Post by 🐍 huss 🐍 on Nov 18, 2014 11:37:35 GMT -5
YAY IT'S FINALLY HERE!
Sorry about that. I've never actually pre-ordered a Big Finish thing before, but yeah, after Michelle Gomez's Master I was in a Master-y mood, and I do kind of adore Alex Macqueen (Julius Nicholson is my favorite non-Malcolm character in The Thick of It), so this was a must-buy for me. And once November hit, I was waiting impatiently for "Out this month!" to actually arrive.
I'm going to be going through these episodes one by one, so I don't rush the whole thing (although boy, do I want to).
Where we left off (spoilers for Dark Eyes 2): along with his brainwashed sidekick Dr. Sally Armstrong, the Master has kidnapped Molly O'Sullivan and plans to use her dark eyes for nefarious purposes.
The story starts off with the Doctor and a CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) agent named Narvin. Narvin is a character I don't know particularly well, but I gather he's pretty big in Big Finish's Gallifrey series. He's meeting with the Doctor to discuss the Master and The Eminence and what the hell the Master's doing on some backwater planet with his two cohorts (by this point, Molly's been pretty well hypnotized into doing to Master's bidding—his control slips a few times, but not for long). People are getting transformed into Infinite Warriors by the Eminence, and Molly's dark eyes act as an immunization against this. (Oh yeah, during Dark Eyes 2, the Doctor decided not to stop the Eminence's eminent-ing because the Daleks wanted him to and he was all "screw you guys I'm no one's puppet.") So basically she just has to talk to folks, maybe hold their hands a bit, for the vaccine to take hold. And since Molly is a nurse (from WWI but whatever apparently no matter what time period you're from, people trust medics), the Master tells the townsfolk that they're there doing routine checkups or whatever.
So right now, I'm not seeing what the Master's doing is so bad? People staying free, that's pretty good, right? Although... if they can't be turned by the Eminence, people will just get killed, as we see in a future that Narvin shows the Doctor in order to get his blood riled up but which isn't actually true yet—BUT IT COULD BE, DOCTOR (this is where the "Death of Hope" title comes from, as Hope is one of the people on the planet). Hm. So yeah, the Master's being a pompous blowhard, but it's not quite evil yet, is it? I suppose we'll find out his true motivations in the following episodes. I'm guessing he's going to harness the Eminence's power for himself, fiddle with it a bit to try and counteract Molly's cancellation powers, and try to take over the galaxy or something.
Macqueen goes a little panto at times (his Master is A+ in pompous blowhard), but does get some good menacing done at Sally when she questions his orders. There's not much McGann in the episode, since he's just outside looking in. Ruth Bradley's voice as Molly is so over-the-top Irish it makes me think she's putting it on (though I know this not to be the case).
Available from Big Finish.
Sorry about that. I've never actually pre-ordered a Big Finish thing before, but yeah, after Michelle Gomez's Master I was in a Master-y mood, and I do kind of adore Alex Macqueen (Julius Nicholson is my favorite non-Malcolm character in The Thick of It), so this was a must-buy for me. And once November hit, I was waiting impatiently for "Out this month!" to actually arrive.
I'm going to be going through these episodes one by one, so I don't rush the whole thing (although boy, do I want to).
Where we left off (spoilers for Dark Eyes 2): along with his brainwashed sidekick Dr. Sally Armstrong, the Master has kidnapped Molly O'Sullivan and plans to use her dark eyes for nefarious purposes.
The story starts off with the Doctor and a CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) agent named Narvin. Narvin is a character I don't know particularly well, but I gather he's pretty big in Big Finish's Gallifrey series. He's meeting with the Doctor to discuss the Master and The Eminence and what the hell the Master's doing on some backwater planet with his two cohorts (by this point, Molly's been pretty well hypnotized into doing to Master's bidding—his control slips a few times, but not for long). People are getting transformed into Infinite Warriors by the Eminence, and Molly's dark eyes act as an immunization against this. (Oh yeah, during Dark Eyes 2, the Doctor decided not to stop the Eminence's eminent-ing because the Daleks wanted him to and he was all "screw you guys I'm no one's puppet.") So basically she just has to talk to folks, maybe hold their hands a bit, for the vaccine to take hold. And since Molly is a nurse (from WWI but whatever apparently no matter what time period you're from, people trust medics), the Master tells the townsfolk that they're there doing routine checkups or whatever.
So right now, I'm not seeing what the Master's doing is so bad? People staying free, that's pretty good, right? Although... if they can't be turned by the Eminence, people will just get killed, as we see in a future that Narvin shows the Doctor in order to get his blood riled up but which isn't actually true yet—BUT IT COULD BE, DOCTOR (this is where the "Death of Hope" title comes from, as Hope is one of the people on the planet). Hm. So yeah, the Master's being a pompous blowhard, but it's not quite evil yet, is it? I suppose we'll find out his true motivations in the following episodes. I'm guessing he's going to harness the Eminence's power for himself, fiddle with it a bit to try and counteract Molly's cancellation powers, and try to take over the galaxy or something.
Macqueen goes a little panto at times (his Master is A+ in pompous blowhard), but does get some good menacing done at Sally when she questions his orders. There's not much McGann in the episode, since he's just outside looking in. Ruth Bradley's voice as Molly is so over-the-top Irish it makes me think she's putting it on (though I know this not to be the case).
Available from Big Finish.
