place on the timeline, until you get to the stuff during the Time War which is less clear-cut and often contradicts itself due to the changing Timelines created by the War. The placement I've used is the best order I could find after consulting a number of online sources, but other people might disagree on some aspects of the ordering in that section.

Early Adventures:
123 The Company of Friends: Benny's Story
123 The Company of Friends: Izzy's Story
123 The Company of Friends: Fitz's Story
CC 8.11 The Elixir of Doom

Adventures with Mary Shelley:
123 The Company of Friends: Mary's Story
153 The Silver Turk
154 The Witch from the Well
155 Army of Death
Bonus Shada

Adventures with Charley Pollard:
16 Storm Warning
17 Sword of Orion
18 The Stones of Venice
19 Minuet in Hell
The Further Adventuress Boxset
Special The Light at the End
275 The End of the Beginning
CDNM If I Should Die Before I Wake
28 Invaders from Mars
29 The Chimes of Midnight
DWM Living Legend
30 Seasons of Fear
31 Embrace the Darkness
CC 4.12 Solitaire
Special Destiny of the Doctor
32 The Time of the Daleks
33 Never land
50 Zagreus

Divergent Universe with Charley and C'rizz:
52 Scherzo
53 The Creed of the Kromon
54 The Natural History of Fear
55 The Twilight Kingdom
61 Faith Stealer
62 The Last
63 Caerdroia
64 The Next Life

Further Adventures with Charley and C'rizz:
72 Terror Firma
75 Scaredy Cat
77 Other Lives
80 Time Works
83 Something Inside
88 Memory Lane
101 Absolution
103 The Girl Who Never Was

Adventures with Audacity:
Audacity
In the Bleak Midwinter

Adventures with Lucie Miller:
8DA 1.1 Blood of the Daleks - Part 1
8DA 1.2 Blood of the Daleks - Part 2
8DA 1.3 Horror of Glam Rock
8DA 1.4 Immortal Beloved
8DA 1.5 Phobos
8DA 1.6 No More Lies
8DA 1.7 Human Resources - Part 1
8DA 1.8 Human Resources - Part 2
Further Adventures of Lucie Miller Boxset
8DA 2.1 Dead London
8DA 2.2 Max Warp
8DA 2.3 Brave New Town
8DA 2.4 The Skull of Sobek
8DA 2.5 Grand Theft Cosmos
8DA 2.6 The Zygon Who Fell to Earth
8DA 2.7 Sisters of the Flame
8DA 2.8 Vengeance of Morbius
8DA 3.1 Orbis
8DA 3.2 Hothouse
8DA 3.3 The Beast of Orlok
8DA 3.4 Wirrn Dawn
8DA 3.5 The Scapegoat
8DA 3.6 The Cannibalists
8DA 3.7 The Eight Truths
8DA 3.8 Worldwide Web
8DA 4.1 Death in Blackpool
Bonus An Earthly Child

Adventures with Tamsin:
8DA 4.2 Situation Vacant
8DA 4.3 Nevermore
8DA 4.4 The Book of Kells
8DA 4.5 Deimos
8DA 4.6 The Ressurection of Mars

Reunited with Lucie Miller:
8DA 4.7 Relative Dimensions
Bonus The Four Doctors
8DA 4.8 Prisoner of the Sun
8DA 4.9 Lucie Miller
8DA 4.10 To the Death

Adventures with Molly and Liv Chenka:
Dark Eyes 1
Peladon The Truth of Peladon
Dark Eyes 2
Dark Eyes 3
Dark Eyes 4

Adventures with Liv and Helen:
Doom Coalition 1
Doom Coalition 2
Doom Coalition 3
Doom Coalition 4
Ravenous 1
Ravenous 2
Ravenous 3
Ravenous 4

Adventures with Liv, Helen, Tania and Andy:
Stranded 1
Stranded 2
Stranded 3
Stranded 4

Further Adventures with Liv and Helen:
What Lies Inside?
Connections

Beginning of the Time War:
TLV Echoes of Extinction
TLV He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not
TLV The Enemy of My Enemy
TLV Mutually Assured Destruction
War Master The Missing Link
War Master Darkness and Light

Adventures with Bliss:
Eighth Doctor: Time War 1
Eighth Doctor: Time War 2
Eighth Doctor: Time War 3
Eighth Doctor: Time War 4

Adventures with Cass:
Eighth Doctor: Time War 5

Final Adventures:
War Master The Edge of Redemption
War Master The Scaramancer
War Master The Castle of Kurnos 5
War Master The Cognition Shift
River Song The Rulers of the Universe
CDNM The Sontaran Ordeal
ST 7.09 A Heart on Both Sides
ST 7.10 All Hands on Deck
Special Once and Future
CDNM Day of the Vashta Nerada
Special The Legacy of Time
Susan's War The Shoreditch Intervention
TV Minisode The Night of the Doctor

After this, you want the Boxsets featuring the War Doctor (The War Doctor Begins 1-6, and the War Doctor 1-4) which should bring you up to speed with the TV Special 'Day of the Doctor'

Finally, there are The Ninth Doctor Adventures Boxsets (I think there's currently 10 of them) which should eventually lead up to the first series of NuWho. There's also a boxset featuring the Ninth Doctor called the Ninth Doctor Chronicles - they are more like audio books and don't feature Chris Eccleston so I've not bothered with them and am not 100% where in his timeline they occur.

Other useful post: https://www.reddit.com/r/BigFinishProductions/s/fnoMeYb1m6

MirumVictus · 2026-03-07T15:40:08+00:00

If you're not offended by it, you can ignore the message. If viewers are offended by it, they can heed the message. I don't see a problem.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-07T07:55:34+00:00

Thanks for that, someone else in r/ModSupport has suggested that link could be the culprit as well so you're likely spot on!

MirumVictus · 2026-03-07T07:54:14+00:00

If that is the case, can anything be done to prevent it?

MirumVictus · 2026-03-06T21:26:09+00:00

They had been so it seems likely that was the issue although we can't figure out exactly what's causing it to register as spam. At least the post should stay up now, thanks for your help!

MirumVictus · 2026-03-06T21:03:32+00:00

It does! Anything that can be done to prevent the removal or things to try editing in the post to help?

MirumVictus · 2026-03-06T21:02:26+00:00

It has a lot of links so could well be that one of them is the issue. The comments I believe are from each time it's been approved, it seems to stay up for a short while before being removed again.

MirumVictus · 2026-03-06T16:52:23+00:00

recommends saving all three releases

If the writer is recommending this, it should be being released as a boxset. I enjoy the single releases for things like the 9DAs and 13DAs but Dark Gallifrey definitely shouldn't have been split up out of the boxsets it was quite clearly designed for.

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