The TARDIS is drawn to a mysterious signal emanating from a seemingly dead world. Trapped within a crystalline structure, the Doctor and his friends inadvertently wake a vast army of robots that have lain dormant for many, many years. Waiting… for the Masters of Luxor.
The Perfect One wants to become more than just a mockery of a man, and will stop at nothing to achieve it. But will the cost prove too great?
The travellers are about to uncover a horrifying tragedy. A tragedy that threatens to engulf them all.
Written By: Anthony Coburn, adapted by Nigel Robinson
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman
Waiting for the masters Down the years, many stories have been written for Doctor Who which, for one reason or another, never got to the tv screen. Now, thanks to Big Finish adapting them for audio, we can find what might have been.This story features the First Doctor, plus Susan, Ian and Barbara. It runs for six parts and is spread across three cd’s. The episodes vary in length. The longest is just over forty minutes, the shortest just over twenty five. But most are just over thirty minutes long.This story will be familiar to some because a book of the script for it was released, almost twenty years ago.The audio version is pretty faithful to that, although it has edited out some religious references that were in the original script. Also, since only two of the four original stars are still with us, this isn’t a full cast drama as per usual for these audios. It’s a talking book with narration. William Russell [Ian] and Carole Ann Ford [Susan] share the duties for that. And also do the dialogue for their characters. Plus the Doctor and Barbara. William Russell’s version of the Doctor is pretty good. Carole Ann Ford’s version of Barbara is very good.The nature of the story means that which of the two is doing the reading can flash back at forth, often at short notice but occasionally a lot longer. This is something you do quickly get used to.Another thing that has resulted from adapting the original script into this format is that there’s a lot of narration and scene setting at times, which is probably why some of the episodes go well over twenty five minutes.The story sees the TARDIS drawn to a seemingly dead planet by a strange signal. Inside a strange structure the crew find robots. Who are waiting. For the masters of Luxor to return to them.But one of the creatures who is in this structure has a desperate desire to achieve a certain something. And will stop at nothing to get it. All of which puts the Doctor and friends in terrible danger.This script does feel as if it’s structed in the typical way for a six parter of the time. IE; there will be some padding and long scenes of the TARDIS crew exploring a strange new environment. But it also does feel a little different from what you might expect from this Doctor and companions. Particularly in the first two parts. The character relations don’t feel formed in the way that they should be.The length of the first two episodes does mean that whilst they are a good listen you can feel that you’re spending a long time waiting for something to develop. There are long bits of description and moral debates. But then about a third of the way into part three it somehow clicks, and the rest, perhaps because it feels like a more traditional story from then on, is a pretty good listen.It is quite a serious piece, offering some big moral and ethical questions for the listener to consider.Guest actor Joseph Kloska reads four different supporting characters, and does a very good job with each.The production team never used this script. They went instead with a story – in defiance of an instruction from on high in the bbc not to use ‘bug eyed monsters’ – involving creatures called the Daleks. And the rest is history. Would Doctor Who have endured had they gone with this story instead? Would the Doctor have seen many a return engagement with the deadly Derivatrons?Who can say. But whilst this isn’t the best lost story ever, it’s a fascinating look at what might have been. And thus it’s worth a listen.There are five minutes [approx] of interviews on the last track of disc two with the writer of the audio version.Eleven minutes [approx] of interviews with cast and crew on the last track of disc three.And a trailer for the next release in this range on the track before that.