Back in the present day, the Master, Morski and the Scaramancer have touched down Nastrum, planet of the corpses, in hot pursuit of Dorada, who has retrieved one last, vital component for the Doctor so he can finally power the enigmatic Cognition Shift and change the universe for the better. To put an end to the Time War, the Master and the Doctor will do battle once more, but who should Morski, Dorada and the Scaramancer put their faith in to save them?

The Cognition Shift was written by Lisa McMullin, directed and produced by Scott Handcock, and stars Derek Jacobi as the War Master, Paul McGann as the Doctor, Colin McFarlane as Captain Morski, Sandra Hugget as Dorarda, and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as the Scaramancer. It was released in October 2020 as the final part of The War Master: Hearts of Darkness box set, which is the fifth volume of the War Master series.

Being the final story of the set, The Cognition Shift is hard to discuss without revealing major plot elements,but it is brilliant and satisfyingly develops the stakes raised by the preceding stories. Theoretically, you could watch this straight after The Scaramancer, while having The Castle of Kurnos 5 serve as the introductory story, and on a relisten, it might be more convenient so as to have the whole box set play out chronologically, but for initial listening, it does serve as a jigsaw in which all the places are smoothly slotted into place.

As far as the actors go, it is perhaps the strongest display of acting prowess from the two leads, Jacobi and McGann, as both bring an equal portion of venom and nastiness to their performances, as well as benevolence and charismatic charm. Lewis-Nyawo gets more to sink her teeth into as more of her history with the Master, and it is as heartbreakingly shocking and cruel as you can imagine, played with the utmost sincerity as the Scaramancer has a traumatic breakdown when forced to relive the experience again, Lewis-Nyawo gives one of the most definitive performances as one of the victims of the Master. Unfortunately, McFarlane’s Morski is shunted to the back of the supporting cast, which is a shame given his strong introduction, but he does deliver what dialogue he has with his usual rogue slyness.

The music and sound design is top tier, with synthy undertones and haunting trumpets growing stronger and stronger as the final confrontation between the Time Lords draws nearer. The synth music does evoke 1980’s style scores, and gives it a real cyberpunky feel although a lot of the score does feel very similar if not reused from the previous stories, which is fine because they are all superb tracks, but the final track that plays just as the story ends, is almost perfectly as the Master gives a powerful and hypnotic speech, we transition into the first released version of the FULL War Master theme, it is amazing. Another moment where at the end of these sets, I’m clapping my hands, laughing in disbelief at how well Derek Jacobi embodies the Master. It leaves the listener on an absolute high and leaves them begging for more. Another absolute crime considering the length of time between the releases of this series.

Overall, The Cognition Shift is a fantastic finale for Hearts of Darkness, as a class show of acting from the leads, with the unfortunate exception of Colin McFarlane who has the unfortunate crime of not being given more to do, a brilliant score that intensifies crucial scenes for the listener and used at the exact right times, as well as an ending that exemplifies the appeal of the Master, as Derek Jacobi’s sheer charisma has us laughing with him as the credits roll. He IS the Master and Hearts of Darkness is another superb outing from him!

Final words? Run, Doctor! RUN!!!

Flashing back to before the beginning of his mission, the Master remembers his scheme on Kurnos 5, where he was kidnapping residents to try and find a DNA match for the body of an ancient necromancer of which he has stolen from his tomb and has grand ambitions for. Unluckily, or luckily, however, the Doctor has arrived in hot pursuit, and he’ll stop at nothing to put a stop to the Master’s plans.

The Castle of Kurnos 5 was written by David Llewellyn, directed and produced by Scott Handcock, and stars Derek Jacobi as the War Master, Paul McGann as the Doctor, Henry Nott as Dieter, Tanya Moodie as Kilda, and Amanda Shodeko as Meri. It was released in October 2020 as the third part of The War Master: Hearts of Darkness box set, which is the fifth volume of the War Master series.

This is tough to examine, because it serves as a flashback to before the events of The Edge of Redemption, and while it tells a fun and exciting story, it is also entirely superfluous to the wider plot. These events could have been elaborated on by the Master in some lines of exposition before we continued the main plot with Morski and the Scaramancer, so it’s a shame less work is being put in to develop the characters we have already spent the first half of the box set getting to know.

