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| {{Infobox Individual| | | {{nc}} |
| individual name= The Master| | | {{Infobox Individual |
| image=[[File:TheFiveMasters.jpg|250px]]| | | |individual name= The Master |
| alias= [[Aliases of the Master|Full list of aliases]]| | | |image=[[File:Master(CurseOfFatalDeath).jpg|250px]] |
| race= [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord]])| | | |alias= |
| home planet=[[Gallifrey]]| | | |race= [[Gallifreyan]] ([[Time Lord]]) |
| appearances= [[The Master - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]]|
| | |home planet=[[Gallifrey]] |
| mentions= [[PDA]]: ''[[The Roundheads]]'' (indirect reference)<br />[[CC]]: ''[[The Darkening Eye]]''<br />[[PDA]]: ''[[Synthespians™]]''<br />[[BFA]]: ''[[The Feast of Axos]]''<br />[[PDA]]: ''[[Business Unusual]]''<br />[[NA]]: ''[[The Dimension Riders]]'' (indirect reference)<br />[[NA]]: ''[[The Also People]]''<br />[[PDA]]: ''[[Bullet Time]]''<br />[[NA]]: ''[[Lungbarrow]]''<br />[[BFA]]: ''[[House of Blue Fire]]''<br />[[EDA]]: ''[[The Scarlet Empress]]''<br />[[EDA]]: ''[[The Face-Eater]]''<br />[[EDA]]: ''[[Interference - Book One]]''<br />[[EDA]]: ''[[Interference - Book Two]]''<br />[[BFG]]: ''[[Disassembled]]''<br />[[IDW]]: ''[[Fugitive]]''<br />[[IDW]]: ''[[To Sleep, Perchance to Scream]]''|
| | |home era= [[Rassilon Era]] |
| actor= {{bp|[[Roger Delgado]]|[[Peter Pratt]]|[[Geoffrey Beevers]]|[[Anthony Ainley]]|[[Gordon Tipple]] |[[Eric Roberts]]|[[Paul McGann]]|[[Derek Jacobi]]|[[John Simm]]|[[William Hughes]] (child)}} | | |appearances= [[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]'' |
| | |actor= [[Jonathan Pryce]] |
| }} | | }} |
| {{masters
| | A particulary incompetent version of '''[[the Master]]''' attempted to destroy the [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Ninth Doctor]] on the [[planet]] [[Tersurus]]. |
| |c1 = Incarnations of the Master
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| |c2 = Koschei - UNIT years – Tremas – First Frontier – Dust Breeding – Bruce – The Fallen – Yana – Harold Saxon}}
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| :''You may be looking for [[Master (disambiguation)|another person referred to as "Master"]].''
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| '''The Master''', formerly known as '''Koschei''' and later by [[Aliases of the Master|various temporary aliases and pseudonyms]], was a [[renegade Time Lord]] who had grown up with [[the Doctor]] on [[Gallifrey]] and opposed him many times. He threatened the existence of the [[universe]] itself at least once. His diabolical madness was, in some part, the result of a never-ending drumming sound inside his head, a link retroactively installed by the Time Lords on the last day of the [[Time War]] to further their own goals. <span></span> | |
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| == Biography == | | == Biography == |
| === Early life ===
| | While spying on the Doctor, the Master inadvertently enabled two way communication, and unwittingly revealed several of his plans to eliminate the Doctor. After the two had arranged to meet on Tersurus, it became apparent that the Master had travelled back in time to bribe a [[Tersuron]] architect to install several traps in the castle they were now in. Unbeknownst to him, the Doctor had also done the same, bribing the same architect to change the details of the traps. This eventually led to the Master floundering around in the sewers of Tersurus for centuries, after which he was forced to ally himself with the [[Dalek]]s, as they were the only life-forms without noses, and hence the only creatures willing to work with him. |
| ==== Childhood ====
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| [[File:Master 8 years old.jpg|thumb|right|The Master at the age of 8. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')]]
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| Koschei, later known as the Master, grew up on [[Gallifrey]], in the [[House of Oakdown]]. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Divided Loyalties]]'') He would later comment to [[Wilfred Mott]] that growing up on Gallifrey was not something one could call childhood, but "...more a life of... duty..." ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') He would say later in his life, "the Doctor and I were once great friends you know..." ([[VG]]: [[Destiny of the Doctors]]) The [[First Doctor]] and he would play in the fields near Koschei's home in their youths. He claimed his father had estates, with "pastures of red grass", near "Mount Perdition". ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') They used to sneak out of the [[Capitol]] and drink with the [[Shobogan]]s. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors]]'') On one of these outings, the Master picked a fight with six drunken Shobogans. ([[ST]]: ''[[UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce]]'')
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| There are many conflicting theories about the Master's origins. In his [[Seventh Doctor|seventh incarnation]], the Doctor told a story about him; the Master and he had been mercilessly and viciously bullied as children by a boy called [[Torvic]]. The young [[First Doctor|Doctor]] found himself forced to kill the bully to save his friend's life. He was later confronted by the personification of [[Death]] who insisted he become her disciple.
