Master! Part One

"He opened our eyes to everything."

Writer: Lizzie Hopley

Format: Audio

Released: July 2025

Series: Dark Gallifrey 4.01

Featuring: The Master

Synopsis

In a psychic forest the Master begins a sinister experiment... but is it for the benefit of Gallifrey or does it serve a darker purpose?

Several years ago, the Master, disguised as a tutor, took a group of Time Lord Academy students with promising futures on a field trip that went disastrously wrong. Now in the present, they all turn up dead.

Gamara is the last survivor – but to save herself, she will nee to reveal the truth about the monstrous experiment the Master made them conduct all those years ago.

Verdict

Master! started off in great style to begin the fourth series and story of the Dark Gallifrey saga! It doesn't seem like a few days since the first part of Morbius was released and here we are starting the final story of the range for the year! How time flies. The Master in his The Movie incarnation is a fine character to base an extended story around and whilst he has his own spinoff range, there's something of a special kind of feeling attached to this series. Anything that delves into or explores Gallifreyan lore and history is right up my alley and this incarnation of the Master just feels perfect for it. Eric Roberts gives a tremendous performance and I love how much he makes an impact even when just as a hologram. The Master steals the show and that's wonderful to hear. I thought the premise of the adventure was really strong and I loved the idea behind an expedition of young Time Lords. Of course, the Master had orchestrated events to ensure they were all part of his own dangerous experiment and as the story goes on for the next two months, I can't wait to explore further details of what exactly he's up to. It seems to be important! And why wouldn't it be? This Master is not one to waste time. Gamara was a very strong character and I think she more than fulfilled the role of semi-lead. She was really interesting and I liked the format of having her after the events try and recall what happened to her and her classmates. She was understandably surprised to find that she was the sole survivor, but she just couldn't remember how that came to be the case. Trying to access her memories was an intriguing element of the story, although having to go through twelve phases to do so seems a bit overkill! Olzel being the one to try and extract those memories was good and she was another very interest character. I think this definitely had the feeling of being an opening instalment which was great and has certainly got me excited for the rest of the adventure! So it's mission achieved there. The Master being in the role of the Vector was really good and I always enjoy him being in disguise! He wasn't afraid to share his identity here though which was a little surprising, especially when the Doctor was referenced pretty heavily. I suspected he would get some involvement, although I think the message of 'The Doctor' said backwards was a tad strange. There's still plenty of time to delve deeper into the meaning behind that, but it was a tad odd. I did really enjoy the Master having a TARDIS within a TARDIS to keep himself safe and it's just fascinating to hear his experiment at its beginnings. It seems somewhat under the radar at the moment and not having far-reaching impact, but judging by his line at the cliffhanger that is certainly not the case! The experiment taking place where it does and tricking the students into thinking they were on Gallifrey is fantastic and I love the Master taunting them about that. He oozed control. The significance is yet to be determined, but the potential for it saving the future of the Time Lords is really intriguing! Is one of these students someone we will know by a different name? I look forward to finding out. As a start to a story goes, this was fantastic in setting the scene, introducing the main characters and throwing the Master into thick of the action. He's terrific and I can't wait to hear him get a little more sinister in the next two parts as the story deepens. I'm invested! Overall, a fine start to what looks set to be a great adventure in a superb range. 

Rating: 8/10