A Spoonful of Mayhem

"Missy showed us there was magic to be found."

Writer: Roy Gill

Format: Audio

Released: February 2019

Series: Missy 1.01

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

In a spot of bother in Victorian London. Missy is forced to take on governess duties.

But she has another scheme in mind, and her charges are simply in the way. She's going to have to teach the children some rather harsh lessons about getting what you want.

And there will be tears before bedtime.

Verdict

A Spoonful of Mayhem was an excellent start to the first series of Missy’s own series! I have been anticipating this release for quite some time so I was delighted to receive the boxset as a Christmas present. I’m honestly quite surprised it’s taken until now for me to start listening to it! Michelle Gomez really is an extraordinary talent and she cane across wonderfully well on audio and starring as the lead character. The Missy incarnation of the Master is right up there as one of the very best and getting to learn more of what she gets up to when the Doctor isn’t around is just so much fun! I had already gained a taste of that from The Missy Chronicles which was a brilliant book of short stories, but there’s nothing quite like a performed adventure! The setting of Victorian England was fantastic and I loved how Missy was exiled in a very similar way to that of the Third Doctor way back when. This wasn’t the doing of the Time Lords though, but was instead enacted by the Wardens. I thought they were quite fun but that was largely down to Missy’s interaction with them. I adored how she always seemed, and firmly believed that she was, in control despite being sanctioned for her wrongdoings. The opening scene where she was reprimand for ‘just’ throwing one person off of a cliff was brilliant. Michelle Gomez was at her very best there. The idea of Missy having a job interview to be a nanny was just perfect, especially in the era that the story was set, and her listing of patience as one of her key qualities made the sublime reference to The Keeper of Traken even better. I really enjoyed that one. Just waiting in the Melkur must have been painstakingly long, especially in an emaciated form! Great stuff. When she of course got the job, her interaction with Oliver and Lucy was just superb. I loved how she was teaching them totally different things to Victorian etiquette and went out and showed them that there was so much more to see in the world. Of course, she had an ulterior motive and when it became clear that Lucy wasn’t too keen on what Missy was up to, she just left her behind! Oliver and Lucy themselves were good and seemed like typical brother and sister with the relationship that was provided. Oliver was written very well as the elder sibling. I thought the use of the 19th century as a whole worked well and I liked how it limited Missy to some extent, but she was in the age of the Industrial Revolution and trains would provide her with the power she needed. The after hours trip to Crystal Palace was terrific and I loved that she quickly found an alien Gatekeeper which would end up providing her power source. The Veriform was an intriguing little element in the story and its likening to a genie was marvellous. I really liked how it seemed to be part of the basis for the mythological gods of the likes of the Greeks and Egyptians. I really enjoyed that. It was good to think of steam being intelligent! Lucy and Oliver trying to understand that was fun. The former’s suspicions about Missy’s intentions were very good and I liked how she didn’t believe that her new nanny was filling the train and going fast for the joy of the passengers. Missy connecting up the ancient lay line of notable landmarks through the rail tracks was very interesting and it worked well. It was throughly enjoyable. Speaking of which, I need to track back a little and mention the enjoyment Missy had in sliding down the stairs on the bannister! Marvellous moment. The ruby being the basis for the power was good and Lucy threatening to throw it because of her suspicions was very good. It ended up with Missy once again being taken in by the Wardens. But that is what she wanted all along which was a nice little twist. Mr Cosmo, the lead Warden, getting trapped in a battle was a nice touch as far as an evil conclusion goes and was a lot of fun for Missy to get her way. I also loved how she came back and saved the children from imminent disaster, but she refused to admit that she did so for that very reason. Missy was getting good ever so slightly. Was the Twelfth Doctor getting through to her? Overall, a wonderful audio adventure! 

Rating: 9/10