Big Finish The Worlds of Doctor Who Special Releases – Master! Review

It has struck me that creating the Master for Doctor Who all those years ago was a damn genius move by producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks. Having the Master as a recurring enemy of the Doctor, a Moriarty fellow Timelord of equal or superior intelligence has given a real dynamic to the show many times were used properly. So now it’s an intriguing concept of Big Finish to give this Master a series of solo audio adventures without the Doctor.

The TV movie had its own particular charms for a wilderness years era and Big Finish took the mantle in a previous Big Finish audio adventure “the Diary of River Song” to reveal that the Master had since escaped being cast into the heart of the TARDIS and the Eye of Harmony. In December 2019 and throughout 2020 this special release was recorded where actor Eric Roberts, “the American Master” the nemesis of the 8^th Doctor in the TV Movie of 1996 has returned. With a very mysterious, almost exotic theme for this Master from the brilliant Howard Carter off we go for this unusual ride.

Faustian by Robert Valentine

I loved the darkness of this first story and how the main character doctor Lila Kreeg is shown as a contradictory human being. At times I felt for Lila, acknowledged “genius” of research and development, initially haunted by memories of her father telling her she isn’t good enough. Dealing with her unsupportive boss Cathrin Travers and the founder of Drake Interplanetary Magnus Drake frustrates her intellect. The use of Lila as a narrator at the beginning looking back at events is effectively used to drive home her clear belief in fate, the inevitability of how she sees events occurring to her. Fate suggests an individual has some helplessness but Lila has a ruthless edge in the pursuit of science. I can really see how Lila is seduced by the idea of understanding the secret knowledge of the universe. Her disturbing “dreams”, which her colleague Eddi Bhole denotes as messages of Kabbalism.

There is her persistence in experimentation because the warp tunnel collapses that opens up the communication channel from the void for the Master to influence her. It feeds her ego and the thought in her mind that she has been chosen. “Every step of my life” she says led towards the defining point of meeting the Master. I guess it’s a cliché somewhat that she has to be a maverick against her bosses but she’s shown at a moral tipping point where she makes her choice. Lila’s dark past has rationalised her behaviour that she doesn’t prevent the Master from killing people.

“Abandoned in the Vortex, the Master’s lost incarnation is about to be thrown a lifeline. Earth rebuilds in the aftermath of invasion, and power rests with those who innovate. Genius Lila Kreeg makes a deal with the devil to see her dreams fulfilled. As the Master returns, there are those – like Vienna Salvatori – who wish to hunt him, and those upon whom he wishes vengeance himself…”

Eric Roberts plays an enticing dangerous Master and you never really can describe him as predictable except perhaps for knowing how to kill people. It’s an admirable acting turn from Eric Roberts as this Master dances in a beautifully dark persuasive tone through Lila’s nightmares. His ego, much like Lila’s, is not insubstantial. Lila describes his “serpents’ eyes” and I love some of the religious overtones of a fallen angel that Rob Valentine incorporates as the Master describes himself as the “brightest star of a celestial race” until they cast him down. He really convinces Lila that she needs him to fulfil her ambitions. The Master goads her, showing Lila glimmers of superior scientific knowledge, praises her, threatens her where she eventually succumbs willingly to the darkness of their “beautiful friendship”.

Prey by Robert Whitelock

There’s a complete change of pace for the second chapter. A few weeks have passed. The character study of the previous story is replaced with an action story spent mainly on the run. The Master has settled into life on Earth, set himself up as a leader with an undisclosed plan to become all-powerful and conquer the Earth. I really like his coolness, his negotiating skills with the Jonglo Alliance making business deals for a large quantity of an ore called Promethium.

Vienna Salvatori, a glamourous professional assassin, played by Chase Masterton literally lands into this story, hired by an unidentified client. She’s a character with her own series of adventures for Big Finish but I immediately liked her dry sense of humour. With a sassy drawl, well trained in weapons, Vienna’s particular target is called the Master! As Vienna is steered by her mystery guide RTPL54777 (she decides he’s Artie) to landing in the Canary Wharf ruins there’s a mystery. Who is her contractor?

