‘THE EDGE OF THE WAR’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Visiting France in 1936 with the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan
Janet Fielding in ‘The Edge of the War’.
The second ‘Conflicts of Interest’ story is the three-part adventure called ‘The Edge of the War’ by Jonathan Barnes. This isn’t the first time I’ve come across Jonathan Barnes as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer.
He’s also penned an episode of ‘1001 Nights’, featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa – ‘The Interplanetarian’ in case you’re wondering. I’ve greatly enjoyed his writing in ‘The Edge of the War’ here.
This is a fascinating and engaging story to listen to, as it takes place in a French village in the summer of 1936. It also focuses on an underground fortification, which is part of the Maginot Line project. 😐
I didn’t know much about the Maginot Line and its fortifications beforehand and how vital they were to France in the Second World War. It was so enlightening to learn more about this period of history.
I like how ‘The Edge of the War’ starts with Nyssa on a bicycle before she meets up with a man called Jean-Baptiste and learns she’s on Earth in 1936. Then a buzzing sound occurs that washes over them.
Once it’s passed, Nyssa has forgotten about the buzzing noise and is told that she’s a watercolour artist. Heading into the village, Nyssa soon meets up with Tegan, who happens to be running the inn.
I enjoyed how most of ‘Part One’ is taken from Nyssa and Tegan’s point of view, especially when it takes a while for the Doctor to appear at the episode’s end and it turns out he’s a detective from Paris.
Of course, there’s the suspicion that there’s something amuck with time and the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan have to work out what’s going on. They end up in a chateau, owned by the mysterious Count.
Peter Davison is excellent as the Fifth Doctor in this story. I like how he interacts with Nyssa when they’re spending a lot of time together and they’re trying to reach the chateau, which is a struggle.
When the Doctor meets up with the Count, he assumes that he’s a Time Lord and the chateau is his TARDIS. He’s shocked when it becomes clear that the Count isn’t a Time Lord and he has no TARDIS.
Sarah Sutton is equally excellent as Nyssa in this story. I enjoyed her scenes with the Doctor and how she queries about what’s going on concerning France’s history and what will happen in the future. 🙂
Nyssa works well for me as a companion, especially as she and the Doctor get on well. It’s amusing that Nyssa has moved on from being a novelist in ‘Circular Time’ to being an artist in ‘The Edge of the War’. 😀
Janet Fielding is very good as Tegan in this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure. She spends quite a lot of time with Corporal Armand Barbier, who’s interested in her and there’s a bit of flirtation going on between them.
I liked it when Tegan helped Armand once he got injured by one of the ghosts from the future shooting him. Both she and Armand reach the chateau, but don’t meet up with the Doctor and Nyssa.
Alistair Petrie guest stars as the Count in this ‘Doctor Who’ story. Alistair Petrie has done Big Finish audios before. He’s been in ‘Criss-Cross’ with Colin Baker and he was Julius Caesar in ‘Living History’.
The Count is a mysterious character, especially without a name. He comes from the future and wants to put 1938 France in a time bubble to have his safe haven. He’s soon told it’s not that simple.
Poppy Miller in ‘The Edge of the War’.
Poppy Miller guest stars as Madame LaChappelle. Initially, LaChappelle seems to be in league with the Count. As the story progresses, LaChappelle resists the Count’s influence when time goes wrong.
Matt Addis guest stars as Jean-Baptiste, who’s also in league with the Count. Matt Addis has done several Big Finish audios before, including ‘The Children of Seth’, ‘Point of Entry’ and ‘The Macros’. 🙂
Phillipe Bosher guest stars as Armand Barbier. This is the first time that Phillipe Bosher has done a Big Finish audio of ‘Doctor Who’, I believe. I’m greatly impressed by how he played Armand in this. 🙂
With the story being set in France, I’m surprised that the French characters didn’t speak with French accents. Then again, it’s better not to have these characters sounding like they’re from ‘Allo, ‘Allo’. 😀
The story ends with the Count’s time machine failing because of entropy. A release of energy pushes the Doctor and Nyssa forward to 1940. LaChappelle has also aged quite significantly because of this.
Unfortunately, when the Doctor and Nyssa go and find Tegan in the inn, they find out she’s been running the inn with Armand for a year. Armand ended up being killed and Tegan is bitterly upset. 😦
‘The Edge of the War’ is another compelling Big Finish audio drama of ‘Doctor Who’ to listen to. Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding kept me interested, and I enjoyed the historical setting very much.
At the end of Discs 2 and 3 of ‘Conflicts of Interest’, there are behind-the-scenes interviews on ‘The Edge of the War’ with the cast and crew, including Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Alistair Petrie, director Ken Bentley, etc.
If you purchase the ‘Conflicts of Interest’ box set from Big Finish, you’ll get the bonus ‘Interludes’ story called ‘Gobbledegook’, featuring the Fifth Doctor and Velar, and read by Dan Starkey.
‘Conflicts of Interest’ is a very decent collection of ‘Doctor Who’ stories. I enjoyed them both. I can’t decide whether ‘Friendly Fire’ is better than ‘The Edge of the War’ or vice versa, since both stories have kept my interest throughout, thanks to the performances of the three regular cast members. 🙂
Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding truly shine as the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan. There’s always the anticipation that a ‘Doctor Who’ story by Big Finish won’t work as well as you’d like. Thankfully, I found the two audio stories very engaging, thanks to Peter, Sarah and Janet’s performances.
I’ve heard statements made that the Big Finish audios of ‘Doctor Who’ aren’t as good as they used to be, especially with the move to having them be box set adventures instead of ‘Monthly Range’ adventures. 😐 I’d rather have decent audio stories to listen to instead of having very disappointing ones.
I’m looking forward to checking out the ‘In the Night’ box set featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan. I’m speculating whether I’ll like that box set as much as the ‘Conflicts of Interest’ one. I’m sure I will, especially with Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding to grace and reassure me. 🙂
At this point, Tegan is very upset about what happened to Armand and having had to spend a year not telling him what will happen to him in 1940. Despite Nyssa and the Doctor trying to comfort her and be understanding, will Tegan talk to them again? Will she continue to be good friends with them?
Incidentally, ‘The Edge of the War’ was recorded remotely, which means mostly everyone had to record this story from their homes. The ‘Conflicts of Interest’ stories were recorded in January and March 2022, where Covid-19 pandemic restrictions were still in place, despite being eased slightly. 😐
As of April 2024, I’ve had my CD box set cover of ‘Conflicts of Interest’ signed by Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton at ‘Comic Con Mania Leicester’ in April 2024.
‘The Edge of the War’ rating – 8/10
‘Conflicts of Interest’ box set rating – 8/10
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