Doctor Who news: Masterful – Release date revealed for Master’s 50th anniversary story

The release date for the Master’s 50th anniversary story has been revealed – and it’s an extremely appropriate one, especially for Doctor Who fans.

Since it was first announced almost a year ago, we’ve been extremely excited about Masterful – Big Finish’s epic multi-Master story celebrating 50 years of the Doctor Who villain. We’ve known for a long time that it will be released in Jan 2021 – the very month of the anniversary itself. But we didn’t know the exact date that it would be released.

This isn’t too surprising. Big Finish rarely publicly reveal the exact day of when they’ll be releasing a brand new audio. The few times that they have given fans some notice, it’s usually in the form of a daily countdown, less than a week before a box set’s release. (It should also be noted that release dates for their Time Lord Victorious audios have been known for a while, but considering release dates have been revealed for almost all merchandise in the multi-platform event, that’s not surprising.)

However, on Thursday, they tweeted something rather noteworthy. Specifically: days to budget for. Along with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas Day, there’s one date that stands out. You can see for yourself which one in the tweet below.

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The perfect date

While it doesn’t say directly in the image, the “release date of new thing I really want” is definitely referring to Masterful. It’s not just because of the link that’s included to the limited edition release of the multi-Master event. It’s also the exact day of the Master’s 50th anniversary – specifically, of his first appearance in Terror of the Autons, broadcast on Jan 2 1971.

I’ve been genuinely hopeful that Masterful would be released on this particular date. Not just because we get to have it extremely early in the month and kick off 2021 to a good start. But also because, with nothing on TV to mark such a huge event (for Doctor Who fans, at least), the release of Masterful would be a great way for fans to celebrate the occasion.

This is one of very, very few times that Big Finish has let fans know so far in advance of the exact day a story will be released. But, after nearly a year of waiting already (seriously, Masterful was announced on Dec 13, 2019), finding out the exact date it’s released feels appropriate, for numerous reasons. So while I’m looking forward to Christmas and New Year’s Day, I have to admit – Jan 2, 2021 is definitely the day that I’m most looking forward to.

Are you excited about Masterful? Are you glad that the story is being released on the Master’s 50th anniversary exactly? Let us know in the comments below.