Will three incarnations of the Master be enough to defeat the Doctor?

John Dorney’s conclusion to not just this box set, but the entire Ravenous saga, juggles a huge number of plotlines successfully, bringing them together for a strong conclusion – and along the way answering a few questions about things that we’ve already seen in the Big Finish universe but whose origins were unknown.

Put three Doctors together and there’s friction – but three Masters, particularly when played by actors of the quality of Michelle Gomez, Derek Jacobi and Eric Roberts (to list in alphabetical order!) puts that in the shade. The Eleven tries to bring his biggest plan to fruition, but he’s really not up to dealing with the Ravenous and the Master(s), as well as potential interference from the Doctor.

It seems as if we have had a load of standalone stories in this sequence, but elements of them become relevant as we head to the finale, shedding a new light on Robert Whitelock’s casting in earlier sets. You could complain that there’s an element of ‘handwavium’ about the resolution, but that has been set up for a year at the time of release of this story and it’s absolutely right in terms of the characters.

As the extras note, the team of Paul McGann’s Doctor, Nicola Walker’s Liv and Hattie Morahan’s Helen is a close-knit one, and adding the Eleven to the mix has been a successful experiment. With the presence of multiple Masters as well, this is an epic confrontation.

Verdict: The Ravenous sequence goes out on a high. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order Ravenous 4 from Big Finish