War Seed

"We all need a little regeneration."

Writer: Johnny Candon

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Missy 3.02

Featuring: Missy, The Monk

Synopsis

Missy takes the Monk to Earth to make a point – she can be nice if she wants. In fact, she can save the planet! While the Monk tries to charm the corporate sharks, Missy makes them a better offer. To supply the ultimate warrior, created in the ultimate war...

Verdict

War Seed was an excellent audio adventure to continue the Missy and the Monk third series of Missy! This was a terrific story from start to finish and really allowed both Missy and the Monk to shine in their respective roles whilst showcasing their reputation and stature in the Doctor Who universe. The Monk was instantly appalled by the idea of Richard Temple selling off regeneration, whilst Missy was all about sharing is caring and didn't see the trouble. I thought it was great that she had brought the Monk to Earth and she was going to save the planet just to prove that she could, and having that subtle exploration of her good side is great and well in line with the character we saw on screen towards the end of Series 10. The Monk suspecting the involvement of the Master or the Rani as the Time Lord that was obviously aiding Temple was terrific, and his efforts at hypnosis control was simply delightful. He was trying so hard! Anastasia was a good and quite brutal character and her acceptance of the instructions to shoot the Monk in the panic room were fantastic. She really was ruthless. The way it was revealed that Temple's associate, an unwilling one at that, was Missy's son came from out of nowhere but it was a line dropped so simply that I loved it! Complete matter of fact. It made sense for the Seed to be talking of his father coming, and took us back to a time where the Master was involved in the Time War. The links with that conflict were unexpected but I liked firmly establishing that we were post-Time War, with the Monk not at all ashamed that he ran away and hid. Missy's description of the Time Lords venturing into non-ethical weapons was good and we soon learned that her son was a war seed. Missy, when she was the Master, took from herself and created them in a way I imagine was similar to how Jenny was created in The Doctor's Daughter. Except these seeds were an amalgamation of all sorts of evil to go with it. These seeds were sent to a planet with an aptitude for war so I liked that this brought it to Earth 1985 with the threat of nuclear war imminent given the conflict between the USA and Soviets. They took a whole year to blossom and then through pheromones control the entire population would become a weapon. That was a superb concept! Richard needing Missy for his army was good with them only answerable to a Time Lord and I thought it was really fun for her to actually show him an example of the seeds being successful. Murphy's panic and potential regenerating after sneaking some of the sample was good and realistic and the plan to suck him out into the Vortex was full throttle! It was a good sense of excitement. The Teatle world was intriguing with an army frozen and waiting for orders, a fine example for Richard to see. Anastasia becoming beastly was an unexpected development and I liked that she wanted to inherit the Temple dynasty but was merely made an employee. Not quite the same position! Once all was well, I thought it was a nice moment at the end with the Seed wanting to be decommissioned, but Missy sent him on his way to live a life and now that he had left, his influence on the planet would dissipate and things would soon return to normal. Overall, this was a tremendous story with some comical interaction between the Monk and Missy! A fantastic listen.

Rating: 9/10