"UNIT enemy" Master
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Fully embracing his darker nature after escaping the black hole he had been trapped in by the Second Doctor, the Master went on to fight various battles against the Third Doctor and UNIT during the Doctor's exile on Earth, even spending a short period also trapped on the planet until he retrieved his stolen dematerialisation circuit from the Doctor.
After the Doctor foiled his attempt to ally with the Dæmon Azal, the Master was arrested by UNIT Sergeant John Benton. With the government using him as a scapegoat to cover up recent extraterrestrial incursions, the Master was moved to various prisons until he was finally imprisoned on Fortress Island as the sole inmate, but he was eventually able to orchestrate his escape with the aid of the Sea Devils.
After growing tired of his conflict with UNIT, the Master formed an allegiance with the Dalek Empire to start a war between Earth and Draconia. After his plan was foiled by the Third Doctor, the Master was forced to regenerate after a battle with the Twelfth Doctor in a time locked dimension.
Biography
Post-regeneration
After the Master, going by the moniker of the "War Chief", was shot by the War Lords for betraying them, (TV: The War Games) he underwent a faulty regeneration that resulted in him looking like two bodies fused together. After convincing the War Lords that his betrayal of them was just a misunderstanding, he helped them travel to Nazi Germany, where the War Chief served as an occult advisor to Adolf Hitler as the head of the Black Coven, hoping to change history with the Nazis as his agents. When the Seventh Doctor confronted him, the War Chief tried to take his healthy body, but the Doctor destroyed his base at Drachensberg castle by overloading its nuclear reactors and left the War Chief to perish. However, engulfed in the flames of the castles destruction, the War Chief was able to force himself to regenerate (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus) into his ninth incarnation. (PROSE: CIA File Extracts) He visited the Scoundrels Club to recover from the regeneration in comfort. (PROSE: Dismemberment)
Start of darkness
Wanting to start afresh without any specific plans of conquest, he began calling himself "Koschei" again, and also started taking on human companions like the Doctor. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy) However, Koschei had a Time Lady named Ailla planted on him by the Celestial Intervention Agency to monitor his unstable obsession with order; Ailla 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 Galactic Federation. The temptation posed by the Darkheart device, capable of altering timelines without causing paradoxes or attracting the attention of various "higher beings", proved too much for Koschei, and the revelation that Ailla was a spy killed the last traces of good in him, and he swore that the Doctor would one day call him "Master". After the Doctor left him to die in a black hole, Koschei swore that he would take revenge. (PROSE: The Dark Path) The Master later reflected that this had been the end of Koschei as a person, with the Time Lord that existed afterwards being only "the Master". (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy)
Early exploits
The Master penetrated Gallifrey, and gained access to the Matrix via a console in the old Capitol, giving him a backdoor into the Matrix, which he used to collect classified information for his many devious schemes, (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel) including the Time Lords' files on the Doomsday Weapon, (TV: Colony in Space) the Sea Devils, (TV: The Sea Devils) the Deathworm Morphants, (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel) the Chronovores, and the Dæmons. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords) and
The Master then put his TARDIS in orbit of the homeworld of the Archons and made a deal with them that would result in the Archons acquiring the Doctor's TARDIS for themselves. Posing as "Professor Thascalos", the Master gave the Necronomicon to the Doctor's companion Jamie McCrimmon, so that Jamie would give the book to the Doctor and lure the TARDIS to the Archon homeworld. (PROSE: The Nameless City)
According to one Time Lord, the Master was responsible for several interplanetary wars, but always managed to disappear before he could be brought to justice. Though the Time Lords managed to catch him at least once, the Master escaped before his TARDIS "could be de-energised." (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons)
Early times on Earth
The Master was imprisoned on Shada by the Time Lords at the time when the Doctor was exiled to Earth. However, the Time Lords decided to keep the Doctor busy whilst he was trapped on Earth by releasing the Master, (PROSE: Prisoners of the Sun) who decided to invade Earth after learning that the Doctor was exiled there. (PROSE: The Secret Diary of the Master)
The Master was present at the first Auton invasion of Earth, and heard about Channing's attempt to capture the Third Doctor. He contacted journalist James Stevens by phone, whose article he had read in the Daily Chronicle, and told him about the near-kidnapping. He called Stevens again during the Silurian attacks on Wenley Moor, informing Stevens that Edward Masters had been the first to die from the plague sweeping London. Shortly after the Inferno Project incident, the Master once more contacted James Stevens, this time to check up on his work on his UNIT article. He promptly hung up when Stevens mentioned C19 and the Glasshouse. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
Under the alias "Emil Keller", the Master captured a psychic parasite and trapped it within the Keller Machine, and spent many months establishing "Keller" and the machine's credentials. (TV: The Mind of Evil)
