Missy Series One

You So Fine...

Missy Series One is a Delight, thoroughly bonkers and twisted. It may not reach the highs of companion series The War Master, but it’s one of the best things Big Finish have done in recent years merely because of fun value. I’m going to go so far to say Michelle Gomez is the best actress Big Finish have had to grace audio. Controversial take, but with her sarcastic drawl and way of “winking” at the audience even without an appearance pushes her above other gods like Nicola Walker and Maggie Stables for me. She has a way of making the most ordinary words, like “good”, funny. 
This set, I should definitely state, is less about brilliant writing and more about the Missy experience. 
Getting in Missy’s head for four hours is one of the best investments you can make.

A Spoonful Of Mayhem by Roy Gill

The Set Opens with it’s safest and by far worst release, setting Missy in Victorian London as a Mary Poppins figure. Best concept ever. One of the worst executions of it. The story glosses over the plot, characterization and magic of Mary Poppins. Which it is clearly trying to be: and which it doesn’t have the time to do. This needed to be a two-parter to even have a chance of working. 
It doesn’t have any music. And it especially doesn’t have any edge, which you definitely need for a Master protagonist. The best moment is three minutes in when Missy robs and mugs a tutor and a Nanny for a group of children and takes their place. The worst moment is whenever the children narrate. For two societal rebels, they are decidedly Victorian in their values, and don’t sell being arsonists and robbers very well. Second off the narration is badly integrated.
They’re fine for child actors though.
The only reason you should listen to this is for the Missy.
But I feel not making it a musical was a missed opportunity. 
6/10

Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated by John Dorney

Without a doubt, a highlight. This is pure comedy, shoving the Monk and Missy in a room together and just having them vibe for an hour, with occasional plot related shenanigans revolving around King Henry the Eighth, who the monk is impersonating. In all, this is exceedingly funny, and difficult to review because it is a comedy, and I don’t want to spoil the jokes. Even if spoiling is all this blog does. Needless to say, Michelle Gomez and Rufus Hound are an exquisite double act, and I live for them. Can’t wait for their next episode in Series Two. 
9/10

The Broken Clock by Nev Fountain

Gorgeously twisted, experimental and funny, this story embodies Missy as a quality series, The Broken Clock is a complicated and delicious mystery that reminds me of Fairytale of Salzberg from the 8DAs, as it is similarly a complicated and tricky mosaic that all blends together into something truly astonishing. Worth a second listen if you don’t like it the first time, as my opinion completely reversed as I began to see the puzzle pieces fitting together. Proof this series has staying power. 
10/10

The Belly of The Beast By Jonathan Morris

The Belly of The Beast is excellent in that it deftly fits the previously considered unrelated stories into an excellent arc, much like Bad Wolf, but even more clever. This one is by far Missy at her most violent and unhinged, teamed up with a sociopathic Doctor named Doctor Goodnight. Also unlike previous stories it takes the perspective of two characters other than Missy as our main characters, slaves who have been bent under her rule on a mining colony run by herself, the Queen of Evil. They aren’t as interesting as Missy is herself, but Missy is there throughout, and she drops a few major twists on their uninteresting butts until they become something indeed...While the other stories have been Missy at a sympathetic angle, definitely Series 10 Missy, this one is  entirely based on her sociopathy, and dangerousness, which is a shock the series needed. 
Fun, and although nowhere near the majesty of the previous two releases, The Belly of The Beast is a dignified end of the boxset, and it also incorporates the theme tune in Missy’s fantastic newsreader announcements which are positively hilarious. Continues the Series in a fantastic fashion, and I can’t wait for more this July. 8/10

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