Synopsis: In “His Greatest Trick” – Gallifrey’s most notorious Time Lord has grown too dangerous. Both sides of the Time War agree: the Master must be stopped… permanently!
However, even as the Daleks and the Time Lords conspire, the Master is ahead of them. He’s about to pull his greatest trick.
Review: The War Master: His Greatest Trick was a Halloween treat. Big Finish embraced the intrinsic horror of this range for the spooky season.
Story
The writers mixed horror tropes with Doctor Who internal logic. As a result, the War Master was a blend of Hannibal Lecter, Jigsaw, and the cursed grimoire that should never have been read.
“The Grievance Bureau” by Lizzie Hopley relied on psychological horror. The War Master caused Time Lords and Daleks alike to question their own identities.
In the process, Hopley managed to create genuine suspense. Frankly, the very nature of the Time War has meant that suspense has been hard to come by.
“Last Girl Standing” by Katharine Armitage gave listeners exactly what it said on the tin. Moreover, I really appreciated how people only died, because characters wouldn’t just leave the War Master alone.
Additionally, Armitage threw in cryptic clues that parodied cryptic clues. Best of all, though, she facilitated death with a delightful use of Umberto Eco.
“The Worst of All Evils” by Ian Winterton also highlighted how characters should’ve just left the War Master alone. Because they didn’t, they were trapped between monsters.
The ending was the most fascinating character beat, however. Listeners heard the War Master viscerally react to events.
“The Blue Shift Ritual” by Adam Christopher gave us another Time Lord myth. The War Master manipulated the myth into reality with egomaniacal precision.
In the end, he paralleled the Eleventh Doctor. Indeed, the story was superior for being less epic in scale than the Eleventh Doctor’s arcs.
Acting
The entire cast was excellent. That said, The box set belonged to the ever superb Derek Jacobi.
Overall
Thank you, Big Finish, for The War Master: His Greatest Trick. It was perfect for Halloween.
You can purchase The War Master: His Greatest Trick here.
- Story8.5
- Performances10
- Audio Production10
It’s really interesting that you compare the War Master to the 11th Doctor because Matt Smith has said that he wants to play the Master in Doctor Who. And his Doctor could get very dark.
Interesting. I didn’t know that. He’d make an engaging Master.