Written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Ken Bentley.

Spoiler-free verdict: The delerious joy of Missy as a character becomes strained, though not erased, in a bleaker piece of traditional action fare.

Recommended pre-listening: A Spoonful of Mayhem; Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated; The Broken Clock

***

Throughout Missy series 1, there’s been a sense of the darker side of the character being held at bay. There’s been a fair few gleeful murders, but it’s been light on outright evil and horror. It’s inevitable, then, that in the end, the set changes pace, reveling in the character at her most brutal as a slave-driving tyrant. It’s in some ways necessary, and provides a welcome contrast to the previous stories, which while wonderful, are sometimes a bit too whimsical.

On the other hand, it’s difficult to say this makes for as enjoyable an experience. As I highlighted in my review of The Broken Clock, the success of Missy as a character, and of this set at its best, has been in recognizing she’s something more multifaceted than previous Masters, and is on the road to redemption. However, here, there’s no question what side she’s on. She’s evil, just in a chaotic ADHD variety (and that isn’t an approach that lends itself well to heavy topics like slavery). As a result, the hard turn to brutality makes her less interesting to spend time with for me, even while Michelle Gomez continues to be a winning presence — one which this story wisely doubles for its strongest sequence.

Another problem arising from this grimmer approach is that the story never quite decides whether it wants to be a hard, traditional rebel story or a satire of the same. The plot construction suggests it’s leaning more toward satire, with a rebellion and a slave force both run by competing Missys for their own amusement during an easy, low-stakes scheme. But far too much of the story comes from the perspective of the rebels, rather than Missy, even while it refuses to develop them as distinctive characters for plot reasons. And sure enough, the plot that they are all clones used by Missy because it’s cheap is effective, if a bit nonsensical (this is Missy, nonsensical is never an issue). But it never quite goes anywhere with it. The reveals happen, and we stay focused on the rebels in their responses to them, but they never really transcend or develop past that. Indeed, we have to hear the same characters respond to this news a few times. And in the end, Missy wipes the lot out, her victory having been achieved. It’s nearly poignant, with the clones returning to their false past memories only to be wiped out entirely during that vaguely happy ending, but they never make enough of an impression as characters to feel to saddened by it, and their backstory is presumably deliberately stilted as part of the core satire. It’s brutal, but it’s hard to get much out of it.

And so Missy waltzes off in a triumphant cliffhanger, assuming power over some vaguely defined “Master TARDIS” I can only presume will be a focus for a future series, but it’s difficult to feel particularly swept up by it all. There’s magnificent moments, but the depth never quite materializes, and the aesthetics clash with the more positive anarchy of the previous stories. Maybe that’s inherent to building a range around Missy; again, it’s probably necessary to showcase her more evil side. I also expect it’s an effective olive branch to people who long for the traditional Master, with the apotheosis of her plans feeling more like something out of a War Master story, all calculated brutality. But it’s nowhere near as meaningful to me, nor as fun.

A frustrating end, then, but after three stories of utter delight, it’s acceptable enough. And Missy dancing with herself is always, always a good idea.

4/10