The Master first infiltrated the headquarters of UNIT while the Brigadier and the Doctor had gone to meet with government officials. He hypnotised the Doctor's assistant, Liz Shaw, and, through her, learnt of the failed Nestene invasion and the awakening of the Silurians, inspiring him to ally himself with the Nestene and to locate more Silurian colonies. He then had Liz forget his presence, whilst also putting the thought in her head to leave UNIT. (PROSE: Reconnaissance)
Becoming a threat
Information from Doorway into Nowhere, UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce, & Bert the Landlord needs to be added
The Master approached the Nestene Consciousness with an offer to become an "invasion consultant" for them. (PROSE: The Secret Diary of the Master) He then appeared at the International Circus, with his TARDIS in the form of a horse box. He hypnotised the circus troupe and plastic factory manager Rex Farrel to obey his orders as part of his plan to assist the Nestenes in their latest bid to conquer Earth. A Time Lord emissary alerted the Doctor to the Master's presence on Earth, and, before the radio telescope could be used to bring the Nestene invasion force to Earth, the Doctor convinced the Master that the Nestenes would not distinguish between the Master and anyone else in their takeover, and the two worked together to fling the Nestenes back into space by "chang[ing] the polarity" whilst the radio telescope's transfer shift was still open. Afterwards, the Master fled, but the Doctor had already taken his dematerialisation circuit, preventing the Master from leaving Earth in his TARDIS. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
The Master returned again, posing as the scientist who had "developed" the Keller Machine. He used prisoners as a plan to hijack the Thunderbolt, a missile containing nerve gas, and use it to destroy the World Peace Conference, which would trigger a nuclear war. The Doctor, with the help of George Patrick Barnham, stopped the Master with the Keller Machine, and the Doctor reactivated the missile's abort mechanism. UNIT also destroyed the missile along with the Keller Machine, but the Doctor later discovered he had lost the Master's dematerialisation circuit in his altercation with the Master. Shortly after, the Master telephoned the Doctor to let him know that he had found the circuit and was now free to leave Earth behind while the Doctor remained in his exile. (TV: The Mind of Evil)
Shortly after the Master regained control over his TARDIS, he tried to gain control of a cult so he could harness the power of the Immortals. He convinced the real cult leader, Hadley, that he could serve the cult loyally by supplying them with sarg. Unfortunately for the Master, Hadley only intended to keep the Master alive while he was still useful. With no other options, the Master formed a temporary truce with the Doctor to stop Hades' plan. After the crisis was resolved, the Doctor allowed the Master to depart unmolested in the name of their temporary truce. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion)
The Master brought Axos to Earth, hoping to ally himself with them. Instead, he became the prisoner of Axos, and only escaped by saying that he would help it. The Doctor tricked the Master into thinking he was going to betray Earth. Instead, he trapped the Master with Axos in a time loop. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
Posing as an Adjudicator, the Master travelled to a human colony on the planet Uxarieus in the year 2472, where the Time Lord records indicated he would find the Doomsday Weapon created by the Uxarieans. Once again the Doctor defeated his plans and the weapon was destroyed. (TV: Colony in Space)
Posing as a vicar named "Victor Magister" in the village of Devil's End (TV: The Dæmons; PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy) after murdering the old vicar, (PROSE: The Eight Doctors) the Master summoned the ancient Dæmon Azal, but he failed to understand the power and control that was necessary after summoning him. Following Azal's confrontation with Jo Grant's selflessness, Azal destroyed himself through Jo's illogical actions. The Master was captured by UNIT following a failed attempt to escape in the Doctor's car, Bessie. (TV: The Dæmons)
In custody
Information from Harvest of Time, & The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy needs to be added
Prior to his trial, the Master was sent to Stangmoor Prison. During his captivity, an army of hypnotised salespeople stormed the facility and attempted to rescue him, but the ploy failed and the Master was sent to another secure holding facility. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Jo were trapped in an extra-universal prison by the Freedom Corporation, so the Brigadier was forced to strike a deal with the Master to save them. But the Master double-crossed him and used time travel technology to regress the Earth backwards in time. However, with help from the Time Lords, the Doctor was freed and was able to stop the Master's plan and restore everything to normal. (PROSE: Freedom)
At his trial, the government used the Master as a scapegoat for all the alien attacks which had recently occurred. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy) They initially wanted to hand him the death sentence for his crimes, but the Master was able to convince them of his usefulness alive by having the Doctor acknowledge him as the "most dangerous mind on the planet". (PROSE: Court Hearing – Top Secret and Confidential)
The Master was held at Aylesbury Grange Detention Centre. Demanding the Doctor visit him, he engaged the Doctor in conversation, insisting he had changed. However, the Doctor refused to believe him, and the Master reluctantly revealed that he had drawn the Doctor to the facility as part of an escape attempt and that the Doctor was speaking to a hologram. The Master nearly escaped, but was stopped by UNIT soldiers accompanying the Doctor, who revealed he had been a hologram as well. (COMIC: The Man in the Ion Mask)
