Well, it certainly took me a while, but I finally finished listening to
Killing Time! I actually wound up listening to the final two episodes and then immediately turned around to relisten to the first two.
The long and short of my opinion here is simply this: I don't know that
Killing Time is the best War Master boxset, or even my favorite War Master boxset, but that's only because there's so much stiff competition -- this is easily among the strongest sets of stories Big Finish has ever released. An absolute gem in the crown that is the
War Master audio range. Incredible, powerful, spectacular stuff.
And now to take a breath and dive right in.
War Master 6.1: The Sincerest Form of FlatteryArguably the weakest story of the set, The Sincerest Form of Flattery doesn't quite manage to come together in the end due to just how much it has to set up -- constructing an entire immortal society, numerous political factions vying against each other, and the conflicting plots and plans of the Master and his unlikely opposite, Calantha. And this isn't necessarily a bad thing -- much like Master of Callous, Killing Time is more of a single, long-form story than the usual episodic fare. Though in this case it might be more accurate to say that The Sincerest Form of Flattery and Unfinished Business are two halves of the same story, sandwiching a pair of more independent, episodic adventures.
Quote of the story: "May your children not starve tonight!"
There are some really, really great lines in this one -- there have to be, to move through such a BIG story so quickly. Very efficient, this script.
The real star of this story arc is the relationship that slowly builds up between the Master and Calantha. I completely adore that opening scene between the two, with the Master dismissing Calantha immediately, simply because she's a guard. One could say that this is in character for him due to the... raw disdain the Master holds for pretty much everyone, but I think it might be more accurate to say that this is a natural opinion for him to hold as a time-traveler. (As I softly allude to my pet theory that the Master is perfectly sane, and the Doctor's the crazy one.)
You see, as a time traveler, the Master doesn't ever really get to witness how people change over time. He only ever interacts with people in the present -- whoever they happen to be when his TARDIS happens to materialize, that's all they'll ever be -- because he'll be gone long before there's time for them to change or grow. And, well, very likely they'd also be dead, but that's another matter entirely. By forcing the Master to spend more time in the Stagnant Protocol, and by effectively neutering his power for much of this story, he finally has a chance to actually develop a long-term relationship with someone other than the Doctor.
I might even go so far as to say that this could be the first time the Master has ever been able to sustain a relationship with anyone else for more than a few weeks, feigned congeniality or no. And it's really fun that the Stagnant Protocol is just so lethargic and immovable that it can force this upon the Master, confining him (more or less) to a single space for years, possibly decades. I love it.
That said, much like the Time War I feel like the Stagnant Protocol is a fascinatingly complex idea that simply is... not explored to the extent that it ought to be. For a society of immortals, most aspects of this culture are incredibly similar to our own. And, don't get me wrong, I like the commentary that even in this "utopia" of immortals capitalisms is still ruining things for most people... but there was room here to make the Protocol's society much more alien and bizarre than it iis. Just... in what has rapidly become one of my most frequent criticisms of Doctor Who... unrealized potential.
Calantha's rise to power, for the most obvious example, is quite meteoric. And would be impressive even in a mortal society -- but in a society where no one ever retires, and wealth and power constantly accumulates at the top, upward social mobility must be profoundly difficult. So how does she manage it? We do get to see some of Calantha's maneuvering after she's already achieved some rank and status of her own, but what about that earlier rise? Starting from when she was just a guard? Especially considering the implication that she was guarding the Master very near to when he escaped. Even if she wasn't technically on duty at the time, surely it'd be a blot on her record? And surely that prison would have had cameras recording her conversation with the Master, making her inability to prevent the escape attempt she knew about in advance apparent to... whoever her supervisors were.
But ultimately that's just the most minor of nitpicks. The important thing isn't so much how Calantha manages to rise up through the ranks, but the fact that she's able to do it at all, frustrating the Master's own ambitions.
War Master 6.2: A Quiet Night InGood lord. I don't know what I should say here, what I even could say here, to even begin to do this story justice. Because
The Devil You Know exists, I don't think I can quite consider
A Quiet Night In to be my favorite War Master story, but if so, it is certainly the runner-up. An astonishingly brilliant story beautifully acted, with both Derek Jacobi and Katy Manning delivering their utmost best. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Katy Manning, in particular, winds up delivering one of the most powerful and affecting performances in Big Finish history here.
It really is amazing to think that when the fifth and sixth
War Master boxsets were first announced that I had higher expectations for the former than the latter. If you'd told me then that I'd be disappointed by the War Master/8th Doctor crossover, but completely awed by the War Master/Jo Grant crossover, I don't think there's even the slimmest of chances that I'd believe it.
Ain't it a lovely thing to be so surprised?
I'm tempted to just stop speaking here, lest I happen to spoil any element of this story for anyone browsing this thread without having yet listened to it -- as unlikely as that may be. Because it's just
that good. But I don't think I'd quite be me if I didn't keep going with WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS.
