Doctor Who: Missy: Series One by Roy Gill, John Dorney, Nev Fountain and Jonathan Morris (CD review).

Missy as played by Michelle Gomez refuses to be contained as a mere guest artiste in the slightly well-known series called ‘Doctor Who’. She is ready to branch out. We all know that in her incarnation as the Master she had a full and quite destructive relationship with the universe. This is the contribution of Missy to the world of pain and it’s such fun.

A Spoonful of Mayhem by Roy Gill

Supernanny meets the Victorians as Missy initiates sha-‘nanny’-gans of the highest order. Condemned to be stuck in Victorian England after yet more transgressions, Missy takes over the education of Oliver 9 (Oliver Clement) and Lucy Davis (Bonnie Kingston). There is a huge hit of Mary Poppins here with some excellent music to match.

This is an action-packed adventure and there are plenty of clues to pick up on where it might be heading. With lots of period detail this certainly gives us an idea just how badly things might have gone for Mary Poppins’ charges if she had as few scruples as Missy.

Dan Starkey puts in the hours as four different characters, Mr. Cosmo, Park Keeper, Old Man and Sphinx in this one and not a Sontaran in sight.

Divorced Beheaded Regenerated by John Dorney

Merrie England is even more so when Missy, who is impersonating an eligible nobleman’s daughter, meets Henry VIII, the King of England who just happens to be the Meddling Monk (Rufus Hound). How can they get along? Before you know it, there’s a marriage planned and we all know how that went for Henry’s brides.

I’m not sure Hilary Mantel would approve of this version of history but hopefully it won’t alter the timeline too dramatically.

Rufus Hound is an exuberant Monk who realises early on that Missy is definitely in charge. I think we will hear more from him as we are left in no doubt that, despite his apparently cheerful meddling demeanour, he hates to lose.

The Broken Clock by Nev Fountain

What’s better than a good old-fashioned 50s murder mystery with a matching voiceover? Something’s wrong though when the ‘tec can hear the voice over. Something is even more wrong when he gets assisted by DI Missy Masters of Scotland Yard.

There have been several murders but the bodies don’t make sense. Detective Joe Lynwood (Guy Paul) has one long night to find out who the murderer is. But why does he only have a night? How has Missy arrived from London two hours after the first body was discovered? Who’s doing the voiceover and why does it all feel like a really badly staged TV docudrama?

Kenneth Jay as Dick Zodiac does a marvellous 50s American voiceover and the whole story turns into something quite unexpected. Nev Fountain does a good job of winding us up.

The Belly Of The Beast by Jonathan Morris

Missy is on a mission and more than ever we see the hand of the Master. This is no soft female as she takes steps to secure her power. She’s not above using slave labour and it seems the there is an endless supply of the highly disposable workforce.

The music suite by Joe Kraemer for each episode is included after each story and this must have been a fun job tying in the various ideas from a maniacal Mary Poppins, Tudor music to more futuristic vibes. They make it sound easy but I’m sure it isn’t.

Having Missy as a standalone character without her constant trailing of the Doctor makes this more interesting. We want to know what makes her tick and, of course, we enjoy the anarchism of evil that is actually what does make her tick. She is a rich vein to be mined and, like the Doctor, she can be matched with her other incarnations. This worked really well when Missy met the John Simm Master on TV. It’s easy to forget when presented with a woman how the character was originally developed as pure evil. Somehow we feel that a woman should be better than that. She really is not and we love it.

Sue Davies

April 2021

(pub: Big Finish, 2019. 5 CDs 344 minutes. Price: £34.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-78703-672-7. Download: £29.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-78703-673-4)

cast: Michelle Gomez, Rufus Hound, Abbie Andrew, Beth Chalmers, Oliver Clement, Ryan Forde Iosco, Lucy Goldie, Daniel Goode, Kenneth Jay, Bonnie Kingston, Jamie Laird, Jason Nwoga, Guy Paul, Leighton Pugh, John Scougall, Graham Seed, Simon Slater, Dan Starkey and Rachel Verkuil

check out website: https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/missy-series-01-1884