Romana sends Leela to retrieve a key contact who may have valuable information – with the aid of the Master…

Derek Jacobi’s willingness to reprise the role of the Master – which effectively he only played on screen for a few minutes over a decade ago – gives Big Finish’s recounting of the Time War a terrific extra edge, without in any way contradicting the information that we got about his actions in the TV series. His appearances in release order aren’t chronological – this story ties in to elements of his own first box set – while the precursor to this arrived in the UNIT box set three months later (yes, we’re still catching up with reviews).

Although they’ve got no on-screen history together, Leela and the Master have met multiple times in the Fourth Doctor Adventures on audio, with nothing that occurred during them giving her any reason to trust the renegade Time Lord. Scott Handcock’s script tackles this element head on, with Leela comparing the “husk” Master with his more urbane current incarnation, and picking up on where the two are more alike than either would perhaps like to admit. Bryan Dick is the subject of their interrogation but things are not quite as simple as that – the Time War has some unexpected surprises for the Time Lord and the former warrior of the Sevateem.

Louise Jameson and Derek Jacobi make excellent foils, and it feels like a shame that things end as they do. But then, we know there’s still much of the War to be recounted…

Verdict: Strong performances from the three central cast and the unpredictability of the Master make this an intriguing listen. 8/10

Paul Simpson