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| :''This article is about the renegade Time Lord known as "The Master." For other uses of the term "Master" in the Doctor Who Universe, see [[Master (disambiguation)]].
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| {{Infobox Individual|
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| individual name= The Master |
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| image=[[Image:6 masters.jpg|250px]] |
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| alias= Koschei, [[Professor Yana]], [[Harold Saxon]] |
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| race= [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord]]) |
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| home planet=[[Gallifrey]] |
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| home era= [[Rassilon Era]]|
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| appearances= [[The Master - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]] |
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| actor= [[Roger Delgado]]<br>[[Peter Pratt]]<br>[[Geoffrey Beevers]]<br>[[Anthony Ainley]]<br>[[Gordon Tipple]]<br>[[Eric Roberts]]<br>[[Derek Jacobi]]<br>[[John Simm]]<br>}}
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| '''The Master''', once known as '''Koschei''', and also by [[Aliases of the Master|various temporary aliases and pseudonyms]], is a renegade [[Time Lord]], who [[the Doctor]] opposed many times. On at least one occasion, he threatened the existence of the [[universe]] itself. He was once called "''one of the most evil and corrupt beings the Time Lord race ever produced''" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'').
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| ==Biography==
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| ===Early life===
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| Koschei, later known as the Master, grew up on [[Gallifrey]], in the [[House of Oakdown]]. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'')
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| In his [[Seventh Doctor|seventh incarnation]], the Doctor related a story which explained the Master's origins. He said that both he and the Master had been mercilessly and viciously bullied as children. The [[First Doctor|youthful Doctor]] found himself forced to kill the bully in order to save his friend's life. He was later confronted by the personification of [[Death]] who insisted he become her disciple. The Doctor refused and instead suggested Death make the Master her champion instead, to which she agreed. The Doctor said that, because of this, he always felt partly responsible for the carnage the Master would later cause. ([[BFA]]:''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'')
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| :''This story of the Doctor's presents the Master as turning towards evil at an earlier stage of his life, which may contradict some other accounts.''
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| At the [[Time Lord Academy|Academy]], Koschei belonged to a clique of six young [[Time Lord]]s with the collective name of [[the Deca]]. The Doctor and other future rivals [[The Rani|Ushas]] (later known as the Rani) and [[Magnus]] (later known as the War Chief) also belonged to the Deca ([[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'').
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| Like most Gallifreyans taken as Time Lords, the Master would be taken at the age of eight for his training. During the ceremony where he gazed into the [[Time Vortex]] through a rip in space and time, it is said that the Master went insane. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| After the Doctor fled Gallifrey, Koschei was recruited to pursue and apprehend him. His unstable obsession with order however, prompted the Time Lords to plant the Time Lady [[Ailla]] as a spy to monitor Koschei's actions. Ailla posed as a [[Human]] so that Koschei would take her on as his companion during a stopover in the [[28th century]]. Koschei caught up with [[Second Doctor|the Doctor]] at the [[Darkheart]] colony in the early years of the [[Federation]]. The temptation posed by the Darkheart device proved too much for Koschei, and the revelation that Ailla had been a spy killed the last traces of good in him. After the Doctor trapped him in a [[black hole]] Koschei, the Master, swore revenge on him. ([[MA]]: ''[[The Dark Path]]'').
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| ===Vendetta against the Doctor===
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| The Master then sought to defeat the [[Third Doctor|newly regenerated]] Doctor on [[Earth]] and in doing so came up against him, [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] and the rest of [[UNIT]].
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| :''For details on this period of his life, see [[The Master (UNIT years)|separate article]].''
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| ===Degeneration===
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| [[Susan Foreman]] triggered an explosion when the Master attempted to kidnap her. He exhausted his regenerative cycle recovering from the injuries sustained in the explosion on the [[planet]] [[Tersurus]] ([[EDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]''), where Chancellor [[Goth]] found the Master, in a wasted condition. The Master had by this time reached the end of his [[regeneration cycle]] and had turned into an animate though rotting corpse. The Master, with the collaboration of Goth, lured [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]] to Gallifrey in order to have him framed for the assassination of the [[Lord President]]. The Master nearly succeeded in acquiring the [[Eye of Harmony]] and using its energy reserves to renew himself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'').
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| :''Quite possibly the Master's exposure to the Eye of Harmony re-vitalized him and prevented his body from disintegrating completely. It has been argued the Master is visibly regenerating when he is seen just prior to his TARDIS dematerialising, while the Master's corpus on his next appearance was noticeably less putrescent than it appeared to be on Gallifrey. The motive of acquiring a new cycle of regenerations would occur again and again throughout the Master's later battles with the Doctor.''
