Daniel Mansfield reviews the latest boxset of adventures for Derek Jacobi‘s War Master.

---

Rogue Encounters opens with Runtime by Tim Foley, a 1917-inspired tale told in real time which sees the Master team up with a young soldier as their world is attacked by the Daleks. It’s a simple story, but has a lot of good set pieces, and Derek Jacobi and Aitch Wylie, who plays Slug, bring it to life with some great performances.

Nisha Nayar also features here as Kindred, a bounty hunter despatched to capture the Master, and she puts in a good performance, giving a spark to what could have been quite a one-note character. All told, though, this is quite an average story, elevated by a nice twist at the end and some great casting.

The next story, Manhunt by Rochana Patel takes its inspiration from The X Files, seeing traveller Alison Walker’s life turned upside down as her boyfriend is abducted by grey aliens. Loreece Harrison, who plays Alison, is excellent in the role, bringing a real humanity to her character which contrasts with Derek Jacobi‘s Master, who is at his most evil here. This, alongside Patel’s atmospheric writing, makes Manhunt a real success.

James Goss‘s The Sublime Porte gives us something Big Finish fans have been clamouring for for years: a meeting between the War Master and the late Murray Melvin‘s Bilis Manger. Jacobi and Melvin have some sizzling chemistry, and Goss’s scripts pushes both of their performances further than ever before, with the Master being absolutely terrified by Bilis, and Bilis finally having an (almost) equal to play off against.

There are also some intriguing revelations about exactly who (or what) Bilis is, but thankfully none of these ruin any of the mystery about his character, instead making him feel more well-rounded by hinting at the nature of his relationship to the Time Lords. These delightful character moments, alongside a sinister piano score from Rob Harvey and Goss’s tense script, make The Sublime Porte a true success, and the strongest story in this set.

We close the set with Alone by Scott Handcock, a touching character piece exploring the life of the War Master’s human alter-ego, Professor Yana, who we first met in 2007’s Utopia. This is definitely the most sedate story in the set, but is brought to life by a pathos-loaded central performance from Jacobi as Handcock chronicles his character’s tragic friendship with a young man called Rafe (James G Nunn).

With this story, and indeed with the previous one, it’s great to hear Jacobi being given the chance to do something a little different to the norm, giving a more vulnerable performance than War Master listeners are used to. It’s stories like these that prove that this series still has lots of mileage, keeping listeners coming back for more. Highly recommended.

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