A mixed bag of adventures featuring the female incarnation of The Master.
The reinvention of The Master into Missy on Doctor Who saw the way paved for the heroic Time Lord himself to regenerate into her current incarnation. Michelle Gomez imbued her take on The Master with much dark humour and this made her an instant fan favourite and it is no wonder that Big Finish jumped at the chance to give her some more adventures. The first series was released in February 2019 and was a smash success and so this second series has been hastily put together. While the set opens with much promise, it ends on a farce that is, at times, almost embarrassing to listen to.
Missy is running around for the most part trying to get the attention of The Doctor (heavens knows why!) and the first story (The Lumiat by Lisa McMullin) gives her an intriguing version of an opponent from classic Doctor Who. Played by Gina McKee to perfection, The Lumiat is an excellent foil to Missy and hopefully we will see more of her and her character in later series.
Brimstone and Terror by Roy Gill sees Missy in Victorian England running a school. Dan Starkey returns as Paternoster Gang Sontaran Strax and immediately settles in comfortably to his role. Bonnie Kingston and Oliver Clement return from series one to reprise their roles as Lucy and Oliver Davis respectively. It is a fun adventure that rolls along at quite a steady pace without too much sagging.
Treason and Plot by Gemma Arrowsmith finds Missy trying again to summon The Doctor by interfering with the gunpowder plot however, she doesn’t count on a new time agent and another rogue Time Lord messing up her plans. This particular moment in history has been covered in previous Doctor Who novels and it unfortunately does not quite stack up to those, preferring to dwell on farce rather than the severity of the situation. It almost trivialises what was quite an important moment in British history. Christopher Hatherall as Guy Fawkes and Alex Hope as Lawrence McAllister make the most of their roles throughout and manage to create some solid work from a fairly lightweight script.
Too Many Masters by John Dorney sees the series end with a whimper and not a bang as Missy teams up with the Meddling Monk (once again played by the incomparable Rufus Hound) for a second time following their successful pairing in series one. This time, they are captured by Ogrons and the Monk is mistaken for the Master and then the plot just devolves into a lot of petty bickering. The Ogrons themselves sound nothing like they did in the original series and seem to be there only to serve as punchlines for jokes from Missy. Whilst the final ten minutes or so shows us what Missy is capable of, it is like a slow bowler on a very long run up.
Samuel Clemens and Ken Bentley have done a wonderful job at directing the set (especially given that Gomez was overseas and recording by herself) and the music and sound by Joe Kraemer and Iain Meadows is, as always, exceptionally good. There are also interviews dotted throughout the set with the cast and crew.
Whilst there are some wonderful moments in the first two episodes it really feels like the wheels fall off in the second half of the set which is a massive pity as Michelle Gomez is absolutely brilliant throughout and the supporting cast do their best with what they have been given. Perhaps Missy works best when there is a Doctor nearby? That being said, fans of Missy will get something out of this set and we should be grateful that Big Finish continue to spoil us with boxed sets every month.
Reviewed by Rodney Hrvatin
Twitter: @Wagnerfan74
Distributed by: Big Finish Productions
Released: July 2020
Approx RRP: $45 CD, $20 Digital Download
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