The Master

**"The Master"** - Also known known by various other aliases — was a renegade Time Lord, serving as both a friend and an opponent of the Doctor.

Though they had been friends from childhood and schoolmates at Prydon Academy, the Master's lust for power would eventually pull the two apart. While the Doctor and the Master would remain close friends despite their rivalry, the Master developed an intense hatred for and often sought to kill the Doctor. Despite this enmity, however, the two would on occasion act as allies.

Like the Doctor, the Master would also flee from Gallifrey in a TARDIS of his own, and fully embrace his darker nature. The Master then went on to fight various battles against the Third Doctor and UNIT during the Doctor's exile on Earth, even spending a short period also trapped on the planet after his dematerialisation circuit was briefly stolen by the Doctor and when he was imprisoned on Fortress Island after being arrested by UNIT, until he was able to orchestrate his escape with the aid of the Sea Devils.

Following an incident that resulted in his body being badly disfigured, the Master began searching for a way to restore his Time Lord body, with only his intense hatred and burning anger keeping him alive. After spending years on Traken manipulating events to gain the powers of the Source through the Keeper of Traken, the Master was able to regenerate into a new body after possessing Consul Tremas, and resumed his crusade to conquer the universe and kill the Doctor.

Eventually landing on the Cheetah World, the Master became infected with the Cheetah virus, which increased his aggressive behavior. At some point he regenerated into a new incarnation, the means of which remain unknown.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### Academic Career

the Master developed a strong bond with the Doctor, (TV: *The Sea Devils*)  The Master and the Doctor enjoyed building "time flow analogues" to disrupt each other's experiments. (TV: *The Time Monster*)

The Master earned a higher degree in cosmic science than the Doctor, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*)

### Becoming a threat

The Master appeared at the International Circus, with his TARDIS in the form of a horse box. He hypnotised the circus troupe and plastic factory manager Rex Farrel to obey his orders as part of his plan to assist the Nestenes in their latest bid to conquer Earth. A Time Lord emissary alerted the Doctor to his rival's presence on the planet, and before the radio telescope could be used to bring the Nestene invasion force to Earth, the Doctor convinced the Master that the Nestenes would not distinguish between the Master and anyone else in their takeover, and the two worked together to fling the Nestenes back into space by "chang[ing] the polarity" whilst the radio telescope's transfer shift was still open. Afterwards, the Master fled. The Doctor, however, had already taken his dematerialisation circuit, preventing the Master from leaving Earth in his TARDIS. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*)

The Master returned again, posing as the scientist who had "developed" the Keller Machine. He used prisoners as a plan to hijack the Thunderbolt, a missile containing nerve gas and use it to destroy the World Peace Conference, which would trigger a nuclear war. The Doctor, with the help of Barnham, stopped the Master with the Keller Machine, and the Doctor reactivated the missile's abort mechanism. UNIT also destroyed the missile along with the Keller Machine, but the Doctor later discovered he had lost the Master's dematerialisation circuit in his altercation with the Master. Shortly after, the Master telephoned to let it be known that he had found the circuit and was free now to come and go as he pleased, while the Doctor had to remain in exile. (TV: *The Mind of Evil*)

The Master brought Axos to Earth, hoping to ally himself with them. Instead, he became the prisoner of Axos, and only escaped by saying that he would help it. The Doctor tricked the Master into thinking he was going to betray Earth. Instead, he trapped the Master with Axos in a time loop. (TV: *The Claws of Axos*) Posing as an Adjudicator, the Master travelled to a human colony on the planet Uxarieus in the year 2472. There, the Time Lord records indicated he would find the Doomsday Weapon created by a near-extinct native species. Once again the Doctor defeated his plans and the weapon was destroyed. (TV: *Colony in Space*)

Posing as a vicar named "Victor Magister" in the village of Devil's End the Master summoned the ancient Dæmon Azal, but he failed to understand the power and control that was necessary following summoning him. Following Azal's confrontation with Jo Grant's selflessness, Azal destroyed himself through Jo's illogical actions. The Master was captured by UNIT following a failed attempt to escape in the Doctor's car, Bessie. (TV: *The Dæmons*)

### In Custody

The Master was imprisoned inside a castle prison on Fortress Island as the only prisoner. The Master convinced his jailer, Colonel George Trenchard, to help him steal electronic parts from HMS Seaspite, telling Trenchard that this was intended as a lure for enemy agents. With these parts, the Master instead made contact with the reptilian Sea Devils, an aquatic species similar to the land-dwelling Silurians, and planned to cause a war between humans and Sea Devils, making the Sea Devils rulers of Earth again. Because the reactivation machinery of the Sea Devils' hibernation units deteriorated during millions of years of hibernation, the Master saw it necessary to construct a sonar device to awaken the remaining reptiles.

