I love John Hurt's performance as The War Doctor, but I just wish these sets had better writing. Right now, it's decidedly down the middle and feels safe. That being said, I'm really looking forward to the fourth box set because of the special guest star... Spoiler: Guest star Leela!
I thought Legion of the Lost was going someplace it didn't go at all. I expected the Horned Gods to be the Daleks (their dome lights could be seen as "horns" by a fearful person), and when Technomage David Warner said they came from a different universe, I expected a tie-in to the old Dalek Empire series (which, of course, involved alternate universe Daleks). The first box set, it's been so long since I listened to it that I don't remember anything specific about it, just the impression that it was competent. "Competent" sums up Nick Briggs' work pretty well; I can't think of anything he's written that I've been "wowed" by, and there are only a few things that I thought were terrible. (Unfortunately, the 50th-anniversary The Light at the End falls closer to the terrible end of the spectrum. It's well-made, but not very good.) Hurt's performance is quite good, isn't it? He's charmingly Doctor-ish -- there's the occasional light twinkle of mirth, there's the sarcasm, there's the force of will underneath the grizzled voice. I don't know how much preparation Hurt put into these audios -- I imagine he's one of the rare cases where he sees the script before recording, unlike some of the other actors who see the script for the first time at recording -- but even if there's no preparation and all he has to go on are the words on the page and his idea of the character, it's enough to evoke this incarnation of the character and bring him to life.
Heh, competent is a great description of Briggs' work. The only stories of his that I was particularly impressed by are Patient Zero, Embrace the Darkness, and Lucie Miller/To the Death (although I know plenty of people don't like the latter). I seem to recall really enjoying Creatures of Beauty but for the life of me, I can't remember anything about the story itself. Ultimately, the problem with Brigg' writing (aside from being merely competent most of the time) is that he doesn't have a high-success rate like some of the other writers like John Dorney, Matt Fitton, Jonathan Morris or James Goss. That's why I get so frustrated when Briggs decides he needs to write the event audio or the entirety of a box set like the first sets of the War Doctor and Dark Eyes. I just noticed the third box set with the War Doctor came out in October. I've fallen rather behind on my audio play listening this year. Might be for the better since I can't really remember anything about the first two sets and it might be better to go in fresh.