Unholy Night

"We wish you a Missy Christmas."

Writer: Noga Flaishon

Format: Audio

Released: December 2025

Series: Christmas 1.01

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Stranded on the frozen planet of Jul, Missy must face her worst nightmare: the most darling Christmas celebrations imaginable!

Hounded by hospitality, she will need all her wit and malice to survive Noel Falls and its nauseating citizens. For while you can visit any time you like... you can never leave.

Verdict

Unholy Night was a terrific little start to this (hopefully) first series of Christmas specials! With no televised special coming in 2025, I think it's wonderful that Big Finish have picked up the baton with an official festive release and who better to start with than Missy? She quite clearly screams cheer and joy and would be perfect to bring in the season of giving. I'm being sarcastic of course and that's actually what makes her a tremendous match for this kind of adventure. I am an enormous fan of Michelle Gomez's incarnation of the Master and she was on fine form again here. She had blended into the intriguing setting of Noel Falls seemingly with ease as she was donning an accent and seemingly enjoying herself as she ingratiated with the locals, but once she got Kevin down a side-street her true feelings were revealed and she was far from pleased! She'd been on the planet for three weeks and Kevin was a supposed accomplice come to rescue her. I thought the story had strong echoes of The Chimes of Midnight which was intriguing for myself having just read the novelisation, but the Christmas theme and Missy in the lead were more than enough to differentiate it. But I could easily draw the parallels listening to this the same day I completed the book. A place where you couldn't escape and something repetitive and mysterious going on. It didn't quite have as an enigmatic feel but the atmosphere was still one of being questionable. Something always felt like it wasn't right which was fun to experiment with. Missy's relationship with Tom in the story was quite something and whilst it's not that surprising that she was sought after for a romantic relationship, she thought the very idea was cute. It's not something we've explored much at all with this incarnation and Missy falling in love just doesn't seem possible. She would eat any man alive! Or woman for that matter. But Tom was nothing if not persistent and that was just a bit annoying for Missy. I thought that was really good to play with especially when Missy wasn't always allowed to be her true self. Her interactions with Mayor Evergreen were really strong and I liked how she knew how dangerous Missy was but at the same time was far from afraid to stand up for herself. She was almost giddy and excited by the prospect of Missy besting her and whilst that was always going to happen, I appreciated her confidence! It's always good when the villain feels like they're in control until they're not. It's almost comical to not refer to Missy as the villain here but I did find myself rooting for her which is testament to the strength of character. She was not enjoying the perfect Christmas celebrations and the imagery of her surrounded by that festive cheer was good stuff indeed. Kevin getting acclimatised was fun stuff and after making plans with Missy for considerable criminal activity across the galaxy, he'd found love in the form of Sandra and wanted to stick around. So naturally Missy's response was to murder her right in front of him without even remembering her name. Bloody brutal! I thought the conclusion was fine if not predictable in how Missy got the better of Noel Falls and made her way out with quite the impact, but as a whole this was still a really strong and fun opener! It's always going to be where Missy is concerned. 

Rating: 8/10