I think this is the better story of the set, or at least the better acted story. Dhawan's french accent is a lot to handle, and the plot as a couple of turns and twist that are maybe not genuine murder mystery material, but are entertaining enough on top of Dhawan's performance. His taking advantage of people's assumption also makes for great scenes and a very enjoyable time

"Master-led murder mystery" is such a good idea I wish there were a boxset dedicated to it, a new mystery each episode. That said, the Clockwork Swan leans into social commentary without fully delivering on all it sets up. Mirroring Knives Out in the way it chooses to play with relevant, real-world issues, it would be nice if the conclusion had just 20% more to say about the inhumanity of media corporations creating and utilizing AI likenesses. As it stands, the episode is caught between, on the one hand, letting that possibility stand as a horrifying reality and, on the other hand, needing its AI-resurrected characters to feel real and human.

Sacha Dhawan is excellent as always. He feels like he is still inventing and reinventing this character. It works within the plots we're given in this boxset (and matches the running theme of self-discovery). It will be interesting to see if he lands on a definite version of the character somewhere down the line. That would be exciting. He, like the other actors in the Chibnall era, missed out on the writing that I hope Big Finish will now give them.

Honestly, as someone who did theatre and is still a theatre nerd, I can clearly tell the Master is too. Not the most complex adventure ever but doing all of this out of mere fun of killing and to fake an accent is the most Master thing the Master can do. He is a maniac but it literally comes hand in hand with being a theatre kid.

This is probably my fav spy master story so far such a good story with mystery and horror esc vibes