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| The Doctor refused and suggested Death make the Master her champion, to which she agreed. The [[Seventh Doctor]] said that ever since he had always felt partly responsible for the carnage the Master would later cause. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'')
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| :''It's not clear whether this event occurred before or after the event described below. ''
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| Like most Gallifreyans who became Time Lords, Koschei was taken for his initiation at the age of eight. During the ceremony in which he gazed into the [[Time Vortex]] through the [[Untempered Schism]], it is said that Koschei went mad. This manifested by the constant drumming he heard ever after, worsening with time. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' / ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' / ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'') The drumming had been implanted retroactively into Koschei's mind by [[Rassilon]] as a link to later free the Time Lords from the [[time-lock]] imposed upon them. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
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| ==== Youth ====
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| At the [[Time Lord Academy|Academy]], Koschei joined a clique of young [[Time Lord]]s called [[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]]'') The Doctor and the Master were also part of the 'Gallifrey Academy Hot Five', in which the Master played the drums. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Deadly Reunion]]'')
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| Whilst at the Academy, the Doctor and the Master travelled into Gallifrey's past in search of Valdemar. They found nothing of the Old Ones except for warnings. The Master was fascinated by the power that Valdemar represented, the Doctor horrified. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Tomb of Valdemar (novel)|Tomb of Valdemar]]'') The Master once said that he fell out with the Doctor at the Academy as a result of the Master not keeping his word about something. ([[PDA]]: ''[[Last of the Gaderene]]'')
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| === Vendetta against the Doctor ===
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| ==== Origins of the vendetta ====
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| After the Doctor fled Gallifrey, Koschei was recruited to arrest him. His unstable obsession with order prompted the Time Lords to plant the Time Lady [[Ailla]] as a spy to monitor his actions. She posed as a [[human]] so Koschei would take her on as his companion during a stopover in the [[28th century]]. Koschei caught up with the [[Second Doctor]] at the [[Darkheart]] colony in the early years of the [[Federation]].
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| The temptation posed by the Darkheart device proved too much for Koschei, and the revelation that Ailla was a spy killed the last traces of good in him. After the Doctor trapped him in a [[black hole]], Koschei, the Master, swore to take revenge. ([[MA]]: ''[[The Dark Path]]'')
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| ==== The vendetta continues ====
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| :''Main Article: [[The Master (UNIT years)]]''
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| [[File:DelgadoMaster.jpg|thumb|left|[[The Master (UNIT years)|The Master]] as he appeared to [[UNIT]].]]
