Doctor Who: And You Will Obey Me

The first of a set of three stories featuring the Master as villain (in this case, the Beevers version from the early '80s TV series) this is self-contained, rather than relying on anything else, or ending on a cliffhanger of any kind. The plot sees the Doctor, and a number of others, trying to track down the Master and his TARDIS, although to say much more would venture into spoiler territory.

It's rather more complicated than most DW plot, with a sizeable cast, relying in part on something that the Master did over 30 years before the main story is set. This, in particular, sees the story jumping back to 1984 for a number of scenes - replete with references to the pop music of the time (the viewpoint characters for this part were teenagers at the time, so hey...) In fact, we're mostly seeing the effects of the Master's actions, since he doesn't turn up until the half-way mark, and then mainly in flashback.

It's perhaps not a stand-out story, more of a “3.5 stars” than the full 4, but it's competently done, with a decent mystery as to what's going on, and a scheme for the Master that not only makes perfect sense (for once) but that contrasts the way he treats people with the way the Doctor does. On the subject of which, the usual companions are away for this story, allowing the various guest characters to take more of a central role.