The Last Line

The War Master #7.4

Released: 16 June 2018

Listened: 10/30/22

If you’ve got the option of putting David Tennant and Derek Jacobi together, then you take it. How can you pull that off without ruining “Utopia”? Simple: You use the Master from during the Time War, before he uses the Chameleon Arch, and the Doctor from afterward, specifically this gap, where losing the Master is still raw for him. Sure, the War is Time Locked, but they don’t make Time Locks like they used to. From the Master’s point of view, he’s been on trial this whole boxed set, and he’s run out of tricks, so he uses his final option to call the Doctor for help. The majority of the story, though, is told from the Doctor’s point of view, which helps the suspense. He’s pretty sure the Master’s up to something, and so is the listener, but what? And the beauty of it is, there’s no way of knowing if this was an elaborate plan, or if the Master just tossed the Doctor into the room like a live grenade and took advantage of the chaos. It’s a very talky episode, but why not, with these two doing the talking? Writer Lizzy Hopley says in the comments that she tried for a while to avoid just having the two of them in a room talking, but then changed her mind and went all-in. I suspect this story wouldn’t have worked out as well with a different Doctor, because the Tenth is quite arrogant, though he hides it well, and has no difficulty taking dubious actions based on his own ideas of justice. Of course, the Master comes out ahead, because it’s his story, but that doesn’t make it any less gripping.