The Master captured the Doctor and forced him to help create this device, but to prevent the device from reactivating further Sea Devil bases and stop the war, the Doctor blew up the Sea Devil base by reversing the device's polarity, creating a massive reverse feedback. The Master escaped in a hovercraft when the officer guarding him, CPO Myers, was hypnotised and framed as the Master's corpse, (TV: *The Sea Devils*)

### At large again

the Master posed as "Professor Carl Thascalos" and constructed a machine known as TOMTIT at Cambridge's Newton Institute to summon the ancient chronovore Kronos, whom he wished to control. He hypnotised the institute's director, Dr Charles Percival, but accidentally killed him by releasing Kronos from the Crystal of Kronos. The Master summoned the Atlantean priest Krasis for instructions on how to control Kronos while meddling with the flow of time to obstruct the Doctor from getting in his way.

After knocking out Sergeant Benton, the Master retreated to his TARDIS, but the Doctor tried to trap him in a time lock using his own TARDIS, accidentally creating a space loop when both TARDISes were materialised within the other. When the TARDISes were separated during their negotiations, the Master ejected the Doctor into space, but the Doctor survived by using the telepathic circuit of his TARDIS to help Jo return him to safety.

The Master travelled to ancient Atlantis and failed to hypnotise King Dalios, who easily resisted his influence. Confronting the Doctor there, the Master tried to manipulate Queen Galleia into betraying her husband, since she had taken a romantic liking in his charm compared to Dalios' dull personality. Galleia, however, was enraged when the Master caused Dalios to die in the coup they staged in Atlantis. Before he was arrested, the Master commanded Krasis to use the Crystal of Kronos housed in Atlantis and brought forth Kronos, who destroyed the entire civilisation.

Fleeing Atlantis with Jo as his hostage, and with Kronos under his control, the Master was in a position to cast destruction unto the entire cosmos, however, the Doctor threatened to time ram the Master's TARDIS with his own, which would take everyone's lives in the process if he did not give up his plans for chaos. The Master did not believe the Doctor would earnestly carry out his warning because he knew endangering Jo's life was not an option for him. In response to the Doctor's hesitation, Jo tried to complete the time ram before the Master could release Kronos again. Instead, Kronos spared everyone from death, and captured the Master for the crime of trying to control it, but allowed him to go free at the request of the Doctor. (TV: *The Time Monster*)

### Final exploits

On Skaro, the Master forged an alliance with the Daleks, acting as their agent to provoke warfare between the Earth Empire and the Draconian Empire in the 26th century. To achieve this, he employed a force of Ogrons who, through the use of hypnosound, made themselves appear human or Draconian, thus provoking the other side. When the Doctor revealed the true perpetrators, the plot was abandoned. (TV: *Frontier in Space*)

### A body in decay

At some point The Master regenerated into his final incarnation. Due to unknown circumstances his body began to decay, turning the Master into a decayed husk. (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

#### Revenge on Gallifrey

Whilst on Gallifrey, the Master made Goth, in line for the position of Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords, into his slave, continuing to promise him power until Goth could no longer fight his mental dominance. The Master also took over the Matrix, and realised that the Eye of Harmony resided beneath the Panopticon. He believed he could use the Sash of Rassilon to protect himself from the raw power of the Eye and channel that energy to renew himself.

With a telepathic summons and a vision of the future created by the Matrix, the Master lured the Fourth Doctor to Gallifrey, seemingly to prevent the murder of the then-serving Lord President. The Doctor failed and ended up on trial for the President's murder.

