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lmost 25 years after Eric Roberts played the Master in the Doctor Who TV movie (1996), he’s got a series of his own.

“When I look back on Master!, I realise a lot of it is about world-building,” says producer David Richardson. “You feel as though the world we’re operating in is a very distinct place. The setting, the characters, the whole tone of it is built up beautifully by the three writers. It’s almost Philip K Dick in tone and style.”

Master! is the third Big Finish range with an incarnation of the Doctor’s nemesis as its lead, following The War Master (with Derek Jacobi) and Missy (with Michelle Gomez). “The Masters set their own tones,” says Matt Fitton, script editor of both Master! and Missy. “The War Master is the Hannibal Lecter of the Masters, dark and calculating, and so that series goes to some very dark places. Missy is anarchic and chaotic and fun, so her series has a lot of fourth-wall-breaking, lots of quips, and ridiculous action and asides. With Master!, I think a lot of the tone comes from the image of Eric Roberts in the leather jacket and the shades. It’s almost like the aesthetics of Escape from New York or Blade Runner – that 1980s, 1990s cyberpunk feel, and the dystopian technology of the future.”