Doctor Who review: Ravenous: Planet of Dust explores the Master at his most desperate

The Master is approaching his final days in the Doctor Who audio Planet of Dust. There might be a chance for survival on the planet Parrak. But could the return of the Ravenous ruin that?

Now this is where things really kick off in Doctor Who: Ravenous 4. While Planet of Dust is technically separate from Day of the Master, it also sets things up for the event in a big way.

For a start, it’s a Master story in its own right, starring Geoffrey Beevers. But this isn’t just any Master story. In fact, in some ways, it’s as crucial in terms of mythology as Day of the Master itself.

The Master is dying. Essentially, he’s been doing that for a long time, ever since The Deadly Assassin. Scarred and on his last life, he’s been doing everything he can to extend it. Exploiting sources of power, possessing others, transferring his consciousness to a Deathworm Morphant – he’s done everything he can to continue his own existence.

But his time is running out. After centuries of delaying the inevitable, he’s now on his final days. Is the Master at the end of his life?

Across many audios, including the excellent Mastermind, Geoffrey Beevers’s Master has struggled to survive. Is he finally approaching his end in Planet of Dust?

(Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions)

The end of the Master?

This is actually an interesting story to explore with Geoffrey Beevers’s Master. Essentially, it really does feel like the very end of his story. Matt Fitton’s script makes it extremely clear that the Master can’t continue like this much longer, and he puts the Doctor’s oldest enemy into a very desperate situation. This is the Master at his most vulnerable point yet, so it’s fascinating to explore that.

Geoffrey Beevers is, as ever, absolutely fantastic to listen to. He’s been playing the Master for a long time himself. While he only had one appearance on television back in Tom Baker’s penultimate story The Keeper of Traken in 1981, he’s had many stories on audio thanks to Big Finish.

Some of these have been set pre-Traken, particularly his Fourth Doctor stories. But he’s also been in many audios set after Anthony Ainley’s era ever since Dust Breeding in 2001. It’s rather fitting that Planet of Dust explores this Master reaching his final end.

On top of that, Planet of Dust helps to tie some of the mythology up in a big way, especially regarding Eric Roberts’s incarnation. (Who features in the very next story.) While Roberts’s Master’s appearance in The Diary of River Song earlier this year seemed to contradict other stories featuring Beevers’s Master, (particularly the fantastic audio Mastermind,) Planet of Dust manages to clear all of this up in a very natural and believable way. And, on top of this, it does this while adding even more to the feeling of doom for this particular Master.

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Building towards the finale

Along with the exploration of Beevers’s Master, we also have him meet the Eleven in this one (although it’s implied to be far from the first time that they’ve crossed paths). Considering these are two of the biggest Time Lord psychopaths in the Doctor Who universe, it’s fantastic to hear how well these two respond to each other. They have extremely different styles and are equally untrustworthy. So it’s interesting to see who will come out on top.

And of course, this episode sets up many crucial things for the grand finale. Not just for the Master, but for the Ravenous, too. By the end of the story, the TARDIS team is divided, and everyone is heading towards their destiny in Day of the Master…

Planet of Dust is an absolutely crucial story. Not just in terms of setting things up for the finale, or even for Ravenous in general. It’s also a major story for fans of the Master, too. Another great story that will leave you eager to listen to the final two episodes.

What are your thoughts on Geoffrey Beevers’s decayed Master? Is he one of your favorite incarnations? Have you enjoyed his Big Finish stories? Let us know in the comments below.