After Goth died, the Doctor defeated the Master in physical combat and, as a result, the Master fell into a crevice created by a localised earthquake. He gained access to his TARDIS in the confusion and escaped, (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

#### Final gambits

The Master was drawn to and became stranded on the planet Traken, the centre of the Traken Union, in a TARDIS configured into the sculpture-shaped Melkur. He plotted to take over the Source also located on the planet Traken, the power behind the Traken Union, and use it to restore himself. To this end, over a period of years, he won over Kassia, who later married Tremas and became a stepmotherto Nyssa. His plans were thwarted by the Doctor and Adric when the Keeper of Traken summoned them, having sensed something of his machinations. With the help of Tremas and Nyssa, the Doctor removed the Master from the Source. However, with some of the Keeper's powers lingering, the Master was able to merge with Tremas, (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

### In Tremas' body

#### First exploits

the Master went to Earth, where he trapped the Doctor's TARDIS in a gravity bubble. He killed Tegan Jovanka's aunt Vanessa and a police constable with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. He then went to Logopolis, where he pretended to be Tremas to gain Nyssa's cooperation, giving her a bracelet that allowed him to control her arm. Using her as a hostage, he perverted the Block Transfer Computations and held the planet for ransom until its secret was revealed. This made the causal nexus unravel and also broke the Logopolitans' blockade of entropy, allowing it to swallow several galaxies, including the entire Traken Union.

The entropy wave was so threatening that the Master agreed to work with the Fourth Doctor to stop it. They travelled to the Pharos Project on Earth to do so, using the last theorem of Logopolis to reopen Charged Vacuum Emboitments. His true plan was revealed however when he sent a message to the peoples of the universe that he would stop the entropy only if they submitted to his rule. While the Doctor stopped the Master's signal to shut down the CVE that would halt the entropy wave, the Master caused him to fall off the Pharos Project's radio telescope and regenerate, allowing the Master to escape. (TV: *Logopolis*)

As the Fifth Doctor made his leave in the TARDIS, the Master reappeared and kidnapped Adric and held him in a hadron web to make him a part of his TARDIS. Using a projection of Adric, the Master sent the Doctor's TARDIS hurtling to destruction at Event One, but the Doctor saved his TARDIS through the Architectural Configuration. The Master used Adric's block transfer computations to create Castrovalva in the Andromeda Galaxy, where the Doctor would recover from his regeneration. He escaped from the recursion trap and tried to kill the Doctor, but was attacked by the enraged citizens, with the city itself due to collapse. (TV: *Castrovalva*)

The Master eventually escaped from Castrovalva. He managed to travel to Earth in 140,000,000 BC, where he disguised himself as the magician Kalid, hoping to use the Xeraphin gestalt to replace his dynamorphic generators. He brought two Concordes to his Citadel via a time contour. The second held the Doctor, his TARDIS and companions. He originally planned to use the captured passengers to break into the Sanctum and take control of the Xeraphin and add him to his TARDIS, but then he acquired the Doctor's TARDIS in a trade with him for a part the Doctor needed for his own TARDIS. The Xeraphin contacted Nyssa and let Tegan and her enter the Citadel, where the Master revealed his true form. The Master held the passengers hostage for parts from the Doctor's TARDIS. The second Concorde was returned to its own time and the Master ended up on Xeriphas with the freed and angry Xeraphin. (TV: *Time-Flight*)

On Xeriphas, the Master found and acquired Kamelion, a shape-changing android that could be easily controlled by a strong mind. Managing to elude Xeraphin, the Master escaped to England in 1215. The Master made Kamelion impersonate John of England to prevent the signing of Magna Carta. However, the arrival of the Doctor, Tegan and Vislor Turlough caused interference with his plans. After the Doctor defeated him in, first, a sword-fight and then a mental battle of wits over the command of Kamelion, the Master fled in his TARDIS. (TV: *The King's Demons*)

#### The Game of Rassilon

When the High Council of the Time Lords discovered that the first five incarnations of the Doctor had been time scooped and taken into the Death Zone on Gallifrey, they asked the Master for help and offered him a new cycle of regenerations as a bargaining tool. He agreed and was given a copy of the Seal of the High Council by the Castellan to prove his credentials. However, the Third Doctor did not believe the Master and blamed him for their being there, taking the seal from him on the pretense that he would return the "stolen property" to the High Council.

