The Missy Chronicles give Doctor Who’s female Master her own story
By Lacy Baugher
The Missy Chronicles is the best kind of Doctor Who tie-in novel: One that leads us to a better understanding of a character we already know and love.
The Doctor Who television series is currently on hiatus until Season 11, when Jodie Whittaker’s first female Doctor debuts this fall. That doesn’t mean you have to wait months to spend some quality time with a Time Lady.
You can do so right now, in fact, from the comfort of your own couch.
The Missy Chronicles is a Doctor Who tie-in novel based on the previously unseen adventures of the series’ first female Master. And it’s everything both Whovians and Missy fans could have ever wanted. The short stories are varied and entertaining — often funny, thought-provoking, dark and hopeful all at once. In the end, this is the best kind of tie-in novel. It leads us to a better understanding of a character we already know and love. (Or possibly love to hate, in this instance. I’m a Missy apologist, but your mileage may vary.)
The novel features six short stories by James Goss, Cavan Scott, Paul Magrs, Peter Anghelides, Jacqueline Rayner and Richard Dinnick. Each tale happens at different points in Missy’s personal timeline, from immediately post-regeneration (“Dismemberment”) to her final adventure on the Mondasian colony ship (“Alit in Underland”). There’s a little bit of everything along the way, including a talking alien teddy bear, a pseudo-companion, and even a cameo from the Thirteenth Doctor herself.
The best part about The Missy Chronicles, however, is that none of the stories try to make Missy into something she’s not. She’s not suddenly a heroine. Nor is she unrepentantly evil. In fact, much as season 10 of Doctor Who did, this collection delights in painting Missy in shades of grey.
Sure, there are several stories where Missy is a monster, delighting in the gruesome murder of her enemies or shrugging at collateral damage equal to thousands of lives. But others paint a more complicated picture — of a quick-thinking, adaptable survivor who is perhaps uncomfortably sympathetic to readers at times. The two tales set during season 10 — one in the Doctor’s Vault and one on the Mondasian ship — perfectly illustrate how far her character has come.
(Also, the fact that the Doctor and Missy watched Frozen in the Vault together is now canon. That is the best gift this book could have ever given me.)
Unfortunately, The Missy Chronicles doesn’t address the thing I personally most wanted to know. (Well, besides what else she and the Doctor got up to in the Vault during their free time, I guess.) That’s how she managed to save herself and escape from Skaro back in season 9. Why will no one ever tell me what happened here? I mean, I’m not surprised Missy got the better of a pack of Daleks. But I assume the story must be bonkers.
Oh, well. Best to leave something for The Missy Chronicles, Volume 2. There certainly is enough material here to turn this one-off tie-in into an ongoing series, should sales and fan interest warrant it. We know so little about Missy’s time apart from the Doctor. (What did she do to end up on the execution planet back in “Extremis” anyway?) There have to be so many stories still to tell.
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Plus, we’re unlikely to see Missy onscreen on Doctor Who again anytime soon — if ever. Stories like these are a perfect way to keep the character alive for fans until her next regeneration. (Or her return. You never know.) That’s the beautiful thing about Time Lords, isn’t it? With all of time and space at their fingertips, there’s no limit to the number of stories that can be told about them. Missy’s no different.
And I, for one, would happily read them all.