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| The Master sought to defeat the [[Third Doctor]] during the latter's [[exile on Earth]]. He sided with many races who came to Earth, helping them with their varying purposes, but always with his own goals in mind. ([[DW]]: ''[[Terror of the Autons]]'', ''[[The Claws of Axos]]'')
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| Because of the Doctor's affiliation with [[UNIT]], the Master became a known enemy to authorities on [[Earth]], and was even imprisoned for a short time by [[human]] authorities. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sea Devils]]'')
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| === Tersurus ===
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| The Master neared death as his thirteenth body [[File:The-master-tersurus.jpg|thumb|The Master near the end of his thirteenth body. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'')]]degenerated. He survived in [[The Master (Tersurus)|a decaying body]]. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]'') He tried to gain a new regenerative cycle using the [[Eye of Harmony]], infiltrating Time Lord society in the process, but was stopped by the [[Fourth Doctor]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'') The Master escaped Gallifrey, and fled to [[Traken]]. He possessed the body of a [[Trakenite]] named [[Tremas]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'')
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| ==== Usurpation ====
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| :''Main Article: [[The Master (Tremas)]]''
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| [[File:AinleyMaster.jpg|thumb|left|The Master in [[Tremas]]' body.]]The Master [[The Master (Tremas)|stole the body of Tremas]], the father of the Doctor's future companion, [[Nyssa]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'') He immediately set out on a new career of villainy. ([[DW]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'') Eventually, he found himself taken over on the [[Cheetah World]] by a foreign influence and began to lose control. He ended up trapped there as his body began to die. ([[DW]]: ''[[Survival]]'')
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| === New regenerative cycle ===
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| The Master made a deal with the [[Tzun]] to restore his Time Lord DNA, corrupted by his physical merger with the [[Trakenite]], [[Tremas]]. This succeeded and he was able to regenerate into a new body. ([[NA]]: ''[[First Frontier]]'') The Master's body eventually broke down. He stole the Loom of Rassilon's Mouse to make himself a new body. The plan failed and the Master only escaped by hypnotising [[Kitai]] into posing as a decoy. ([[NA]]: ''[[Happy Endings]]'')
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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 [[The Master (First Frontier)|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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| After the [[Seventh Doctor]] made a deal with [[Death]], [[The Master (Dust Breeding)|the Master]] was allowed ten years in a new life as a good man, then he would be killed. The Master was found wandering the streets of [[Perfugium]] with [[amnesia]]. Ten years later the Doctor and Death returned for the Master. Death made a deal with the Master; the Master would be allowed to live if he became Death's servant, to which the Master agreed. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'')
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| === Death and Glory ===
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| :''Main Article: [[The Master (Bruce)]]''
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| [[File:Gordontipplemaster.jpg|thumb|right|thumb|The Master awaiting his execution at the hands of the Daleks. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'')]] Eventually, he was tried and executed by the Daleks on [[Skaro]] as part of a Time Lord-Dalek treaty. His essence survived in a fluid-like form called either a [[morphant]] ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Fallen]]'') or a [[deathworm]] ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors]]''). His "last wish" was for the Doctor to transport his remains to Gallifrey; during the trip the Master sabotaged [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], forcing it to land on Earth in 1999. The Master took over the body of [[Bruce]], an ambulance driver in San Francisco. [[The Master (Bruce)|This incarnation of the Master]] was only intended to be a temporary one while he launched a scheme to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations.
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| [[File:The Master (TV Movie).jpg|thumb|left|thumb|[[The Master (Bruce)|The Master]] after yet another non-regenerative metamorphosis. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'')]]
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| At the end of a battle with the [[Eighth Doctor]], the Master fell into the [[Eye of Harmony]], and appeared to be destroyed. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]'')
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| However, the Master was rescued from [[the 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. The Master assumed the fight would be between himself and his greatest foe. He was mistaken because the true battle was between his companion, Sato, and the Doctor's, the [[Kroton (Cyberman)|Cyberman Kroton]].
| | As part of this alliance, the Master had himself "augmented" with Dalek technology, resulting in not only a more youthful appearance, but also "Dalek bumps" installed on his chest. Although he remained adamant they were [[etheric beam locator]]s, the Doctor continually teased the Master because they resembled breasts. |
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| Kroton was the victor. Amongst his first acts as controller of the Glory were to cleanse the TARDIS of the Master's influence, and to banish the Master somewhere that he could not escape. The Master declared he would survive and return. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Glorious Dead]]'')
| | When he believed the [[Twelfth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Twelfth Doctor]] to have been killed by the [[zectronic beam]], the Master renounced his evil ways, before the Doctor [[regenerated]] into [[Thirteenth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|a female form]]. Attracted to each other, the Time Lords walked off, arm in arm. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]'') |
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| :''For more on this incarnation, see [[The Master (The Fallen)|separate article]].''