The Master soon after encountered the Fifth Doctor, who also had trouble believing him, especially when he claimed that the Third Doctor had taken his only proof. Before he could further attempt to gain his trust, however, a group of Cybermen ambushed them, the Doctor using the Master's recall device to escape and meet with the High Council when the Master was knocked out. Upon waking up, he formed a temporary alliance with the Cybermen to guide them to the Dark Tower, although it was clear they would kill him once he was no further use. After he let the Tower's traps slaughter the Cybermen, he hinted to the First Doctor how to get past security, but then grew power-hungry at the mention of immortality, and prepared to kill the first three incarnations of the Doctor, still angry at the Third Doctor for refusing his help when he was genuinely there to lend assistance. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart knocked him unconscious and Sarah Jane Smith and Tegan Jovanka bound him with rope. After Borusa was encased in Rassilon's tomb, Rassilon sent the Master back to his own time, promising that "his sins [would] find their punishment in due time". (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

#### Damaging his body

The Master developed a more powerful version of the Tissue Compression Eliminator and accidentally shrank himself and his lab, without the ill effect of death. Using a device to boost his telepathy, the Master made contact with Kamelion once more, directing him to use the Doctor's TARDIS to land on Sarn. With Kamelion acting as his physical proxy, the Master had him pretend to be the locals' god and order the Doctor's death. When this failed, he had Kamelion take the small box his lab had become and take it to the lab on Sarn that used Numismaton Gas, hoping it could restore him.

As the Master stood in a gas vent and returned to normal size, the Doctor used the gas to apparently burn him to death. (TV: *Planet of Fire*)

#### Interfering in history

The Master allied with his old Academy classmate, the Rani, in Killingworth against the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown; the Master hoped to hasten the advancement of Earth's technology for his own nefarious reasons, while the Rani wanted the brain chemical that induced sleep in humans. The Doctor trapped the Master and the Rani in the Rani's TARDIS, which the Doctor had sabotaged, with the time spillage putting them in danger of being eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex. (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*)

#### Forging alliances

The Master materialised in the Matrix and observed the Sixth Doctor's trial on Space Station Zenobia, while examining the Matrix footage himself to see what was tampered with. Learning that the Valeyard was an "amalgamation of the darker side of [the Doctor's] nature", the Master decided that the Valeyard was a bigger threat and rescued the Doctor by supplying the Doctor with witnesses in the form of Melanie Bush and Sabalom Glitz, and revealing himself to the court as a surprise witness. Using Glitz as a tool, the Master tried to steal secrets from the Matrix, but was beaten by the Valeyard, and imprisoned in the Matrix by a limbo atrophier with Glitz. (TV: *The Ultimate Foe*)

#### The Chetah World gambit

the Master went to the Cheetah World, where he took control of the Cheetah People and the kitlings. As exposure to the planet began changing the Master into a Cheetah Person, he sent the kitlings to Ace's home in the London suburb of Perivale to hunt for human recruits. Eventually, he found a pliable young man called Midge and used him to escape. Using Midge as his "hunting dog", the Master recruited a gang of Perivale youths to defeat the Doctor and Ace. The Master killed Midge and teleported the Doctor to the Cheetah World, which had begun to break up. The Doctor escaped, but the Master was trapped on the dying world. (TV: *Survival*)

### A new body

Some time after The Master escaped the Chetah World he lost Tremus' body through unknown circumstances. At some point he gained a new body. (TV: *T.A.R.D.I.S.*)

#### Infiltrating the Doctor's TARDIS

The Master created a transmat device that allowed him to teleport into the Doctor's TARDIS. Entering the centre of the ship, the Master used another device to take control of the Doctor's TARDIS. He was eventually discovered by the Seventh Doctor, Kate and Hex. After a brief scuffle with the Doctor, the Master was defeated when the Doctor reversed his transmat device, sending him back to his own TARDIS. (TV: *T.A.R.D.I.S.*)

#### Blackmailing Roiyden and Azmana

The Master traveled to Gallifrey where he met Roiyden and Azmana and soon discovered that Azmana was cheating on her husband Higgiof with Roiyden. Using this information to his advantage, the Master blackmailed Roiyden and Azmana into doing his bidding, if they didn’t he would tell Higgiof about the affair. (TV: *Gallifrey Forever*)

When Roiyden began to run for Lord President the Master rigged the election to ensure that he would win. After Roiyden won the Master congratulated him and told him about how he'd rigged the entire thing. (TV: *Election Day*)

