The War Master: Rage of the Time Lords

The War Master #3

by Tim Foley, David Llewellyn

With all of space and time in chaos, the Master plots his most audacious project yet. Only one other Time Lord has ever been able to stop him. But where is that Time Lord when the universe needs him?

3.1 The Survivor by Tim Foley
At the height of the Second World War on the planet Earth, Alice Pritchard wants for nothing more than the fighting to stop, and to do her bit for King and Country. But when the village priest offers her guidance, her life will change in ways she could never imagine.

3.2 The Coney Island Chameleon by David Llewellyn
When the carnival arrives on Coney Island, it brings with it the most incredible specimens that New York will ever see. Unfortunately for the acts, not all eyes on them are friendly. Enigmatic businessman TS Mereath has taken a shine to the Coney Island Chameleon, for example… and he will seemingly stop at nothing to acquire her.

3.3 The Missing Link by Tim Foley
On a desolate world in the distant future, the Master embarks on his latest scheme, aided and abetted by a team of brilliant scientists. But who is he truly working for? And in a universe at war, is there anyone left in all the cosmos who can stop him?

3.4 Darkness and Light by David Llewellyn
With the Master’s plans near completion, his victory is threatened by the presence of his greatest friend and enemy: the Doctor.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, British Literature

Audio CD

First published July 3, 2019

About the author

Tim Foley is an artist and illustrator born in Flint, Michigan, in 1962. Over the past quarter century, his clients have included national and international magazines, book publishers, and advertising agencies such as the Wall Street Journal, Cricket Magazine, New York Newsday, LA Weekly, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. He currently lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkness and Light-3.5 stars.

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.1 The Survivor by Tim Foley
Seconda Guerra Mondiale, non il raid di Londra per una volta (anche se viene citato), ma la tranquilla campagna inglese e una fanciulla che il nostro Master cerca di circuire per aiutarlo nella guerra... ma non quella che pensa la ragazza.

3.2 The Coney Island Chameleon by David Llewellyn
Nuovo personaggio che il nostro Master cerca di ottenere, scatenando il caos come sempre. Si riconosce un certo fil rouge nelle prime due storie del box set. Resta da vedere lo scopo finale.

3.3 The Missing Link by Tim Foley
Scopo finale che ci viene spiegato nel terzo capitolo, dove troviamo il Master impegnato nella creazione di un essere immaginifico che gli permetta di terminare la guerra... e governare l'universo, come sempre.
Casualmente il Dottore, un ottavo ancora in lotta contro se stesso e deciso a restare fuori dai giochi, arriva a mettergli i bastoni tra le ruote...

3.4 Darkness and Light by David Llewellyn
... o forse no, forse il Maestro aveva previsto tutto e orchestrato ogni azione per ottenere il suo scopo. Alla faccia del Dottore e della C.I.A. che, ricordiamo, l'aveva ingaggiato qualche storia indietro.

Ovviamente il finale gioca a sfavore dei piani di grandezza del Maestro, come sempre. E, come sempre, vienectrovato il modo di far dimenticare al Dottore l'incontro... in modo che a Utopia possa non riconoscere il Dottor Yana.
Buone tutte le storie, ottima l'interazione tra i due amici/nemici e sono curiosa di vedere se ci saranno riferimenti a queste vicende nel prossimo capitolo delle avventure di 8 legate alla Time War.
Del resto i riferimenti incrociati tra i vari set della Time War di casa Big Finish non sono rari.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow, this was delicious.
Although this is not as strong as the first War Master Volume (which is just unparalleled with its emotional impact), we still get some really good stories.

I like the mix of history and mystery in the first two.
The very first scene in "The Survivor" is absolutely perfect. It starts out so innocent, but from the moment we hear the Master do his sinister chuckle, we know it won't stay like that for long. The setting and the atmosphere is wonderfully realized and how the Master moved his human chess-pieces about is quite clever.
The "Coney Island chameleon" does not quite reach the same impact however and I am also not absolutely convinced by the setting.

