Last year’s Self-Defence saw the War Master put on trial and forced to recount his previous adventures to the jury in order for them to reach a verdict. Our own verdict was that, while a trial was an interesting way of linking the stories together, this framing narrative was underused and underdeveloped, so felt a bit pointless by the end. Thankfully, this month’s Solitary Confinement, which follows a similar premise, feels far more cohesive, its framing device- the Master narrating his past adventures while locked up in an asylum- being threaded throughout the four episodes much better and actually adding something to the individual stories rather than just being a way of grouping them together.

James Goss‘s The Walls of Absence opens the set, and sees an amnesiac Master come to the world of Chift, where he seeks the assistance of a legendary Code Purger to cure his condition. Jacobi gives a more avuncular performance here than we’re used to (though we do, of course, get some of his usual diabolical cruelty thrown in too) and, for the first time, gets to play a kind of love story for the Master, which is delightful, even if, as you might expect from this range, there isn’t a happy ending.

The Master’s love interest, Mendrix, is played by the inimitable Siân Phillips who, as always, gives a powerful performance. The relationship between her character and the Master is so well-written by Goss that, even though we know she’s in mortal danger and that the Master can never truly love her, we totally buy into the situation and feel genuinely heartbroken by the end when his true colours are revealed. A unique story with a truly gut-wrenching ending.

Even better is Tim Foley‘s The Long Despair, which really uses the asylum framing device to its benefit, having the Master speaking to Bartholom (Lois Chimimba) throughout the story rather than just at the beginning and end, and narrating the action as it happens. This lends this episode an intimate, confessional feel which is bolstered by the fact that the main story is pretty much a two hander between the Master and the Captain, played Jason Flemyng in another strong piece of guest casting.

The story itself sees the Master enlist the Captain’s help to travel to a mysterious beacon on the ocean world of Mehr Kee. As they cross the dangerous seas, the two learn hidden truths about one another and face terrible trials. This feels quite different from your usual War Master fare, but this is entirely to the story’s benefit, even if the downbeat ending comes as absolutely no surprise. Great stuff all round.

Equally as good is Alfie Shaw‘s The Life and Loves of Mr Alexander Bennett, which pushes the Master to the sidelines in favour of the titular character, an overworked everyman played by Jacob Dudman. Shaw does an excellent job at making Bennett a character who is still compelling despite his flaws and, as with characters elsewhere in this set, we feel genuinely awful when his life is inevitably torn apart by the end of the story, which is in no small part to Dudman’s earnest performance.

Of course, Jacobi is still present here, playing the voice of Maisu, an Alexa-esque home assistant which seems to have some kind of influence over Bennett’s life, and he does a great job at imbuing the cold monotone required of such a character with the Master’s trademark malice. The idea of a home assistant who is slowly ruining your life is an excellent one and is well explored by Shaw throughout this script, pushing this story just above The Long Despair to become the best in the set.

Solitary Confinement closes with The Kicker by Trevor Baxendale, which sees the Temporal Inquisition arrive at the Drane Institute in the form of Eva Pope‘s Madame Sendaya, who is looking for the Master. Pope has some excellent chemistry with Jacobi, giving us some sizzling scenes throughout the piece, though her character is admittedly a little underexplored, at least when compared with the likes of Mendrix, the Captain and Alexander Bennett.

This one also gives us some meatier material for Lois Chimimba‘s Bartholom, while introducing us to other denizens of the Institute like Jack Forsyth-Noble‘s naive and lovable Shilling and, of course, Silas Carson’s Governor Drane, the man apparently responsible for the Master’s incarceration. They join Pope as worthy foils for Jacobi’s Master, making this story, which is at its core just a series of conversations, well worth a listen, and strong finale to the boxset.

The entire set is masterfully (haha) scored by Rob Harvey, while Toby Hrycek-Robinson provides evocative sound design, particularly in the second story, the nautical atmosphere of which he conjures up perfectly. This, coupled with capable direction from Scott Handcock, a genuinely interesting framing device and four varied but very strongly written stories, make this not only the best War Master boxset in a while, but one of the strongest Big Finish releases of 2023 so far. Highly recommended.

Solitary Confinement is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com