The Master’s plan is revealed – but how can the Doctor stop him?

As the two actors agree in the interview at the end of this disc, it’s been fun hearing Paul McGann and Derek Jacobi swap roles for this story, and inevitably there’s the moment where a key supporting character has to guess which is which after there’s potentially been yet another body swap. (Yet another, because there’s loads of the damn things this time around – which leaves one character adding avian imitator to their resume!)

Lisa McMullin’s story picks up from the end of the second episode with Jacobi’s Doctor having to find his way to McGann’s Master, going on a conceptually fascinating trek (playing into the Joseph Conrad roots of this project) that confirms which of the Time Lords he’s portraying (even if you haven’t listened to the third flashback episode). The confrontation at the end is as ripe as you’d expect, and various Chekov’s guns set up earlier in the story are paid off here. There’s also an interesting look forward down the 8th Doctor’s timeline…

This has been an enjoyable set overall, with David Llewellyn and McMullin’s scripts dovetailing neatly. The supporting cast have been very strong throughout – I really hope that we do hear more from them all either in character or in other roles – and Scott Handcock has overseen it all with a steady hand.

Verdict: Another strong set reaches a powerful conclusion. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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