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| Imprisoned inside the Doctor's [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]], the Master offered the [[Eighth Doctor]] advice through a portrait, a mirror and later the [[Eye of Harmony]]. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Sometime Never...]]'', ''[[The Deadstone Memorial]]'', ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles (novel)|The Gallifrey Chronicles]]'')
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| The Master escaped the Doctor's TARDIS through the [[Eye of Harmony]] by influencing the dreams of [[Edward Grainger]] in order to be freed from the sealed Eye. The Master was now just a being of energy that could travel through the air. After escaping he managed to evade the Doctor's detection on [[Earth]] and possessed the body of a [[human]] native named [[Richard (Prologue)|Richard]] in [[1906]]. ([[ST]]: ''[[Forgotten]]'')
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| Later, [[Man with the Rosette|the Master]] visited the [[Eighth Doctor]] on Earth during the attack of the [[Babewyns]] in the late [[18th century]]. While there he attended the Doctor's wedding and attempted to explain the Doctor's past to him and the fate of the Time Lords. The Doctor was suffering from amnesia at the time but still knew who the Master was. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Adventuress of Henrietta Street]]'')
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| === Return ===
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| :''Main Article: [[The Master (Yana)]] and [[The Master (Harold Saxon)]]''
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| [[File:TheMaster(Yana).jpg|thumb|[[The Master (Yana)|The Master]] soon after he opened the [[chameleon arch]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')]] In the [[Last Great Time War]], the Time Lords themselves brought the Master back from oblivion to use him in defense of Gallifrey. He deserted the instant the [[Dalek Emperor]] took control of the [[Cruciform]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'') as the sheer scale of the conflict seemed to frighten even him.
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| He fled to the end of the [[universe]] and used a [[Chameleon Arch]] to become [[human]], eventually growing into the elderly [[Professor Yana]]. [[Martha Jones]], who had travelled to this time with the Doctor, recognised Yana's fob watch as a Chameleon Arch and unintentionally prompted Yana to open it. [[The Master (Yana)|The Master]] returned in his old identity and attacked his [[Chantho|assistant]], killing her even as she shot him in the chest with a laser gun.
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| Fatally wounded, the Master regenerated into [[The Master (Harold Saxon)|a younger incarnation]] and escaped to [[2000s]] Earth in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'') There he assumed the identity of [[Harold Saxon]] and won the election for [[Prime Minister]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| [[File:14k.jpg|thumb|left|[[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]] with his laser screwdriver. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')]] [[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]] took the [[Tenth Doctor]] prisoner and [[The Year That Never Was|took over the Earth]] with the help of the [[Toclafane]] and a [[paradox machine]] he had made from the TARDIS. This timeline was reverted when [[Jack Harkness]] destroyed the paradox machine. As the Doctor took him into custody, the Master was shot by his [[Lucy Saxon|wife]], and collapsed in the Doctor's arms. The Master refused to regenerate as his final victory over the Doctor, refusing to be imprisoned in the TARDIS for the rest of his life.
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| The Doctor burned his body on a funeral pyre, but a mysterious figure retrieved [[the Master's ring]] from the ashes. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')
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| === Resurrection and redemption ===
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| [[File:Resarection.PNG|thumb|[[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]]'s resurrection. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')]]
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| After being resurrected by [[Disciples of Saxon|his disciples]], [[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]] rewrote the [[Immortality Gate]] to change [[The Master Race|all humans into his image]].
