The 2024 winning entry of the annual Paul Spragg Memorial Short Trip Opportunity is written by Patrick Ross and read by Alan Cox (son of Brian Cox, who voiced the Ood Elder in The End of Time, and later portrayed Sydney Newman in An Adventure in Space and Time). Not only this is the second winning entry to feature the Twelfth Doctor, after 2019’s The Best-Laid Plans; it’s also the second Big Finish audio story with Bill Potts, after Emancipation of the Daleks (The Audio Novels); and the second Short Trip to feature the Daleks, after Museum Peace.
At the Intergalactic Fringe Festival (named after the annual event in Edinburgh), on the planet Fringe, the Doctor and Bill observe as many performances they come across, giving vibes of the 1814 frost fair as depicted onscreen in Thin Ice, especially the acrobatic acts. Meanwhile, playwright Cymbeline Sharp recreates the events of the Last Great Time War, titled “Gallifrey Falls No More”; a thrilling callback to The Day of the Doctor, with the 3D painting having the exact same title. Upon choosing a play, by using a Mobile Audience Services Kiosk (M.A.S.K.), the Doctor becomes fearful of having to relive his dark past and the consequences all over again.
Everything about War Stories keeps you hooked, wondering what will happen next, and Patrick Ross absolutely nails it. (Interesting how the title has nothing to do with The War Games, which coincidentally received its colour treatment just before Christmas.) His script provides a captivating, atmospheric experience for the audience – in terms of the worldbuilding and the extraordinary stage production. Even the M.A.S.K. concept, as featured on the cover artwork by Soundsmyth Creative, works marvellously as a plot device. And we shouldn’t forget Bill bonding with designer Tuxa Mulleen, which brings strong character development and LGBTQ+ representation.
You’ll find plenty of nostalgic references to the first Russell T Davies era, as well as some foreshadowing of Tim Shaw/Tzim-Sha (from Series 11) and Janis Goblin (from The Church on Ruby Road). That also includes a mention of Villengard, which was recently featured in Joy to the World, written by former showrunner Steven Moffat. Although the Daleks have a minimal focus, much like in the Series 10 opener, The Pilot, I love how the vocal rendition doesn’t sound reminiscent of Nicholas Briggs. Not to mention the cheap, deliberate attempt at doing an “imperfect” TARDIS materialisation: that’s the whole point about Cymbeline Sharp’s play, creating an approximation of reality.
This is Alan Cox’s first foray into reading a Short Trip, though he’s been in plenty of other Big Finish audios. From capturing the essences of the Twelfth Doctor and Bill to doing an uncanny War Doctor impression in iambic pentameter, his narration flows eloquently well with the story.
In honour of Paul Spragg’s memory, it’s brilliant that there are nine winning Short Trips so far. As a fellow entrant, I was delighted when Big Finish announced the Time War as the main theme for the 2024 competition. A perfect opportunity for new writers to do an original take on one of my favourite Whoniverse concepts, with or without Daleks or Gallifrey involved. As 2025 commemorates 20 years of Doctor Who‘s revival, I hope we’ll get to do the Time War again (no pun intended) or a similar topic this year. Who knows?
War Stories is available to download for free from Big Finish.
(And once you unlock the Short Trip, you’ll also be able to download both the studio script and the original submission in PDF.)