The Master used Roiyden as a puppet president, getting him to do his bidding. When Roiyden surrendered to a Resistance group the Master hid in the Eye of Harmony room but was soon confronted by the Doctor. The Master was furious to learn that he no longer had control over Roiyden and Azmana and so he activated the Eye of Harmony before shooting The Doctor, Leela, Andred, and K-9 with a Staser gun. He then escaped into his TARDIS. (TV: *Gallifrey Forever*)

### Legacy

As the Fifth Doctor was slowly dying from the spectrox toxaemia poisoning, an illusion of the Master appeared urging the Doctor to die from the spectrox toxaemia poisoning in the TARDIS, (TV: *The Caves of Androzani*)

When The Valeyard took control of the Matrix he created a simulation of London and of the Master who had taken control of London and was now polluting the planet. He was defeated in a swordfight with the Third Doctor. Later when the Doctors and their companions infiltrated The Valeyard's fortress he created another Master simulation who chased the Third Doctor, but was defeated when he denied his existence.  (TV: *Ascend From Darkness*)

## Personality

### Collectively

The Master was the polar opposite of the Doctor in almost every respect; condescending, arrogant, vain, and lusting for power. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *Colony in Space*)

Comfortable with their villainous reputation, the Master took insults about their wickedness as compliments, (TV: *The Time Monster*, *The Five Doctors*, *Gallifrey Forever*)

When introducing himself, or enthralling someone, the Master would usually say, "I am the Master, and you will obey me." (TV: *Planet of Fire*) He also liked to say "my dear Doctor" when addressing his adversary. (TV: *Colony in Spac*e, *The Sea Devils*, *Time-Flight*, *The Caves of Androzani*, *T.A.R.D.I.S.*)

Unlike the Doctor, who usually needed their companions to convince people that they knew what they were doing, the Master had no problem manipulating people into helping him with his evil plans, (TV: *The Time Monster*, *Gallifrey Forever*)

Extremely self-centred, the Master was willing to destroy Gallifrey to regenerate himself, (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

The Master's schemes usually fell into three categories; conquest, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Mind of Evil*, *Colony in Space*, *The Dæmons*, *The Time Monster*, *Logopolis*, *Gallifrey Forever*) survival, (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*, *The Keeper of Traken*, *The Five Doctors*, *Planet of Fire*, *Survival*) and the death of the Doctor. (TV: *Castrovalva*, The Ultimate Foe, *T.A.R.D.I.S.*) Similar to the Monk, the Master would also, on occasion, attempt to disturb the flow of history, (TV: *The King's Demons*, *The Mark of the Rani*)

Throughout his lives, the Master would adopt many disguises and aliases, often to pursue their goals, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Mind of Evil*, *Colony in Space*, *The Dæmons*, *The Time Monster*, *Frontier in Space*, *Castrovalva*) though other times with no reason or explanation given. (TV: *Time-Flight*, *The Mark of the Rani*)

The Master's disguises ranged from the providence of false qualifications, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Mind of Evil*, *Colony in Space*, *The Dæmons*, *The Time Monster*, *Frontier in Space*)to employing masks and heavy makeup (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Mind of Evil*, *The Claws of Axos*, *Castrovalva*, *Time-Flight*, *The King's Demons*) or a change of clothing, (TV: *The Sea Devils*, *Logopolis*, *The Mark of the Rani*) to even changing physical forms. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

In a show of vanity, the Master's choice of alias would often reflect their title of "Master". (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Dæmons*, *The Time Monster*, *The King's Demons*)

Before their first battle, the Third Doctor called the Master a "jackanapes" and an "unimaginative plodder", (TV: *Terror of the Autons*) but later came to view him as the "personification of evil". (TV: *The Sea Devils*) The Fourth Doctor described the Master as the "quintessence of evil", (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

However, the Seventh Doctor recognised the Master as an "evil genius", (TV: *Survival*)

High Council President Borusa described the Master as "one of the most evil and corrupt beings [the] Time Lord race [had] ever produced" and that his "crimes [were] without number, and [his] villainy without end." (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

### "UNIT enemy" incarnation"

As the rival of the Third Doctor, the Master was often arrogant and impatient, taken to be rude towards all and showing no tolerance for stupidity. (TV: *The Dæmons*, *The Sea Devils*, *The Time Monster*, **Frontier in Space**) To sway others to his way of thinking, the Master acted as a suave and debonair gentleman, with a sardonic sense of humour. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Time Monster*) When his own survival was at stake, the Master would not hesitate to betray his allies to save himself. (TV: The Claws of Axos)