While in custody, with the Doctor on Peladon, (TV: The Curse of Peladon) the Master collaborated with UNIT to prevent an invasion by a fascist version of Earth, travelling with the Brigadier and Ian and Barbara Chesterton to the alternate universe and encountering Koschei, the alternate version of himself. Koschei was imprisoned and tortured by order of the Leader of the Republic of Great Britain. The Master killed his other self, claiming it was an act of mercy. Before he was imprisoned by UNIT again, the Master hid his TARDIS back in the church crypt in Devil's End. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy)
In another escape attempt, the Master created a device that switched his mind with the Doctor's. He went to the Doctor's TARDIS, where he learned that the Time Lords had made the TARDIS ineffective to the Doctor's piloting. Before returning to his own body, he asked the Brigadier to move him to a new holding facility with a good view, and also encouraged Mike Yates to ask Jo out on a date. (PROSE: The Switching)
The Master was imprisoned inside a castle prison on Fortress Island as the only prisoner. He convinced his jailer, Colonel George Trenchard, to help him steal electronic parts from HMS Seaspite, telling Trenchard it was intended as a lure for enemy agents. With these parts, the Master instead made contact with the Sea Devils, and planned to cause a war between humans and Sea Devils, making the Sea Devils rulers of Earth again. Because the reactivation machinery of the Sea Devils' hibernation units deteriorated during millions of years of hibernation, the Master saw it necessary to construct a sonar device to awaken them. The Master captured the Doctor and forced him to help create the device, but, to prevent the device from reactivating further Sea Devil bases and stop the war, the Doctor blew up the Sea Devil base by reversing the device's polarity, creating a massive reverse feedback. The Master escaped in a hovercraft when the officer guarding him, CPO Myers, was hypnotised and framed as the Master's corpse, (TV: The Sea Devils) and returned to the church crypt in Devil's End to retrieve his TARDIS. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
At large again
Information from Doctor Who Fights Masterplan "Q", The Spear of Destiny, Listen - The Stars, Out of the Green Mist, The Time Thief, & Last of the Gaderene needs to be added
Sometime after his escape, the Master took control of the Glasshouse, a facility for traumatised UNIT soldiers, taking particular control of Private Francis Cleary. He planned to use a Time Ring to have Cleary go to 1963 to prevent the Kennedy assassination, thereby altering Earth's history to make it more vulnerable to invasion. The plan failed. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
After three years of imprisonment in the Hyrrokin dimension for a crime he committed against the Hyrrokins, the Master was recruited by a biomechanoid called Loge into tracking down three Hyrrokin warlords that had fled to Earth. However, after all three were retrieved, the Master learnt that he had been deceived and that Loge was in league with the warlords. When they planned to turn the sun into a supernova to destroy the Earth and use the emotional energy to power their vessel, the Master killed them to save the planet, as his TARDIS was still on it. (PROSE: Anger Management)
While attempting to steal the British Crown Jewels, the Master was cornered in the Tower of London by the Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier. (AUDIO: Masterful)
The Master made a deal with the Odobenidans to help them invade Earth, but accidentally trapped both them and himself in a time loop beneath Greece whilst undertaking some temporal mechanics on their behalf. The Doctor, sent to Greece by the Time Lords to deal with the time loop, released the Master and foiled his plan after he had been trapped in the time loop for months. (PROSE: The Seismologist's Story)
The Master discovered the mind parasite known as the Nurazh on a desolate planet. Weakened, the creature failed to take control of him, and begged him to take it off the planet. The Master agreed, taking it to the UNIT hospital Kenstone Hall, where he planned to have it take control of the invalids, healing their injuries in the process, in order to give him an army of brainwashed slaves. The Nurazh, secretly planning to devour the Earth, eventually turned on the Master, who escaped into his TARDIS after releasing Jo Grant from the Nurazh's control. (PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh)
After being double-crossed by the Voords, (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel) the Master posed as "Professor Carl Thascalos" and constructed a machine known as TOMTIT at Cambridge's Newton Institute to summon the ancient chronovore Kronos, whom he wished to control. He hypnotised the institute's director, Dr. Charles Percival, but accidentally killed him by releasing Kronos from the Crystal of Kronos. The Master summoned the Atlantean priest Krasis for instructions on how to control Kronos while meddling with the flow of time to obstruct the Doctor from getting in his way. After knocking out Sergeant Benton, the Master retreated to his TARDIS, but the Doctor tried to trap him in a time lock using his own TARDIS, accidentally creating a space loop when both TARDISes were materialised within the other. When the TARDISes were separated during their negotiations, the Master ejected the Doctor into space, but the Doctor survived by using the telepathic circuit of his TARDIS to help Jo return him to safety.
