Michelle Gomez, Eric Roberts and Derek Jacobi team up as the Masters for new Doctor Who adventures
The Masters are uniting to take on Alex Kingston’s River Song
Doctor Who fans were treated to the series’ first multi-Master story onscreen last year, when Michelle Gomez’ Missy teamed up with her predecessor John Simm to battle the Twelfth Doctor and help create the Cybermen.
But if you thought just having TWO Masters joining forces was a little weak, we have some good news for you – because some upcoming Doctor Who audio adventures from Big Finish will have FOUR versions of the villain in action, with all the original actors returning to their roles including Michelle Gomez, making her Big Finish debut as Missy (she played an unrelated role in 2007) after leaving the main Doctor Who series last year.
Joining her will be Geoffrey Beevers (who played a decayed version of the Master in 1981’s The Keeper of Traken and has been in many Big Finish productions since), Sir Derek Jacobi (who played The Master in 2008’s Utopia, and been acting in Big Finish in recent years) and Eric Roberts, the US actor who played the villain in the 1996 TV movie and who hasn’t returned to the role in the 22 years since.
- David Tennant on new Doctor Who: I hope the public will get to see a side of Jodie Whitaker that she's often kept hidden
- RadioTimes.com newsletter: get the latest TV and entertainment news direct to your inbox
Up against them will be the Doctor’s wife and sometime companion River Song, played by Alex Kingston reprising her 2008-2015 run on the main TV series.
“It’s a medley of Masters!” producer David Richardson said in a release.
“In previous box sets River has been travelling back through the Doctor’s incarnations. This time around she is meeting some of the Masters – and we have some amazing firsts in this box set!
“Yes, it’s the first time Eric Roberts has returned to the role since the TV movie in 1996, and the first appearance of Michelle Gomez as Missy in a Big Finish production. With Derek Jacobi as the War Master and Geoffrey Beevers as the decayed Master, it’s an unmissable line-up!”
“This is something we’ve been so incredibly excited about for so long,” added executive producer Nicholas Briggs.
“It’s been thrilling enough for us to work with Alex for all the River releases, but to put her against the Doctor’s former best friend turned arch enemy is not a little mind-blowing.”
The new Master-focused adventures will take place in an upcoming fifth series of The Diaries of River Song, due for release in January 2019.
Before that, fans will see River reunite with Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor in August for the still-to-be released fourth series.
You can read more about the new releases here.
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
