The curtain has risen on another installment surrounding the mysterious Dark Gallifrey. On the grimy techno world of Opus Tooli at the backend of the universe, an attempt at thievery by two vagrants is interrupted by the appearance of a strange woman in purple. Missy has landed looking for information and a new opportunity, but has hit an inconvenient snag in being trapped on-world with limited use of her technology. An alliance of convenience is about to change everything for these two thieves and not in the way they're expecting.....

The saga of Dark Gallifrey continues after a strong initial trilogy with Morbius and a mostly disappointing follow-up with the War Master. This time, we have Michelle Gomez's incarnation of the Master taking charge after her encounter with the Daleks in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar". Rochana Patel's script mixes mystery with a Victorian steampunk heist plot that boasts a weirdly meta edge to it. It opens with a play that feels eerily similar to a more normal Whovian adventure, and things follow a predictable course with an end twist that nicely sets up what's coming.

Sadly, there are major problems, in particular because Missy isn't the focus of this story. The focus instead is on the thieves, Mortimer & Scratch, who end up getting dragged along in her antics, becoming her pseudo-henchmen. It's not a bad idea, and Michelle Gomez is again stellarly crazy in the lead role. But it's difficult to empathize with them, which means there's not a ton of engagement beyond some superficial moments. The score also has a hard time matching the action, which is sadly becoming a strange trend with more recent Big Finish releases, and despite the unique setting and some minor details, the soundscape isn't new or novel in the end.

"Missy" Part 1 then has its moments and is certainly better than other "Dark Gallifrey" stories, but doesn't have anything to write home about when all is said and done. It's a decent start and an ok Missy story, but one that doesn't exactly inspire excitement for Parts 2 & 3.

-- 6 / 10