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| ===Usurpation===
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| On the planet [[Traken]], the centre of the [[Traken Union]], still in his degenerated form, the Master plotted to take over [[the Source]], the power behind the [[Traken Union]]. The Master did manage to steal the body of [[Tremas]], the father of the Doctor's future companion, [[Nyssa]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'')
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| ===New Regenerative Cycle===
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| The Master was able to teleport from the [[Cheetah World]] to [[1953]] Earth where he constructed himself an identity as Major Kreer. He made a deal with the [[Tzun]] to restore his corrupted Time Lord DNA, which his physical merger with the [[Trakenite]], [[Tremas]] had caused to happen. This was a success, and he was able to regenerate into a new body. ([[NA]]: ''[[First Frontier]]'')
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| The Master later attempted to seize control of a powerful artifact known as the [[Warp Core]]. This plan backfired and due to his exposure to the device the Master's body reverted to a state similar to his degenerated form. For a while he persisted in trying to acquire the Core. During that time he habitually wore a mask and adopted the alias Mr Seta. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Dust Breeding]]'')
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| ===Doctor John Smith===
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| [[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]] related a story of how he made a deal with Death whereby the Master would have ten years of peace and sanity in return for which would the Doctor would kill him at the end of ten years. The still-scarred Master had become a physician with no memory of his past, and took the name [[Doctor John Smith]]. He was still somehow deeply aware of his dark nature and troubled by it. The Master had in the meantime become emotionally involved with a woman named [[Jaqueline Schaeffer]] during this time.
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| At the end of the ten years the Doctor duly arrived but strove to avoid fulfilling his side of the bargain. The Master became aware of the Doctor's role in pledging him to Death as her servant but forgave him for it. Death herself was present then, disguised as the Master's maid. She manipulated events so that it would appear inevitable that the John Smith persona would crumble and the true Master become dominant once more. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'')
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| ===Resurrection===
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| Eventually, he was tried and executed and physically destroyed by the Daleks on [[Skaro]] but he was able to take over the body of [[Bruce]], an ambulance driver on Earth, in spite of having been reduced to a fluid-like essence.
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| At the end of his battle with the recently regenerated [[Eighth Doctor|Doctor]], the Master fell into the [[Eye of Harmony]], and he appeared to be destroyed. The Doctor claimed that he had been eaten by the [[TARDIS]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The TV Movie]]'')
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| [[Image:TippleMaster.png|thumb||The Master awaiting his execution at the hands of the Daleks. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who: The TV Movie]]'')]]
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| Accounts differ as to what happened to the Master next. One story tells of how he later escaped from the Eye and possessed the body of a Human native of [[1906]]. ([[ST]]: ''[[The Forgotten]]'')
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| It was revealed that the Time Lords themselves were primarily responsible for the Masters return in order to use him as a weapon in a [[Time War]]. At this time, the [[Dalek]]s would engage in a massive invasion of Time Lord territory and succeeded in attacking Gallifrey and entering the [[Cruciform]]. Instead of aiding his fellow Time Lords, the Master escaped into the far future at the end of the universe where he used a [[Chameleon Arch]] to turn himself into a [[Human]] in order to avoid detection by the Daleks. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| ===Glory===
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| Another story tells of how the Master was rescued from the Time Vortex by a being named [[Esterath]], the then-controller of the [[Glory]], the focal point of reality. It would soon be time for the Glory to gain another controller, but the power had to be fought for. Of course, the Master assumed the battle would be between himself and his greatest foe.
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| Given a new body, the Master trailed the Doctor for some time without his enemy suspecting - even after they had met face to face. He was present in London during the crisis resulting from [[Grace Holloway]]'s attempt to merge Human and Time Lord [[DNA]] (the alien DNA was in fact that of a [[morphant]] from [[Skaro]]). He killed an [[MI6]] agent with the [[TCE]] at this time, but fortunately the Doctor departed before the Master's trademark was discovered. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Fallen]]'')
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| The Master later made contact with [[Sato Katsura]], a Japanese samurai unwillingly rendered immortal as a result of his involvement in the Doctor's adventures. The embittered warrior became the Master's follower. At his behest, Sato adopted the identity of Cardinal Morningstar and became leader of the [[Church of the Glorious Dead]], instigator of a holy war that altered the history of Earth and led to it becoming known as Dhakan. Passing through the Eye had given the Master the ability to influence the flight of the TARDIS, which he used to send the craft to times and places which would weaken the Doctor's self-belief and confidence. This done, the two fought for the Glory, with the Master apparently triumphant.