Quote of the story: "My master is, of course, delighted to see you. As always."Literally every single line in this script is a banger. Perhaps they go a bit over the top with the wordplay, but I think it works well, and helps build up the tension -- we, the audience, obviously know that Jo's uncle is the Master, and there's definitely some powerful inherent tension in Jo's ignorance of that fact, but I think it works well (despite all the clues) because this version of Jo Grant is so much older. For her, it has been a
very long time since she's dealt with otherworldly matters, and even longer since she's dealt with the Master. These are relics of her past, and with her uncle she is in a very familiar place. In short, she is probably more unguarded here than at any other point in her life.
And goddamn does that just make the conclusion hit all the harder.
Remarkable Dialog:- "You're lying!"
- "Am I?"
- "It's what you do."
- "Well, everyone needs a hobby."
Again, it's hard to say such things too definitively, given the rest of his work, but I'd say this story also gives us one of Derek Jacobi's finest performances. His charisma and cruelty are both out in full-force here, heightened further than ever before. And all of this malice is directed at one of the kindest and most unassuming characters in the franchise. Good lord. And then the Master laughs. As he demolishes Jo Grant. He laughs. And it's incredible. Such profound cruelty. And then we end with that beautiful performance from Katy Manning -- almost a full six minutes -- an enormous chunk of the story's total runtime -- devoted to Jo having a protracted breakdown.
nd I'll be damned if I don't love the ambiguity with the Master's plan here -- it's unclear whether or not he simply usurped Jo's uncle's life in key moments, to manipulate her, or if the man she'd always known as her uncle -- since childhood -- had always been the Master.
Good lord.
It is difficult to listen to. But I'll be damned if it's not one of the most compelling scenes in one of the most engaging Doctor Who stories I've ever experienced. I simply cannot overstate just how well-executed every aspect of A Quiet Night In is, down to the smallest of details.
So moving, in fact, that it took me
more than an entire year to muster the will to move on to the latter half of this set.
War Master 6.3: The OrphanI've said it before, and I'll keep saying for as long as it remains relevant (and it will
always be relevant): the truest test of a writer's skill is the bottle episode. If you can make a story work with just two characters talking to each other, and nothing else, you've mastered the craft. It's the only test, I think, that really matters.
And if the preceding story,
A Quiet Night In was insufficient, then
The Orphan ably makes me certain of one fact: Lou Morgan knows
exactly what she's doing, and is
extremely good at it. This isn't just a good bottle episode, it's one of the best. Color me every possible shade of impressed.
Where in the previous episode, it felt like the Master had a very specific intent in his manipulations of Jo Grant, his machinations with Nyssa in
The Orphan feel more accidental. Like the Master didn't necessarily plan on tormenting her, but Nyssa happened to be nearby, and it was an opportunity he was glad to take advantage of. A happy accident. You really get the sense from Jacobi that the Master is having the time of his life here.
Quote of the story: "Perhaps I have one of those familiar sorts of faces. Not so long ago I met a woman who was convinced I was her uncle."Goddamn. I mean,
goddamn.Sometimes I think acting opposite Derek Jacobi must be the easiest job in the world -- he so seamlessly
becomes his characters that the whole artifice of the fiction falls away, and you genuinely believe that whoever he's pretending to be... is simply who he is. Though by that same token, I imagine, acting opposite him must be immensely intimidating.
Suffice it to say that I spent far too long listening to his performance here and thinking, "Gee, he's such a nice man." I trusted him. I trusted the Master. Even after what he just did to Jo Grant. Even knowing what he's done to Nyssa in the past, and will inevitably do to her in the near future. I
believed in the act. Wholeheartedly.
And to be clear, that inevitability is
obvious. This is not a story with any twists or turns: it is eminently, imminently
predictable. From almost the very first scene you know how this tale is going to end. There's only one way it
can end. Yet, despite that, perhaps
because of that, the narrative achieves an almost unheard of level of tension. It's always there, in every scene, just out-of-sight in the corner. A creepy inevitability imbuing each scene with a fantastical level of ponderous tenseness and looming dread. A slumbering horror just waiting to wake. And when it does....
Though as much as I enjoyed this one, I find I do have some more critical thoughts as well. Perhaps I'd be more willing to overlook these issues (or, rather, less likely to notice them in the first place) had
The Orphan not immediately followed the immaculate
A Quiet Night In. To and be certain, these are minor issues (this is still a 5/5 story in my book).
I think the relationship that Nyssa builds with the Master here, seeing him as a sort of faux-father figure, is a bit underdeveloped. Essentially, I don't think this relationship was developed as much as it ought to have been for the reversal at the end to land as much as it could have. Especially compared to Jo Grant's fate, Nyssa takes this betrayal in stride. Where Jo was utterly and completely
broken, Nyssa very much is
not. She remains defiant to the end.
And she also... remains defiant... to the end? Well, wow, that was certainly one way to close the curtains on her character. Will this be one of the cliffhangers that Big Finish decides to follow up on, or one of the cliffhangers that is never brought up again, I wonder?