But I absolutely loved the final two-parter. This is exactly what I was hoping for- the Doctor is seriously outmaneuvered and on his back foot here. After all, this is the Master's story!
The interaction of the Master and the Doctor was wonderful.
I admit it could have been a bit grittier, and the monster was a bit... standard... but this story was satisfying enough (so yeah, did not quite make the grade "exceeds expectations").
The resolution however...
I am in two minds about it. I completely understand why they had to do it, but I am also aware that this is kind of a trope with the 8th Doctor by now.

So yes, this is recommended to everyone who loved the previous installments and especially to people who have been waiting to hear the Doctor getting his butt kicked.
It certainly delivers.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Survivor

The Survivor was very different to any of the War Master stories so far. A very terrestrial setting in the past with very ordinary characters was a nice choice of setting. The Master’s influence over events wasn’t as clever or interesting as in previous stories, simply just twisting events with ease and winning quickly; but it was nice to see him not skulking in the shadows. Alice was an interesting main character, with enough personality to make you care about her fate. Obviously she is set up for tragedy but the twists and turns on the Master’s plan made her really interesting. Not too much was used of the wartime England setting besides the women’s land army, but the familiarity of the environment allowed for ease in focusing solely on character. Mina Anwar gave a brilliant performance as Alice’s adoptive aunt, and probably gave the second best performance; only beaten by Laura Riseborough as the detestable Hannah Raleigh. She made a brilliant small scale antagonist and perfectly hate-able, with her arrogance, selfishness, and maliciousness. The ending was a bit stupid sadly, the show trial being rather dull and the revelations about Alice predictable; but that can be forgiven as the intrigue in why the Master is doing what he’s doing distracts from the confusingly silly resolution. Not the strongest entry in the range, but a solid story in its own right.

The Coney Island Chameleon

The Coney Island Chameleon was sadly the story that really dragged the whole boxset down in my opinion. Nothing was done with the historical New York setting besides some small references and the sound design; and felt rather small scale with only three main characters besides the Master. TS Mereath was a nice silly alias of the Master that called back to the ludicrous ones in classic who, but otherwise the Master is largely absent until the climax. Neither Sabatini or the chameleon were interesting characters, and the chameleon especially as her constant squeaky voices complaining was so frustrating. The humour in the story fell flat for me, and it was only some nice scenes near the end that actually engaged me. It was a nice twist at the end that was the sole thing I found exciting, but did feel like a copy of the last story, just in a different historical location. The Master’s plan continued to build up but with no revelations, there did feel like a lack of his thrilling evil to provide interest in the plot. With the previous story being decent as a standalone story, and the two part finale being actually really good; this story just felt in hindsight that it dragged on and on for no good reason. For me it lowered my opinion of the four story plot, with uninteresting characters just talking about uninteresting things.

The Missing Link

The Missing Link was the second strongest story of the set, with mystery and interest beginning right from the start. Admittedly it was hard to keep track of a quite a lot of the characters given they had a fair bit of dialogue, before cast aside with such ease halfway through. My opinion of the last story was cheapened even more by the fact Sabatini had about one line of dialogue and nothing more. The Master’s plan came near to fruition, and the cliffhanger the reason for his actions in the last two stories made a lot more sense. The problem is that it didn’t give them any more value, and could easily have happened ‘off-screen’ the focus stayed on this space station in the future. What really elevated the story, and enjoyment of the Master’s presence was the appearance of Paul McGann’s loveable Doctor. He features heavily in the story, providing information and context to the listener while being charming and humorous at the same time. I enjoyed the Master’s simply observing the Doctor, knowing full well he has him exactly where he wants him. This, along with a fantastic ending, and the marvellous sound design, left me hooked for the final story.

