A strong ending to what turned out to be a good Dark Gallifrey trilogy. I've only listened to Morbius and this one so far, and they certainly seem to be taking the approach of the overarching storyline is barely relevant to the more character-focused storytelling. I can only assume the mysterious powerful portal will be linked to Dark Gallifrey. Enough of that though, let's get into it:

Michelle Gomez is the best Master for my money, her performance is so layered and multi-dimensional that it's always a treat even when she's been served with mediocrity like her recent solo series. This story attempts to be another point in the line of how Missy goes from psychotic Master to choosing to stand with the Doctor by the end of her life. The Missy from the previous two parts is now a husk, barely alive, and filled with horrible regret for murdering the Doctor. She becomes the Queen, while our Missy once again appears in this universe right where she did in part one. The interplay between both Missys is by far the highlight. It's fantastic stuff centered around an actor playing the role she was born to play. Our Missy isn't quite as reformed as the Queen, but it does start to bridge the gap between Series 9 and 10. (Even just having Heaven Sent directly referenced was fun, I'm so used to Big Finish referencing every minor detail from the classic series so any new series references are a fun change).

Everything doesn't quite hit however, going back to the unremarkable Part 1...I just never found myself caring much about this world. The original queen wasn't that interesting, and Scratch never grabbed me (a big emotional beat is him getting to escape back to his family and I didn't really care). Slyboots does more for me but the whole setting always seemed like window dressing for Missy's interactions with the Seventh Doctor and then herself. The threat of the Malevolence is dealt with extremely quickly. The 'audience' being revealed to be the trapped psychic forces of the dead was interesting, though not as mysterious as it could have. The audience turning malevolent is a good idea (look at any fandom, especially this one in 2025)...but not much happens there. The setting just never grabbed me.

Overall, this is was a trilogy examining Missy's morality, which is excels at in shining colors. As a trilogy examining this weird planet/universe...that fell flat. Thankfully though, Michelle Gomez is here to dazzle and make us remember how great she is.