The Masters of Luxor [AUDIO/2012.8.16]

 

★★★☆☆

  The Masters of Luxor was one of the first Big Finish audio dramas I listened to in its entirety, almos a decade ago. The descriptive script, the gripping narrations by Carole Ann Ford and William Russell and the fantastic performance from Joseph Kloska — they expanded my interest towards the franchise, and provided me with three hours of atmospheric, dreamy sci-fi fun. Add into the mix the fact that I hadn't properly delved into the Classic series at the time, and therefore Russell's First Doctor and Ford's Barbara Wright were my first impressions of those two characters, and it becomes clear why I had such an affinity for it.

  Upon a long-overdue relisten, I see parts of The Masters of Luxor that don't quite work for me: the rather uneventful and droll middle portion, the rather thankless roles the women of the TARDIS crew have, etc. However, it doesn't mean that the adventure isn't enjoyable; quite the contrary, I found myself more often than not smiling like a kid again. The slow nature of the plot means that more time is devoted to fleshing out the planet, the environment in which our crew find themselves, and the imagery is haunting. The Perfect One is still one of Big Finish's most memorable villains; a robotic being of such aesthetic splendor, confident in his own superiority and very good at concealing the cowering wretch within his mind. Joseph Kloska gives such a brilliant performance, adding so much to the already interesting character.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  The heavy runtime (more than three hours) might be intimidating for any new listener, but I assure you that The Masters of Luxor provides a worthy experience. Sink yourself in the mood, the subtlety and mood of sixties' sci-fi, and let your mind wander to an alien world with ominous servant robots and their master, a machine man who wishes to be human. I'm ultimately glad The Daleks was chosen as the second serial of Season 1 instead, but I would still have loved to watch a televised version of this story.

(Artwork by Caroline Tankersley)