Darkness And Light

What was fantastic about the finale of the boxset is right from the moment you press play, the twists and action is non-stop. A brilliant explanation for many elements of the previous story, plus the explosive charisma of both Derek Jacobi and Paul McGann overjoyed me. I had no complaints at quite a lot of the story being allocated to the two Time Lords catching up because the dialogue is superb, and even though the climax of the story is nothing special; the charm and fun of the story lies with the two lead actors. Some slight development of the side characters occurs but are finished rather quickly, only the twists and turns of the Master and the Rage being such fun to listen to. Compared to the Master’s intricate victory in the Master Of Callous, the resolution to the story fell flat; the Master losing so quickly once his plan has begun. The themes of ‘needs must’ retroactively adds drama to all the stories in the set, and such a fun finale really did balance out the quality of the writing.

[Daniel Cork · Rating 3 out of 5]

With all of space and time burning, The Master has begun his ultimate Masterplan yet and only one man can stop him, The Doctor but where is he?

The Survivor:
In the time of war, on a lonely island an innocent girl known as Alice wishes to put in her effort for king and country. But when The Reverend Magister gives her some colorful stones, her life is about to change for the worst...

A story that starts off so innocently soon unfolds into a young woman's life being utterly destroyed. A relatively simple story but it shows how devious and manipulative this Master can be and it's brilliant. Derek Jacobi and Katherine Pierce give outstanding performances in this episode. Not the strongest War Master story but it's certainly a story that leaves you thinking. 7.5/10

The Coney Island Chamelon:
When the carnival arrives on Coney Island, many specimens of many kind come to perform. But a business man has his eyes on a specific specimen and will do anything to get it...

I usually really like David Llewellyn's writing, really I do. But I honestly feel this story had particularly no purpose in this set. It's basically the previous episode but very uninspired. A story that kinda just plods along to the end, which in all honesty the ending didn't really make much sense considering what The War Master's after. Derek Jacobi does a great job as usual, but unfortunately he's not in this enough to save it. Hopefully this set improves with the two part finale. 3/10

The Missing Link:
On a desolate world and aided by a group of scientists, The Master has begun his greatest scheme yet and now he only needs his last subject, The Doctor.

A really good episode with interesting characters. I have grown to really like Alice as a character and her alongside The 8th Doctor is splendid! The cliffhanger for this story was really good and it makes me intrigued to see how this set ends. 8/10

Darkness and Light:
The Master's plan is a success, The Rage is born! But when The Rage escapes and havoc is caused, The Doctor and The Master must team up together to stop it. But what does The Master have up his sleeve?

This was a really great way to end the set, the finale proved to be a really good base under siege story whilst showing the differences between The Doctor and The Master, The Darkness and The Light. The Rage wasn't anything original but it did prove to provide some scary moments. But the ending was fantastic, not quite the ending I had imagined but it works so well! A solid finale with Derek Jacobi and Paul McGann giving fantastic performances. 8/10

Overall: 26.5/40

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a set of three stories linked by a common plot arc that sees the Master up to one of his usual schemes. Taken as a whole, it's a more traditional story than the first two releases in the series and isn't quite as edgy - although it does have an impressively high body count.

The Survivor - The first story is the strongest in the set, not least because it isn't at all obvious at the outset what the Master is trying to achieve, with things turning first one way and then the other until all is revealed. The story is told primarily from the perspective of a volunteer in the Women's Land Army, the WWII organisation set up to counter the shortage of available men on the farms. Although there's clearly something alien going on even without the Master stirring things up, the War is a major theme, partly as a metaphor for the larger Time War raging somewhere in the background. There is a strong cast of characters, most of them women, and a likeable protagonist who finds herself deeper in trouble as the Master manipulates events towards his own ends. 5 stars.

The Coney Island Chameleon - Now that we know what the Master is doing, but not his reason for doing it, we get a second story on a similar theme that nonetheless manages to throw some new twists into things. As the title indicates, it's set in the US; the date isn't specified, but it seems to be around the 1890s. The Master is in this one less than the previous, acting as a more distant menace although, when he does show up he's not really hiding his true nature - something that's normally a key feature of this particular incarnation. Nonetheless, it's a good story playing up on his menace as he closes in on his goal. 4.5 stars.

