The Master - Evil Genius Time Lord
The Master is one of Doctor Who's oldest and greatest enemies, an evil Time Lord who is almost as brilliant as the Doctor himself. New fans of Doctor Who know him in the guise of John Simm, however he goes back much further than this.
This page will introduce you to a little of the history of this insane evil genius. Enjoy!
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Picture: Doctor Who Magazine Issue 384 (25-July-2007) by Panini Comics - John Simm cover
Who Is The Master?
Unlike the Doctor he is totally evil.
Being a Time Lord the Master, like the Doctor, can regenerate. There have been three main actors to play the character over the years, although several others have played versions of him for individual stories.
Like the Doctor the Master has a Tardis. Unlike the Doctor, on his Tardis the chameleon circuit works properly!
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Roger Delgado
The Master first appeared in the 1971 Jon Pertwee story "Terror of the Autons". He was played by actor Roger Delgado and was a similar urbane, slightly aloof character to that of Pertwee's Doctor. It was clear that he was very much a dark equivalent of the Doctor.Like Pertwee's Doctor, Delgado's Master had a wry sense of humour. His main goal was personal power and he used his superior willpower to hypnotise others.
The Master appeared frequently in the show until 1973 when Roger Delgado was targically killed in a car crash. The character was quietly dropped from the series.
Anthony Ainley
The Master was out of Doctor Who for several years, appearing once in The Deadly Assassin (1976) where he is almost unrecognisable having come to the end of his alloted regenerations. The next version of The Master to appear regularly was played by Anthony Ainley.Ainley's Master first appeared in the 1981 story The Keeper of Traken. With his own regenerations having run out he took over the body of a Traken named "Tremas". Tremas is an anagram of Master - using anagram names is a long tradition of the show.
Anthony Ainley looked remarkably similar to Roger Delgado, and to viewers who hadn't seen the character for years might have been mistaken for the same person.
Ainley's Master was darker than that of Delgado with little of his dry humour. He was still out to take over the universe, but now his argument with the Doctor had become more intense and personal.
Ainley played The Master on and off until the last story of the classic era - Survival in 1989.
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The TV Movie
So let's move swiftly on...
John Simm
The Master returned to Doctor Who in series 3 of the new version, where he battled David Tennant's Doctor.Initially The Master was played by Derek Jacobi. Jacobi's character is not aware that he is a Time Lord until his Time Lord essence is released from a watch. He regenerates into a younger character played by John Simm.
Simm's Master combines both Delgado's humour and Ainley's malice in a more intense, concentrated form. He is no longer slightly warped but is now completely insane. Under the guise of Mister Saxon he takes over the Earth and plans to declare war on the entire universe.
At the end of season 3 The Master is killed. However a cryptic scene involving his ring suggests that he may return again.
I hope so.
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Thanks For Reading
I hope you've enjoyed this lens, please take a second to rate it using the stars at the top of the page. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below.
SemperFidelis wrote...
You did a great job "The Master" in this lens. Keep up the good work and a 5 to ya! :o)
Posted November 24, 2007
by trevorm
Hi, I'm Trevor and I live in Edinburgh - the capital of Scotland.
I'm interested in a wide variety of things and love learning. I intend to write a sim...
