The War Master’s own spin-off extended to three more series!
By James Aggas
Today, Big Finish announced that we’ll be getting not one but three more box sets of The War Master, starring Derek Jacobi in the title role!
The epic Doctor Who spin-off box set The War Master: Only the Good was quite possibly one of Big Finish’s very best releases of 2017. Not only did we get a great four-part story showing us one of the Master’s evil schemes, only without the Doctor there to stop him.
We also got such an amazing performance from Derek Jacobi in the title role. On television, he only had a few minutes in the role in the episode Utopia. And yet in those few minutes, he was so delightfully evil and fantastic to watch.
So it was great to not only hear so much more of his Master and get a better idea of what he was like in Only the Good. It was also great to hear how Jacobi played him: outwardly nice, but always with a strong malevolence hiding just beneath the surface.
Considering how the first box set ended, I didn’t think we’d be getting any more box sets in the series. So it’s fantastic to know that, as confirmed by Big Finish today, we won’t just be getting just one more box set in his own series: we’ll be getting three!
The Master of Callous
Big Finish have already provided details on his second box set, The Master of Callous, including a synopsis.
"On the mining colony Callous, Elliot King struggles to meet the demands of its governor, Teremon. The odds are stacked against him, and his options are running low. The world that once promised dreams now offers only despair.A wild Ood stalks the forests, carrying an antiquated phone. The caller promises much – he claims he can change the world – but he always speaks a devastating truth.He is the Master and the Ood will obey him… but to what end?"
So unlike the first box set, this sounds like it’ll be focused on just one world. But what plan does the Master have with this planet?
What’s particularly exciting about this box set is that all the episodes are written by James Goss and Guy Adams. Not only did they write two excellent episodes from the last series. (Specifically, The Sky Man and The Heavenly Paradigm, respectively.)
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They’re also a very effective writing team when handling an entire box set. An amazing release from last year that I’ve only recently listened to, Ruler of the Universe, didn’t even take place in the Doctor Who universe that we knew. And yet it’s an absolutely incredible set of episodes that I’d highly recommend. So we know how effective they are when tackling an entire box set.
Further series
After The Master of Callous, which will be released in December, we’ll then have two more series. Rage of the Time Lords will be released in July 2019, while the final box set, Anti-Genesis, will be released in December 2019.
Bot of those titles sound incredibly intriguing. Particularly Anti-Genesis. With a title as suggestive as that, will the Master actually succeed where the Doctor did not? And if so, what would be the consequences?
Whatever happens, hearing more of Derek Jacobi as the Master is incredibly exciting. I can’t wait to hear what evil schemes he’ll unleash next.
Next: David Bradley’s First Doctor – better on TV or on audio?
Are you a fan of Derek Jacobi’s incarnation of the Master? Are you excited about the idea of future War Master box sets? Have you listened to Only the Good, and if so, what did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.