Monsters: The Craft of Corruption

"I'm a person not a weapon."

Writer: Alison Winter

Format: Audio

Released: September 2025

Series: Call Me Master 2.01

Featuring: The Master

Synopsis

The Master is posing as ship's counsellor on an interstellar cruise liner: the fastest transport in a galaxy where lightspeed travel is outlawed by the overbearing Interstellar Protection Corps. All he needs to do is keep out of trouble until the ship crosses into a sector outside IPC jurisdiction. But troubles abhors a vacuum.

Verdict

The Craft of Corruption was a great start to the Monsters second series of Call Me Master! It's a delight to be getting another series with Sacha Dhawan's whacky incarnation of the Master and this episode really felt like it understood this very troubled version of the Doctor's arch villain. I thought the idea of him posing as the ship's counsellor was great stuff and of all the people in all of the incarnations to be giving out psychic evaluations? I thought this was really fun and Dhawan nails it. The way he mockingly recalls the events of Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children and claims he knows what it's like to lose his own people and planet when he was the one that caused it is just full of audacity! I loved it. I thought the Interstellar Protection Corps were a fun element of the story and it really does feel like we've met them alongside the Master before. They have something of a Colony in Space vibe going about them, but alas this is their first appearance and I like the idea of space politics and jurisdictions. I think it's good to have the Master trapped on the ship and the desperation he shows when Kel mentions having a possible route off the ship highlights just what kind of situation he is in. The Light Bandits were a fun little concept and whilst I did prefer them when they were initially likened to a black hole and stealing the light from everyone, it somehow didn't seem to be on as big of a scale when they were reduced to being intergalactic identity thieves. I'm not saying identity theft isn't serious but it's just not what it first appeared! Still, I liked them and the Master posing all innocent to them was terrific. I thought Kel needing to meet up with her apparent boyfriend she'd not actually met yet was intriguing and finding out that Kay was posing as someone else fitted in well with the identity theme of the episode. He was far from what he seemed! It was all a job for him and whilst Kel was the initial target, the Master was the bigger coup. I thought it was good that she came along with the Master and found out the truth about who she thought was Deforest. Jemima was a really good character and I liked how her name translated to dove as she was the person helping get people away. She did not like slavery and was doing something about it. I thought the use of the umbrella title for this series was really strong here as for the IPC there was a legend of the Monster. Except he was their counsellor. The Master had encountered the IPC before and over the years the name had evolved. From Master to Maestro to Monster. The name altered, but the monster within was still very much there. Another fun use of identity! I thought Kel had the potential to be a companion to the Master but that was never going to work out, and she ends up going through quite a lot in the episode here. I think this is a stellar performance from Dhawan and the way he goads the Bandits with his counsellor reports to show that there is a corruption mentioned on their file was hilarious. They could hardly sell those identities! I thought it was a nice touch for Kel and Jemima to be encouraged to start afresh and steal two of the already stolen identities, but I'm unsure if the former's business with the Master is finished. And that excites me! Overall, a strong start to the series. A great listen. 

Rating: 8/10