The Master (Scream of the Shalka)
An incarnation of the Master in an android body travelled with the Ninth Doctor.
Biography
At one point, the Master and the Doctor crossed paths. It was during this encounter that the Master lost his physical form, and he was forced to occupy an android body, the appearance of which he had personally selected. He noted that he was less than happy with this arrangement, saying that it was "an offer [he] was foolish enough to accept". He also said that he "was of aid to the Doctor during the events that damaged [him]". He could not leave the TARDIS because his android body was limited to functioning inside it, (NOTVALID: Scream of the Shalka, NOTVALID: Scream of the Shalka) his android body having been purposely built to never be able to leave the ship. (NOTVALID: The Feast of the Stone)
He assisted the Doctor and Alison Cheney in fighting the Shalka. When the conflict was over, the Master convinced Alison to travel with them in the TARDIS as a companion. (NOTVALID: Scream of the Shalka)
The Master was later connected to the TARDIS' telepathic circuits by the Doctor in order to destroy a psychic vampire by feeding it with the Master's pure evil memories and personality. (NOTVALID: The Feast of the Stone)
Psychological profile
The "Android Master" retained his charm and wit, together with his hypnotic abilities. He attempted to hypnotise Alison Cheney, but was interrupted by the Doctor. However, he disliked the circumstances behind becoming an android, even commenting that death would have been a better fate for him than listening to the Doctor "being right all the time".
Remaining loyal only to himself, the Master would lie about his motivations and join with whomever could offer him an advantage to his current situation. However, he was aware of the Doctor's loneliness, and talked Alison into becoming his companion, despite admitting to disliking her. (NOTVALID: Scream of the Shalka)
Behind the scenes
- With the Eighth Doctor Adventures being an ongoing series at the time of Scream of the Shalka's release, range editor Justin Richards connected the Eighth Doctor's continuity to that of the "Shalka" Doctor's via the Master. As Richards confirmed in DWM 338, the novel Sometime Never... tied in to Scream of the Shalka with a scene in "the room in the TARDIS where the Doctor never goes," wherein the Eighth Doctor encounters the Master's essence trapped in the Doctor's TARDIS since TV: Doctor Who. The Master's face appears on a screen and is described as "wise and whimsical with hard eyes and a beard flecked with grey," a more concise version of Paul Cornell's description of the android Master in PROSE: Scream of the Shalka. The "Ghost Master" reappears in The Deadstone Memorial and The Gallifrey Chronicles. The link between him and the "Android Master" was later clarified by PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords, which stated that "some rumours" said that after the events of TV: Doctor Who "[the Master] remained trapped in the Doctor's TARDIS, his mental resources transferred into an android, acting as the Doctor's companion or pet."
- According to the production information text on the Scream of the Shalka DVD, in original drafts of the script, instead of an android of the Master being the TARDIS Defence System, it was going to be a hologram of the Fifth Doctor. This was later changed so that it would be the Master instead.
- In his intended backstory, the Master came to the assistance of the Ninth Doctor when Gallifrey was invaded by an unknown alien race. While the other Time Lord retreated to the Matrix, the Doctor and the Master "sent the aliens packing", destroying the Master's final form in the process, causing the Doctor to construct an android body confined to his TARDIS. The Time Lords then used their power to "send the Doctor off to solve the most dangerous problems in the universe", with the Master along for the ride. (DWM 464)
- Derek Jacobi, who voiced the "Android Master", would go on to play a new version of the War Master in TV: Utopia, and later star in his own audio series, The War Master.