The Master was willing to play the long game, spinning a web of lies while maintaining several back-ups in his schemes. (TV: *The Mind of Evil*) He seemed to truly believe his delusions of grandeur, proclaiming that he and the Doctor could "reign benevolently," ending "war, suffering [and] disease," (TV: *Colony in Space*) and that, instead of "all this talk of democracy, freedom, [and] liberty", the world needed "strength, power and decision." (TV: *The Dæmons*) When the Doctor accused him of being paranoid, the Master stated that everyone was paranoid, he was just honest about his paranoia. (TV: *The Time Monster*)

The Master held himself in high-esteem, even believing himself immune to the mind parasite within the Keller Machine, when in truth, he was only able to resist its attack on him for a short time, and with great effort. (TV: *The Mind of Evil*) He also demonstrated a strong confidence in himself when he walked into the UNIT HQ on the edge of London without fear of capture, instead hypnotising a handful of UNIT personnel. (TV: *The Claws of Axos*)

The "UNIT enemy" Master also had a juvenile side to him, making blithely sarcastic comments about an impending nuclear meltdown, (TV: The Claws of Axos) enjoying an episode of Clangers in his prison cell, (TV: *The Sea Devils*) and reading The War of the Worlds while trying to instigate a war between Earth and Draconia. (TV: *Frontier in Space*) He also had a sadistic side, taking particular pleasure in goading the Brigadier into attacking Axos when they both knew that it would put the Doctor and Jo Grant in danger. (TV: *The Claws of Axos*) He also took considerable delight in blackmailing the Doctor and Jo on Uxarieus. (TV: *Colony in Space*)

The "UNIT enemy" Master would casually murder those whom he could not control, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*) or who were standing in the way of an item he required. (TV: *The Claws of Axos*) While he initially believed that those who died as a result of his schemes to be "necessary sacrifice[s]", (TV: *The Sea Devils*)

Unlike his following incarnations, the "UNIT enemy" Master was rarely resentful, instead accepting defeat with only a slight annoyance, (TV: *The Dæmons*, *Frontier in Space*) though he once stated that destroying the Doctor's favourite species would "be a reward in itself". (TV: *The Sea Devils*) The Master also learned from his mistakes, placing an alarm in his TARDIS (TV: *Colony in Space*) after the Doctor stole his dematerialisation circuit. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*)

Being a haughty psychopath, he regarded most beings as his inferiors, but had a mutual respect for the Doctor as a worthy opponent and his near intellectual equal, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Sea Devils*) and even showed a certain respect to the Doctor's companions, even if he still considered them inferior. (TV: *Frontier in Space*) He would only resort to killing the Doctor if he viewed him as an unmovable obstacle in his plans, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*) and was willing to risk the Doctor's life on the Keller Machine to satisfy his curiosity. (TV: *The Mind of Evil*) However, the Master was not above working alongside the Doctor when necessary, (TV: *The Claws of Axos*) and even offered to rule the universe with him. (TV: *Colony in Space*)

While in Atlantis, the Master formed a relationship of sorts with Queen Galleia, remarking that she was beautiful and promising her power. Both Galleia and Lakis commented that the Master had "the bearing of a God". (TV: *The Time Monster*)

The "UNIT enemy" Master would occasionally smoke a cigar. (TV: *The Mind of Evil*, *The Time Monster*)

A master manipulator, the Master knew how to use others' greed and sense of duty as bargaining tools in his schemes, (TV: *The Claws of Axos*, *The Sea Devils*) and how to use his authority as an adjudicator to manipulate and influence the human factions and their competing aspirations on Uxarieus. (TV: *Colony in Space*)

The Master was also stronger than he appeared, as he was able to physically overpower Luigi Rossini, (TV: *Terror of the Autons*) Harry Mailer, (TV: *The Mind of Evil*) Smedley, (TV: *The Sea Devils*) and John Benton. (TV: *The Time Monster*) He was also able to make a small jump onto a moving lorry from a bridge, and then swing down to the driver's cab to hypnotise the driver. (TV: *The Claws of Axos*)