The Missing Link/Darkness and Light - The final two episodes form a single story separated by a cliffhanger. It's here that the Eighth Doctor turns up, as indicated on the cover, and that we finally discover the Master's motives for his actions in the previous two stories. Which, unfortunately, turns out not to be terribly interesting. Now that it's all out in the open, we get even less of the ambiguity of the character that Jacobi does so well, leaving us with a routine story that could as well have been a regular Eighth Doctor one. Yes, Foley and Llewelyn are trying to make some sort of point about the Doctor and the Master being opposite sides of the same coin, but that's nowhere we haven't been before. And the Master getting the better of the match in the first half is offset by a predictable ending in the second. A disappointing conclusion to a promising start. 3 stars.

[David Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This edition of The War Master pits The Master against Doctor 8 in the last two episodes. Therefore, it is no spoiler to say that The Doctor gets his memory wiped (yet again) so that continuity can be preserved. What we get in this series is two very different halves. The Master seems to be on the hunt for beings with extraordinary abilities that he can use as weapons or as templates for weapons in the Time War. Parts 1 and 2 show The Master at work collecting such specimens. Parts 3 and 4 show what The Master is actually doing with them. The first two parts are historical, taking place in 1940s England and 1890s United States. In "The Survivor," The Master poses as a country priest so that he can convince a young woman working as a Land Girl who has extraordinary mental powers that she must go with him. We see how The Master undermines the social structure and turns people against each other. In "The Coney Island Chameleon," The Master is doing something of the same, trying to corrupt the strong-man owner of a freak show to give up his star attraction, an orphaned alien who can change her skin to blend with her surroundings. This one has a delicious surprise twist at the end that I won't give away. It makes this my favorite episode of this set. These two stories are surprisingly low-key, filled with intimate moments and concentrated on personal relationships. The next two parts are entirely different matters, full-on high-tech, high-paranoia science fiction. The Master has built for himself a secret laboratory from the ruins of a hospital, and employs experts to help in the project of extracting the genetic secrets of all the specimens he has collected so he can create the ultimate bio-weapon. But, of course, this is The Master, so we know he is planning to double-cross the Time Lords and use the weapon for his own purposes. These two parts lack the intimacy and subtlety of the first two parts. The whole highlights The Master. It's his show, and we see him, for once, really get the better of The Doctor, even if, in the end The Master does not get the outcome he wants. The whole set is quite entertaining and hangs together well.

[Nikolai · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Survivors: 5/5
I got immediately sucked into the story in the sleepy little hamlet and the way that the Doctor began to influence poor Alice Pritchard.

The Coney Island Chameleon: 4.5/5
The American accents were maybe my favorite part of this story, especially Jacobi’s which was largely very good imo. The voodoo witch doctor character was a little cringy but done well in that even the character herself knew it was cringy, but that it was a demand of the times.

The Missing Link: 3/5
I get that it largely focuses as a set up to the last story, but I was excited to see how Alice Pritchard’s story continued and to hear the Eighth doctor for the first time, and unfortunately this story was a bit forgettable. A fair amount of time spent on side characters that don’t feel like they matter (Mandrake), and it’s hard to figure out where the 40 minutes went, when I feel like I can summarize the story in a few beats.

Darkness and Light: 4/5
Finally we get the “Rage” in the anthology title. This is a neat little story, with the best part being the interplay between the Doctor and Master, as it should be.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.1 The Survivor - Fascinating story and it unfolds with relentless ruthlessness. This is The Master, most assuredly (4/5).

3.2 The Coney Island Chameleon - Has some interesting connects to specific events in history, but it didn’t really grab ahold of me (3/5).

3.3 The Missing Link - The Master’s scheme continues and nears completion and then someone involved calls for help. Guess who answers that distress call? Oh, you saw the cover didn’t you? The Eighth Doctor comes to the rescue. But what happens when a call for distress is really just a worm on a hook? How is THIS going to play out? If the Eighth Doctor knows this Master, why doesn’t the Tenth Doctor recognize him? (5/5)

3.4 Darkness and Light - Not entirely enthused with the way the author writes off the interaction between the Master and the (Eighth) Doctor, but the actual interplay between them in this episode is BRILLIANT. So I’ll forgive the little tiny bit of rather cliché explanation to resolve the potential paradox. This whole thing is just wonderfully brilliant (5/5).

