Master

"All who hear my voice shall die."

Writer: Joseph Lidster

Format: Audio

Released: October 2003

Series: Main Range 49

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis 

Many years ago, on a dark and stormy night, the disfigured and enigmatic Doctor John Smith invited his closest friends, Inspector Victor Schaeffer and his wife, to a dinner to celebrate his birthday. A mere few hours later all the occupants in that house had been changed - some were dead, others mentally scarred forever by the events of that night. 

So, what happened to the distinguished dinner guests on that evening? Perhaps we'll never know. But two clues have led to much speculation - found outside the study window, a charred umbrella with a curved red handle and found inside the house, a blood-stained copy of Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. 

For one person, this night represented an ending: an ending to one thousand years of darkness and an ending to ten years of light. 

But for everyone else, is there no ending of this one night in Hell?

Verdict 

Master was a really interesting and very good audio adventure! I found it to be a lot different to what I was expecting judging by the previous two audios of Omega and Davros which also follow a similar theme to what we had here. Instead of having yet another conniving plan from the Master, it almost turned into the character's own version of Human Nature/The Family of Blood. It was quite a concept and I enjoyed it but I was half expecting the Master to have been playing a trick all along but it wasn't the case. In the audios featuring the Master, granted that this is only the second in the first 50, it seems the nemesis Time Lord has changed dramatically since Survival and The Movie, the last two times we saw the character. In another incarnation played by Geoffrey Beavers, I'm just sadly not sure I can get on board with this actor portraying the Master. For me it doesn't quite work as effectively as I would hope and he just seems too old, even in audios, which is something the Master has avoided throughout the entire Classic era, even in The Deadly Assassin. I wasn't overly struck on part one with it being all about the guest cast and the Doctor telling the story though not in the form of a Companion Chronicle. We actually heard it in real time. The guest cast though were actually pretty good but I still don't think that they should have taken up pretty much all of part one. Victor was a very good character and I liked how aggressive he was at times. Jacqueline was probably my favourite of the guest cast and I liked the dilemma she had in her love turmoil. She cared for Victor very much but to his absolute heartbreak and annoyance, the feeling was not mutual. For him it was unrequited love and he just could not understand why she loved the normalised form of the Master in the familiar guise of John Smith. That was a really interesting choice of name. I really liked the references to Dust Breeding and The Keeper of Traken, particularly the former as I like that we have continuity amongst the audios with the Seventh Doctor set after the conclusion of Season 26. There's no stopping what they can do really and I think that's magnificent. Let them go and expand the Seventh Doctor era! I have absolutely no issues with that. In saying that though, I'm not altogether chuffed with the current appearance of the Master. I'm not sure they should be going with a similar way to The Deadly Assassin on a full time basis. The concept of Death appearing in a Doctor Who story was most interesting and I loved how Jade was concealed under that excellent name, with death's association to the colour green on Perfugium. Exploring the childhood of the Doctor and the Master was the highlight of the story for me and I think it really is perfect to portray them as being bullied as children. The fate of Torvic was unexpected but I must say I do like how these three similar audios have explored the past of the villain the story is named after. I think this story is as close to The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords in portraying the friendship that the Doctor and the Master have. It really should be explored more and I loved how in The Magician's Apprentice the Doctor chose Missy to receive his confession dial. We're not sure just how significant that is yet but I'm sure it'll be important. Overall though, another very solid audio adventure from Big Finish but I do hope they use the Master in a better way in the future! It's working for now but I'm not sure it can last. 

Rating: 8/10