In terms of the meat of the production itself however, Paul McGann takes a turn as the lead here, which while making it feel less like a War Master story and more like a standard Doctor Who story, he does bring some life and humour to a dark world only lit by sun, moon and torchlight. He spends the majority of the story opposite Tanya Moodie’s Kilda, and the two play off each other wonderfully. Kilda is the village elder and is very untrusting of the Doctor, focused solely on rescuing her from the Master’s castle keep, but manages to trust the truth in the Doctor’s voice when he tries to hide how scared he is of the Master. Fantastic if subtle little piece from both actors. We get some lovely little interactions along the way, such as the Doctor being amazed that the villagers have horses but no chickens, and equally as confused when despite having no chickens, they still use the term “sitting ducks!”

Jacobi doesn’t get as much to do until the climax, as he spends the story inside the titular castle with his servant Dieter, who Henry Nott makes the most out of, almost Igor-like to the Master’s Doctor Frankenstein. He does play the smug explanation of his scheme to the Doctor deliciously though, relishing in what he has put the Doctor through to find him up until this point. I thoroughly enjoyed Jacobi and McGann’s chemistry in their previous meeting, the Rage of the Time Lords box set, the third volume of the War Master series, and again they are superb when paired against each other. I only wish they had more interaction, but no doubt there will be more scenes with them together in the final story.

The sound design does some great work, as it helps paint a medieval-style world coated in blackness. I found myself subconsciously squinting my eyes to try and focus under the imaginary darkness! The effects used for the Vultra’s are fantastic, they felt huge and equally savage. I had the image of bats the size of pterosaurs in my head while listening! The music also compliments the dialogue and setting, helping to make the Doctor and Kilda’s trek to the castle truly epic. Synthy undertones when the action shifts to the castle helps to intensify the full extent of the Master’s plan once it is revealed, accompanied by long and drawn piano strings, helping to make it feel very Frankensteinesque.

Overall, while the production itself is of little fault, and provides an interesting prologue to the rest of the box set, I can’t help but feel that it detracts from the already established world and character work already put in thus far, as it takes up a full slot of a rather tightly-packed four-story box set. It makes future listening feel almost unnecessary if you want to go back and listen again after finishing, as it only serves to set up why the Master has been tasked with going after the Doctor in the first place. It’s enjoyable in its own right as a Doctor Who story, but not compulsory listening for the box set or the War Master series for that matter.

After a narrow escape from Redemption, the Master and Captain Morski have barely had time to breathe before discovering a stowaway, Dorada, on board their ship. Not only that, but their ship is ambushed by space pirates, led by the notorious Scaramancer. However, the Scaramancer doesn’t have a pretty history with the Master, and her sights aren’t the only ones trained on him.

The Scaramancer was written by Lisa McMullin, directed and produced by Scott Handcock, and stars Derek Jacobi as the War Master, Colin McFarlane as Captain Morski, Sandra Hugget as Dorarda, and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as the Scaramancer. It was released in October 2020 as the second part of The War Master: Hearts of Darkness box set, which is the fifth volume of the War Master series.

The Scaramancer keeps up the frenetic pace set by the conclusion of The Edge of Redemption, with the Master and Captain Morski being quickly caught up in another misadventure. We are introduced to Dorada, a mercenary who followed his gang on Redemption, who joins forces with the crew to repel the pirate attack, and she’s a fine character. She mentions that she’s “cut from the same cloth” as Morski, although she does come across as being more emotional than him, quick to temper but also not averse to intimate conversation. 

The real meat of character work comes from the titular Scaramancer herself, who Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo plays with real sincerity, especially when she discovers that the Master is on board the ship, and her reaction sells it completely. You can feel the gritted teeth and sheer anger towards the man who turned her life upside down, her vengefulness comes alive completely, determined to despatch the Master as soon the opportunity presents itself. There is a marvelous flashback that is one of the box set’s highlights thus far, that shows us the Scaramancer’s initial meeting with the Master, and it is absolutely as vile and sadistic as one can imagine from him. It paints an incredible picture of the extent of the Master’s cruelty.

Jacobi and McFarlane again provide excellent performances, although McFarlane does take a backseat here, as Morski is mostly stranded in the cockpit for the majority of the play. Jacobi does get a fantastic one-on-one with Lewis-Nyawo, and his soft, unassuming tones are the perfect contrast to her venomous threats. I suspect we are in for some larger character moments along the way, but so far it has been very good!

