Doctor Who review: Missy is reunited with the Monk in Too Many Masters
By James Aggas
In the final episode of Doctor Who spin-off box set Missy: Series 2, Missy is reunited with a certain meddling Time Lord – but perhaps not the meddling Time Lord she was expecting…
The last episode of Missy: Series 2 sees the evil Time Lady reunited with the Meddling Monk. They had last met in Series 1 episode Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated, in which she abandoned the Monk in Tudor England. He swore revenge on Missy, and now, he finally has her at his mercy. But is capturing one of the most dangerous and evil psychopaths in the Doctor Who universe a good idea? (No. No, it really isn’t.)
Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated was a hilarious story by John Dorney, and Michelle Gomez and Rufus Hound were an absolute joy to listen to as Missy and the Monk. So expectations were high for Dorney’s second story featuring the two. But I don’t think any of us expected a story quite this good. Or at least, quite this funny.
Too Many Masters is pure farce, in the best sense of the word. There are so many hilarious moments and misunderstandings crammed into this one. One brilliant reason for this was the Classic Series monster that Dorney included in this story: the Ogrons.
Some of the cast and crew for Missy. L to R: Ajjaz Awad, Dan Starkey, Glen McCready, John Dorney, Helen Goldwyn, Robert Whitelock.
Image courtesy Big Finish Productions
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The Ogrons
If you’re unfamiliar with the ape-like monsters, the Ogrons are an incredibly aggressive and incredibly stupid race that has mainly been used as mercenaries. (Mainly because they’re so stupid, they could hardly be used as anything else.) They originally appeared in two Third Doctor stories on television: Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space. The latter story is particularly important to this episode, as they were allied with a certain evil Time Lord at the time…
Making Too Many Masters as much of a sequel to Frontier in Space as it is to Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated is a brilliant move on Dorney’s part. Not only is it a nice bit of continuity that works, but it actually leads to some of the funniest misunderstandings of the story. I won’t spoil why, but hearing what happens when the Ogrons capture “the Master” is nothing short of hilarious.
Once again, Gomez and Hound are just fantastic to listen to as Missy and the Monk. They’re both given plenty of brilliant comedy by Dorney, and they both clearly relish bringing that comedy to life. Helen Goldwyn is also fantastic as Empress Maule, an Ogron that’s just a little smarter than the rest of her race, but not so smart that she stops being hilarious to listen to.
In short, Too Many Masters is another great comedy episode for Missy and the Monk, one that easily matches their previous meeting. John Dorney is often such a great writer of sci-fi and thrilling drama that it’s nice to be reminded of how great he is at comedy, too. (If you haven’t listened to The Trouble with Drax yet, please check it out straight away. It’s easily one of the greatest Doctor Who stories in any medium, and certainly one of the most hilarious.) An excellent episode for Missy: Series 2 to end on, and one that promises exciting things for Series 3…
Next. Spoilers: Does this new audio reveal how Missy survived?. dark
Have you listened to either of the Monk’s appearances in Missy? Do you think Missy should have met the Monk on television? Do you think the Ogrons should meet the Thirteenth Doctor? Let us know in the comments below.