Anti-Genesis: From the Flames

"Have pity on the Master."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: December 2019

Series: War Master 4.01

Featuring: War Master

Synopsis 

After the Master's TARDIS returns his remains to Gallifrey, in accordance with his final wishes, an intricate plot begins t change the nature of the universe forever. But even in death the Master threatens life. And only CIA Coordinator Narvin can hope to stop him.

Verdict 

From the Flames was an excellent start to the Anti-Genesis fourth series of adventures for the War Master! It’s been a long time coming to get to this boxset after finally nearly catching up with the Time War stories of the Gallifrey spin-off, and the wait was certainly worth it if this opener is anything to go by! I really thought this was a tremendous episode and was just a brilliant way to start a series. There was a lot going on and starting with the Master basically faking his own death by actually dying and having some dragon venom injected in him was fantastic. If that’s not a Master plan then I don’t know what is. Crazlus was a fun character to have and his referring to Narvin as ‘master’ did not go down well. I suspect that would be because of what has happened to Leela, but also the reputation of the renegade Time Lord isn’t exactly one to shout about. I liked the continuity with the Gallifrey spin-off series with Livia featuring as President and the idea of her actually wanting to give the Master a full honours burial service was a big surprise and met with abhorrence from Narvin. The very concept of him being used as a martyr to inspire the war effort on Gallifrey was audaciously brilliant. Given his history and reputation, I’m not sure how convincing it would be for the Master to be said to have ridded his old ways and died fighting for the Time Lords. It was bold though, I’ll give Livia that! The description of the Master’s body actually being disintegrated into nothingness in flames was superb and it worked well that Narvin needed to be absolutely sure the Master was dead. He has a track record of surviving impossible situations so the CIA Coordinator didn’t want any repeat of that. Of course, that’s exactly what he got! Derek Jacobi was terrific back as the War Master here and I loved how he was always in control. Hearing the crazed Crazlus aiding his cause as an acolyte was great stuff. His using of Narvin was good and planting the seed of the Anti-Genesis codes set up the series nicely, although a little more explanation regarding them and what they could do wouldn’t have gone amiss. Narvin’s reaction to the very name of the codes sold their significance and I look forward to hearing how they play out given what went down on Skaro. Narvin explaining an unwritten rule amongst the Daleks and Time Lords seemed odd given the scale of the Time Wars, yes that’s plural as Narvin put it, but both sides had seemingly agreed not to try and wipe out the other at their genesis. That stemmed from Genesis of the Daleks and a failed attempt to stop the Daleks’ creation at its source, a catalyst for the War. That reference is always fun, but the Master was going one step further. He was on Skaro at a time before the Daleks were even contrived, posing as the uncle of Davros! That was sensational and something I certainly didn’t see coming. It was audacious and quite the effort from the Master. In order to wipe out the Daleks from the start, killing their creator seemed a foolproof way to do it! Luring Davros out of his bunker and into the one weak spot as the Thal bomb would hit was fantastic and tied in nicely with what we heard in the I, Davros spin-off series. I loved it and I’m intrigued to hear if the Time Lords will actually condemn him if the Daleks would cease to exist. I’m sure it will cause damage to timelines though which will impact the direction of the Time War. Speaking of timelines, the extent to which Lamarius would go to save her loved ones was extraordinary! She was horrified to learn that her family had perished in a Dalek attack and her resolution being to take that planet out of space-time before the event would be catastrophic to the fabric of reality, but that mattered not if it would save her family. Of course, that meant she was sentenced to dematerialisation but Narvin intercepted her at the point of death, realising the potential of using her as an agent if she would go to such lengths. Tasking her with obtaining the Anti-Genesis codes from Skaro’s past was really good and I’m excited to hear what comes next in this series! Overall, a very strong start. 

Rating: 9/10