The score and sound design again is fantastic, particularly in the flashback as the Scaramancer’s world is decimated. Reminded me a lot of the War Doctor series, of which the sound design there feels almost cinematic! Because the setting is in a more lonely part of space, the score reflects that with melancholy and moody pieces accompanying most of the good character moments. Not a standout, but still really helps you picture the world like a good soundtrack should.

As a continuation of The Edge of Redemption, The Scaramancer keeps up the excellent standard set by that story, further develops the story that has been set up and adds to the cast with interesting and diverse characters with unique motivations, as well as a few surprise twists and turns along the way!

The Master, tasked with a mission from the CIA, gets together a crack team of talented individuals on a backwater planet to help him get to Dalek-infested space and capture or kill his deadliest adversary: the Doctor.

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The Edge of Redemption was written by David Llewellyn, directed and produced by Scott Handcock, and stars Derek Jacobi as the War Master, Sam Hallion as Kriket, Colin McFarlane as Captain Morski and Julia Sandiford as Ilya. It was released in October 2020 as the first part of The War Master: Hearts of Darkness box set, which is the fifth volume of the War Master series.

This is a very promising start, as it lands the Master in a desperate situation, with no TARDIS or ship, in a grim and gritty city full of equally desperate people. With over a million credits at his disposal, he’s ready to grease as many palms as need be to get on with his mission, which leads to his band of mercenaries brought together by him who are eager to leave the planet Redemption, in form of Kriket, a street-wise juvenile refugee, Captain Morski, a toughnut pilot who is the only person in the city willing to take Mr Seta (the Master’s latest pseudonym!) where he needs to go, and Ilya, a gelatinous woman who seems to recognise the Master, but can’t quite place his face. They need Captain Morski’s ship to escape Redemption, which has been detained by the authorities, and so our band of thieves hatch a plan to steal back the ship, courtesy of the Master, and be on their way.

Derek Jacobi aside, who you can always rely upon to give a deceptive yet manipulative performance as the Master, the standout for me in this story was Colin McFarlane’s Morski, whose gruff American accent put me right into the frame of mind of imagining this world as one that could have been straight out of Star Wars or Ratchet and Clank, full of diverse alien species, in the style of the Mos Eisley Cantina, giving me this image of a large, muscly green brute of an alien with jagged teeth and a sly grin accompanying every word he says. McFarlane has a lot of fun with it, and really does succeed in giving Morski a personality where he is smug and loves to mess about with others, a highlight being when asked about bringing the detonator to the heist, he claims he left it at home just to wind the Master up, which Jacobi plays well into, while also being cautious and prepared to do what he must to protect himself and his ship.

It gives Julia Sandiford more time to bring depth to her character, whose reasons for being wary of the Master thread well into the narrative of desperation. They are all characters willing to do anything they must to get off of the planet, even if it means allying themselves with people they don’t necessarily trust. She shares some lovely scenes with Kriket, the comic relief of the group, who brings out the humanity of the others and becomes in essence the heart and soul of the group. He looks up to Morski and wants to be like him, while also trying to get close to Ilya (they were on the same refugee ship) and tries to break her shell that she uses to hide her feelings from others. Remember Zoofy bars? I loved Zoofy bars!

The music suite is also on point, bringing the isolation of being in backwater space, on a planet where only the way to survive is to lookout for yourself, something the Master is an expert of at this point, with undertones of his theme infiltrating the score at times, reminding the audience that although he’s being helpful to these people, he’s still the same untrustworthy monster who has killed billions. It also has a sort cyberpunky tang to it, which gave me clear images of a rainy, neon city, while also being decrepit and rundown. The composer certainly did some fantastic work here!

I don’t have much to criticise at the moment, as this is mainly the introduction getting the ball rolling and it does a splendid job at building the world it presents within the play. I suppose we could have seen Ilya at the circus more (her new job) just to emphasise just how much she detests working there compared to her occupation before the disaster, or maybe have had a passing mention of it before she is introduced, but there a lot of things to set up in only an hour so it isn’t that big of a deal.

Overall, The Edge of Redemption is a solid start to Hearts of Darkness, and I look forward to seeing where it leads. The cast of characters introduced are all interesting and promising, so it just remains to be seen what is done with them! I look forward to discussing the next story, The Scaramancer.