The Liar, the Glitch and the War Zone

"There were people full of love and energy and enthusiasm. Missy hated them all."

Writer: Peter Anghelides
Format: Short Story
Released: February 2018
Printed in: The Missy Chronicles

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Trapped in Venice between two time-zones, pursued by militaristic Gryphons, Missy will do anything to survive.

Verdict

The Lion, the Glitch and the War Zone was another delightful story to continue my reading of The Missy Chronicles! This was a fantastic story to throw Missy into and I really enjoyed how she had to deal with modern day humanity. I imagine she would fit right into Venice with her attire but she wasn't a fan of the people at all, as my opening quote will attest. Her having trouble with the TARDIS after it temporally merged with a Gryphon timeship was really good and I loved the initial bickering between the two once it occurred. Missy wasn't too thrilled as she'd beaten the Daleks but they hadn't even heard of them! I would guess from her comments that in Missy's chronology this story took place soon after the events of The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar and I like how this collection of stories have filled some of the minimal gaps in her timeline. Missy having her own dematerialisation circuit stolen from Mario, a young con artist, was fantastic and when a vortex void popped up linking the present with the fourteenth century, her dematerialisation circuit ended up as a modern day museum artefact. Missy was trying to find some alternative power source to pilot the TARDIS by using the void to her advantage but she needed an immense influx. Water on the scale that Venice possessed was about right, but that would mean death on a massive scale. Oh well, what did that matter? Missy overcame the tidal defences after some excruciating difficulty and aggravating conversation with Antonia and her TARDIS was free again. But she had to stop the plague from being in the 21st century and also had to ensure she wouldn't be hunted by the Gryphons. So she would time-ram her own past TARDIS so she would never have collided with the Gryphon timeship in the first place. It was something the Doctor would never do and I liked that it was something different and dangerous. She hit her own TARDIS meaning the meeting with the Gryphons never happened, the plague never spread into the 21st century and her dematerialisation circuit never got stolen. Mario though still suffered a sad fate and Antonia was returned to him by Missy which was an unexpectedly kind gesture. Overall, another great little story where the characterisation of Missy was just magnificent.

Rating: 8/10