The Master/Missy: "Detestable Chap . . . All Of Them"

[Lantern7]

With the first-ever dual Masters episode on television, I figured that a thread should be started on the Doctor's Moriarty, the single member of the show's unholy trinity alongside the Daleks and Cybermen.

I wasn't too keen on Missy at first, in the sense that the Big Reveal felt telegraphed, and that season made me grumpy as it was. But Michelle Gomez did a bang-job job in her two stints as the female Master. Sure, she might have been encouraged by Moffat to ham it up like RTD did with John Simm, but she was still great at the role. It sucks that Michelle is leaving the role, because I think a little more mileage could've been squeezed from the character. Also, if Chibnall had been able to resurrect River Song, it would have been awesome to see a mature lady-on-Time Lady fight.

I haven't been exposed to all of Roger Delgado's work, but I reckon he's still the high watermark. In the past year, that version has popped up to menace the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who Magazine, and he was the obligatory bad guy in Paul Cornell's Third Doctor miniseries (there was another villain, but that's a huge spoiler). It was a good mix of arrogance, mental abilities, and facial hair. I don't think there's been a bad Master, in the same way older Doctors (specifically, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy) were underserved by their material. That said, I don't know if anybody would give love to Eric Roberts with a straight face.

What do you guys think? What direction should the Master take with the inevitable new Doctor? Or should the character be sidelined? The only thing I have left is this homemade Doctor Who anime, with some nice simulated Delgado/Ainley fun.

[benteen]

Delgado was definitely the best Master.  He was a villain without a doubt but played off of Jon Pertwee's Doctor so well that you wished the two of them could become friends.

I think Michelle Gomez is terrific but not helped by Moffat's script-writing and characterization.  I'd say that about a lot of the actresses he's written for like Jenna Coleman and Alex Kingston.

[darkestboy]

I've loved them all but if I had to rank them (and I'm excluding Big Finish stuff here), it'd go like this ....

Roger Delgado

Michelle Gomez

John Simm

Anthony Ainley

Peter Pratt

Eric Roberts

Derek Jacobi

Geoffrey Beevers

Edited June 26, 2017 by darkestboy

[Lantern7]

Anybody else know of unofficial meetings of Masters? The ones I can recall was a webcomic where the four known Masters (pre-revival) faced off against the Celestial Toymaker. I cannot locate that. In a backup strip to the Twelfth Doctor comic book from Titan, the Doctor and Clara fought in a battle of the bands against a group of Masters . . . with Missy on vocals and the Simm Master behind the drums.

[Florinaldo]

Derek Jacobi had a turn as a robot version of the Master in the BBC produced animated webcast "Scream of the Shalka", starring Richeard E. Grant as the Doctor who had built the duplicate Master to keep him company. It has been released on DVD; I haven't seen it since it was available online years ago and it did not leave a lasting impression on me, even though the companion was played by later Academy Award nominee and Tony winner Sophie Okonedo.

[Vikitty]

Sophie Okonedo played Liz 10 in the Beast Below episode in series 5, too!

Anyway, back on topic… I went unspoiled about John Simm returning and when he showed up I legit clapped and squealed. I LOVED his Master, because he was just so bonkers and on the edge of insanity. You never knew what impulsive thing he would do.

[Lantern7]

Brief clip about the Master. Wish it could be a little longer.

[Bruinsfan]

Fitting end for the Master, if that's what it really was. But I have never been a fan of John Simm's capering lunatic version. I much prefer Gomez, Ainley, and what little we saw of Sir Derek Jacobi in the role.

[KirkB]

It's only right they did each other in. With two Masters in the same place at the same time I would have been really upset if anyone else, even the Doctor, had been the one to kill either.

Though that must be a really weird moment for the Master. Killing Missy just in time for him to regenerate, presumably into her, so she could basically come back here and die.

Edited July 2, 2017 by KirkB

[Lantern7]

Alternate plan for Missy, had Michelle Gomez not walked away. It seems wrong in a lot of ways, but I would have liked to have seen that play out.

[jhlipton]

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Alternate plan for Missy, had Michelle Gomez not walked away. It seems wrong in a lot of ways, but I would have liked to have seen that play out.

That would have sucked to the nth degree.  I just started (re-)watching and that would have got me to drop it quick!

[catrox14]

19 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Alternate plan for Missy, had Michelle Gomez not walked away. It seems wrong in a lot of ways, but I would have liked to have seen that play out.

That is literally the worst thing this show could have done. WTF?

[Mabinogia]

I'm glad they were just joking about that one. That would have been very strange indeed.

[KirkB]

I can't even begin to count the ways that would have been wrong.

[HauntedBathroom]

If only this could have happened!! Hysterical!!

[Lantern7]

I just like the idea that could happen in the old days. Impregnating oneself via two incarnations . . . so weird, yet so logical, yet so Jerry Springer.

[catrox14]

27 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I just like the idea that could happen in the old days. Impregnating oneself via two incarnations . . . so weird, yet so logical, yet so Jerry Springer.

I'm picturing sometime later that the Master and Missy are on Maury Povich waiting the results of a DNA test because one or the other can't remember that they had sex and are fighting each other.

[Lantern7]

In case you didn't see the first part of "Spyfall" . . . we have a new Master. Discuss.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Lantern7