"Morbius the Mighty" begins with the Time Lord tyrant Morbius resurrected and emerging into the Time War. Once again, he wishes to wage war on the universe. But, even more than that – he wants revenge. And he’ll stop at nothing to get it.
“Morbius the Mighty” derives a huge amount of influence from both Moby Dick and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Which is unsurprising, considering how much the latter was influenced by the former also.
In some ways, Morbius is the perfect villain to use in such a classic revenge story. While he is an extremely effective villain, he’s not the Master or Davros. He doesn’t share a long history with the Doctor. He sees himself as someone far above him, above any other Time Lord, in fact.
So while he's only been defeated by the Doctor three times before - a small number, really - it's enough for Morbius to want to track down our favorite Time Lord and destroy him completely. Morbius is willing to burn worlds and go against armies of Time Lords and Daleks to find and kill his enemy. And yes, that’s exactly as epic as it sounds.
On top of that, Samuel West is fantastic to listen to as Morbius. West first played the evil Time Lord back in 2008, in the Eighth Doctor story “The Vengeance of Morbius”. Since then, he’s always fantastic to listen to, thanks to West completely throwing himself into the role. Writer Tim Foley gives him a lot of great villainous dialogue, and West clearly has a lot of fun delivering it.
Out of action
The War Doctor, meanwhile, is in a compromised position when the story begins. For three years, the Doctor has been unwell and is no longer able to travel in time. As a soldier, he’s out of action, and it’s kept him living a quiet life. But at the same time, it’s a life that he’s started to enjoy. At the very least, it’s finally given him a break from the war.
This was a great way of beginning this new chapter of the War Doctor’s long life. The War Doctor Begins was a strong series overall and felt like it had a natural conclusion with its last volume. Rises jumping ahead several years and giving us a glimpse of the War Doctor living a life away from the war is a great way of exploring the character. It’s reminiscent of “The Innocent”, the very first episode of The War Doctor starring John Hurt. Both glimpses highlight one thing – the tragedy that the War Doctor can never truly escape the war for long.
Throughout the whole story, Jonathon Carley continues to give an excellent performance as the young War Doctor. Since joining Big Finish in 2021 for The War Doctor Begins, he’s only grown more confident with the role over time. That continues to be true with “Morbius the Mighty”, where he performs both the more peaceful and the more reckless sides of the War Doctor equally well.
Morbius versus the Daleks
The Doctor’s quiet life in this story of course comes to an end when Morbius returns, desperately seeking revenge on his old enemy. What follows is a great game of cat and mouse, mixed with plenty of rich character scenes, as well as a few immersive battle sequences.
There’s a gradual sense of escalation with this story, with both the battles and Morbius’s ambition growing bigger and bolder. So it’s perhaps inevitable – especially in the Time War – that a confrontation arises between Morbius and the Daleks. With the Doctor of course stuck right in the middle.
If you’re worried that the story itself doesn’t quite live up to that description, don’t be. “Morbius the Mighty” is such a thrilling story to listen to, thanks Tim Foley’s excellent script, the strong performances of the cast, and of course, Howard Carter's excellent sound design bringing the story to life.
Overall, the first volume of The War Doctor Rises was exactly what I’d hoped for. A three-part epic, "Morbius the Mighty" is an extremely thrilling listen, and a great example of how to explore both the Time War and the War Doctor.