Like the Doctor, the renegade Time Lord known as the Master used many aliases. However, while the Doctor used false names on a fairly ad hoc basis to avoid awkward questions, the Master usually adopted them in order to further whatever scheme they were embarked upon at the time.
"The Master" was itself an alias. He chose this name, as the First Doctor did his, while attending the Academy. (TV: The Sound of Drums; AUDIO: The Destination Wars)
First incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Inventor | when posing as a hero on the planet Destination | The Destination Wars |
"UNIT enemy" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koschei | An old name the Master used while at Time Lord Academy, he resumed using it again sometime after he left Gallifrey | Divided Loyalties The Dark Path |
In Russian folklore, Koschei hides his soul in an obscure location under many layers of protection so that he can never die. |
| Professor Carl Thascalos | to give Jamie McCrimmon the Necronomicon, and to gain access to facilities of the Newton Institute | The Nameless City The Time Monster |
Greek for master, pointed out by Jo Grant |
| Colonel Masters | to infiltrate Rex Farrel's plastics company | Terror of the Autons | |
| Emil Keller | assumed identity of the creator of the Keller Machine | The Mind of Evil | Emil is derived from the Latin word aemulus, meaning rival, and Keller is derived from Old English cwellere, meaning executioner |
| Martin Jurgens | while posing as an Adjudicator | Colony in Space |
Anagram of Master Gunnjir (gunnjir is the spear of Odin, head of the Norse pantheon) |
| Victor Magister | to insinuate himself socially into the Devil's End community as a vicar, and later the name used when being charged for his crimes | The Dæmons Who Killed Kennedy |
Latin for master |
| Jack Harris | to use a stolen Ford Cortina to reach his TARDIS | The Eight Doctors | Name of car's original owner whom the Master had killed |
| Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart | to trick Sergeant Benton, and later the Third Doctor and Jo Grant | The Time Monster The Heralds of Destruction |
|
| Frey | whilst in Sweden, 141 | The Spear of Destiny | Old Norse for master |
| Inspector LeMaitre | to infiltrate a village fete by pretending to be a police inspector from Scotland Yard | Last of the Gaderene | French for the master |
| Senator Szef | The Seismologist's Story | Polish for boss, chief | |
| McMaster | Doctor Who Fights Masterplan "Q" | ||
| Geoffrey Thynne | to infiltrate Kenstone Hall | The Touch of the Nurazh | |
| Aloysius Fischer | to infiltrate a UNIT Christmas party | UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce | Dr. Aloysius Fischer was the person the Master assumed the identity of, though he assures the Doctor that Fischer is still alive. Aloysius is originally derived from the German name Chlodovech, meaning famous in war. |
| Duke Dominus | to impersonate a 1930s Chicago gangster | The Duke of Dominoes | Dominus from the Latin for lord or master of the house |
| Rupert Masters | Claiming to represent the "Masters Corporation" | Night Flight to Nowhere | |
| The Doctor | Anything You Can Do | ||
| The Commissioner of Sirius IV | Frontier in Space | ||
| Estro | while posing as an adviser to Lord Haldoran in an effort to procure a Dalek matter transmuter | Legacy of the Daleks | Esperanto for master |
| Professor Dominar | Doorway to Hell | Spanish for dominate |
Degenerated body
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Damien Scott | Whilst working for the Dominus Institute in the body of a future incarnation. | Vampire of the Mind | In French Damien means to subdue or tame, symbolizing the Master's position in the Dominus Institute. |
| General Malgrove | Whilst leading a faction of the Gorlan Empire. | The Two Masters | The Gorlan word for master |
| Van Houten | In the 1890s | Maurice | Named after chocolates common in the time period. |
| Mr. Dominus | When visiting the Red Tavern in the 1890s | Masterpiece | Dominus from the Latin for lord or master of the house |
| Mwalimu | while hiding beneath Colonel Spindleton's manor house in 1979 | Trail of the White Worm | Swahili for master in the sense of teacher |
| Interplanetary Police Inspector Efendi | while on Secus | The Evil One | Turkish for "Master" |
"Tremas" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tremas | to deceive Nyssa on Logopolis after taking over her father's body | Logopolis | A coincidental anagram of "Master" |
| The Portreeve | to trap the Fifth Doctor in Castrovalva | Castrovalva | |
| Kalid | used to take control of the Xeraphin gestalt | Time-Flight | Kalid derives from the Indian Kalidasa meaning servant of Kali, an Indian goddess of time and change and usually depicted as being dark and violent |
| Sir Gilles Estram | to avert the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. | The King's Demons | Estram is a simple anagram. |
| Mr. Tase | The Velvet Dark | An anagram of Master | |
| Merlin | The Creation of Camelot | ||
| The Sheriff | to gain access to the regenerative fountain near Eternity, California. | A Town Called Eternity | |
