“Except you don? do that anymore, do you Doctor? Don? play your spoons, don? mix your metaphors, don? have fun.”
Over the years since it received the licence to make new, original audio dramas based in the world (or worlds) of DOCTOR WHO, Big Finish Productions have pulled some great stories out of the bag. SPARE PARTS. THE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT. FULL FATHOM FIVE. But, I have not heard a play, or perhaps even seen an episode of DOCTOR WHO that can top this months offering. ANDROZANI and WENG CHIANG are bona fide brilliant tales, rarely matched. But MASTER is incredibly good, and prone to instantly loving every new WHO audio as I am, this really is something special. I really cant even see ZAGREUS, the three disc, multi- Doctor, huge cast epic, beating this story. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I quite like MASTERU
From the start, the play sucks you in. A neatly conceived narrative sets things up nicely, McCoy? tones washing over you, massaging you into the plot. Pitched more akin to a stage play than anything else (it was written as if it were according to the writers notes on the CD sleeve) this is perhaps what sets it apart. This doesn? feel like a television adventure, it feels like an original audio product. It subverts the format in unexpected ways without making it obvious. The richness of the sound and the faultless cast bring this up another level. Joseph Lidster? script will split the fan community right down the middle, some will love this play? reasoning for the way the Master is, others simply wont like it. At the time, the shock of what we had just heard really hits you. Be warned- this play basically reveals more about the Master, and the Doctors childhood, than ever before. Geoffrey Beevers is fantastic as the Masters alter ego, John Smith. He is totally likeable, yet the under currant of darkness is there, and that is what makes this seemingly normal man terrifying at the same time. Sylvester McCoy plays a universe weary Seventh Doctor- indeed, this is a man who has passed through over fifty new adventures and has taken all the universe has thrown at him and kept coming back. A new dimension is revealed to this multi faceted character, and McCoy puts one of his best performances across yet. As for the villain- who is not necessarily the Master, isn? your atypical DOCTOR WHO foe. But, without blowing it, we have seen Fenric, the embodiment of evil, so why not the embodiment ofUDeath? It? a fascinating twist and a welcome one. This play not only reinvigorates the format through a wonderful script, great acting, sound effects and music, but shows that the best DOCTOR WHO, isn? just in the past or in the future. An unqualified success, MASTER works on so many levels. The haunted house terror, suspense and original ideas all add up an audio drama that make it even more welcome BF can carry on their great work into 2007. Stunningly good, buy it now.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE
NEXT MONTH: BIG FINISH GO ALL OUT FOR OUT FOR OUR FAVOURITE TIME-LORDS BIRTHDAY IN ZAGREUS, STARRING PAUL ?ROODY?McGANN, SYLVESTER ?YSTERIOUS?McCOY, COLIN ?RAAZY?BAKER AND PETER ?HE ACTOR?DAVIDSON, ALONG WITH A TARDIS FULL OF COMPANIONS AND, OF COURSE, K9!!!]]>
