Missy, Vol. 2

Missy

by Lisa McMullin, Roy Gill, Gemma Arrowsmith

Missy... alone, unleashed and unfettered. What does she get up to when the Doctor isn’t around?

Now she has what she wants, Missy needs someone to show off to. But her temporal mischief attracts the wrong kind of attention.

Infuriating children, a vacationing Sontaran and her own worst intentions will get in her way. And a Meddling Monk, out for revenge...

2.1 The Lumiat by Lisa McMullin

Missy is glorying in the chaos, hoping that a certain someone might turn up.

What she doesn’t expect is an entirely different do-gooder spoiling her plans and teaching her life lessons.

Because, whoever she is, the Lumiat knows far more about Missy than anyone should...

2.2 Brimstone and Terror by Roy Gill

Missy wants an army, a brigade of willing youngsters, trained to serve. So she takes a teaching post at a remote Scottish boarding school.

But one of these boys knows Missy of old. And when Oliver Davis summons his sister for help, Lucy brings an ally from London. One Mr Strax...

2.3 Treason and Plot by Gemma Arrowsmith

The Gunpowder Plot. It’s a favourite of time travellers. If Missy’s going to hitch a ride, that’s the place to cause trouble. Especially if trouble makes a really big bang.

The only person in her way, trying to keep history on track, is a rookie Time Agent. But Rita Cooper wanted excitement...

2.4 Too Many Masters by John Dorney

The Monk has captured Missy. And he will have his revenge...

But the Ogrons are also looking to settle an old debt. And when they call it in, they find themselves with too many Time Lords on their hands.

The Master owes them big – and the Ogrons know who the Master is. Don’t they?


Cast:

Michelle Gomez (Missy)
Rufus Hound (The Meddling Monk)
Gina McKee (The Lumiat)
Dan Starkey (Strax / Mr Strackie / Mr Cosmo)
Ajjaz Awad (Lydia)
John Banks (Radolf / Lieutenant Grappa / Feyza)
Oliver Clement (Oliver Davis)
Ben Fox (Robert Catesby)
Helen Goldwyn (Empress Maule)
Christopher Hatherall (Guy Fawkes)
Alex Hope (Lawrence McAllister)
Matthew Jacobs-Morgan (Bertram / Manilaius)
Bonnie Kingston (Lucy Davis)
Glen McCready (Burnsbright / Librarian / Ogron 2)
Cameron Percival (Rowan Fairley)
Philip Pope (Rita’s Boss / William / Baron Worthing)
Ony Uhiara (Rita Cooper)
Eve Webster (Keeza / Captain Rosecco / Han)
Robert Whitelock (Grolk / Ogrons / Servant)

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

4 pages, Audiobook

First published July 8, 2020

Reviews

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un coffret que j'ai trouvé correct, un peu comme le premier, je ne m'attendais pas à avoir deux épisodes qui constituaient des suites du premier coffret (ça vaut donc la peine de commencer au début de la série bien que ce ne soit pas obligatoire). Je dois avouer ne pas avoir été très intéressé· par Brimstone and Terror, mais Too Many Masters était déjà un peu plus intéressant comme poursuite et dynamique entre les deux personnages du Meddling Monk et de Missy.

J'ai trouvé The Lumiat un peu étrange pour être honnête, j'avais été spoilé de la révélation d'un des personnages, mais je trouvais la dynamique tellement bizarre d'un bout à l'autre, je ne comprenais pas trop où on voulait en venir.