| Professor Masterman | The Time Savers | ||
| Branko Gospodar | to access the TITAN Array in order to destroy the Chronovores | The Quantum Archangel | Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian for master |
| Keith Potter | The End of the Line | ||
| Alan Campbell | Prisoners of Time | ||
| Dr. Howard Chithros | Stop the Pigeon | ||
| Dominus | Crossing the Rubicon | ||
| Major Kreer | used when allied with the Tzun in 1950s America. | First Frontier | Continued to use alias after his regeneration |
"Tzun" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Count Marius Castillo | Housewarming |
"John Smith" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Seta | Used aboard the starship Gallery | Dust Breeding | Anagram of master |
| Dr. John Smith | Used while amnesiac on an unnamed colony world | Master |
While body-jumping
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce | occasionally reverted to impersonation of a San Franciscan paramedic named Bruce after he had taken over Bruce's body | Doctor Who | |
| Daniel | The Lifeboat and the Deathboat | ||
| Richard | Forgotten | ||
| Don Maestro | Whilst trapped on Earth in the 20th century. | Mastermind | Italian for master in the sense of teacher |
| Dook Domini | In 1931 | Mastermind | Named after The Duke of Dominoes, a trump card in an old Wallarian game of chance which beat all other suits. |
| Alien Artefact Alpha 1 | While being kept in the Vault. | Mastermind |
"Bald" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Harcourt De'ath | To practice eye surgery on many patients, in order to literally "have eyes everywhere" | Time's Horizon, Eyes of the Master | Bar the apostrophe, De'ath is spelt the same way as "Death". |
| Kappa Chi | Designation as CIA agent. | The Death of Hope | |
| Master-Builder | When creating the Dalek Time Controller's new empire. | The Monster of Montmartre | |
| The Doctor | Whilst masquerading as a future incarnation of the Doctor. | Dominion | |
| Michael Masterson | While living in Hexford in the body of a past incarnation. | And You Will Obey Me |
"Yana" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyber-Master | Whilst masquerading as a Cyberman, superior to the Cyber-Controller. | Master of Worlds | |
| The Doctor | Whilst masquerading as the Doctor on Gardezza. | Beneath the Viscoid | |
| Dr. Keller | Whilst on Arcking. | The Good Master | Reusing alias from The Mind of Evil |
| Professor Yana | chameleon arch identity | Utopia | Had no known meaning of its own, but the Face of Boe made up an acronym, "You Are Not Alone". |
"Harold Saxon" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harold Saxon | used to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | The Sound of Drums | Mister Saxon was a coincidental anagram of Master No Six; Harold is a derivative of Old English Hereweald meaning Master of the Armies. The Anglo-Saxons were invading England during the reign of King Arthur. |
| Mr. Razor | used while on board a Mondasian colony ship | World Enough and Time | The Old English word for knife is seax, which is what the name Saxon originated from. His name, then, is ostensibly "Mr. Saxon" - the name given the first time the Saxon incarnation is mentioned in The Christmas Invasion. |
| Alpha 7 | designation for the Mondasian Cybermen created on a colony ship for Operation Exodus | Alit in Underland |
"Missy" incarnation
| Alias | When used | Story | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs. Braithwaite | After marrying Bobo Braithwaite | Dismemberment | |
| Missy | New name adopted shortly after regenerating into female form | Deep Breath, Dark Water | Short for "Mistress", feminine form of "Master". |
| Mobile Intelligence Systems Interface | Ruse allowing close contact with and delaying recognition by the Doctor | Dark Water | Backcronym from "Missy" |
| Miss Magister | When posing as a teacher | Yes, Missy | Latin for master |
| Beatrice Foxcroft | When meeting with the Monk, who was disguised as Henry VIII | Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated | Beatrice means "bringer of joy or blessings", as one would expect a queen to |
| Doctor Who | When practicing being good aboard a Mondasian colony ship | World Enough and Time |
Behind the scenes
- During Anthony Ainley's tenure as the Master, pseudonyms made from anagrams of "Tony Ainley" were often used in the credits — both on-screen and in Radio Times — for the Master's disguises, such as Neil Toynay for the Portreeve in Castrovalva.
- Another, craftier pseudonym was used in Radio Times for The King's Demons, when Sir Gilles was listed as being played by "James Stoker" — an anagram of "Master's Joke".
- In Sympathy for the Devil, Mark Gatiss, who voiced an alternate version of the Master, is credited as "Sam Kisgart", an anagram of the actor's name. When this incarnation of the Master returned in The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, Gatiss was again credited as Kisgart.
- Professor Stream in The Hollows of Time was originally intended to be a pseudonym of the Master, but copyright restrictions prevented them from making this explicit in the story. "Stream", like "Tremas", is an acronym of "Master".