Doctor Who: War Against the Laan

The second half of a two-part story, begun in The Sands of Life, I have reviewed both parts here.

This story manages to evoke the late '70s era of the TV show, while still using a larger canvas than it ever could. In part, this is due to incidental music that does a good job of channelling Dudley Simpson, who was responsible for the same job on the TV show at the time. But Briggs also does a good job of writing Four - helped by Baker's performance, of course, but a lot is in the lines he's given.

The longer length than usual (for the 4th Doctor series, anyway) allows the play to stretch out more than it normally does, with some extended scenes at the beginning, one of which is clearly setting up a longer term story arc, and has nothing much to do with the main plot. Eventually, however, the TARDIS arrives in the Sahara a couple of centuries or so in our future just as a vast pod of space-manatees decide to make their home there.

The aliens are an immediate threat to Earth, but, in a spin on the usual “alien invasion” plot, they aren't hostile, and the danger they pose is entirely accidental. The second half of the story, in particular, focuses on trying to find a way to save the Earth without killing off a large number of innocents in the process. (Unlike the Silurians, it's clear that these particular aliens really can't co-exist on the same planet as humans, and they initially have no good reason to leave).

Big Finish stalwart David Warner does a great job as the sneering corporate villain, although the play is perhaps more notable for featuring Hayley Atwell, fresh from the set of Captain America, as the President of Earth in whose hands the momentous decision ultimately rests. Among the regulars, Mary Tamm is playing a Romana who is more experienced and less prickly than she was on TV (the story being set later), although John Leeson gets relatively little to do as K9, and isn't in the second half at all.

It's not perfect; the beginning in particular may be over-long, and the two parts really do need to be listened to together to get the full effect - something that's not at all clear from the cover blurb. Plus, the aliens are a bit too stubborn, something required so as not to short-circuit the plot, but a little frustrating at times. And, if you're expecting an actual war in the second half, you're going to be disappointed. But it's an enjoyable story, well-acted and strong on plot, with a decent moral dilemma at its heart.

The Sands of Life on its own is probably worth no more than 3 stars, being largely set-up, but taken as a whole with War Against the Laan, this is a clear 4 stars from me.