Writer Lizzie Hopley said: "Master! is currently fighting amid my top fave Big Finish commissions. Eric Roberts is so deliciously cruel, I shocked myself with some of the things he says. To pitch him again against McGann's Eighth Doctor, who I've written for many times, was a gift and their scenes are as electric as you'd desire.

"We recorded with an outstanding young cast, I'm so proud of them and the relationships they quickly formed. They weren't afraid of playing the high stakes which this story insists on. Mother Quiver first appeared in my Doctor Who Audio Novel The Box of Terrors and I’ve been waiting to use (and play!) her for ages. This is a dark and twisted tale; one of the darkest moments was inspired by a Richard Matheson short story - I wonder who can spot it?"

Eric Roberts said: "I love it because I love the Master. He is such a master! He's so in charge and he's so not nice. It's always fun playing bad guys because you always get the best dialogue."

Producer Noga Flaishon added: "The Master is one of my favourite elements in the Doctor Who canon. I'm a big fan of characters who are the foils, the nemeses. With the Master, we have a Time Lord who is just as knowledgeable, just as clever, but where the Doctor will always seek to heal, the Master seeks to corrupt.

"And in this story from Lizzie Hopley, we definitely see the Master as a corruptor. We have reveals and twists and turns, but at the core, it's about six people who are being manipulated and coerced by a charismatic monster. When I first saw the story, my thought was, are we allowed to go this dark? Thankfully, I had the amazing John Dorney and Rob Valentine to assure me that yes, this is Dark Gallifrey. This is very much what we came here to do."

Dark Gallifrey: Master! Part 1

Dark Gallifrey - Master! 1-3 (Download)