Reviews


I Am The Master (Credit: Big Finish)

Producer Ian Atkins; Script Editor Ian Atkins
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Geoffrey Beevers; Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Geoffrey Beevers (The Master)

"There is a message for you. It comes from a long way, from a dying world. No, not a dying world. A killed world. And the message is from the killer.

Please attend carefully. The message that follows is vital to your future...
 
However much longer that may be."
 
I am the Master is a story told by Geoffrey Beevers, in full character as the version of the Master that the fourth Doctor went head to head with in The Keeper Of Traken. The Master here is still the shrivelled, burnt cadaver that he was in that story, a character that Beevers seems to enjoy recreating with absolute relish.
 
We visit the Master whist he is in a very reflective mood, sharing his innermost secrets and desires. He discusses being a Master-chef (poisoned no end of people), and when he gave Master-classes in music (wonderful music....burnt people's ears off when they heard it).
 
The main crux of the story involves his triumph over the planet Glox, a very Earth like civilisation that the Master tears apart....essentially for fun. Nudging them over centuries, in slightly the wrong direction. The story is deliciously devilish, and a joy to hear Beevers smugly let the story unfold, using his smooth and sumptuous tones.
 
There are many a sly dig at not only the Doctor (past and future - well to this incarnation), and rather randomly David Attenborough (!), the story is darkly humorous throughout, but is also a morality tale that good and evil can actually be very similar....all really depending on which side of the fence you find yourself.
 
I am the Master is a solid and very enjoyable listen, that somewhat takes a sidestep from the usual format, and gives the listener a very interesting insight into one of the Doctor's greatest foes. The with a slightly longer runtime of forty-two minutes - this only benefitted the story.
 
You can download I Am The Master HERE from Big Finish for £2.99.

 

Filters: I Am The Master Big Finish Audio