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| The Master, having total control over Earth, brought the Time Lords back into the [[Universe]] using a [[White-Point Star]]. After learning that [[Rassilon|the Lord President]] had put the sound of drums in his head, he used the last of his life-force to disable the President and the Time Lords. Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Master were thrust back to the [[Last Great Time War]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
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| == Other information ==
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| === Companions ===
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| Unlike the Doctor, the Master usually worked and travelled alone. On rare occasion, he was seen with companions. Examples included [[Ailla]] the [[Time Lord]] spy ([[MA]]: ''[[The Dark Path]]''), [[Chang Lee]], a young [[human]] whom the Master met in [[San Francisco]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]''); [[Katsura Sato]], an immortal [[Japanese]] [[Samurai]] who helped the Master in his quest for Glory; [[Chantho]], a female assistant and companion to the Master in his Professor Yana identity (although both of them were unaware of "Yana"'s true nature for most of that time) ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]''); and [[Lucy Saxon]], his wife, who was described as having travelled with the Master in the TARDIS in the same fashion as the Doctor and his companions. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]''/''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'') [[The Rani]] may have also travelled with the Master when they were trapped together. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]'')
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| === Imitators ===
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| The Master has at least one (rather pathetic) imitator. This was [[The Mentor (Death to the Doctor!)|the Mentor]]. ([[DWM]]: ''[[Death to the Doctor!]]'')
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| == Other versions of the Master ==
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| * After graduating from the Time Lord Academy, the Master, then called Koschei, was a [[The Magistrate|Magistrate]] for the [[High Council]]. Over time his devotion to justice and discipline 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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| * In a universe where the Third Doctor was exiled to Earth in 1997 by mistake, [[The Master (Unbound)|the Master]] was stranded on Earth in the 1970s, his TARDIS "placed beyond my reach". He allied with [[China]] under the alias Ke Le, creating the brainwashed Ke Le Divisions using alien parasites. He was bitter about being stuck on Earth and having to live through horrific crises that the Doctor wasn't turning up to stop. ([[BFDWU]]: ''[[Sympathy for the Devil]]'')
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| * While helping UNIT stop an invasion from [[Parallel universe (Inferno)|a parallel universe]], the Master met that universe's version of himself, still using the name [[Koschei (The Face of the Enemy)|Koschei]], imprisoned and tortured by order of the Leader of the [[Republic of Great Britain]], that reality's version of the Doctor. The Master killed his other self, claiming that it was an act of mercy. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy]]'')
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| * In an alternate timeline in which the [[Eighth Doctor|Doctor]] didn't erase the [[Second War in Heaven]]'s timeline, the Master became the [[War King]] and led the [[Time Lord]]s into the battle against [[the Enemy]]. ([[EDA]]: ''[[The Ancestor Cell]]'', [[FP]]: ''[[The Book of the War]]'')
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| * In an alternate timeline, a version of the Master existed as an android companion to the [[Ninth Doctor (Scream of the Shalka)|Doctor]]. ([[WC]]: ''[[Scream of the Shalka (webcast)|Scream of the Shalka]]'')
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| * In an alternate timeline, a version of the Master attempted to stop the [[Ninth Doctor (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Doctor]] from settling down with his companion [[Emma (The Curse of Fatal Death)|Emma]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]'')
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| == Personality ==
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| [[File:Master five doctors.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Master (Tremas)|The Master]] listens with pleasure as he is told by [[Borusa]] how evil he is. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'')]] {C}{C
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| The Master was the polar opposite of the Doctor in almost every respect. Though he retained a brilliant Time Lord mind and all of the Doctor's wit and cunning, he possesses two fatal character flaws - he was arrogant and exceptionally vain, which imvariably led to his downfall. By the time of his return from his [[Yana]] persona, he appeared to be more insane than ever, regressing to an almost childlike spitefulness and obliviousness. It is implied by the Doctor that the Master's insanity has been growing ever since he was eight years old. He instantaneously rejected a plea to listen by saying, "No. It's my turn. Revenge." ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')
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| In this instance, the Doctor, aware how dangerous the Master was, attempted to take on the role of a mentor in an attempt to save the Master from himself: "I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him". He pleaded with him on numerous occasions ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'', ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'') to calm down, stop what he was doing, listen and look at himself.