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| However, the Master was mistaken: the true battle was between his companion, Sato, and the Doctor's, the [[Mondasian Cyberman|Cyberman]] [[Kroton (Cyberman)|Kroton]]. Kroton was the ultimate winner of this contest, and amongst his first acts as controller of the Glory were to cleanse the TARDIS of the Master's influence, and to banish the Master himself to parts unknown. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Glorious Dead]]'')
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| ===Return===
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| The Master later said that he was 'resurrected' by the [[Time Lords]], who recognised his obvious abilities as a warrior for their cause in the [[Last Great Time War]]. However, the sheer scale of the conflict frightened even the Master. ([[DW]]:''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| He fled to the end of the universe and used a [[Chameleon Arch]] to become [[Human]], remaining in the guise of the elderly [[Professor Yana]] (an acronym of "You Are Not Alone", the [[Face of Boe]]'s last message to the Doctor). As the Master later observed, this disguise was so perfect that he forgot who he was, although Yana was plagued by half-remembered fragments of his former life and terrible headaches. Yana retained the Master's brilliant intellect and ultimately became responsible for sending the remnants of Humanity to [[Utopia (planet)|Utopia]].
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| However, [[Martha Jones]] made the Professor suspicious of a watch in his possession, so 'Yana' activated the device and thus returned to his true identity. He was shot by his assistant, [[Chantho]] as he was destroying their work. He then slew Chantho with an electric wire and so made the [[Malmooth]] extinct. As he was shot he was forced to regenerate. He commandeered [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped at the end of the universe with a rampaging horde of [[Futurekind]] on the verge of breaking down the door. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
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| He came to early 21st century [[England]], where he called himself [[Harold Saxon]] and successfully ran for the position of [[Prime Minister]].
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| :''For more details, see [[Harold Saxon]].''
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| At the conclusion of this, the Master then died at the hands of [[Lucy Saxon]], though a resurrection seems possible as an unknown person took the Master's ring and the Master's voice could be heard suggesting his spirit was inside the ring. No facts have proven this theory although the hand is thought to be the hand of Rani.
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| ==Other versions of the Master==
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| * Following graduation from the Time Lord Academy, the Master, using the name Koschei, pursued a career as Magistrate for the [[High Council]]. In this capacity, his devotion to justice and discipline in time devolved into an obsession with order which marked the beginning of his descent into darkness ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Infinity Doctors]]'')
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| :''We do not know if this event occurred before the Master had left Gallifrey, in an alternative timeline or after he had reformed and returned to Gallifrey.''
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| * While helping UNIT stop an invasion by the parallel Earth, the Master met that alternate reality's version of himself, still using the name Koschei, imprisoned and vivisected by order of that reality's version of the Doctor. The Master killed his other self, claiming this was an act of mercy. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy]]'')
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| ==Behind the Scenes==
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| *When conceiving the character, the production team had originally considered the idea of the Doctor having a female, rather than male, arch-nemesis.
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| * The FASA ''Doctor Who Roleplaying Game'' identified [[the Monk]] and the [[War Chief]] as earlier incarnations of the Master, causing some fans to mis-identify this information as "official" or stated in the television series. Subsequent novels have completely disproved this theory.
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| * During [[Anthony Ainley]]'s tenure as the Master, anagrams of the actor's name were often used in the credits for the Master's disguises, such as Neil Toynay for [[the Portreeve]] in [[DW]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story) |Castrovalva]]''. [[Tremas]] is itself an anagram of Master. At the same time, in [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] (season 29), the Master takes on two new identities: Professor Yana in [[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story) | Utopia]]'', and Mr. Harold Saxon in [[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' and [[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'' (as it happens, "Mister Saxon" is an (unintentional) anagram of "Master No. Six").
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| *It is rumored the Master will feature in the [[Series 4]] finale having controlled everything from behind the scenes. It is unlikely however as the Daleks are also in the Finale.
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| ==External Links==
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| [http://squirrel.daniel.googlepages.com/themaster| The Master at Beneath the Surface]
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| [[Category:The Master|*]]
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| [[Category:British Prime Ministers|Master]]
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| [[Category:Individual Time Lords|Master]]
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