Missy Part One

"You all reek of poverty."

Writer: Rochana Patel

Format: Audio

Released: April 2025

Series: Dark Gallifrey 3.01

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Great events ripple across time. Causing catastrophes and breaches in the fabric of reality. Soon, because of Dark Gallifrey, the renegade Time Lord known as Missy will be able to achieve the impossible...

On a remote and isolated planet, where technology cannot progress beyond steam-power, two thieves are on the run.

Hunted and trapped by automaton policemen, they look certain to hang for their crimes...

...until Missy drops into their world. Their lives are about to change forever, as is the fate of their entire planet...

Verdict

Missy began with a strong start to the third series of Dark Gallifrey! The enigmatic nature of this range gets me excited right from the off but I need to be patient with this story. I firmly appreciate that this is a part one and it very much had that feeling of setting things up for something bigger to come. Missy is one of my all time favourite characters in all of Doctor Who so I’m firmly on board with her for this journey. She’s a unique prospect in this series given her proximity and chronology in being a post-Time War incarnation of the Master. I get more Classic era vibes from the Dark Gallifrey concept and I think that comes from the Morbius opener. The vibe of this episode was very different and didn’t feel like it would be something to delve into Time Lord lore, but that’s not a problem at all. Steampunk Missy is definitely something I can get behind, although less of the cockney accent would be preferred in my view. I thought the concept of the planet Opus Tuli that made up the setting here was very exciting! The idea of a planet that you can’t leave is excellent and even for Missy with her vortex manipulator, there was no escape. Her device just stopped working and she was stuck. Obviously, she wasn’t too thrilled about that! I was impressed with the world building here and it was fun to go with the almost gangsta feel. Scratch and Sly Boots were fun characters to accompany Missy for the adventure and they saw her as their way off the planet. Their knowledge of the Doctor was intriguing and it definitely feels like he’s going to be playing a part in this particular adventure which is very exciting. Scratch deducing that Missy was also a Time Lord was good stuff and it’s almost a shame that he perished! Alisa as the Queen was a good character but she was clearly a token monarch. The true power laid with Lord Voltaire who was hiding in the shadows very mysteriously and I hope we come back to him. His being a Time Lord here and learning of the Time War being over was excellent. It’s a fun prospect for another Gallifreyan survivor! The automaton make up of the characters on the planet was really interesting and I like the idea of AI coming into play so far away from Earth. The Doctor having a backstory on Opus Tuli was great and I think it’s brilliant that he’s the one that found the way off the planet and escaped with the knowledge! Missy was determined to find the answer in Alisa’s crown and the prospect of telepathic crystals was fun. She got it working and fed the life from the crystals into her vortex manipulator as a means to escape. She wasn’t fussed on any relationships she had developed here and despite the betrayal, Sly Boots wanted off too. Missy had successfully wiped out the automatons and Scratch with it. It was a decent conclusion but it just feels like the start of something more to come. The idea of Missy having a companion is tremendous because I know it’s just not going to last. The little mockery of The Dalek Invasion of Earth with her ‘one day we will come back’ moment was just fantastic. Only Missy could get away with that! The cliffhanger finish with the manipulator leading Missy and Sly Boots right to the TARDIS was fascinating and whilst the cover art has spoiled which Doctor will be inside, it’s such an exciting prospect for Missy to encounter the seventh incarnation! The Scottish connection there will be sublime and I’m all for it. He’s also a darker incarnation of the Doctor and I suspect the reason he hasn’t gone back to Opus Tuli and given them the means of escape is to do with Dark Gallifrey. This is an opener, but it feels like the juicy mythology stuff will come in the next part. I’m very much looking forward to that! Overall, a strong start but there’s so much more to come. 

Rating: 8/10