History Recap / BigFinishDoctorWho049Master

* DealWithTheDevil

** Also [[spoiler: the colour green being the colour of death.]]

* TheGrimReaper: [[spoiler: The maid Jade is actually a disguise for Death herself and she ''really'' likes her job.]]

* HealingFactor: The Doctor (as a Timelord) heals from a lightningstrike fairly quickly.

* HeroicBSOD: The Doctor [[spoiler: when he learns he was supposed to have become the Master]].

* JackTheRipOff:

** Horribly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] with [[spoiler: her to Victor]].

* ThatPoorCat: The original ''Human Nature'' novel introduced Wolsey, the Seventh Doctor's pet cat, who'd stay part of team TARDIS for years and years. In this episode, John Smith also has a cat. [[spoiler: It's ripped open halfway through the story]].

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: Jade's]] reveal at the end of episode 3.

* [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim Break Her Heart to Save Her]]: At the very end, Dr. Smith [[spoiler: pretends the Master has taken over early than expected, and verbally tears Jacqueline to pieces to try to get her to leave]].

* BecauseDestinySaysSo: [[spoiler:The reason why Death made her deal with the Doctor to transfer the memory of him killing Torvik to the Master. According to her the Doctor should've turned out to be the Master, but "others" had plans for hum.]]

* [[spoiler: AnthropomorphicPersonification]]
* AxCrazy: The serial killer that plagues the town. [[spoiler: Is Victor.]]
* [[spoiler: BadGuyWins: Death, if she's being honest when she says she never expected the Doctor to be corrupted and kill the Master anyway. Also the Master himself in a way, since the Doctor ultimately fails to reform him, although [[StatusQuoIsGod that's a given]] really.]]
* BaitAndSwitch: Torvik's death [[spoiler: was actually caused by the Doctor]].
* BatmanGambit: A failed one done by John Smith [[spoiler: And Jacqueline]].
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: [[spoiler: The reason why Death made her deal with the Doctor to transfer the memory of him killing Torvik to the Master. According to her the Doctor should've turned out to be the Master, but "others" had plans for hum.]]

* [[spoiler: BadGuyWins: Death, if she's being honest when he says she never expected the Doctor to be corrupted and kill the Master anyway. Also the Master himself in a way, although [[StatusQuoIsGod that's a given]] really.]]

As the clock ticks and the wine bottles get emptier, the group of friends is surprised by the Doctor, who stumbles into the house weakened and babbling on about "DEATH". The Doctor -- realising that the name "Dr. John Smith" is taken today -- introduces himself as [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoSpecialsExcelisDecays Dr. Vaughan Sutton]]. He tells John stories about another life, about a world outside the mansion and outside Perfugium. John feels an instant connection to a fellow man of science, and the two quietly start a friendship, with John telling the Doctor about Victor's overly scientific mind and Jacqueline's naiveté. Victor insists that every murder, every act of evil, must be provoked or performed by a deranged, sick mind. The evil are either meant to be cured or to be examined for scientific purposes. John would like to discover more options, and wonders what other motivations for evil might exist in the world. Meanwhile, Jacqueline herself acts oddly, even going so far as to slap the young maid, Jade, in the face. And suddenly, without provocation, the cat is murdered as gruesomely as the whores of Perfugium were, and what seems to be a {{poltergeist}} slams a copy of ''DrJekyllAndMrHyde'' into the Doctor's face.

* WholePlotReference: Very blatantly to ''DrJekyllAndMrHyde''. The others actually groan once Seven starts reciting from it. But as it turns out, the episode is like the novel in more ways than one.

The final part of the "Villains Trilogy": three standalone episodes that explore how the Doctor are his archenemies are NotSoDifferent in the end. The other two parts are [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho047Omega "Omega"]] and [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho048Davros "Davros"]]. The trilogy also thematically paved the road for the next episode, "Zagreus", although that episode is not standalone and is instead part of the Eighth Doctor's StoryArc.

* [[spoiler: TheGrimReaper]]

Meanwhile, Jade finds herself humming a tune about one who [[[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus sits inside your head, and lives among the dead...]]