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| The Master absolutely refused to listen to the Doctor on any occasion. He evinced his vanity when the Doctor confronted him with the words "I forgive you", which he had been terrified of hearing because it would hurt his pride. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')
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| He had an exceptionally heightened sense of his own brilliance which was far more pronounced and blatant than the Doctor's. He referred to himself in the third person as "your Lord and Master" on numerous occasions and recited a Biblical-style verse of his own making to the Doctor, "...and so it came to pass that the human race fell. And I looked down, upon my new dominion as Master of All and I thought it good", as if fancying himself as a god. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'') He also held Time Lords to be an absolutely superior race of life, assuming the privilege of altering history, on the principle of: "I'm a Time Lord. I have that right" ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''). Similarly, late in the Doctor's tenth incarnation, the Doctor was heard to shout "The laws of time are mine, and they will obey me!" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Waters of Mars]]'')
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| :''[[Russell T Davies]] later stated he was influenced by how he thought the Master came to be how he was. The Doctor later realised that he has gone too far and most likely recognised the parallels between his actions and the Master's.''
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| In some of his incarnations he felt a pedantic need to correct people on bad grammar. The most noteworthy occasion was when he corrected [[Grace Holloway|Grace]]'s "kiss as good as me" to "kiss as well as me".
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| Also in a commentary podcast for [[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', Russell T Davies said that in an original version of the script the Master corrected someone saying "Happy Christmas" to "Merry Christmas" telling them "you don't say merry New Year, do you?"
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| He matched the Doctor's keen wit and sense of humour. He replied to the President of the United States when reprimanded for his audacious conduct contravening established first contact policy with regards to the [[Toclafane]] with a casual "Oh, you know what it's like, new job, all that paperwork - I think I left it down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket. Have you met the wife?" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| [[File:Master firing laser screwdriver.jpg|thumb|left|[[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]] with his [[laser screwdriver]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')]] {C}{C
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| The Master also shared the Doctor's technical know-how. He was able to construct his [[laser screwdriver]] from Earth components and miniaturise [[Richard Lazarus]]' genetic manipulation technology. He cannibalised the Doctor's TARDIS and turned it into the paradox machine.
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| It should also be noted that both devices, in contrast to the Doctor's tools, had a hostile purpose; the laser screwdriver was a weapon specifically created to attack and kill others, unlike the Sonic Screwdriver which "doesn't kill, wound, or maim". ([[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'')
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| The Master also had a crippling fear of an all-powerful, God-like Doctor, probably based on the Doctor's habit of challenging his old friend's grandiose self-image by constantly derailing his plans. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mind of Evil]]'') When the Doctor harnessed the psychic energy of the entire human race and effectively became a god, the Master was reduced to sobbing against a wall. ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')
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| The Master's relationship with the Doctor was one of the most complex in the series. He respected the Doctor as a worthy opponent but was obsessed with proving his personal superiority, causing him to view the Doctor both as his best friend and worst enemy. He expressed deep anger toward the Doctor, along with a desire for vengeance, saying "No, it's my turn, revenge, best served hot". ([[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'')
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| The Master hadn't always been like this: he and the Doctor had once been good friends as children on Galllifrey, but the Doctor thought that staring into the [[Time Vortex]] as an eight-year old child drove him insane. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| [[File:Power unlimited Power.PNG|thumb|right|[[The Master (Harold Saxon)|The Master]] shows off his power. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of time]]'')]] {C}{C
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| After the Master's botched revival he became more violent and insane than before; he acted on instinct and was almost reduced to the level of an animal. At the very end of his life, his personality seemed to revert; when [[Rassilon]] tried to kill the Doctor, the Master sacrificed himself as he found in Rassilon a common enemy. He used an unknown amount of his life-force to blast Rassilon and save the Doctor when he could have let Rassilon kill the Doctor and survived himself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'').
