Trail of the White Worm (2012)

Trail of the White Worm is the most eagerly anticipated releases from this series because it sees the return of the Master who before TOTWW had only appeared twice in Doctor Who Big Finish stories. The first was in 2001’s ‘Dust Breeding’ and in the superb 2003 ‘Master’. The problem with things that are anticipated is that the anticipator can build their expectations up too much and thus be disappointed. It’s difficult to give a proper review of the story until the next part comes out. The story sees the Doctor and Leela arrive in 1979 where the town they arrive in are looking for a missing girl. The worm of the title was designed to create worm holes. The worm fell to earth during Roman times and eventually was discovered by the Master who was using it for his sinister purpose.

The story is littered with very brief moments of comedy which don’t ruin the flow of the story and does seem to suit the style of the story. The scene where the Doctor and Leela are talking to the worm inside the worm’s stomach is the sort of mad and seems to only have come from someone with the sort of mind that Alan Barnes has.  Another moment is when Leela keeps getting called Pan’s People which is the name of dancers that appeared on the BBC Music show ‘Top of the Pops’ during the 1960’s to 70’s. This is funny because of how she is dressed and that Pan’s People were often called ‘one for the dads’ which is how I have heard Leela referred to over the years so the reference does work.

One of the reasons why I was looking forward to this story was because Geoffrey Beevers was going to reprise his role of the Master. It’s a crime that the Master hasn’t been used more often than he has Beevers is truly fantastic and I emphasise the word fantastic. Beevers sounds like a really nice man and yet he can pull of being evil so well. The Master is held back long enough in this story so that when he does make his appearance its much appreciated. Beevers has some great scenes especially with Tom Baker and it reminds me of the scenes they had together in ‘The Keeper of Traken’. These are two great actors and whilst they didn’t have their big scene it seems that its only a matter of time. Another familiar name that has appeared in Doctor Who and Big Finish in the past is that of Michael Cochrane who last appeared in ‘Brotherhood of the Daleks’ in 2008 which was an Alan Barnes piece and one that I found baffling. He plays Colonel Spindleton who is a quite eccentric posh figure who I could quite easily see on his country estate riding a sheep but the great thing about Cochrane’s performance is that it blinds you to what the truth behind his character is and that is he is working for the Master. When this is revealed Cochrane twists the way he plays the character to be that of a lackey.

There is a bit where the Doctor mentions the Brigadier. Now if this story had been recorded two years ago then there would have been the very real possibility of Nicholas Courtney making an appearance. However as we know he is no longer with us it just reminds me how sad it is that Courtney is not around. The identity of the creatures that the Master has helped through the worm hole is not mentioned however the identity was somewhat spoiled when you have seen the cover for the next story. If you haven’t seen that then I wont mention however it’s a good revelation and hopefully the next adventure looks like we will get the pay off that this story has set up. It’s not easy to say whether I was disappointed with this release because it will be depend on the next adventure but what I will say is that I am encouraged by this release.