The War Master: The Master of Callous: Call For the Dead written by James Goss and directed by Scott Handcock

What’s it about: On the mining colony Callous, Elliot King struggles to meet the demands of its governor, Teremon. The odds are stacked against him, and his options are running low. The world that once promised dreams now offers only despair. A wild Ood stalks the forests, carrying an antiquated phone. The caller promises much – he claims he can change the world – but he always speaks a devastating truth. He is the Master and the Ood will obey him... but to what end?

War Master: Derek Jacobi kicks off the story by narrating as the Master and I truly think a petition should be in place that every Big Finish story should start in this way because his voice just oozes quality from the first syllable. You know you’re going to be in for a good time with Jacobi featuring. It’s a voice that oozes charm and menace, like a dark honey. You know when the Master turns up in a Doctor Who story having already set an entire plan in motion and it reaches its apotheosis when the Doctor appears? This is just like that; we’re seeing one of the Masters immense schemes at work and this is all the leg work that he does long before the Doctor shows up. However, the thing that worries me with this set is that the Doctor isn’t billed and so perhaps this is going to be one of those instances where the Master corrupts and gets away with it. Let’s find out…

Standout Performance: Good grief, I haven’t heard Barnaby Edwards put on a cod French accent since the very early days of Big Finish in The Marian Conspiracy.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Even in fairy stories the good people don’t always win…’
‘One day you will hear it and you will obey…’

Great Ideas: When they founded a colony on Callous, that did not include the mineral rights because IMC wanted to hold onto them. Naming IMC instantly places this story fairly contemporary with Colony in Space so we know quite a bit about the tie period already. Now the mineral rights are granted on Callous to the colonists, in perpetuity. What the people know is mining here drives people crazy, as the bonkers Ood can attest that roam the wilderness. Even IMC abandoned hope of exploiting the rich seam here. Apparently, there is something ancient and evil in the mine, the stuff of legend. The colonists are sitting on a wealth of Swenya and it would be a crime not to capitalise on it…although doing so might just drive you insane. Callous is a business prospect is something of a contradiction, people are scratching as living on the surface when underneath their feet is a fortune in minerals that they cannot mine. When the colony was founded it was supposed to be a haven for artists but nobody knew that the Earth Gov would collapse. ‘Off you go robot! Bring me some luck! Make me rich!’ When has a character that so badly wants to exploit and undermine ever have a happy ending? What is it about the Ood that makes them so expendable? They manage to be both creepy and sympathetic at the same time, which is a hard balance to get right.

Standout Scene: Kudos to James Goss for the stirring concept of the ringing telephone that isn’t connected to anything that the Ood attempt to deliver to the colonists. Every time the phone rings I my blood ran cold, like a portent of doom. ‘The call is for you…’ Imagine getting a call from the War Master telling you to commit suicide? He’s such a smooth talking, hypnotic fella you would have no choice but to obey. Remember when the Beast took the staff of the Sanctuary Base to task and spelt out all of their foibles? This is precisely what the Master does on these calls but far more insidiously. He bores down into your character, exposes your darkest secrets, spells out your ugliest traits. There’s something about phone calls on audio…they freaked me out in John Dorney’s Absent Friends and in Jonathan Morris’ Static too.

Result: There was a strong feeling of both the New Adventures and Power of the Daleks from this first adventure. Let me explain that. The New Adventures spent a great deal of their time building an impressive and vivid future history and would often feature the Doctor in stories waiting in the wings and pulling strings but not having much exposure. Swap him out for The War Master that is exactly what you have here. Power on the other hand featured a colony world with a new, apparently exploitable commodity, which if they stepped back and examined they would realise it would lead them to their doom. In both cases it is a strength in Call for the Dead, a story that bravely chooses to eschew most recognisable continuity elements (a very rare occasion for Big Finish these days) and paint its own picture of the future with some fresh, original characters. I was more impressed with this than anything, just how novel it feels to have an almost entirely original story that still feels like it takes place in the RTD era of Doctor alongside the Pertwee future history developed by Malcolm Hulke. The story is in no great rush and so we get a chance to see this world sketched in some detail and introduced to the characters in a way that feels natural and unforced, getting a clear idea of their motives. Imagine getting that call from the Master that spells out all of your ugly traits and imagine if it was the Master that was played by Derek Jacobi? You’d be reaching for the gun before you know it. That was the most sinister idea in this slow burner, but it was one that really got under my skin. If you’re going into this expecting it to be a big campy space opera with the Master chuckling a lot, hypnotising people and juggling the fates of worlds then you are going to be disappointed. But if strong, character led drama in a vivid SF setting with disquieting moments is your thing then you will be in for a treat. This is exactly the sort of thing that Big Finish would be producing more frequently if they weren’t such a factory line these days, mature storytelling that has been crafted rather than forced. Not exactly enjoyable (we’re talking suicide after all) but riveting: 8/10