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| He was described by the Doctor as always being sort of "hypnotic". ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
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| == See also ==
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| * [[The Master - Timeline]]
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| == Behind the scenes == | | == Behind the scenes == |
| === Name ===
| | * Like ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]'', this version of [[the Master]] is not considered [[canon]]. |
| The name " Koschei" has been developed in various novels and other media, and does not appear in the TV series. The Master's real name has yet to appear in an episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
| | * He has been called '''"The 17th Master"''' by some fans, based upon a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the spoof. In the special itself he is not referred to as anything but the Master. |
| | | {{DEFAULTSORT:Master Curse}} |
| Koschei (rus.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koschei Коще́й] or Коще́й Бессме́ртный, "Koschei The Deathless") is an antagonist in Russian folklore. He is an immortal who hides his soul inside a needle, which is inside an egg, in a duck, inside a hare, in an iron chest which is buried under a tree on the island of Buyan. As long as his soul is safe, he cannot die.
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| === Character conception and development ===
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| When conceiving the character, the production team had originally considered the idea of the Doctor having a female arch-nemesis rather than male one (this idea was later revived with the creation of [[the Rani]]). Later, they thought of the Master as the evil half of a single personality. The Master's name was dreamed up as another counterpart to the Doctor's - like his enemy, "Master" is an academic title.
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| In the [[Third Doctor]]'s [[The Final Game|original final episode concept]], [[The Master (UNIT years)|the original version of the Master]] would have redeemed himself and given his life to save the Doctor, after which the Doctor would have [[Regeneration|regenerated]], but the accidental death of [[Roger Delgado]] (the original Master) meant that this never happened. Over thirty years later, this idea would be reused in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'' with [[The Master (Harold Saxon)|the sixth version of the Master]] sacrificing himself to save the [[Tenth Doctor]] from [[Rassilon]].
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| In ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'', writer (and then [[Script Editor]]) [[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 used in ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]''.
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| === How many Masters? ===
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| It has never been firmly established on screen how many incarnations of the Master have existed. The last "count" that was available occurred in [[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' in which the Master is said to be near the end of his thirteenth and final life (it was this serial that established the thirteen-life limit for Time Lords). Afterwards, in [[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'', this same incarnation (albeit played by a different actor) takes over [[Tremas]]' body and this incarnation, notionally his fourteenth, went on to plague the Doctor for the remainder of the original series. The 2010 edition of [[REF]]: ''[[The Visual Dictionary]]'' indicated that the Master played by [[John Simm]] from [[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' onwards was the seventeenth. This would suggest the Gordon Tipple version of the Master is supposed to be the Ainley Master, with the remaining count incorporating the Eric Roberts and Derek Jacobi versions of the character. Whether or not the resurrected Master of [[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'' counts as an eighteenth incarnation (since he states several times that he is ''not'' the same man as the "[[Harold Saxon]]" Master) is unclear. As far as on-screen canon, it's unknown whether the Master might have had other incarnations during the [[Last Great Time War]] or between the Roger Delgado Master and the thirteenth incarnation (if they are different Masters).
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| === Casting ===
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| :''Apart from the incarnations below, other incarnations of the Master have appeared in novels and comics.''
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| ==== Television appearances ====
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| ===== Classic series ([[1971]]-1973, 1976, 1981-1986, 1989) =====
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| * [[Roger Delgado]] as [[The Master (UNIT years)|the first version of the character]] to appear on ''[[Doctor Who]]''. He first appeared in the role in [[1971]]'s ''[[Terror of the Autons]]'' and was last seen in [[Frontier in Space|''Frontier in Space'']]. | |
| * [[Peter Pratt]] and [[Geoffrey Beevers]] as [[The Master (UNIT years)|a decaying version of the first version to appear]]. They appeared in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' and ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'', respectively.
