The War Master: Killing Time

As with many of the previous releases in this series, this consists of four individually titled hour-long episodes, but is really one long story that moves between settings. The main focus, featuring in the first and last episodes, is on the Master's attempts to infiltrate the political system of a world that suffered in the Time War. Exactly why he's doing this, other than it offering some vague tactical advantage, isn't really the point of the story, which keeps the War very much in the background. Instead, it's more about his methods... which, initially, hit a significant snag as he finds himself opposed by another power-hungry schemer who understands the local political system far better than he does.

That leads to a rather choppy story as we jump through the years, following both the Master and his opponent in their slow race to the top. The middle two episodes, however, move in a different direction as the Master seeks to manipulate two of the Doctor's former companions to unwittingly do his bidding. These are the best parts of the plot arc, the first a disjointed nightmare as Jo Grant struggles to aid her ailing uncle and the second a more sedate piece as Nyssa finds her humanitarian work subverted. The latter, in particular, plays up how the superficially benevolent nature of this incarnation of the Master masks his true intentions.

A possible weakness here is that the Master is portrayed here as an outright sadist (even if he's good at masking it) rather than someone who is power-hungry and deeply callous, as he has more often been in previous stories. But it is another great performance from Jacobi, and there's the added joy of seeing him face two of the Doctor's companions. And, yes, it's another very dark piece, where the few genuinely good characters tend to come off badly against not only the Master, but his equally ruthless opponent. And, while the route to getting there includes a number of unexpected twists, the ultimate outcome is never really in much doubt.