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Doctor Who: The War Master – how Big Finish revived the character

By James Aggas

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In December last year, Big Finish brought back Derek Jacobi as the War Master in his own Doctor Who spin-off. We look at why it’s been such a brilliant return.

One of the best decisions that Big Finish has ever made is bringing back Derek Jacobi as the Master. We all remember exactly how amazing his Master was in Utopia: cold, ruthless and pure evil.

We also know that his take on it was far too short. After playing the human character Professor Yana for most of the story, a man far kinder than the malevolent being hidden inside his fob watch, we only got his take on the Master for a couple of minutes before he was shot by Chantho.

I understand why Russell T Davies did this. After all, he didn’t want to simply bring the Master back. He also wanted to make it clear that he was another Time Lord for the new fans. In an era where there were no other Time Lords, this was definitely big news, regardless of whether you had seen an episode of the Classic Series or not.

I can also see why Davies wanted John Simm to be seen as “the main incarnation” against David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. After the hugely successful time travel series Life on Mars, Simm was a pretty major actor at the time in the UK. More than that: being considerably younger, he was able to bring the same sense of pure, manic energy that Tennant did as the Doctor.

But still: Derek Jacobi. An actor so brilliant, he’s been literally knighted for it. A man who came incredibly close to portraying Hannibal Lecter on the big screen. We only had him for a few minutes, but what we saw was brilliant. It’s absolutely criminal that we didn’t see more of his terrifying incarnation.

Enter Big Finish.

Derek Jacobi has returned to the role of the Master in several Big Finish stories, including his own series, The War Master. (Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Before Utopia

Naturally, the only way Big Finish could bring this particular Master back was in a prequel. And since this Master was the one who ran away from the Time War, it was easy to give him the distinct label of “the War Master”, which nicely parallel’s John Hurt’s War Doctor.

So how successful has Big Finish been at expanding the story of this unique incarnation? Rather brilliantly, so far. His appearances in both Gallifrey: Time War and UNIT: Cyber-Reality have been fantastic. And I’m also looking forward to seeing how his meeting with River Song will be handled next year.

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But it’s in his very own spin-off series, The War Master, that he truly shines. The first box set, Only the Good, was simply incredible. Not only were all four stories fantastic and brilliantly written. But this incarnation of the Master was handled incredibly well.

He’s an incarnation who hides his evil behind politeness and smiles. He comes across as incredibly charming for a great deal of the time. So when he does reveal just how evil and ruthless he really is, even when you know how bad the Master can be, it can still feel like quite a shock.

But even better than the writing is, of course, Derek Jacobi’s performance. It’s absolutely amazing as the Master. He plays both the charm and the evil brilliantly. He has echoes of the original (and best) Master Roger Delgado, but he’s also incredibly fresh. It’s a performance so brilliant, that he’s now become my favorite Master of the New Series.

I’m really grateful for Big Finish for bring this Master back. With more box sets of his own series coming out soon, there’ll be plenty more to enjoy from this Master yet.

Next. Torchwood review: Deadbeat Escape (audio). dark

Are you a fan of Jacobi’s War Master? Are you glad he’s been given new life in the audios? Would you like to see him return somehow to the TV series? Let us know in the comments below.

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