Doctor Who review: The War Master: The Scaramancer
By James Aggas
The War Master meets a ruthless cutthroat with a vendetta against him in the second part of his latest Doctor Who spin-off box set. But is there more going on than meets the eye?
The second episode of Hearts of Darkness sees a radical change in tone while continuing directly from where The Edge of Redemption finished. Having acquired a ship, the Master (Derek Jacobi) and Captain Morski (Colin McFarlane) run into trouble almost immediately, in the form of a group of rather ruthless space pirates lead by the Scaramancer (Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo).
Lisa McMullin clearly had a lot of fun writing this episode. On the surface, The Scaramancer seems like a fun Master versus pirates episode, and certainly comes across that way when the story begins. On top of that, the Scaramancer herself seems like a pretty cold and ruthless individual – the classic kind of villain that you just love to hate.
However, as the episode goes on, things get more complicated. We learn a lot more about the Scaramancer’s past, and what made her become so ruthless in the first place. We also learn about her shared history with the Master – so when they meet face to face, it’s definitely not looking good for the Time Lord…
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A greater story
On top of the complex character exploration, there are also plenty of dark moments in this story, too. There’s a particularly great scene where we see the Master at his cruelest, offering someone a horrific choice purely because he can.
The overall story of Hearts of Darkness also develops nicely. We find out more about what’s going on. What is the Doctor up to? Why is he on a planet that’s deep in Dalek territory? We get some answers in this episode, but not many.
On top of that, we get some major revelations that only leave the listener with more questions. Especially by the time the episode finishes. When you find out what the Master’s real aim is and why he’s so desperate to hunt the Doctor, you’re going to want to listen to the next episode straight away…
Next. The first time Daleks went upstairs on-screen. dark
Do you enjoy a good pirate story in Doctor Who? What’s your favorite, and why is it The Pirate Planet? Let us know in the comments below.