Doctor Who:
The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield volume 4
Ruler of the
Universe: The True Saviour of the Universe
written by
James Goss
I feel
there's something of an injustice with the Big Finish Masters.
Obviously Beevers is delightful and I won't hear a word against
MacQueen but Sam Kisgart's interpretation deserves more love than it
gets, I feel. Of course, this is only the third time he's played the
Master in nearly fifteen years but there's a lot to recommend it.
For one
thing, Kisgart does a fantastic line in snobbery. His scene where he
takes Benny out to tea and complains as she pours in the milk before
the tea is pitched brilliantly. Later on he mistakes a Spider-Man
quote (you know the one) for Machiavelli with just as straight a face
(well, the tone of the straight face, you know what I mean). He
spends a lot more of the story interacting with Benny than he does
with the Doctor and, as it was in the last box set, there's some
serious flirting going on between the two of them which is both
disconcerting and entertaining.
Given the
differences of the continuity, Kisgart's Master and the Doctor don't
seem to have as much animosity between them as the relationship is
usually played. It also helps that this time round Kisgart has the
Missy version of the character to influence him, at one point
dismissing a murder attempt as how he says hello.
That having
been said, the story does revolve around the classic Master plot of
there being a doomsday weapon and an ancient evil to be raised and
all that. It plays out much as you'd expect given the Master's
fantastically bad and yet incredibly consistent history with those
sort of things. Kisgart also gets to do some fantastic scenery
chewing during the climax after a whole story of calm, quiet and
urbane seductiveness.
The whole
plot of the collapsing universe continues with the Doctor unsure of
whether he can make his own plan work, a sense of self-doubt only
enhanced by impeachment proceedings and the influence of the Master.
The Master's entry into the world of politics is explored with all
the subtlety of a brick through a window right down to the obvious
Kelly Ann Conway analogue doing spin for him on the news. If this is
the final hurrah for the Kisgart Master its at least one that does
interesting things with the character, things that probably can't be
done with the “proper” Master without effectively ending the
character.
And if its
the end of David Warner's Doctor? Well, that's a lot less cut and
dried as the ending leaves him open to return in future box sets or
not depending on what Big Finish decide they want but I certainly
wouldn't object to more stories where he gets to act as the Doctor on
adventures rather than the Doctor trapped and confined by politics.
As a final
note, the last scene gives me hope that some day soon WE'LL BLOODY
FIND WHO PETER MARRIED!
NEXT
EPISODE: Helmstone
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