The Master (The TV Movie)

The Master
Main aliases:	Bruce
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
Appearances:	DW: Doctor Who EDA: The Eight Doctors (cameo) ST: Prologue ST: Forgotten
Main actor:	[[actor::Eric Roberts Paul McGann|Eric Roberts Paul McGann]]

Incarnations of the Master+
Original regenerative cycle+
Interim+
Renewed regenerative cycle+
Ambiguous+
Other realities+

Following his execution by the Daleks, the Master inhabited a snake-like creature variously called a morphant or deathworm. In this form, he possessed a 20th century human named Bruce.

Biography

Preparations

The Master had earlier prepared for his execution on the Dalek homeworld Skaro by transferring his consciousness to a new host.

Though both accounts credit him with having done so deliberately, one claims that he absorbed a deathworm (EDA: The Eight Doctors), another that he used a Skarosian life form called a morphant (DWM: The Fallen).

Whichever method he actually used, his consciousness survived the death of his physical body. The Seventh Doctor stored the ashes in a casket and set his TARDIS on course for Gallifrey. En route, the Master's morphant/deathworm form escaped from the casket and interfered with the TARDIS, causing a timing malfunction. The ship materialised in San Francisco in the last days of 1999. (DW: Doctor Who)

Takeover

The Master's "morphant" which took over Bruce. (DW: Doctor Who)

On exiting the TARDIS, the Doctor got caught in the crossfire of a gang war and was picked up by an ambulance. As he lay wounded, he saw the Master's form exiting the TARDIS via its keyhole, but he was unable to communicate this information to the humans nearby. Bruce tended to the Doctor, but while he was loading him into the ambulance, the Master hid inside a bag. Later, after Bruce had gone home and to bed, the Master forced his way into Bruce's body through his mouth, killing him and taking over his body. The effort tired the Master and he initially slept.

The next morning, the Master, now inhabiting Bruce's body but realising the decaying form would not last long, launched his scheme to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations. His first act was to kill Bruce's wife.

The transformation into Bruce involved some complications. His eyes retained the "cat's eye" appearance, a holdover from his experiences on Cheetah World (DW: Survival), forcing him to wear sunglasses to remain inconspicuous. Also, Bruce's body began to decay rapidly.

The Master befriended Chang Lee, a young gang member who had been present when the Doctor was shot, and who had stolen the TARDIS key. With Chang Lee's help, he entered the Doctor's TARDIS and regaled Chang Lee with stories of the Doctor's supposed villainy (claiming, among other things, the Doctor had stolen the Master's regenerations). He also planned to open the Eye of Harmony and cause mass destruction. With Chang Lee's further help, he opened the Eye. He discovered that the Doctor had again regenerated, but that the Doctor was half-human. This answered a few of the Master's longstanding questions about his foe. (DW: Doctor Who)

Defeat

File:Master-doctor.png

The Master attempts to switch bodies with the Eighth Doctor. (DW: Doctor Who)

The act of opening the Eye had the unexpected side-effect of restoring the Doctor's memory. The Doctor and his companion, Dr. Grace Holloway, made their way back to the TARDIS where the Master, now dressed in Gallifreyan robes, greeted his enemy. In the ensuing battle, the Master used mind control on Grace. He also killed Chang lee by snapping his neck.

During a struggle next to the Eye of Harmony, the Master fell into it. The Doctor said he had been "eaten" by the TARDIS. (DW: Doctor Who) Shortly after his defeat, the Master laid a final trap for the Doctor, leaving a crystalline structure that would give the Doctor amnesia. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)

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 a being of energy that could travel through the air. (ST: Forgotten) Escaping into London in 1906, the Master possessed the body of George Steer and tried to kill the newly born Edward Grainger to unravel the Doctor's timeline. The Master was stopped by the First Doctor and Violet after being hit with a rolling pin and being removed from the body he possessed. (ST: Prologue) The Master evaded the Eighth Doctor and he possessed the body of a man called Richard. (ST: Forgotten)

Another account suggests that he was rescued from the Eye of Harmony by Esterath. (DWM: The Glorious Dead) (See the incarnation page, The Master (The Fallen), for more details.)

Personality

The "Bruce" incarnation of the Master retained his propensity for "camp" villainy, but was also capable of terrifying rage. When preparing to steal the Doctor's body, he donned a flamboyant Time Lord robe for no apparent reason. This Master spoke with an American accent (unlike his other incarnations) but his personality was otherwise mostly consistent. (DW: Doctor Who)

Behind the scenes

• Though the script to Doctor Who referred to the Master in this form as a "morphant", this name does not appear onscreen.
• Gordon Tipple played the Master's previous incarnation, who appears only in a cameo and does not speak; it is unclear whether Tipple was portraying the same incarnation played by Anthony Ainley or another version of the Master.
• Bruce's last name is never revealed on screen, though he is known as "Bruce Gerhardt" in the novelisation.