Planet of Dust

Ravenous 4.2

Released: 9 October 2019

Listened: 12/28/21

Even with the Eleven’s lies revealed, the Doctor still wants to believe he’s turned a corner and is capable of reform. The Eleven asks to be transported to a specific desert planet, where he can meditate as a hermit. Pretty much nobody believes this, so they all investigate the planet together. Almost immediately, Liv and Helen discover that the local population is being exploited, forced to dig in the desert for the promise of water. Because this saga is reaching an end, which means we need something even worse than the Eleven: the Master. Specifically, the “crispy” master played by Geoffrey Beevers, but this isn’t the version from circa “The Deadly Assassin.” Instead, it seems that the Master’s stolen bodies revert to the decayed version when they burn out, so this one comes after the American, Eric Roberts version, which means he knows the Eighth Doctor, and holds a grudge. As the crispy Master always does, he’s being cruel and petty to distract himself from his physical pain, having stolen this planet’s water from throughout its history, so he can dole it back out as he wishes. All of which is in service to finding something in the desert that can renew his life, something the Eleven wants as well, for his own reasons. Beevers is an excellent Master, and this time he has a tinge of desperation to him as well, as he thinks he might really die for good soon. And as the Eleven points out, once the Doctor and the Master are in the same room, everybody else fades to the background, which makes all of this an perfect distraction for his bigger plan. It’s a nice twist, although the “desert planet” part is a bit pedestrian.