Par exemple, j'ai été vraiment ravi· d'écouter Treason and Plot par Gemma Arrowsmith, c'était très très drôle, bien construit et bien recherché. Ça a vraiment donné à Michelle Gomez l'occasion de jouer sur des accents et de vraiment bien ressortir des éléments comiques tout au long. Cet épisode à lui seul vaut vraiment le coffret, je pensais arrêter la série si jamais il y avait d'autres coffrets qui sortaient, mais Arrowsmith a vraiment bien montré l'immense potentiel pour raconter une histoire de Missy intelligente, drôle et qui met vraiment bien de l'avant l'actrice.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this series. Missy is one of my favorite Doctor Who characters of all time and Michelle Gomez plays her to perfection. This series was so good, I loved literally every second of it.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the first Missy boxset was released I was really disappointed to see it was all male writers, and as such stories that heavily focused on men as the guest stars. BF always say how hard it is to find women writers, but at least they managed for this one and as such half the stories were written by women. Yay!
The first story was looking at Missy dealing with her future self being good. Which was a lovely idea knowing how she changes in her last series. And also nice as the future self kept referring to the Doctor as She. And it gave an explanation of what happened to Missy at her end, and how she could have become Sacha master again. So that was very good.
The 2nd story was disappointing. Roy's story in the first boxset I found cliche and annoying, especially the kids, and really highlighted to me the problem of men writers just writing other men as characters, and this was no exception, set in a boy school, with military men as other characters, and Strax as the guest star, and only one woman in the story who shows up halfway through. It was quite laughable when they tried to compare it with Sabrina in the extra features. What part of feminist empowerment did they miss?
Part three was a fun time travel, with Guy Fawkes and Missy! And a woman time agent trying to set things right. It was very funny.
Part four was a return of the meddling monk, and the Ogrons. It wasn't quite as funny as the first meddling monk story. It referenced frontier in space, which while one of my favourite Pertwee stories wasn't perhaps the best choice for missy as not sure how many new fans would watch it. But then I guess you could say that about the monk too. Though it did have some epic trolling about a woman master.
Overall it was just great to hear Michelle being amazing and bonkers and wonderful.

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disappointed in this boxset as was expecting more from it. I love big finish but they seem to be releasing a LOT of big finish boxsets, at least a lot more than normal lately. Quantity over quality and I miss their old style of writing.

However, saying that, I did enjoy the lumiat and Rufus Hound being back in Too Many Masters is a delight. He's so good and really did make me chuckle.

[MrColdStream · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lumiat:

This story has a wonderful set-up, having Missy take on a companion and meet a female Time Lord who she thinks is the Doctor but who appears to be someone else. It creates an engaging mystery around the story. I also love the Missy-companion relationship; Bertram is a pretty typical companion, but Missy just cannot stand him.
The story turns out to reveal Missy's version of the Valeyard, everything good within her. It's a deep and unexpected twist that forever changes the Master as a character.
Michelle Gomez is amazing as usual and she's funny together with Gina McKee as the Lumiat.
Missy tries to do a lot of mischiefs, while the Lumiat tries to prove who she is, and this creates great tension throughout the adventure.
I love the references to the Master's past and the connections to the newest TV seasons. The only minor gripe is the fact that the story kind of keeps repeating itself until the final act. That being said, the way the story depicts Missy's deepest nature and her relationship with the Doctor is beautiful.

Brimstone and Terror:

This story is pretty bland. It brings back Oliver and Lucy from the previous set in bigger roles, as well as everybody's favourite Sontaran Strax. There's loads of pointless dialogue, and the acting isn't particularly interesting, not even from Michelle Gomez, whose contribution remains pretty small. The story flows pretty slowly, with no real turns or hooks to keep the listener interested. It is a sequel to 'A Spoonful of Mayhem' but doesn't really up the stakes. The climax is pretty anticlimactic and everything just kind of ends on a low note.
Oliver and Lucy's character development feels next to nothing and the entire story lacks any real point, excitement or real tension. It just feels like it's thrown together to allow characters from the first set to return and to give Dan Starkey plenty of roles to play. The story doesn't also do much with the first meeting between Missy and Drax, which is a shame.

Treason and Plot:

This is an interesting historical Missy-style, with Missy taking the English crown to help the Gunpowder Plot succeed. It's also an interesting use of the Time Agency and its recruit Rita Cooper. Seeing Missy attempt to help historical criminals follow through on their failed plans I'd fascinating.
I like the voice acting here, both Gomez, who is back on her usual form, and Ony Uhiara as the eager new Time Agent Rita.
It is great how this story mirrors 'Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated' in how Missy tries to alert other time travellers of her intentions by messing with the timeline, as the Monk did in the earlier story. We have a wonderfully devious Missy, some sharp humour and finely tuned tension. Rita's involvement remains pretty minor, but she brings much-needed energy into the story.
The cliffhanger leads directly into the final story of the set and is a pretty fine ending.

