Deceived

"The best spies are the ones who don't realise what they are."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: December 2021

Series: Year of Martha Jones 1.03

Featuring: Martha

Synopsis

The Master's minions are competing to please him. And agents Beecham and Strand believe nothing would please him more than finding the Doctor's stray companion.

As Martha and friends hide out in Vegas, the Toclafane arrive. How many levels of deception must be uncovered for Martha to reach the truth?

Verdict

Deceived was a great episode to conclude The Year of Martha Jones! I thought this was a solid boxset and a fine exploration of The Year That Never Was when Martha walked the globe as the Master ruled over humanity. I think this was the best story of the series which is a positive for a finale and starting with Francine falling ill immediately provided a tricky predicament for Martha. She was looking to try and communicate with the Sovari but now had the added trepidation of dealing with her prone mother. The quick revelation that the Sovari were a sham was excellent and it was a fine way to reintroduce Miss Beacham as the villain after her appearance at the end of Silver Medal. I was fascinated by the fact she had Toclafane under control and that immediately gave her credence as a powerful person in the Master's world. Strand was less convincing as a potential enemy with his playing with UNIT hologram toys and whilst that was amusing, the argument over the hostage of Holly showed no doubt that it was Beecham in control. The flashback to a meeting at the Cabinet in Downing Street where the Master killed essentially every important politician was fantastic and she was one of the people willing to build the new world order and made no secret of hiding the killer instinct that was required for onboarding. I was glad that Martha finally showed some sort of scepticism towards her mother and just how she could be there as I've questioned that ever since she arrived in The Last Diner. It was clear that Francine was part of Beecham's plan to get at Martha and I thought her familial connection would be used, but in fact she was very much in charge of the plan as Francine was a clone! There were 230 of them in fact and the one with Martha was close to expiry, hence her illness. Francine showing shock that there seemed to be some credence to the rumours that Martha was going around finding the instruments required to kill the Master was a little surprising, as was Strand taking on the form of Holly. The shift in direction from Beecham as she ordered that Strand was killed was very good in establishing her as the main villain, and her heartless vaporisation of the clone Francine in front of Martha was just brutal. Holly warning off Dustin and revealing the truth about the Sovari was good and nice continuity with the previous episode. Beecham wanting to get the details from Martha about what she was collecting and if it meant the Master could die was intriguing and immediately showed her true intentions. I thought the continuity with Last of the Time Lords and Beecham being the one that Martha gained the data on the lightning strike that brought down a Toclafane was terrifically done. She had the means to control the Toclafane and now she wanted to take down the Master and rule herself! That was audacious and Martha laughed it off, as did the Master seemingly as he'd learned of her deception and the Toclafane didn't mess about in seeing her off. I loved that we got a glimpse of the real Francine on the Valiant mocking the Toclafane about the Master's unhappiness knowing that Martha was doing some good and on the right track. Overall, a strong conclusion to the series! 

Rating: 8/10