Some people say this one is a classic because of that final battle between the Doctor and the Master on the Cheetah planet, and because it's the last episode of the original series ever broadcast. But does that really make it a good Master story? Nah, not really. To give credit where credit's due, if you were to show the first five minutes of this story to a NuWho fan, they could easily mistake it for an episode of the new series. It's got the look, the pacing, the plotting... the stunt casting... just about everything that an episode of the 2005 series has. Plus, it's not a bad story to boot. But it's also a story that's more to do with the Cheetah People themselves, and survival of the fittest, than it is about the Master himself. Ainley's not bad in this one, either. Despite not quite being himself due to his...infection? possession? by the Cheetah People, he's genuinely creepy in a few scenes. Problem is, he's only ever in a few scenes - it's one of those pesky three-parters that were so popular in the McCoy era, and as such his screen time is drastically reduced. He has only one scene in which he's being properly Master-ful, when he's attempting to control Midge, but it's painfully short, as is that much-vaunted final confrontation with the Doctor. Where the hell does he go at the end, anyway? In many ways, it's no better a send-off for Ainley than Frontier In Space was for Delgado. Except that Delgado was in a far better story.
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
