Doctor Who: Should Big Finish create more spin-offs for the Master?

The War Master already has his own spin-off, and next month, so will Missy. But should Big Finish create other series for Doctor Who’s most evil Time Lord?

Is anyone else looking forward to new Doctor Who spin-off series Missy next month? I know I am. Michelle Gomez is a lot of fun as the female incarnation of the Master, and getting to find out what she did when the Doctor wasn’t around is going to be exciting.

And it won’t be the first spin-off series that Big Finish have created for the Doctor’s greatest enemy. In 2017, we got The War Master – a spin-off series focused on the incarnation played by Derek Jacobi, who first appeared in Utopia. Exploring what the Master got up to during the Time War, this is a really strong series. The first box set, Only the Good, is nothing short of brilliant.

Now, considering how successful The War Master is, and how exciting Missy is, it does beg the question: should spin-offs be created for more incarnations of the Master? If so, which ones?

We know how he managed against the Doctor. But what did the Saxon Master get up to in his own adventures?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The Saxon Master

I think a spin-off that many fans would be excited about would be a series focused on John Simm’s incarnation. Certainly hugely popular with New Series fans, like The Tenth Doctor Adventures, this could bring a whole new audience to Big Finish.

However, there are a couple of problems. For one thing, John Simm has yet to play the Master for Big Finish. Which isn’t surprising – he’s a very active actor and is constantly busy. Still, I hope Big Finish can persuade him to play the role once more.

But even if they did, there might be more limited room for new stories of his character. After all, his stories seem to run more or less consecutively. You certainly couldn’t tell any stories between Last of the Time Lords and The End of Time, for example.

However, there’s still plenty of potential. For example, we don’t know how long he roamed the universe when he fled Gallifrey after The End of Time. It could have very easily been a long time before his TARDIS crashed on the Mondasian spaceship in World Enough and Time.

Even better, there’s also potential for flashback stories elsewhere. For example, we could hear his rise to power between Utopia and The Sound of Drums. (Or, to put it another way, during most of series three before Utopia. Time travel can get really confusing sometimes.) Or even find out more of what he got up to during “the year that never was”.

So there are certainly strong possibilities in bringing the Saxon Master back. But he’s not necessarily the only one who could benefit from a spin-off.

Mastermind showed us how deadly Geoffrey Beever’s Master could be on his own. Could we see the same done with other Masters?

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Many Masters

There could be room to explore other versions of the Master in other series, too. Maybe not a spin-off for every incarnation. But there could certainly be other possibilities.

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For example, the latest River Song box set features stories of her against four different incarnations of the Master. Not all at once, but across four separate episodes. This is an idea that works really well, and could be applied to the Master’s own series.

This would allow for a wider variety of styles. A story focusing on the First Master as played by James Dreyfus, another on Geoffrey Beevers, another on Alex Macqueen etc. It would also give Big Finish’s own Masters their individual chance to shine outside of Doctor Who. (Especially Macqueen, who hasn’t appeared in an audio since The Two Masters two and a half years ago.)

Regardless, there’s definitely a lot of potential for telling more stories of the Master away from the Doctor. Considering how brilliant The War Master series is, I really do hope that, along with Missy, other incarnations are given the same treatment.

Next. Why you should check out The Two Masters trilogy. dark

Do you think the Master should have more spin-off series? Which incarnation would you like to see focused on more? Are there any incarnations you don’t want to get a spin-off series of? Let us know in the comments below.

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