Doctor Who news: Masters old and new feature on covers for the villain’s 50th anniversary story

With so many Masters included, Masterful looks set to be the biggest multi-Master story yet.

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

New covers and details have been revealed for Masterful – the epic box set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who’s greatest villain!

This week has been a major one for fans of the Doctor’s arch-enemy. First, we found out that The War Master has been extended for another two series. Then we found out the even more surprising news that Eric Roberts’s incarnation from the Doctor Who TV movie will be getting his own audio spin-off next year. Both of these were pretty huge announcements.

Of course, Big Finish had to outdo themselves tonight by revealing major details about Masterful – next year’s epic multi-Master box set.

Announced late last year, Masterful is a special three-hour story designed to celebrate the villain’s fiftieth anniversary. The story will be a major release for two reasons. First, it’s John Simm’s first-ever appearance in a Big Finish audio. This is huge news in itself, and we certainly hope that this is far from his last story for the company.

The biggest multi-Master story yet

Secondly, this is quite possibly the biggest multi-Master story ever, in any medium. Big Finish has done well with multi-Master stories before – in fact, they gave us a multi-Master story a year before the TV series did. We’ve had several since then, with last year’s Day of the Master featuring no less than four different incarnations of the character. So the standard for a multi-Master story has been set pretty high already.

However, it looks like Masterful will succeed in outdoing all the others, at least in terms of the number of Masters it features. When the box set was initially announced, it was revealed that Geoffrey Beevers, Mark Gatiss, Michelle Gomez, Derek Jacobi, Alex Macqueen, Milo Parker, Eric Roberts, and John Simm would all feature.

That’s eight Masters! Eight! That’s got to make Masterful the most ambitious multi-Master story already!

But that’s not all. You may have spotted in the cover above that somehow, the incarnation originally played by Anthony Ainley will also feature. No details have been revealed on how this particular Master’s involved just yet, although our best bet is a recast. But who will be playing him?

There’s one more surprise. The cover above is for the standard edition release, containing just the three-hour story itself. But there’s also an eight-disc limited edition box set that will be released. And that features an even bigger surprise…

Could the Master originally played by Roger Delgado have a key role in this box set?

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

The original

Well, doesn’t that cover look exciting? Along with the nine other Masters featured on the standard edition, we also have Roger Delgado’s original featured even more prominently.

So what does this mean? Well, it could be one of two things. It might not be referring to Masterful itself, but to its significant bonus content. Along with the titular story, spread across three discs, the limited edition also features a behind the scenes disc; another disc containing two short stories, and a three-disc narrated audiobook.

This last one is definitely a big selling point. The two short stories – specifically, I Am The Master and The Switching – have previously been available as downloads only. But the new audiobook – Terror of the Master – is a completely new story. Written by Trevor Baxendale and featuring the Third Doctor, the Master, and UNIT, we don’t know who will be narrating it, but we suspect that this story will also be something special. The title’s nod to the Master’s first-ever appearance – Terror of the Autons – is a nice touch.

A major recast?

That’s one possible reason why Delgado’s on the cover. However, it has to be said – it’s at least equally likely due to a recast.

Ten years ago, that might have been unthinkable for Big Finish. But since then, they’ve recast a Doctor as iconic as Jon Pertwee’s for The Third Doctor Adventures, and it’s a recasting that’s worked out well for them. So it wouldn’t surprise me if they did the same for Roger Delgado’s Master. Especially for something as major as the character’s fiftieth anniversary.

We can only hope that Roger Delgado’s original incarnation will be honored in some way in Masterful itself, although I’m certainly looking forward to giving Terror of the Master a listen. But what do we know of the actual story for Masterful? Well…

Synopsis

"The Master’s finally done it. He’s won. He summons his other selves to a celebration of his ultimate victory. And they come – from across time and dimensions. But he’s forgotten to invite someone. And Missy’s not happy.Has the Master really conquered the universe? Or has something more awful been unleashed? Something that even all the Masters cannot stop?Missy is determined to reveal the truth. Because one fact about the Master’s existence never changes. No-one can trust the Master. Not even the Master."

I’m definitely liking the sound of this. The Master actually winning? The idea has been explored a couple of times – most recently, in The War Master: Anti-Genesis – and it usually doesn’t end well. Especially for the Master.

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The fact that Missy’s been excluded is a great little touch. Maybe it’s because she’s in some way dangerous to the rest, or – perhaps just as likely – the Master’s simply a misogynist who doesn’t like the idea of one of his later selves being a woman. Regardless, it’ll be exciting to see how she crashes this particular party.

But perhaps most exciting of all is the obvious: the strong hint that the Master cannot be trusted, even with their other selves. We know that at least one of them will have a scheme against the others. But who will betray who? We can’t wait to find out.

Both the standard and limited editions of Masterful will be released on CD and download in January 2021. You can pre-order both from Big Finish’s website right now.

Are you excited about this box set? Which Master included is your favorite? Do you think the incarnations originally played by Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley will have a key role in the story? Let us know in the comments below.