Master! – Big Finish Review

Love him or hate him, one thing that fans can agree on when it comes to The TV Movie is that Eric Roberts incarnation of The Master is like marmite. But, if his incarnation is so divided by fandom, it’s strange how when it was announced he was returning to the role on audio, fans went crazy for it and so far in various releases, he’s proven to be a great incarnation of the character. Master! is the first time he’s getting a solo outing, and without the Doctor around to stop him, what level of carnage will ensue?

The first story, Faustian, from Robert Valentine, feels very different from almost anything else I’ve listened too and I wasn’t sure about that at first. By the third act I was thoroughly enjoying it but with the script almost completely removed from the Doctor Who universe, with no mention of the Doctor, TARDIS or any companions, it felt a little strange. But the Daleks were a nice mention and setting the boxset after the Dalek invasion of Earth gives us a new time zone to play around with and it will be interesting to see how that time period is utilised going forward.

Laura Aikman’s Dr. Lila Kreeg is trying to open a portal to another universe when she finds herself falling under the influence of a strange man she saw when a wormhole opened. Of course, to listeners the identity of that man, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless right up until the end when the Master finally appears. In many ways, his appearance is similar to how John Simm’s Master returns at The End of Time, but given that return was a bit of a mess for me, it was nice to see that the character has done something similar before.

It was also interesting how Valentine kept the Master out of the main action for much of the story, thus rending Eric Roberts to what felt more like a secondary role. But that isn’t a bad thing as it really allows his Master to shine, proving his Master is still the same character, manipulating things from behind the scenes until he gets what he wants. But when the Master finally comes out to play, Roberts and Valentine don’t hang around.

This Master is genuinely frightening in a way that he certainly wasn’t in The TV Movie and when he drowns a character at the end, it does make you sit up and listen, this is a Master who is far removed from the slightly camp one we got on screen, he still dresses for the occasion, but he also isn’t afraid to get down and dirty. While I was worried in the beginning, Faustian more than won me over in the end, proving that Eric Roberts is just as great a Master as any other actors who have played the role.

The story continues with Prey, written by newcomer Robert Whitelock, which features one of my favourite Big Finish characters, Vienna Salvatori, who is a bounty hunter and gets a contract to kill the Master. As you can guess, I have really enjoyed the Vienna solo series so it was great that she was back, once again played Chase Masterson. With the series being set in a post-Dalek Invasion Earth, it’s really fun to hear familiar locations, that now feel like another world. Whitelock does a great job at making this world, which in the previous series, was confined to warehouses and skyscrapers, feel familiar while at the same time, entirely alien.

Whitelock also has a great handle on the characters we encounter, and I wish I could say that people would only act as they do here, following an alien invasion. Unfortunately, the characters feel frighteningly real, even if the actors do go a little OTT with their cockney accents, there were times I thought we’d stepped into an alternate reality version of EastEnders! Whitelock makes the right choice and, once again, keeps the Master in the background until the third act, manipulating characters until he gets to where he wants to go. It also goes to show how easily he is willing to betray his associates, and Dr. Lila Kreeg nearly gets sacrificed in order for him to survive. Luckily this plot point plays a big part in the next episode but it’s fun seeing this betrayal plant seeds of the Master’s downfall.

Once again, the Master gets a truly psychotic moment when, having fled to the Underground, he, Lila and Vienna encounter the Troggs, and he kills them all. If you thought drowning a man was a little near the knuckle, then this tops that one and Eric Roberts once again nails the performance. And all this time there is the question of who hired Vienna, it all becomes clear when a saucer enters Earth’s atmosphere and her mysterious employers make themselves known, The Daleks have returned to once again put the Master on trial.

Following that cliff-hanger, the set concludes with Vengeance from Matt Fitton which sees the Master facing off against the Daleks, following his execution at the beginning of The TV Movie.

Right of the bat, Fitton goes to great lengths to tie that opening segment of The TV Movie, into proceedings, introducing us to the Dalek Litigator, a Dalek who had put the Master on trial in the first place for his crimes against the Daleks in stories like Frontier in Space which led to their downfall in Planet of the Daleks. It’s a clever way of linking things together and Nicholas Briggs is clearly having a ball getting to do a different voice for the Dalek Litigator, much like the recent Time Lord Victorious Daleks, the Litigator sounds different, almost posh and its really fun to listen too.

Many of us fans are wondering if the Daleks have been a little overdone by Big Finish at this point, but luckily, they don’t feature too heavily here, a lot of their actions is heard in the sound design and dialogue rather than lengthy scenes of chaos. That doesn’t mean that the Daleks don’t get to be Daleks and do some serious exterminating, but much of the story is left to the Litigator, who proves an interesting foil for the Master.

For the first time in this series, The Master is front and centre. That’s only right as his showdown with his executioners is a large part of the appeal of this set. What was also great was that I highly doubt any other incarnation of the Master would have dealt with the Daleks as viciously as he does here, and Fitton should be praised for coming up with a brand new way of defeating the metal meanies. Eric Roberts puts in a tremendous performance here, his performance is almost underplayed and that adds to the sinisterness of it and you do wonder whose side you’d be on in the end, the Masters’ or the Daleks!

And it was a lot of fun to hear Vienna up against the Daleks too!

Master! was a release I was looking forward to, though mainly for the inclusion of Vienna when it was first announced. But having heard it, I was really surprised by just how much I enjoyed it for Eric Roberts. He truly excelled as the Master in a way I doubt many thought he would following his take on the character on television. And I fear many will still judge his Master on his television counterpart, Master! offers a new take on the character that everyone should hear, will they judge him as harshly, I don’t think so.