The Master travelled to ancient Atlantis and failed to hypnotise King Dalios, who easily resisted his influence. Confronting the Doctor there, the Master tried to manipulate Queen Galleia into betraying her husband, since she had taken a romantic liking in his charm compared to Dalios' dull personality. Galleia, however, was enraged when the Master caused Dalios to die in the coup they staged in Atlantis. Before he was arrested, the Master commanded Krasis to use the Crystal of Kronos housed in Atlantis and brought forth Kronos, who destroyed the entire civilisation. Fleeing Atlantis with Jo as his hostage, and with Kronos under his control, the Master was in a position to cast destruction unto the entire cosmos, however, the Doctor threatened to time ram the Master's TARDIS with his own, which would take everyone's lives in the process if he did not give up his plans for chaos. The Master did not believe the Doctor would earnestly carry out his warning because he knew endangering Jo's life was not an option for him. In response to the Doctor's hesitation, Jo tried to complete the time ram before the Master could release Kronos again. Instead, Kronos spared everyone from death, and captured the Master for the crime of trying to control it, but allowed him to go free at the request of the Doctor. (TV: The Time Monster)
When a race of mechanical lifeforms invaded Earth, the Master, intrigued by a species he knew nothing about, began investigating them, insulted that they hadn't requested his aid in their invasion. When the Second Doctor showed up, the Master discovered that he was actually Ramón Salamander in disguise. After a few false starts, the Master allied with the Doctor and UNIT to thwart Salamander's scheme. After travelling back to 1868 with the Doctor and the UNIT, the Master took control of the micro machines, intending to use them for galactic conquest, but the Doctor overrode the Master's command protocols. Accepting his defeat, the Master jump into the River Thames and swam back to his TARDIS. (COMIC: The Heralds of Destruction)
The Master tracked down a fellow Time Lord renegade, the Minister, on the planet Samael, where she was one of the most eminent political figures. Taking advantage of her post-regenerative weakness, the Master attacked her psychically and caused her amnesia so he could brainwash her into giving him power over the planet. His plan was foiled by Jo, who helped the Minister remember who she was. (AUDIO: The Same Face)
The Master set up a talent show called Make a Star, based on the anagram "AKA MASTER", which he used to disrupt the timeline by making the contestants cover songs that weren't yet written. He intended to use the relatively minor disruption to the Web of Time to allow him to take control of Earth, but this plan was foiled by the Doctor and Jo. (PROSE: Hidden Talent)
Following the Doctor's TARDIS to 25 December 2006, the Master learnt that the Earth was being invaded by the Sycorax, whom he intended to ally with so he could enslave the planet himself. Arriving at 48 Bucknall House at the Powell Estate, the Master was trapped by tinsel controlled by the Roboforms after stepping out of his TARDIS. After an hour listening to The Twelve Days of Christmas played by a broken snowman ornament, the Master was found by the Doctor, Jo, Yates and Jackie Tyler. Deeming that the Master had suffered enough, the Doctor set him free to take his leave in his TARDIS. (PROSE: The Christmas Inversion)
The Master brought a Skaross to Earth, and, with its help, disguised himself as "Professor Derek Drake", a scientist pretending to have found a way to solve the Earth's energy crisis and pollution problem. The telepathic power of the Skaross allowed the Master to gain the support of the public opinion, appearing numerous times on television, and even managed to confuse the Doctor for a while; the creature, however, proved to be very reluctant to obey the Master, and more than capable of resisting against his own psychic power. When it became evident that the Doctor had caught up to the ruse, the Master went to UNIT HQ and he and the creature offered to help humanity, but the Doctor refused, and instead gathered that the Master had come to ask for his help against the Skaross. Eventually, the Master gained access to the main reactor of a nuclear station, intending to blackmail the world by using the Skaross' ability to control carbon dioxide, but the Skaross instead tried to convert Earth into a world it could live in. The Doctor and the Master then fought against it together, and won, connecting themselves with a telepathic link, which allowed them to see each other's thoughts. The Master then escaped in his TARDIS. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master)