### Degenerated body

This Master preoccupied his time with finding a way to regenerate following the loss of his own ability to regenerate forcing him to face his imminent death. With his mobility and capabilities of camouflage decreased, he was often forced to hide his involvement in his plans until the very moment victory was within his grasp. (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*, *The Keeper of Traken*)

The Master felt a stronger hatred towards the Doctor than before, specifically guiding the Fourth Doctor back to Gallifrey so he could be framed for the President's assassination and executed in disgrace, (TV: *The Deadly Assassi*n)

In his degenerated state, the Master's telepathic capabilities and willpower grew stronger, with the Master proclaiming that "only [his] hate [kept him] alive". He was able to launch a telepathic message to the Doctor from Gallifrey to the Doctor's TARDIS, (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*) and, once he became the Keeper of Traken, the Master forced Tremas to kill Neman through sheer willpower, and also paralysed the Doctor to make him watch. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

He was willing to be patient with his plans, waiting inside his TARDIS for years to slowly seduce Kassia. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

### "Tremas incarnation"

After possessing Tremas's body, the Master became a more flamboyantly evil, bombastic and sophisticated individual, (TV: *Logopolis*, *Castrovalva*, *Time-Flight*, *The King's Demons*, *The Five Doctors*, *The Ultimate Foe*) who only put trust in himself. (*TV*: *The Mark of the Rani*) He was prone to laughing maniacally and reciting lengthy and verbose speeches, accompanied by melodramatic gestures and poses. (TV: *Time-Flight*, *The Five Doctors*, *The Mark of the Rani*)

The "Tremas" Master was unwilling to share any form of power with others, often betraying those he worked with to accomplish his own goals, (TV: *Logopolis*, *The Five Doctors*, *The Ultimate Foe*, *Survival*)

While in Tremas's body, the Master became devoted to killing the Doctor, often employing elaborate gambits and strategies to this end. (TV: *Castrovalva*, *The Mark of the Rani*) However, he mused that a cosmos without the Doctor "scarcely bear[ed] thinking about", and was willing to join forces with the Doctor if he viewed it as beneficial to himself. (TV: *Logopolis*, *The Five Doctors*, *The Ultimate Foe*)

He showed a genuine disregard for life and was often uninterested in how many people died at his hands, (TV: *Logopolis*, *Castrovalva*, *The King's Demons*, *Survival*) and had a particular fondness for the Tissue Compression Eliminator. (TV: *Logopolis*, *Time-Flight*, *Planet of Fire*, *The Mark of the Rani*) However, he showed an unusual level of moral standards when he apologised to Peri Brown for involving her in a battle that was originally supposed to be between him and the Sixth Doctor, and was genuinely horrified when the Rani's contraption turned Luke Ward into a tree, although the Doctor considered it an example of how warped and callous the Master was if he thought that establishing that Luke's death was an accident was any kind of excuse. (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*)

The Master was delighted and satisfied when Lord President Borusa addressed him as "one of the most evil and corrupt beings [the] Time Lord race [had] ever produced", but was surprised and outraged when his attempts to convince the Third Doctor of his sincerity was ridiculed and spurned. (TV: *The Five Doctors*) He also thanked Mel Bush when she remarked on how "evil" he was. (TV: *The Ultimate Foe*)

After he was infected by the Cheetah virus, the Master became more calm and calculating. However, as the virus took its toll, he became more animalistic and sadistic, taking satisfaction in murdering Karra and attempting to hit the Seventh Doctor's head with a club during their fight. (TV: *Survival*)

Unlike his predecessor, the "Tremas" Master seemed unable to use natural hypnotism, instead using an Electro-muscular constrictor to enslave Nyssa, (TV: *Logopolis*) causing misdirection to discredit the Fifth Doctor at Fitzwilliam Castle, (TV: *The King's Demons*) and took control of Luke Ward by combining hypnotic suggestion via a crystal necklace with the Rani's mind parasites. (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*) When his attempts to hypnotise Sabalom Glitz with a swinging silver pendant failed due to Glitz's mind being occupied with calculating the wealth of the pendant, the Master resorted to offering Glitz a chest full of jewellery to ensure his cooperation. (TV: *The Ultimate Foe*)

