Big Finish Productions The Two Masters

Written by	John Dorney
Format	Compact Disc
Released	2016

Starring Sylvester McCoy, Geoffrey Beevers

Synopsis: The future is dying. All over the universe, gaps are beginning to appear. From the space lanes terrorised by the rag-tag remnants of the once-mighty Rocket Men, to the empire of the Gorlans, stricken by a terrible civil war. Gaps in space/time, portents of the end of everything. Only three beings might prevent it. The Doctor, a renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey. The Master, another renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey. And another Master, yet another renegade Time Lord from Gallifrey. One Doctor. Two Masters. What could possibly go wrong?

• Destruction of the world!!! by Noe Geric

Destruction of the world!!! by Noe Geric 1/12/18

Released one year before World Enough and Time, The Two Masters is the first multi-Master story ever produced in Doctor Who (if I'm right). And yet, it's still better than World Enough and Time. The story see McCoy against the Beevers and McQueen Masters.

The worse thing, I think, is that, because the two Masters are in the body of the other one, they aren't quite right. Beevers play the McQueen Master better than McQueen, and McQueen is just BORING as the decayed Master. And the Doctor disappears in episode Three and Four only to come back at the end of each episode. That's all.

There are some good things: McQueen and Beevers are great together ! They've got great chemistry. The music is nice, and there's even the return of the Rocket Men in the first episode. But the race of monsters that help the body of the McQueen Master (with the mind of the Beevers one) is quite forgettable. Jemima is sidelined only to pop up at the end of the story just to have a 'happy ending'. But I don't think she could've been a good companion (or she would've ended like Clara in Series 7).

The end is too full of technobable. The bad guys are funny; they just die like idiots. There are some fun lines (most of them are when Beevers play the new Master). And McCoy is at his best. This is not the story of the century, but it manage to help the main range, because I think it's becoming a random set of adventures: that the magic of the first Big Finish is fadding away (I know why: The serie is back on screen and they can't do the same things as before). The cover is the best I've seen since a long time. Yes, the covers are transforming into a festival of 'I put the Doctor's face here, and for the background I put bright lights so I've less work to do'.

This one is a nice and fresh audio that greatly help the main range (in my eyes). Recommended: 8/10