Too Many Masters:

In the most comedic and exciting story of this set, 'Too Many Masters' brings back the Monk from 'Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated' as well as the Ogrons, who have appeared in several Classic Who stories. It once again revolves around the endless bantering between the two Time Lords.
Michelle Gomez and Rufus Hound are an absolute joy to listen to, truly going at each other like old enemies. The Ogrons feature heavily here, get some funny dialogue and sound stupid in a funny way. I also like the way they are portrayed here, making them more fleshed out than usual.
The plot itself is pretty thin and the pacing is very slow, with long sequences revolving around the same themes to the point of them running dry. It's the fine performances and the funny dialogue that keep things flowing, though. The second half also is significantly faster and tenser. The cliffhanger ending allows for a very interesting third set down the line.
Some of the best gags are those that break the fourth wall and reference real-life things.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

The Lumiat features the Black Archive, as seen on the show in several Moffat era episodes. It contains the TOMTIT machine, used by the Master in The Time Monster (1972).

Missy uses the classical "I am your Mistress, and you will obey me" hypnosis technique perfected by the Delgado Master.

Too Many Masters refers to the Master's previous encounter with the Ogrons, back when the Delgado Master worked with them in Frontier in Space (1972).

Score: 73/120 = 3,0 stars

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

2.1 The Lumiat by Lisa McMullin
Missy e i suoi companion (più di uno, perchè tende a trasformarli in leccalecca) fanno la conoscenza di una nuova Time Lady: The Lumiat.
La spiegazione della sua origine è interessante e potrebbe essere un buon aggancio con l'ultima stagione televisiva di Capaldi.
Vedremo se tornerà a dare filo da torcere a Missy.
2.2 Brimstone and Terror by Roy Gill
Seguito di A Spoonful of Mayhem, primo episodio del boxset Missy - Series One.
Ritroviamo i protagonisti e, in un collegio per ragazzi difficili, qualche guest star non tanto inaspettata (essendo ritratto sulla copertina).
Solito fallimento su tutta la linea per Missy.
2.3 Treason and Plot by Gemma Arrowsmith
'Remember remember the fifth of november'... quale momento storico potrebbe scegliere Missy per sovvertire la Storia e farsi incoronare Regina?
Tanti esplosivi e un Agente Temporale alle prime armi (no, non è Jack) potrebbero creare problemi.
Problemi che ci conducono direttamente a...
2.4 Too Many Masters by John Dorney
... con Missy e il Monaco (come sempre interpretato da Rufus Hound) catturati dagli Ogron.
Il problema è che gli Ogron cercano il Maestro per saldare un vecchio debito e, esercitandosi pure nella caratteristica risata satanica, il Monaco si sta spacciando per il Maestro... con Missy che, per una volta, non trova nulla da ribattere.
Fortunatamente per lui, Missy è abilissima nelle fughe e, grazie ad un Tardis personalizzato, è costretta a portarselo dietro per riuscire a scappare.
Vedremo una nuova coppia in azione nel prossimo boxset?

In questa seconda uscita per Missy, la Big Finish ha creato un nuovo personaggio che potrebbe (a seconda delle intenzioni future della BBC) dare una spiegazione alla rigenerazione nel Maestro di Sacha Dhawan, oltre a riprende personaggio sia della serie tv che dei precedenti episodi dello spin off.
Michelle Gomez è sempre perfettamente in parte e le storie, soprattutto la prima e la quarta, aggiungono tasselli utili alla serie nel suo complesso.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four more stories featuring Missy, often as an anti-hero, although in one case as a more direct antagonist. The stories are set sequentially, but they’re largely independent of one another, although a couple are sequels to stories in the first volume.

