If you’re a Doctor Who fan, you know: the Master is more than just a villain. They’re the Doctor’s greatest nemesis, chaotic opposite, and the reason the Doctor never gets a moment’s respite.
Since the character first turned up in 1971’s Terror of the Autons, the Master has become one of the most unpredictable and compelling villains of sci-fi, and Masterful, the special anniversary audio drama, was the perfect tribute to that reputation.
Out to celebrate half a century since Roger Delgado’s iconic first appearance as the very first Master, Masterful assembled a complete cast of erstwhile incarnations, including Geoffrey Beevers, Derek Jacobi, Michelle Gomez, John Simm, and others. It was anything but a straightforward nostalgia special, though, and was instead a multiverse showcase of everything it is that makes the Master such a compelling figure in the Whoniverse.
What makes the Master so inescapably compelling to watch? A lot of it is down to the performances. Every actor brings his spark—equal amounts of charm, menace, and unpredictability. When Mark Gatiss came on board Masterful’s cast, he recalled how Delgado’s first performance as the Master left him “profoundly scared,” and that was where his love affair with the programme began.
Alex Macqueen referred to the Master as “the most terrific character,” and Derek Jacobi complimented his incarnation’s “wonderfully wicked sense of humour.” Both are their interpretation, but still maintain the character of what the Master is: a never-dull, always menacing, and unbearably likable villain.
There’s more to the Master than being an excellent villain, though. His relationship with the Doctor is one of the best in the series. Michelle Gomez, the actress who imbued a wonderful and restive energy in the role of Missy, put it best: the Master provides the Doctor with purpose. They’re the darkness to the Doctor’s light, the one person who regularly confronts the Doctor on a personal level, not just ideologically, but emotionally. John Simm once described the Master as “the Doctor’s nemesis, the bad Doctor, the baddie Doctor Who”—a Time Lord equivalent in brilliance and power but without the compassion that motivates the Doctor.
And then Missy showed up, a regeneration that did everything in reverse. Michelle Gomez played the Master as not just a baddie anymore—she was complicated, unstable, and sometimes vulnerable. Missy’s story took the Master further towards redemption than ever before. She entered into an uneasy alliance with the Doctor, even showing remorse and growth. Her final scenes—betraying her former self in an attempt to do the right thing—felt like actual character growth.
Others believe we’re seeing earlier versions of the Master appear out of sequence—a perfectly reasonable theory in a show that treats time travel more like jazz than math. And others claim Missy was never really redeemed, only more understated in her manipulation. The show itself has never given a definitive answer, and maybe the ambiguity is part of the design.
Why the Master remains so compelling all these years is exactly that ambiguity. They’re an echo of the Doctor—of the choices the Doctor refuses to make, the paths not taken. Sometimes they’re scary, sometimes absurd, and sometimes even pitiful. But above all else, the Master is a reminder on Doctor Who that the line between hero and villain is largely gray.
No matter whether you love their drama, their twisted humor, or their ever-evolving morality, Master always proves that bad has never been this good.