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| * [[Anthony Ainley]] as [[The Master (Tremas)|The Master in the body of Tremas]] from the last moments of ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'' through the last original series story ''[[Survival]]'', also returning for the 1997 video game [[Destiny of the Doctors]], making him the longest running actor to portray the Master up to the present day. Note that the character had several extended absences from the series.
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| ===== TV Movie ([[1996]]) =====
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| * [[Eric Roberts]] played the Master in the body of [[Bruce]], in ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]''.
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| * In the same production, [[Gordon Tipple]] appeared in a non-speaking role as the Master's previous incarnation being executed in the pre-credits sequence.
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| ===== New series ([[2007]], [[2009]] & [[2010]]) =====
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| * [[Derek Jacobi]] played [[Professor Yana]], a [[human]] version of the Master, as well as the Master himself once he reverted to a Time Lord.
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| * [[John Simm]] played the Master's next incarnation, initially taking the name [[Harold Saxon]]. Both Jacobi and Simm debuted as the Master in ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', though only Simm appeared in the following episodes ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' and ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''. He returned in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', during which the character renounced the Saxon name - not surprisingly considering the world had witnessed his death at the hands of his [[Lucy Saxon|wife]] - and chose to be called, simply, the Master.
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| * [[William Hughes]] had a non-speaking cameo as the young Master during a flashback sequence in ''The Sound of Drums'' which was later reused in ''The End of Time''.
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| ==== Other media ====
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| ===== Animation =====
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| * Derek Jacobi also played [[The Master (Scream of the Shalka)|another incarnation of the Master]] in the web-based animation ''[[Scream of the Shalka (webcast)|Scream of the Shalka]]''.
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| ===== Audio =====
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| * [[Geoffrey Beevers]] reprised the role in the audio plays ''[[Dust Breeding]]'' and ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]''.
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| * [[Mark Gatiss]] played an [[The Master (Unbound)|alternative version of the character]] in ''[[Sympathy for the Devil]]''.
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| ===== Video game =====
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| * Anthony Ainley reprised the role in videotaped scenes included in the game ''[[Destiny of the Doctors]]''. These sequences appear as extras on the DVD version of ''[[Survival]]'', his last television story.
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| === Continuity ===
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| * ''[[The Doctor Who Role Playing Game]]'' from the American gaming company [[FASA]] identified [[the Monk]] and [[the War Chief]] as earlier incarnations of the Master, causing a few fans to mistakenly believe that ''[[Doctor Who]]'' itself had stated a connection, when it had not done so. Novel and comic continuity specifically indicates otherwise.
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| * The [[Big Finish Productions]] audio play ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'' and the television episode ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' have the Doctor telling two different and apparently contradictory explanations for how the Master turned evil (Although it may be that both the schism and the deal with Death were responsible, with the deal with Death making the Master's madness more powerful).
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| * Although novels have been written establishing [[the Master (UNIT years)|the "first" Master]]'s activities between the final televised appearance of [[Roger Delgado]] ''[[Frontier in Space]]'' and the character's return in ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'' in a [[The Master (Tersurus)|degenerated form]], the latter adventure makes no direct link. Therefore it can't be said for certain (based upon on-screen evidence) whether this incarnation is the same one played by Delgado.
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| === Anagrams ===
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| During [[Anthony Ainley]]'s tenure as the Master, [[pseudonym]]s made from 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.
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| 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 a possible, albeit an unintentional anagram of "Master No. Six" as "Sam Tyler" (John Simm's ''[[Wikipedia:Life on Mars (TV series)|Life on Mars]]'' character) is an anagram of "masterly". Yana is an intentional acronym of ''''Y'''ou '''A'''re '''N'''ot '''A'''lone, the final words of the Face of Boe, which led the Doctor to discover that Yana was a Time Lord.
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| [[Category:The Master| *]] | | [[Category:Non-canonical incarnations of the Master]] |
| | [[Category:Individual Time Lords]] |
| | [[Category:Renegade Time Lords]] |
