The Evil One

Fourth Doctor Adventures #3.4

Released: 11 April 2014

Listened: 3/6/22

It’s time for another story with the Master, because he’s going to be recurring for the Fourth Doctor, especially since Geoffrey Beevers is willing and available. However, this Nick Briggs story is kind of slight. It starts well, as an investigation into the murder of the passengers and crew of a luxury star-liner, but that part fizzles out fairly quickly, as the focus is on the Master brainwashing Leela into becoming an assassin tasked with killing the Doctor. Michael Keating (Vila from Blake’s Seven) has a nice role as an investigator, but he’s written out rather abruptly. The coda with Leela reflecting on what her father meant to her is great, but the whole story is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts.