The War Master (audio drama series)

The War Master, announced in June 2017, is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the TV show Doctor Who. It sees the return of Sir Derek Jacobi as the Master, a role he previously portrayed in the TV story "Utopia". The first volume consists of a four-CD box set; it was released in December 2017.^[1] In July 2018, a further 3 series were confirmed for release between December 2018 – December 2019.^[2][3]

The War Master
Big Finish Productions audio drama
Series	The Worlds of Doctor Who
Featuring	The Master
Written by	various
Directed by	Scott Handcock
Produced by	Scott Handcock (2017–2024) Robert Valentine (2024–present)
Executive producer(s)	Jason Haigh-Ellery Nicholas Briggs
Starring	Sir Derek Jacobi
Music	Ioan Morris (S1, S3, S5, S7, title theme) Rob Harvey (S2, S4, S6, S8)
Release date	December 2017 (2017-12)

In January 2019, Paul McGann was confirmed as an appearance within the third series, Rage of the Time Lords, as the Eighth Doctor alongside Jacobi.^[4][5][6] Seán Carlsen reprised his role as Narvin from the Gallifrey series alongside Pippa Bennett-Warner and Nicholas Briggs as Livia and the Daleks.

The series was created by Scott Handcock, who is the producer of the range as well as director and script-editor for sets released between 2017 and 2024. It was announced that he will be succeeded by Robert Valentine, after Handcock became a script editor for future series of Doctor Who on screen.^[7][8]

Cast

List indicator

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least one season.

•   A green cell indicates the actor is a main cast member.
•   A red cell indicates the actor is a recurring cast member.
•   A light blue cell indicates the actor is a guest or special guest cast member.

Actor	Character	Appearances
		S1	S2	S3	S4	S5	S6	S7	S8	S9	S10	S11
Sir Derek Jacobi	The Master	✓
	Professor Yana	Does not appear									✓	Does not appear
Mark Gatiss	Alternate-Universe Master	Does not appear			✓	Does not appear
Seán Carlsen	Narvin	Does not appear	✓	Does not appear	✓	✓	Does not appear
Paul McGann	The Doctor	Does not appear		✓	Does not appear	✓	Does not appear
David Tennant		Does not appear						✓	Does not appear
Jonny Green	Cole Jarnish	✓	Does not appear					✓	Does not appear
Nicholas Briggs	The Daleks	✓	Does not appear		✓	Does not appear			✓	Does not appear	✓	Does not appear
	Sherlock Holmes	Does not appear							✓	Does not appear

Notable guests

• Silas Carson as The Ood
• Samantha Béart as Martine King
• Maeve Bluebell Wells as Cassandra King
• Pippa Haywood as Teremon
• Pippa Bennett-Warner as Livia
• Colin McFarlane as Captain Morski
• Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as The Scaramancer
• Katy Manning as Jo Jones
• Sarah Sutton as Nyssa
• Alexander Vlahos as Dorian Gray
• Richard Earl as Dr. Watson
• Gethin Anthony as The Shadow
• Murray Melvin as Bilis Manger

Episodes

Series 1: Only the Good (2017)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"Beneath the Viscoid"	Scott Handcock	Nicholas Briggs	Daleks	December 2017 (2017-12)
2	"The Good Master"		Janine H Jones	Cole Jarnish, Daleks
3	"The Sky Man"		James Goss	Cole Jarnish
4	"The Heavenly Paradigm"		Guy Adams	Cole Jarnish

Series 2: The Master of Callous (2018)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"Call for the Dead"	Scott Handcock	James Goss	Ood, Martine King, Cassandra King	December 2018 (2018-12)
2	"The Glittering Prize"		James Goss	Ood, Martine King, Cassandra King
3	"The Persistence of Dreams"		Guy Adams	Ood, Martine King, Cassandra King
4	"Sins of the Father"		Guy Adams	Ood, Narvin, Cassandra King

Series 3: Rage of the Time Lords (2019)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"The Survivor"	Scott Handcock	Tim Foley	Alice Pritchard	July 2019 (2019-07)
2	"The Coney Island Chameleon"		David Llewellyn	Giuseppe Sabatini
3	"The Missing Link"		Tim Foley	Eighth Doctor, Alice Pritchard
4	"Darkness and Light"		David Llewellyn	Eighth Doctor

Series 4: Anti-Genesis (2019)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"From the Flames"	Scott Handcock	Nicholas Briggs	Narvin, Livia	December 2019 (2019-12)
2	"The Master's Dalek Plan"		Alan Barnes	Narvin, Livia, Daleks
3	"Shockwave"		Alan Barnes	Narvin, Livia, Daleks, The Master (Unbound)
4	"He Who Wins"		Nicholas Briggs	Narvin, Livia, Daleks, The Master (Unbound)

Series 5: Hearts of Darkness (2020)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"The Edge of Redemption"[9]	Scott Handcock	David Llewellyn	Narvin	October 2020 (2020-10)
2	"The Scaramancer"[9]		Lisa McMullin	–
3	"The Castle of Kurnos 5"[9]		David Llewellyn	Eighth Doctor
4	"The Cognition Shift"[9]		Lisa McMullin	Eighth Doctor

Series 6: Killing Time (2021)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"The Sincerest Form of Flattery"	Scott Handcock	James Goss	–	August 2021 (2021-08)
2	"A Quiet Night In"		Lou Morgan	Jo Jones
3	"The Orphan"		Lou Morgan	Nyssa
4	"Unfinished Business"		James Goss	–

Series 7: Self-Defence (2022)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"The Forest of Penitence"[10]	Scott Handcock	Lou Morgan	–	June 2022 (2022-06)
2	"The Players"[10]		Una McCormack	–
3	"Boundaries"[10]		Lizbeth Myles	Cole Jarnish
4	"The Last Line"[10]		Lizzie Hopley	Tenth Doctor

Series 8: Escape from Reality (2022)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"The Wrath of Medusa"[11]	Scott Handcock	Rochana Patel	Daleks, Medusa, Perseus, Hecate	December 2022 (2022-12)
2	"The Shadow Master"[11]		Lizzie Hopley	The Shadow
3	"The Adventure of the Deceased Doctor"[11]		Alfie Shaw	Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson
4	"The Master of Dorian Gray"[11]		David Llewellyn	Dorian Gray

Series 9: Solitary Confinement (2023)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
2	"The Walls of Absence"	Scott Handcock	James Goss	–	June 2023 (2023-06)
3	"The Long Despair"		Tim Foley
4	"The Life and Loves of Mr Alexander Bennett"		Alfie Shaw
N/A	"The Kicker"		Trevor Baxendale

Series 10: Rogue Encounters (2023)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"Runtime"	Scott Handcock	Tim Foley	Daleks	December 2023 (2023-12)
2	"Manhunt"		Rochana Patel	N/A
3	"The Sublime Porte"		James Goss	Bilis Manger
4	"Alone"		Scott Handcock	Professor Yana

Series 11: Future Phantoms (2024)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	"His Close Companions"	Scott Handcock	Jonathan Barnes	TBA	November 2024 (2024-11)
2	"The Foxglove Cylinders"		James Goss
3	"The Sitter"		Lizzie Hopley
4	"Signal and I’ll Come to You"		Tim Foley

Series 12: His Greatest Trick

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	TBA	TBD	TBD	TBA	October 2025 (2025-10)[12]

Series 13: Deeds Without Name

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Featuring	Released
1	TBA	TBD	TBD	TBA	October 2026 (2026-10)[12]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Work(s)	Result	Ref.
BBC Audio Drama Awards	2019	Best Actor	Derek Jacobi (Beneath the Viscoid)	Shortlisted	[13]
Scribe Awards	2019	Best Audio	The Master of Callous	Nominated	[14]