It helps Artie is handily programmed to comply with her plans and comparisons of C-3PO immediately sprung to my mind. Joining forces off they go. Vienna although she has a job to do she does care. Their partnership is the highlight of the story becoming a sweet enjoyable one, compared to the more uncertain one of the Master and Lila. There is a sense early on that the relationship with Lila, for the Master is purely a matter of his convenience and existence. When the Master and Lila are forced to go on the run everyone including Lila, becomes an expendable asset when it necessitates survival (well his) and will always bring out his merciless side.

I enjoyed the dystopian feel of a future 23rd Century London that Robert Whitelock has created as it made for some threatening moments. None of the characters we meet such as “attack dog” gang member Sassparilla and her “‘ard man” cockney leader King Muggy are particularly pleasant as his currency is physical brute threats. The tube tunnels of London hold their own nasty dangers and it’s a segregated city where the community has broken down due to previous alien conquest. The idea of no-go areas isn’t a new sci-fi society concept but a future Notting Hill slums where survival of the strongest wins’ provides a contrast against the glittering high rises of Drake Interplanetary business and commerce.

Vengeance by Matt Fitton

The finale by script editor of the boxset and writer Matt Fitton shifts the focus up a gear to reveal a wider web concerning recent events. Daleks, Daleks, Daleks! What is it about the Earth that attracts their saucers here time after time? We find this out. Another question: Why do the Daleks repeat certain phrases to themselves? I reckon they are forgetful. I did smile to myself hearing them say descend, descend, descend as they landed in London. What’s great about Matt Fitton’s script is the possibility of other stories from the twists and turns in this final chapter. The Litigator Dalek disagreeing and working against the Supreme Dalek adds an interesting aspect to the Daleks as modern interpretations usually have them undeviating like.

There are revelations illuminating who the contractor was who ordered the Master’s death. I did enjoy the twists as they were unexpected but there is one about the founder of Drake Interplanetary Magnus Drake which does turn events a bit on their head. Alliances end and others begin. Lila chooses her side in this story which thankfully gives her a bit of redemption after witnessing some truly awful events.

The Master takes fully centre stage as all his preparation comes to fruition as he seeks “vengeance” on the Daleks. It’s an unlikely left turn as the Master becomes a freedom fighter against the Daleks who at this moment in time are a bigger threat to his plans. I think it’s Lila who says “he’s having fun “when the Master grabs a big gun and is shooting at Daleks and enjoying hearing them scream. I felt the sense of release for him being the character he is. In a clever throwback to the TV movie which mentioned the story of the Master’s trial on Skaro and the Dalek sentence of death, this is revisited as the Master recognises one of the invading Daleks, the Litigator.

I really wish this development had come sooner in the boxset as I wanted to hear so much more about the Master’s time on Skaro. It’s a very Master-ish moment as he seems to take great glee in explaining how he escaped. In as much as they can the Daleks seem outraged as he betrayed them although the Master then offers collaboration in order to be set up as ultimate ruler of Earth. But is it a ploy? Without a Tardis, the Master has to use his wits and cunning to survive. The Master is desperate not to return to the void and wants an escape from Earth.

I have enjoyed this boxset and Eric Roberts’s take on his Master. His voice certainly has a seductive quality and he has captured the more mesmeric quality of the character alongside the intelligent vital moments. His Master thinks he can talk himself out of any situation. His is a subtler performance than the mania of a John Simms or a loopy Sacha Dhawan Master and frankly it’s all the better for this incarnation. I guess it has to be as he isn’t the calculating vicious War Master version yet and hearing him just want to kill people all the time would be too much. His interactions with Vienna Salvatori in the previous and this story are great fun as they both recognise each other as hunters. Eric Roberts and Chase Masterton are enjoying their roles tremendously and it shows. 

If you’ve already listened to this story what did you enjoy most? Post your comments on here, The Big Blue Box Discord Server or on Twitter. Let’s talk!

Eric Roberts gives a charismatic interpretation of his Master 7.5 /10