Trapped in Victorian London, Missy must make the best of circumstances… and get a job…

The most recent incarnation of the Master has an insanity level all her own, and her Big Finish appearances have made the most of the many different sides to her personality. We’re used to seeing her onscreen opposite Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, and acting as a dark mirror to traits within that incarnation. But, as with Missy’s previous selves, it’s always interesting to see the Master react against a different incarnation – or indeed without the Doctor in the picture at all.

Roy Gill’s opener for Missy’s first solo box set takes its cue from Missy’s clear resemblance (at least in silhouette) to PL Travers’ Mary Poppins, and for those who are aware of Travers’ original version of the character (rather than the twee Julie Andrews screen portrayal), Missy isn’t quite so far removed as you might think. There’s some necessary groundwork to be done in the script to set up elements for the whole set, but Gill handles it well, throwing us in the middle of things and then clarifying some, but by no means all, of the backstory.

Oliver Clement and Bonnie Kingston are fun as the two children caught up in Missy’s Machiavellian machinations, and Michelle Gomez brings a zest to Missy that could easily have disappeared in the translation of medium from TV to audio.

Verdict: If you’ve got to be home-schooled, who better than Missy?! 8/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order Missy Series 1 from Big Finish