War Master 6.4: Unfinished BusinessAnd at last we come to the end of the arc, the concluding half of the story begun in
The Sincerest Form of Flattery. And everything that was built up there pays off so grandly here. What a ride this set has been, huh? Demonstrating yet again that the
War Master audio range represents some of the very best work Big Finish has ever done. I find myself both pitying and envying the
Doctor Who fans who have yet to discover these stories -- pity because of just how much they're missing out on, and envy that they still have the potential to listen to them
for the very first time.
I'm confident some of you (assuming anyone's read this far) may be getting a pinch annoyed by me, but I don't think I'm being overly effusive or hyperbolic in my praise here. Not in the least. This Big Finish stuff... this is where it's at. This is where
Doctor Who is being the best its ever been.
Right. Moving on, moving on.
Plot-wise,
Unfinished Business is much more your typical
War Master fare. He has a planet to conquer, and foe to defeat, and the Master accomplished both goals handily, while exuding the usual glee as he revels in his cruelty and mastery of the situation. What ultimately winds up elevating this story is not the plot, which is fairly by-the-numbers, nor the setting (which, as I repeat myself, is a but underdeveloped) but the relationship that develops between the Master and Calantha. Finally, he's made a friend!
And I just completely love how well the two click together. The Master really gets Calantha, and she -- in turn -- seems to get him. Well, not entirely, of course, but she understands him far better than almost any of his other foes. Is it any wonder, then, that he seems to genuinely view her as a friend? And is it not perfect that
of course the Master would see friendship as a constant game, an eternal band-and-forth, each seeking to undermine the other, each delighting as much in the other's missteps as their triumphs. Despite the hopelessness of her situation as she fleets the Stagnant Protocol, I don't doubt the Master's parting words for one moment: I think he'd absolutely love to see Calantha again. To try, once more, to take him on directly. Something, I suspect, that no one else in all of space and time has managed to do -- or get close to doing -- aside from the Doctor.
How can I not love that? How could anyone fail to love that?
Perfection. No notes.
Lastly, a question. Did y'all catch that final scene, when the Master exits the throne room (presumably, I imagine, to walk out onto a balcony to oversee the populace he now dominates) -- the door creaks. Four times.
Masterful. Which leads me directly into my....
Final ThoughtsI've little more to say here about this set of stories that hasn't already been said, at tiring length, already. But I do have a few more final sentiments to express. If you've kept up with me thus far, thank you, and I beg you follow just a bit further. We're very nearly done, I promise.
That creaky door was not the first time we got the four-knocks leitmotif crop up in the ambient sound design of these stories. I adore the War Master's themes, with that constant percussive Time Lord heartbeat, but it feels so much more sinister to me when those beats echo out more naturally, more subtly. You almost don't even notice them. Almost. But they're there all the same, constantly reinforcing this Master's indomitable menace, constantly simmering under the surface.
I've definitely noted several times in the past year or so how much I think Big Finish has stepped up their sound design. The soundscapes of their stories, now, are richer and more nuanced -- and more keenly constructed -- than ever before. While the quality and consistency of the individual scripts is, as ever, up for debate... I suspect we can all agree that the music and ambient audio in the newer releases is uniformly superior to the past releases. They just keep getting better and better. I really enjoyed
The Orphan's BTS track including some comments from the sound designer, Rober Harvey, because he did such a spectacular job here. I'd go so far as to say that
Killing Time has the best sound design out of
everything I've listened to so far. Sheer excellence.
And speaking of the BTS tracks, you may have thought that I'd forgotten to include a "quote of the story" for the final episode,
Unfinished Business, or maybe that I simply didn't think any one line warranted highlighting. Well, not quite! In actuality, the one line that stood out to me the most from
Unfinished Business came not from the episode itself, but from the attached BTS track.
Quote of the episode: "How can I demolish these two amazing women?"
Well, well, well, Lou Morgan. Mission accomplished. Mission
accomplished.
What really stood out to me the most in these sets (well, aside from the lovely conversation about Anthony Ainley, who played Nyssa's Master back in the day) was the bit of self-reflection on the
War Master range by James Goss and... I think the other man was the producer, Scott Hancock? Lou Morgan spoke about how she'd ask herself to
go further, to really dial-up and heighten the Master's cruelty. And Goss (or Handcock?), in reaction, commented that perhaps they'd been "pulling their punches" a bit with prior stories. Which... yes. I agree.
By which I do not mean to imply that I think less of those stories where, as they say, punches are pulled, but that I think the ultimate best destiny for the
War Master range is to really lean into this Master's cruelty. To really emphasize his venomous nature, because it makes that juxtaposition when the very kind and friendly man Jacobi so effortless comes across as all the sweeter. And so I leave
Killing Time with just one thought bounding about my head, superimposed over all the others: Lou Morgan knows
precisely what she's doing. And we'd all be very, very fortunate were she to write more stories in the
War Master range. We should be so fortunate.