Self-Defence: The Players

"We are all guilty in some way."

Writer: Una McCormack

Format: Audio

Released: June 2022

Series: The War Master 7.02

Featuring: War Master

Synopsis

On the planet Trabus, the Master discovers a society where nobody is innocent and the only true crime is to be a less successful villain than those around you.

Verdict

The Players was a decent episode to continue my way through the Self-Defence seventh series of The War Master! These adventures are certainly living up to the umbrella title for the series as the Master is defending himself and showing that he doesn't need anything akin to rehabilitation, but I'm not sure his defence was all that great! I liked the concept though and it looks set to continue with the War Master showcasing an example of a past encounter to back up his case. That was fun and felt a bit like a mix of The War Games and The Trial of a Time Lord but on a slightly reduced scale. It also felt like a full cast Companion Chronicle from the perspective of the War Master which was fun as we split back to the scenes on the ship. That broke things up nicely. A political tale is not anything new for the Master and it certainly works. I just felt that the synopsis could have been a little more relevant within the tale. I don't think quite enough was made of the fact nobody was innocent. It's a good prospect with the Master trying to convince his prosecution that even they are guilty in some way, but the theme of guilt didn't dominate for me as much as it ought to have. That doesn't mean the episode was bad as my rating reflects, but there was certainly room for improvement. I do enjoy the Master taking on different roles and disguises and whilst emissary isn't that exciting of a position, it tied in nicely with the political aspects of the Confederation. It was good to get some loose Time War involvement which should be the case with this incarnation of the Master, as the Confederation were in conflict with the Daleks. Lucia was intriguing in that she knew about the war the Master was fighting against the Daleks on a wider scale and the psychological potential of Trabus was certainly of interest to the Time Lords. Why wouldn't it be? Trying to take on the Daleks at a psychological level is definitely something I would love to hear and whilst I don't think we'll follow things up here, I would be all over it! The Master's interactions with Lucia were strong and probably the highlights of the episode, but I also liked how well the Confederation was presented. It was like another version of the Galactic Federation and Trabus trying to gain entry was interesting to learn about. I enjoy politics in space and this was exactly that. I think the Master could have featured a tad more as this wasn't a political climate we knew beforehand, but his arrival into the scene was good. I thought it was fun for him to be questioned about his defence on a number of occasions as it really didn't seem like he was doing that good of a job! That didn't mean the episode wasn't enjoyable though. Far from the case actually! I thought Galia and Cato helped compliment the guest cast very nicely and the latter in particular was a standout. I liked his role in proceedings and the political manoeuvring was intriguing to explore. The idea of success was decent but again something I could have had more of in the story. I do think things slightly waiver towards the end and whilst the pace is measured, it does feel slow at times. I think if you knocked ten minutes off of the run time this story would have worked even better. Some pace and excitement was perhaps lacking and whilst that's not often present with the War Master and the precise nature of the range, I think this could have really benefitted. I enjoyed the Master emphasising the importance of knowing who the players were when it came to politics, but that didn't save it from only being good when I know it could have been great! Overall, a fascinating listen and I enjoy hearing the War Master defend himself. I'm looking forward to more on what is almost certainly an example from Earth! 

Rating: 7/10