This release includes a bonus disc with the usual behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than the previous box set, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of the first one. The World War II era stuff with The Master masquerading as a manipulative priest was really good stuff. Apparently this boxset was supposed to take place in the 17th century with witchfinder stuff going on, but the TV series doing "The Witchfinders" with Jodie Whittaker meant that they had to change up the premise. The Eighth Doctor was always going to be part of this box set either way. The original idea was for him to appear in the first story and then come back for the last one, with he and The Master looking for his TARDIS. Instead, McGann appears in the last two stories. It can be an eye-roller knowing that the Eighth Doctor has to have his memory wiped for the end of series 3 of NuWho to make sense. But their acting against each other is great.

[Alien_Dwarf · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Coney Island Chameleon was very disappointing, a good idea that was used in a very strange way and went nowhere, relying on a twist that was underwhelming. The rest are very good, and of course having the Master "assembling" his team of experiments to make a war-winning weapon couldn't end with nothing else than the Doctor appearing. Darkness and Light is a great Eighth story. 3,5/5*

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have the first three volumes of my phone, but must have lost touch with them. As I had never heard this one and was stunned to find there are many volumes after this. Yes, it's hard to reconcile this with what we see of Jacobi in Utopia, but he's clearly having a lot of fun here so you can't begrudge him.

Although I did laugh at the end when, of course, The Eighth Doctor had to lose his memory of these events.

[Aeryn Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, really.

Absolutely LOVED the parts eight was in—he and the Master just interact so perfectly. However, as with most War Master sets, the first two episodes are the let down. They always feel like they’re spending ages setting something up that doesn’t matter or could be done a lot faster. Eight’s presence was the highlight, and I’d give the parts with him in a solid five stars—it’s the first two episodes dragging it down.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Survivor:
7/10
Verdict: Optional

Somewhat slow story but the cast is great and the story, while being predictable and pretty formulaic, is still satisfying and effective. The Master is a real bastard in this, and I love him worming his way into trustworthiness with key people to manipulate events. I was able to empathise with the main character quite a bit throughout this, but the whole magic rocks arc was a bit much and felt really odd for the other events, I sort of wish this was completely grounded with only minor hints towards something else. The conclusion after the story had reached it's emotional piek felt a bit dry during the court case, especially the 'origins' bit, but other than that it worked pretty well.

The Coney Island Chameleon:
6/10
Verdict: Optional

I liked the two main characters in this but for the first half I wasn't enjoying the setting or general plot. When the 'attack' happens though, I found myself enjoying the 'on the run' style a lot more, and I really liked the retired voodoo priestess character. The Master was fine for the first half but gets really good near the end of this. The twist at the end was pretty 'eh', I didn't get anything from it.

The Missing Link / Darkness and Light:
6/10
Verdict: Optional

McGann is great, Jacobi is great, the threat is decent and there's some nice time and space warping that make for some cool sequences. I do have to say though, the setting is dull, the side characters were interchangeable and uninteresting and the first half feels like a waste of time. The Rage has a good set up but ends up being pretty generic at the end.

[Samael Kovacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eight doctor has learnt something that he isn't allowed to remember, oh boy here we go again.

But seriously these stories were awesome, the firs two really make you hate the master, but he is so good you just can't help but love him.

He really is one of the best masters.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about the War Master audios is that they make me sad because you expect a traditional Doctor Who story trajectory where they're all (or mostly) saved at the end and then you remember that the Master is a colossal arsehole.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Eighth Doctor. His brain is like a shredded sponge with all this memory mischief, ha. But this was good.

[Jurgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

3.1 'The Survivor' by Tim Foley: 5*
3.2 'The Coney Island Chameleon' by David Llewellyn: 4*
3.3 'The Missing Link' by Tim Foley: 5*
3.4 'Darkness and Light' by David Llewellyn: 4*

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The master tries to make a control a creation but will the doctor stop him.