John is horrified to discover that the memory of being the Master is deep inside him, but before he and the Doctor can discuss it further, Jade (the maid) reveals herself to be Death incarnate. She mocks the people gathered there -- Victor for having committed the gruesome murders just to keep the whores away from Jacqueline, Jacqueline for being in love with John but never admitting it because of his low status in society, the Doctor for no longer merrily playing the spoons or mixing his metaphors, and John for being unable to cope with his past life.

* MoralityChain: Jacqueline is one for [[spoiler: The Master / Jon Smith.]]

* ForeShadowing: Jade sings the Zagreus rhyme, and wonders where it came from.

** Out of the blue, you have Jade reciting '''[[spoiler:[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus the Zagerus poem]]]]''' while washing dishes...

--->'''Jade''': ''They say [[spoiler:he sits inside your head]],''\\
''they say [[spoiler:he lives among the dead]],''\\
''they say [[spoiler:he eats you when you're]]''--What an odd verse.\\
''They say [[spoiler:he sits inside your head]]...''

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: Jade's ]] reveal at the end of episode 3.
-->'''[[spoiler:Jade ]]''': Why, me sir? '''I'm [[AC: [[TheGrimReaper Death]]]]'''.

* ContinuityNod: A few references to BerniceSummerfield.

This episode was based on on the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'' and ended up inspiring the TV series episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E11Utopia "Utopia"]].

* EvilCounterpart: This episode's premise is akin to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E8HumanNature Human Nature]]"/"[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E9TheFamilyOfBlood The Family of Blood]]" (originally a ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel by Paul Cornell) except it's not the ''Doctor'' as John Smith...

* HannibalLecture

He and the Master are given a choice, since Death has the power to reset time, to erase memories and to create entire new scenarios just to please herself. The Master, now back to his old self, explains that his regular consciousness has been lurking helplessly in the back of the "John Smith" persona for ten years, waiting for a chance to strike -- but he doesn't consider himself Death's pawn, but rather the other way around. Still, he understands his bond with the Doctor. The Doctor offers to make Death another deal and let John Smith, not the Master, choose what to make of his future, at the cost of the Doctor having to commit the murder of an innocent. And that's why he told the story to the sniper -- he plans to take the gun and commit the act himself. But he still can't go through with it, and the sniper gleefully reveals himself to simply be Death, taking great pleasure in watching the Doctor struggle with morality. John is given an opportunity to save Jacqueline’s life by killing Victor before he can kill his wife, with the implication that if he takes a life, he will become Death’s servant once more. The story ends where it began, with Victor and Jacqueline arriving at their old friend’s house to celebrate his birthday, only to find him waiting with a knife. But as the events of that terrible night have not happened, Jacqueline does not understand why John is behaving this way, and she is horrified when he threatens to kill her husband. John is torn with indecision; if he kills Victor, Jacqueline will live, but she will not understand why he has done this and he will be doomed to become the Master once more.

This episode was based on ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E8HumanNature Human Nature]]'' (back when it was still only a novel) and ended up inspiring the TV series episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E11Utopia "Utopia"]].

He and the Master are given a choice, since Death has the power to reset time, to erase memories and to create entire new scenarios just to please herself. The Master, now back to his old self, explains that his regular consciousness has been lurking helplessly in the back of the "John Smith" persona for ten years, waiting for a chance to strike -- but he doesn't consider himself Death's pawn, but rather the other way around. Still, he understands his bond with the Doctor. The Doctor chooses to give the Master another decade of normal life, at the cost of having to commit the murder of an innocent. And that's why he told the story to the sniper -- he plans to take the gun and commit the act himself. But he still can't go through with it, and the sniper gleefully reveals himself to simply be Death, taking great pleasure in watching the Doctor struggle with morality. The Master, of course, tires of his newly granted mundane life, and breaks free of the GroundhogDayLoop he's been placed in by invited Victor and Jacqueline into his home as before... and killing them.

---> '''The Doctor''': "It's been a long time since I've been attacked by a book!"

---> '''Victor''': "So I said, fetch me EVERYTHING on the menu!"

* PuncuatedForEmphasis: '''I!! WILL!! NOT!! KILL!! [[LargeHam AGGHHIIIIM]]!!'''"