Master of Worlds

UNIT #6.4

Released: 10 May 2018

Listened: 4/16/23

So the wheezing, groaning noise at the end of the last story wasn’t the TARDIS, or at least, not the Doctor’s TARDIS. It’s the Master, specifically the War Master. Which is kind of awkward, because from UNIT’s point of view, they’re well past him, but that particular continuity point doesn’t come up. The Master, of course, can thwart Cybermen pretty easily, but he does need to have the right gear. Plus, Osgood is still Cyber-ized, and doing everything she can to help the Cybermen with their conquest plan. Apparently that involves sending an app to the phone of everyone on Earth, which is supposed to get everybody, but would really be more like 80% of everybody. Sir Derek Jacobi is delightfully snarky throughout, because all of this is a bit beneath him, really. If you’re going to have to cooperate with the Master, it’s certainly lucky for UNIT that they got this version, as opposed to the Simm, Missy, or Dhawan versions, who are all considerably more impulsive and mad. You can usually trust the War Master to have a decent plan. That doesn’t stop him from playing all kinds of mind-games, mostly with Kate, but really with anybody he comes across. Kate and Sam especially are determined not to be swayed, and Sam seems almost furious that the Master would even try. Kate treats him like the scorpion he is, which is about as good as it gets with him. Caught between two formidable enemies, the death toll is once again high, but Kate is primarily concerned with getting Osgood back safely, because she’s in the credits. The Auctioneers pop up briefly, but are quickly dealt with. It’s almost a disappointment, given they’ve been in the background for two boxed sets, and much of this is their fault. I also would have expected some additional reaction from Osgood, having been mind-controlled for so long and having done some fairly awful things, but that’s not here. This story isn’t too heavy on the plot, mostly to give Sir Derek time to be awesome, which he certainly does. On the whole, the boxed set is kind of a mixed bag. It makes sense that UNIT would eventually face something they couldn’t defeat alone, but having the Cybermen and the Master in it together makes the back half seem rushed, and the first half needlessly drawn-out.