The Lumiat – The first story provides a clever idea in the particular form of Missy’s antagonist. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to recommend it beyond this because the character in question turns out to be rather dull and doesn’t really do much once she stops stepping in to foil Missy’s plans. What we get is a sequence of hops through time and space and one-sided bickering without too much really going on. On the plus side, if you’re interested in that sort of thing, it plugs a gap in the Master’s history between two Doctor Who TV episodes... although one of them ( Spyfall ) hadn't actually aired at the time and would have been outside the terms of their licence if it had, leaving the listener to fill in the blanks. And the concept itself is very good, giving the opportunity to explore the Master's motivations and personality. But the story just didn't quite work for me. 3 stars.

Brimstone and Terror – The second story loosely follows on from the first one but, more importantly, acts as a sequel to one of the stories in the first volume. Written by the same writer (Roy Gill) this sees one of the children that she oversaw as governess now a couple of years older and at a boarding school that she just happens to have taken over. There are other similar themes and direct callbacks to that story so that you can’t just leap in here, but it’s also enlivened by the appearance of Strax. He’s slightly more serious here than he often is in the Paternoster Gang audios but still provides some levity in a story that (unlike the previous one) is not primarily told from Missy’s point of view. This makes for an entertaining story that suits both characters, providing a sense of interconnectedness that doesn’t feel simply tacked on for the sake of it. 4 stars.

Treason and Plot – There’s a general rule in these four-part collections that at least one story has to be set in Earth’s past, and here it’s the turn of 1605 and the Gunpowder Plot. It’s a fun caper with Missy trying to change the events around the Plot (although quite how she expects the second part of her plan to work is less clear) and a rookie Time Agent trying to stop her. There’s quite a bit of humour at the expense of Fawkes and Catesby, with this story leaning more heavily towards the comedic side than the previous two. The real strength is the force of Missy’s personality and the fantastic way Gomez performs it, full of sarcasm and switching accents, often in mockery of those around her. Despite the madness, it’s also quite historical and there’s a twist in the tail that leads into the final story. 5 stars.

Too Many Masters – The final story is even more clearly a comedy as Missy and the Monk become prisoners of the Ogrons (both, of course, promised on the cover). This is a sequel to the story featuring the same two Time Lords in the first volume, although it’s slightly dented here by them being apart for much of it. Even so, there is room for plenty of banter as well as jokes about the general stupidity of Ogrons. This does require the Ogrons to be more talkative than they usually are, which ends up a bit laborious because of their slow dim-witted speech but the two leads help to make up for it, with some help from fourth-wall breaking and trolling of those fans who object to a female Master. The mild cliffhanger ending is clearly setting things up for the third volume, which looks as if it may have a more connected plotline. 4.5 stars.

[Drew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if it was where my head has been at in 2020 (not in a good place. Surprised?), but this set of episodes just didn't do it for me. I was surprised by how enjoyable the first series was. In the first series, the writers seemed to give Missy just enough leash to let her malevolent daffyness out, but always keeping her a bit restrained. Crazy evil people are the scariest when you sense that their craziness is calculated. Missy was nutty, wacky, and at times a babbling joy. Madness, yet there was method in it.

Unfortunately, in these four episodes of Series 2, she's dialed up to eleven. Possibly thirteen. There seemed to be wackiness for wackiness's sake. The first episode, introducing another character who appears as Missy's polar opposite (for reasons), is probably the best of the bunch, and that one needs some follow-up. The other three episodes were a bit of a mess. The final episode with Rufus Hound returning as the Meddling Monk was an improvement, but . . . the female Ogron character was grating. Too much dialogue with an irritatingly halting delivery. (Ogrons in general are not fun to listen to, though I liked "Doctor Ogron" in the Eighth Doctor Time War series.)

Anyway, the closing moments sure seemed to be setting up a promising Series 3. Here's hoping Missy is a bit more restrained in that one.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m somewhat surprised that a story that feels as important as “The Lumiat” isn’t the final story in a set. But I guess they really wanted the story with The Monk to be what ends this, which feels right given that the next set is Missy and the Monk. The two middle stories are pretty good, but the bookends are the stronger points.

The Lumiat is basically the opposite of The Valeyard, containing the good aspects of The Master and coming about at the end of Missy’s life. The Lumiat’s fate kinda gives more meaning, as I imagine Missy remembers what happens to her once the John Simm Master shoots her and she laughs. The ending of The Lumiat’s story feels like she could regenerate into the Spy Master. But actually, it’s not that explicit, and the story was actually written and recorded before the Spy Master reveal aired on TV. So it’s kind of a happy coincidence, but also wild that Big Finish took a big swing undoing what appeared to be a permanent death for Missy/The Master.

I love how the Monk story begins with Missy recapping their story in the previous boxset and basically breaking the fourth wall. Their banter is pretty delicious. It’s obvious why the next set had to be Missy and the Monk.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 5 out of 5]

No we have the second Missy box set.
Like with the last one, we get 4 stories, featuring the hilarious and gory antics of "the Artist formerly known as the Master" (as the Monk would say).

I loved it!
This was wonderful over-the-top comedy and farce.
The Luminat and Too Many Masters (stories 1 and 4) were definitely the highlights of the set.
These two stories were simply stunning, fast paced, witty and the main characters worked fantastically together.
Especially the first story (Lumiat) has a really great idea and runs with it- and it just works.

The middle two stories were alright, too, but did not quite reach the quality of the first and last.

Still, the writing is clever, the characters (even the disposable ones) are interesting, and the performances of the main cast are just fantastic.

How does this compare to the first set?
Well, come to think about it...
I actually like this one better!
Yes, here, I said it.

So, all in all, this is just a lot of fun and certainly will go on top of my list of cheer-me-up listens for bad days.

[Someone Who Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lumiat: 3/5
Missy got a companion, Bertram. He is a typical companion, but Missy cannot stand him. I liked their relationship. At some parts it gets repetitive.

Brimstone and Terror: 3/5
I'm not a big fan of Davises but I enjoyed this one more than "A Spoonful of Mayhem".

Treason and Plot: 4/5
Personally I like historical stories of Doctor Who. The cliffhanger at the end leads to the next story.

Too Many Masters: 5/5
Another sequel! The interaction between Missy and Monk is very fun. Good performance by Michelle Gomez and Rufus Hound. My favourite story of this series.

[Samael Kovacs · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this quite bluntly. This was not nearly as great as I'd hoped it to be. I did listen to war master vol 1 and war master before this so maybe that's not fair but the writing should be better then this.

Missy feels off, less crazy. Especially in the second story.
Also whats up with having more stories with missy and then barely have her appear in one?

Fourth one was easily the best. Missy and The Monk are amazing together.

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lumiat.
Really fun story. Hope we get more Lumiat in the future/TV show. 4/5

Brimstone and Terror.
Plot was OK. Not much to say really. Overall forgettable. 3/5

Treason and Plot.
OK plot but the Time Agency stuff was great. 3.5/5

Too Many Masters.
Great plot and great acting. Rufus Hound again steals the show. Great finale. 3.5/5

[Number Two · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not even remotely as good as volume one, but still great. Poor Monk...

[Sara Habein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first volume. Very, very much enjoyed this. It's funny, adds more to Missy/the Master's history, and the Monk is always great when he shows up.

[Joseph S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody fantastic!!!

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lumiat 4
Brimstone and Terror 2.5
Treason and Plot 3.25
Too Many Masters 2

found on a podcast app

[Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second Missy boxset was a lot of fun. I think I enjoyed Missy: Series 1 more, but I still enjoyed this a lot. The first story, The Lumiat, sees Missy hunting the Doctor, but instead running up against her distilled goodness in a sort of reverse-Valeyard. The second story, Brimstone and Terror, sees Missy training an army of boys at a Scottish boarding school. It's a sequel to the first story of Missy: Series 1 with the addition of Strax. It's fine, a decent fun story, but probably my least favorite of the set. The third story, Treason and Plot, sees Missy have a go at the Gunpowder Plot (which has already been visited in Doctor Who media primarily in the video game The Gunpowder Plot and the novel The Plotters). Add into this a junior time agent, and you have a really fun time. This story then leads into Too Many Masters which is the best of the set and sees the Monk reunite with Missy before being captured by the Ogrons who want payment for their services in the TV Story Frontier in Space. These Missy/Monk stories are so much fun because the banter between the two is just so much fun to listen to. So, a fun set that's definitely worth a listen.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missy reeks havoc on the universe.