The "Tremas" Master was able to accurately predict the Doctor's movements, implementing multiple ways to kill him and manoeuvring him into them with relative ease. (TV: *Logopolis*, *Castrovalva*, *The Ultimate Foe*) The Rani even believed that his plans were so overcomplicated that if he walked in a straight line he would get dizzy. (TV: *The Mark of the Rani*) Unlike his other renditions, the "Tremas" Master was able to improvise when things turned awry. (TV: *Logopolis*, *The Five Doctors*, *Survival*)

## Physical Appearance

### "UNIT enemy" incarnation

The "UNIT enemy" Master resembled a mature, elegant man, with a swarthy complexion and brown eyes. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*)

#### Hair and grooming

The "UNIT enemy" Master had mild streaks of grey in his combed back thinning hair. He had a goatee beard, which also had white skunk stripes. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*)

#### Clothing

He generally wore a black Cardin-Nehru jacket, with dark trousers, black leather boots and gloves, and a white cuff-linked shirt. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*) On occasion, he would wear a suit, with either an orange, grey or blue tie. (TV: *Terror of the Autons*, *The Mind of Evil*, *The Time Monster*)

While imprisoned on Fortress Island, the Master wore a black cape over a white turtle-neck jumper, with black trousers, but switched these for a naval officer's uniform while secretly infiltrating HMS Seaspite. During his return and subsequent escape from Fortress Island, he changed back into his black Nehru jacket and trousers. (TV: *The Sea Devils*)

### Degenerated body

The Master came to resemble a deformed corpse, (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*) with brown eyes. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

#### Clothing

To hide his disfigurement, the Master took to wearing a rotting hooded cloak. (TV: *The Deadly Assassin*)

### "Tremas incarnation"

After the Master used the power of the Source to steal Tremas's body, the Trakenite's body was also rejuvenated. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

#### Hair and grooming

This rejuvenation caused his grey hair to become a dark brown, and his white bushy beard turned into a black goatee beard. (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*)

#### Clothing

After the Master stole his body, Tremas's robes inexplicably changed into a black velveteen high collared tunic with puffed sleeves and long tails, (TV: *The Keeper of Traken*) black trousers, dark leather boots, and black velvet gloves. (TV: *Logopolis*) The Master would also utilise a cloak with a large collar. (TV: *The Five Doctors*)

While stranded on Cheetah World, the Master opted to change his usual attire for a black collarless silk jacket, a navy blue shirt with an ivory collar, a midnight blue bow tie, black trousers and shoes, a collared silver waistcoat (with the collar coming out over the collarless jacket), and a belt with a dragon-shaped buckle. (TV: *Survival*)

## Other Information

### Relationship with the Doctor

The Master respected the Doctor as a worthy opponent, once offering to use a recently recovered weapon to take control of the universe while offering to share it with the Doctor though he refused. (TV: *Colony in Space*)

## Behind the Scenes

### Character conception and development

Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks often discussed that the relationship between the Third Doctor and the Brigadier was similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and envisioned a counterpart of the Doctor to act as "Moriarty", a character that became "the Master", his name being developed to counter the Doctor's — like that of his enemy, "Master" is an academic title.(DOC: The Doctor's Moriarty)

In the Third Doctor's original final episode concept, Roger Delgado's incarnation of the Master would have redeemed himself and given his life to save the Doctor, after which the Doctor would have regenerated; however, this story was never developed due to the sudden death of Roger Delgado.

In *The Deadly Assassin*, writer Robert Holmes deliberately chose to show the Master in a "transitional" form, in case future production teams wanted to bring back the character. This transitional form was also used in *The Keeper of Traken*.

### Near uses

The Master was the villain in the early drafts of the 1977 television story *The Talons of Weng-Chiang*, until he was replaced by Magnus Greel.

## Image Gallery

Roger DelgadoPeter PrattGeoffrey BeeversAnthony Ainley
## List of Appearances

### Doctor Who

#### Season 8

* *Terror of the Autons*
* *The Mind of Evil*
* *The Claws of Axos*
* *Colony in Space*
* *The Dæmons*

#### Season 9

* *The Sea Devils*
* *The Time Monster*

#### Season 18

* *The Keeper of Traken*
* *Logopolis*

#### Season 19

* *Castrovalva*
* *Time-Flight*

#### Season 21

* *Planet of Fire*
* *The Caves of Androzani*