Dark Gallifrey The War Master part three

[beccaelizabeth]

Bought these because James Marsters playing Captain John Hart.
Had no particular expectations because what is Dark Gallifrey? Whatever Big Finish pleases, I guess.
Listened to the first part and was unsure I understood more at the end than the beginning.
Listened to the second and it was John flirting with Benny to get his way, then the Master doing a Scheme, then it all crashing together and getting complicated. I wasn't sure what John's accent was doing in some places but to be fair I think John isn't either, because what are the odds he uses his natural voice ever? I loved the bit where John and the Master were trying to kill each other until balance of violence was achieved. I also loved when John was reacting to the paradoxical environment all argh I'm losing my mind and the Master was like so what, I'm insane, never stopped me. And at the end John and the Master were left together somewhere they were pretty sure was a trap.

So the third part was the trap chewing up Captain John and the Master. Quite a lot of the middle was genre 'terrible things happening to terrible people'. But the ending was just wild.

First the Master was trying to get out and turn the tables on the trap, so he found a TARDIS that was minding its own business, then started carving bits off its body-mind-soul until the TARDIS agreed to help. Which is creeptastic, but, also, involves using the jettison function, which the Doctor has used, so that makes it so much nastier in retrospect.

So the bit where the Imbomination was trying to eat John and the Master was nasty and will probably be more creepy with more time to think on it: tearing off chunks of memory like it's nothing. Persuading them to put themselves in worse traps. The Master quite liked that bit though, he can appreciate a good trap even when it is him in it.

But then John got turned into a TARDIS. By a TARDIS that kept on making a point of how a TARDIS sees/experiences it all at once, so the ending rather explained the beginning, which turned out to be paradoxical Bill and Ted stuff to get them out of the trap. Motivated by Captain John Hart doing what he does ie flirting with literal everything. John got turned into a TARDIS (not immortal or indestructible but certainly doing a good impression) because he met a TARDIS in the form of an aspidistra in a terracota pot and chatted him up.

So okay, that was very much in character, but I did not see where that story was going at all.

And the story leaves room for the changes to be permanent or to wear off or to be paradoxical, so will Big Finish use this later? I mean, why not, it's their universe.

So: I listened these for more Captain Hart content. And it did have that.

But I am still not quite clear on what the story was doing for quite large chunks of it, so you have to have a pretty high tolerance for weird for this set.

Also for reading this... it's not even a review, I was trying to write down the cool bits to see if they added up, and I think they do. But. It is both very spoilers under those cuts and not making entire sense, sorry.

I think that was fun to listen to but I might have to have another go later.