Mastermind review [Jonathan Morris]

The Vault - an archive of alien artefacts securely stored deep beneath the Angel of the North.

There's also a prisoner in the Vault. An extraterrestrial known as the Master. He has been on Earth for some time, but now he's under lock and key.

This is his story.

Or, as Captain Ruth Matheson and Warrant Officer Charlie Sato discover... perhaps it is theirs.

When and Where: The Master's story takes place after the TV film. After his escape, he's saved from a predicament by Narvin and his adventures continue from Time's Horizon.

The Doctor's Case:

• A Good Quotation:
• "I am known as the Master. Universally."
• "I am the living embodiment of entropy. Rotten to the core."
• Learning how the Master survived the TV film and what he's been up to since then is one of those gaps in continuity that Big Finish happily fills. The Master's life on Earth contrasts with the Doctor's: rather than join UNIT and selflessly protect the human race from extraterrestrial threats, the Master becomes a gang boss and crime lord, running all the casinos in Las Vegas. The Master has an obvious Silence of the Lambs vibe that allows Geoffrey Beevers to deliver a captivating performance. But then he managed that even in Dust Breeding.

The Valeyard's Case:

• Whilst it's interesting to learn what the Master got up to after the film, this story lacks an emotional element. Master showed that there is depth to the character and that there's plenty of emotional and psychological exploration to do with the character. This could have been in the same vein as Davros or Master, but instead it's the Master simply recounting his history like a wiki page.
• Matheson and Sato are entirely one-note and without character and, given that this range is The Companion Chronicles and not The Master Chronicles this really shouldn't be the case. They're a very dull pair and it's a shame that Ashbrook and Tso don't have more developed characters to play. Neither Grace Holloway nor Chang Lee were breakout characters but they're preferable to these vapid characters.

I'll Explain Later:

• The defences seem pretty extensive, but are Captain Matheson and Warrant Officer Sato really the only people guarding him? They're just asking for him to escape.

This Reminds Me...:

• Excalibur was found by the Seventh Doctor and Ace in an adventure with Brigadier Bambera in Battlefield.
• The Master mentions the events of the TV film and explains what happened to him. The Deathworm Morphant allowed him to survive in the Eye of Harmony for an uncertain length of time before he was able to project his mind outside of the Eye. He reached out into the mind of the Eighth Doctor's companion Edward Grainger, who set him free into 1906.
• The Master mentions the Brigadier and Jo Grant.

The Inquisitor's Judgement: With a lack of an emotional dimension to any of the characters, Mastermind doesn't make for a truly engaging listen. The Master matter-of-factly delivers to the dull Captain Matheson and Warrant Officer Sato a portion of his autobiography before escaping, which was the obvious ending. Geoffrey Beevers, however, is always brilliant. This story should have covered a shorter length of time and had far more interesting characters that Matheson and Sato. This story is okay, and that earns it a C.

The Companion Chronicles - Series 8

Council of War  |  Mastermind  |  The Alchemists