Day of the Master [AUDIO/2019.10.9]
★★★☆☆
For all you Master fans out there, this is a treat to end all treats (apart from the behemoth that is Masterful, anyway): three of them in one go, each hatching their own devious plans to take advantage of the business concerning Artron. Eric Roberts is a fantastically slimy bastard with that iconic American accent, Derek Jacobi is that Shakespearean menace that we've all come to expect from him, and Michelle Gomez is simply iconic as Missy. She's a bit on the calmer side this time around, but that just makes her bursts of pure insanity that much more passionate and entertaining. For once, Diary of River Song listeners, you don't have to worry about how they're going to explain the Twelfth Doctor not recognising Missy by the time Dark Water rolls in -- she simply doesn't meet the Doctor! Am I a tiny bit disappointed? I suppose so, but I vastly prefer this to having yet another memory wipe ploy to save the timeline. All very overdone, mindwipes.
Thankfully, all three of them team up for the finale of Ravenous, and with a very entertaining villainous trio butting heads with both the Doctor's lot and the Eleven/Ravenous, they are the beating hearts of Day of the Master. Nowadays, it seems, the baddies are much more entertaining than the good guys; sorry for the Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen, but by Ravenous 4 I think it's safe to say that they've lost their mojo somewhat. I think it mostly has to do with how Ravenous as a whole just didn't feel all that exciting to me, didn't pull me in like it wanted to. This final boxset got sort of a new lease on life, and Day of the Master benefits from that -- but its problem is that it's a two-parter that settles too comfortably on being a slightly entertaining story and not a huge whopper. I don't mean that an audio drama finale should be groundbreaking or blockbuster-level bombastic... I just wish this was more exciting, more imaginative and so on. The origin of the Ravenous, Artron's fate, they're all entertaining enough and I had a lot of fun. I just wish I had more, even with the three entertaining Masters running the scene. Let's see how Stranded goes; I think a change of plce would do this TARDIS team a world of good. Kudos for the final five-to-seven minutes, those are genuinely riveting.
For all you Master fans out there, this is a treat to end all treats (apart from the behemoth that is Masterful, anyway): three of them in one go, each hatching their own devious plans to take advantage of the business concerning Artron. Eric Roberts is a fantastically slimy bastard with that iconic American accent, Derek Jacobi is that Shakespearean menace that we've all come to expect from him, and Michelle Gomez is simply iconic as Missy. She's a bit on the calmer side this time around, but that just makes her bursts of pure insanity that much more passionate and entertaining. For once, Diary of River Song listeners, you don't have to worry about how they're going to explain the Twelfth Doctor not recognising Missy by the time Dark Water rolls in -- she simply doesn't meet the Doctor! Am I a tiny bit disappointed? I suppose so, but I vastly prefer this to having yet another memory wipe ploy to save the timeline. All very overdone, mindwipes.
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