Anti-Genesis: Shockwave

"Where is the rest of the universe?"

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: December 2019

Series: War Master 4.03

Featuring: War Master, Unbound Master

Synopsis 

With all known history threatened, the Daleks take desperate action to preserve their established legacy. When they cross dimensions to recruit an alternative incarnation of the Master, an uneasy alliance is formed... But can either side truly trust the other?

Verdict 

Shockwave was another great adventure to continue my way through the Anti-Genesis fourth series of War Master stories! This adventure was not focused on the Time War incarnation of my favourite villain, but more so the Unbound incarnation! I love the idea of the Master’s actions in the Time War and averting the creation of the Daleks has led to such scale that we need an alternate incarnation from another universe to try and stop him! Given that Gallifrey has its own Time War spinoff series, the scale and depth of this series is becoming pretty extraordinary! We have the Daleks actually coming to Gallifrey to seek help and actually aid the Time Lords all seemingly orchestrated by a version of the Master that apparently had gotten bored and contemplated what it would be like to be good. That was an exciting prospect and everything added up nicely. I thought Jacobi was terrific again and still hearing him maintain his position as creator and master of the Daleks was glorious. I’m a huge fan of the overall series arc in this volume and I’m very intrigued to hear how it will end with just one episode left. The stakes are extraordinary and continue to ripple as the title would suggest. Shockwaves continue to be felt and a version of Gallifrey where the Time Lords did away with temporal science and led a simpler life was so much fun to get a glimpse at. Narvin was managing grain storage and hearing Livia arrive on the luxury transport of a horse really gave strong Game of Thrones vibes which was marvellous. Imagine a Gallifreyan version of that show! I thought the Unbound Master was very good and his confronting the Gallifreyans in their alternate timeline and talk of saving the real future was excellent. He was clearly callous given what had happened to his own dimension with just a castle being left of the universe after implementing the banishment equations! It seems that once the Master had conquered the universe, he got bored in his own company so when the Daleks came seeking help he was more than happy to provide it. The War Master on the other hand was not getting bored and was loving seeing different aspects of Skaro history unfold. Alternate events of Genesis of the Daleks occurring as the War Master watched on was excellent and I loved how he actually wished it was the Third Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier sent rather than the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry. If it was the former trio, he claimed he may even capture them which was really nice in showing just how much the Master was a piece of the furniture of the Third Doctor era. However, with it being the latter trio he ordered the Daleks to exterminate them. And they did. The Master relished in that being enacted and he watched it on repeat in delicious fashion! It was superb to hear that evil laugh as he watched on. Hearing the Master have to explain to his own Daleks how they were to become the supreme beings and what 2IC meant as he crowned his Dalek Supreme was good fun. It was the Master at his best! The focus on who the Progenitor was made for a little bit of a mess, as I’m still entirely sure how that will be used, but the ambiguous ending from the Unbound Master as he had an idea on who it might be with just one trip left with their current power supply at least sets us up for the finale. As a whole, this was a really strong adventure that felt a little like filler and I just hope now we get a clash of Masters in the finale as that should prove tremendous! Overall, a really good audio to continue a great series!

Rating: 8/10