Halfway through Killing Time, just finished A Quiet Night In. Absolutely bone-chilling, one of the outright scariest BF audios I’ve ever heard. The moment where it all pivots is going to haunt me for some time, Katy & Sir Derek are both astonishing. The ending, gah…I am unsettled!
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I’m glad people can get enjoyment out of that audio
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No, never mind, The Orphan is the actual most bone-chilling BF audio I’ve heard. This one is relentless and sort of punishing and deeply unpleasant, especially if you happen to love Nyssa, but it’s also unbelievably well-rendered from performances to script to sound design. I can’t quite believe the boldness of leaving things where they leave things, wow. This box reaches a new level of mean, for sure.
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I’ve done the first two sets of this range and currently doing the 3rd.
It’s so good!
Jacobi is just so good as the master
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Killing Time is definitely the bleakest WM set, i have listened to it but i have blocked it from my mind and will never relisten to it
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Killing Time is wild, it’s certainly bleak, certainly pitiless. It’s also really well-done, probably my third favorite so far.
Current War Master rankings:
The Master Of Callous (5/5)
Only The Good (4.75/5)
Killing Time (4.5/5)
Hearts Of Darkness (4.25/5)
Anti-Genesis (4/5)
Rage Of The Time Lords (3.75/5)
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One of my favourite audios! It’s sadistic, it’s cruel, it’s awful and I love it soooo much
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Finished up Killing Time at the end of last week, and I’m all caught up with all the War Master sets I currently own. Counting down the days until the next sale!
Killing Time was great, divided into a half of political intrigue and chess manoeuvring against Calantha, who is refreshingly more than a match for the Master, surprisingly a lot more so than the Eighth Doctor the two times he and the War Master have crossed paths, as I felt the Master dealt with him rather easily. It is an absolute delight to listen to Derek Jacobi and Alexandria Riley take verbal jabs at each other over lunches and in the courtroom, their smugness and snark increasing until the Master begins to formulate his final plan. It was really intriguing listening in anticipation as to how the Master is going to beat the odds, and it was fantastic.
There’s also the famous other half of which this set is most known for, where the Master’s scheme involves going back to face Jo and Nyssa in two separate adventures, and the hype should be believed. The more I say about it, the less gut punching it will be to anyone who hasn’t yet given it a go, but I really do like the unique dynamics he has with them both, as Jo and Nyssa are both strong but starkly different characters with their own histories with the Master. I know a lot of people gravitate towards A Quiet Night In, and while it is stellar, I enjoy The Orphan just as much!
It is jaw dropping how that encounter ends. Nyssa is such a strong and independent woman at the start of the story, she’s come such a long way since leaving the Doctor, and yet one encounter with the War Master leaves her trembling, abandoned and completely hopeless. He absolutely revels rubbing the fact that he killed her father in her face and I’m all here for it! Although I can’t talk about the details without mentioning Jo just after the revelation that her life since she can remember has been a complete setup by the Master, and as she runs howling and weeping with despair, her cries are drowned out by Jacobi’s magnificent cackles as he basks in her suffering. If there’s any moment to define the War Master as the most vicious and sadistic of the lot, it’s that one.
Killing Time is an essential War Master listen. It’s up there, if just below Master of Callous as one of Jacobi’s best outings with the character. I’m looking forward to the next sale, where I’ll be able to share my thoughts about Self-Defence and Escape from Reality!
This has been fun giving my thoughts on all of the War Master sets I had backlogged, so I might go back and give Only the Good and Master of Callous another go if not to have all the sets fresh in my mind. The thought of The Sky Man fills me with complete dread though, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for about a week or two afterwards!
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Ahh, I had a very good time with box 7, Self-Defence. All the stories are maybe a notch too long, but I liked the atmosphere of all of them, he’s really involved in the action in all these, the framing device is good, and then the final episode with The Doctor, The Last Line, I thought was fantastic. I loved the finale of Hearts Of Darkness, but I do think this is my favorite Doctor encounter in the War Master series, and it pays off the whole linking story really well. I liked this last story so much, and the box plenty, I’d rate it just above Anti-Genesis for me, I find these settings more interesting than revisiting Genesis Of The Daleks yet again, just personally! Perhaps a hair above Hearts Of Darkness too, but this is a very consistently good series.
Current War Master rankings:
The Master Of Callous (5/5)
Only The Good (4.75/5)
Killing Time (4.5/5)
Self-Defence (4.25/5)
Hearts Of Darkness (4.25/5)
Anti-Genesis (4/5)
Rage Of The Time Lords (3.75/5)
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I am of the opinion that Rogue Encounters is the best WM set and if the range ended there, i wouldn’t have been angry
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The Orphan has just completely wrecked me. Jesus. How many times can I say that War is sick, twisted, and downright horrible. As much as I thought A Quiet Night In was brutal, this one was just pure torture of one of my absolute favourite characters.
A 5/5 that I will absolutely never listen to again.
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Is anybody excited that the new War Master announcement has the final story written by a newbie who is basing it off a line from Timewyrm: Revelation?
Edit: just Googled, not a newbie, the head of New Zealand’s Doctor Who Fan Club for 6 years is not a newbie.
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Very very excited indeed! Especially given its a new fresh start for the War Master given its the first release without Scott Handcock as producer!
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Robert Valentine produded War Master Dark Gallifrey too iirc
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Explains why it wouldn’t have felt that out of place as a boxset in his series.
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Starting another War Master set (against my better judgement) and yeah.. The Walls of Absence was absent alright… absent of doing something new with this incarnation. Rehashing a trope that’s been done to death frankly with this incarnation.
It’s wild because every set until Self Defence I have LOVED but christ it has fallen off so bad. Granted its the first story, but after two back to back sets which were flops for me, I am worried it won’t pick up. This is partly why I’m super excited for a new producer, idk what BF ranges have had producers as long as this did but its clear Handcock needed to be replaced as its just retreading old ground.
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I really liked Self-Defence when I listened a few weeks back, but I started Escape From Reality last night and I’m already a little worried about some of the things you’re saying here. The Wrath Of Medusa was a cool idea, but it was almost too gimmicky for the War Master or something, it didn’t have the evil punch of the earlier boxes, it was almost goofy. And it’s clear this box won’t have much of an overarching story, which is a shame. I imagine doing the big four part single story boxes is much harder than four standalone stories under an umbrella theme, but the big epic stories is what made me a super fan of this range and I’m sad that the next four are going to be much more a la carte.
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I really don’t like the direction BF are going with arcs which is to barely have any. I can cope with not having 4 boxset arcs at the end of the day, as much as I love them I get they’re not super accessible. That said, I really think individual sets should have an arc or a semblance of one. War Master feels directionless without one tbh. Even this years Spy Master debut not having one was a disappointment, it would just make it a lot better for me than 3 aimless stories.
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Rogue Encounters is superb don’t worry
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I’m just really glad we’re getting a new producer, cause the last few sets have just disappointed me compared to what the range used to give. Idk if Handcock is the longest running producer for a range cause 11 series is a LOT
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