Distancing himself from UNIT
Information from Winning, Doctor Who and the Fangs of Time, Night Flight to Nowhere, Anything You Can Do, Legacy, & Sonic Adventure needs to be added
The Master travelled to the Land of Fiction, where he intended to steal an advanced piece of technology from the Land, and defeated Professor Moriarty. (COMIC: Character Assassin) He then became involved in "a galactic fracas" relating to "a number of large tortoises", but the Doctor and Jo put a stop to his scheme. (AUDIO: The Last Fairy Tale) He also attended Bonjaxx's birthday party at Maruthea, and found himself forced to hide when a fight broke out. (COMIC: Party Animals)
The Master used time-displaced Scottish warriors to seize a nuclear submarine and threaten Britain with obliteration if he wasn't given the Doctor's TARDIS, but he ended up trapped in the 18th century. (COMIC: The Glen of Sleeping)
For a short while, the Master adopted the identity of "Duke Dominus", a gangster on early 20th century Earth, but his plan was foiled by the Fourth Doctor without either realising the others' involvement. (PROSE: The Duke of Dominoes)
The Master travelled to a Sontaran-occupied planet and convinced several Sontarans that he was a deity, creating a new sect of proud, beard-toting column-worshipping Sontarans. The Master then left, delighted by the idea of the chaos he had created for the other Sontarans. (COMIC: The Judas Goatee)
Losing himself
The Master tried to rob the Repository on a water planet to retrieve from a map to the Boneyard of Knives. In doing so, he used a de-evolutionary gun he took from a jungle planet to kill the guards by reducing them to a previous state in evolution. However, these new forms of life turned out to be personality leeches, and started to feed on him. The Master barely managed to get back to his TARDIS and leave a message to himself to recover from his memory loss and instructed himself to use the map to find the Boneyard, before collapsing to the ground and losing consciousness. (AUDIO: Master Thief)
Final exploits
Information from The Dragon of Hyacinth Lodge, The One Second Hour, & Doctor Who Pinball: Time Streams needs to be added
The Master planned to release a fog in Tadcaster by using Sarkan mist-flowers to generate a fog that would engulf the Earth. Attempting to catch up with the Master, the Doctor commandeered a pier train that crashed into the Master and the mist-flowers, sending all of them into the ocean, where the flowers were destroyed and the Master disappeared. (COMIC: Fogbound)
The Master took control of the Brigadier's mind and instructed him to kill the Doctor. However, the Brigadier attacked the Master, but he escaped, restoring the Brigadier to his senses. (PROSE: Smash Hit)
Working for the Daleks
Having had enough of Earth, and having other plans to set in motion on Skaro, the Master employed the assistance of a being called Verdigris to impersonate him. (PROSE: Verdigris) On Skaro, the Master forged an alliance with the Daleks, acting as their agent to provoke warfare between the Earth Empire and the Draconian Empire in the 26th century. To achieve this, he employed a force of Ogrons who, through the use of hypnosound, made themselves appear human or Draconian, thus provoking the other side. When the Doctor revealed the true perpetrators, the plot was abandoned. (TV: Frontier in Space)
Meeting his end
Deciding to return to Earth immediately after the affair with the Daleks and the Draconians, the Master detected a massive discharge of temporal energy. He watched as the Twelfth Doctor's TARDIS exploded (COMIC: Doorway to Hell) in late 1972 after it was overloaded by its efforts to rewrite a mutated plague. (COMIC: The Pestilent Heart) The Master wrongly speculated this was the cause of the Doctor's third regeneration. (COMIC: Doorway to Hell) When the Doctor moved in with Jess Collins' family in Brixton and brought the TARDIS into the back garden to repair itself, (COMIC: Moving In) the Master plotted to use the artron energy given off by the regenerating TARDIS that now lay in the bodies of the Collins family to create a portal to a time locked dimension he learnt about in the Dalek databanks.
When the TARDIS had healed in early 1973, the Master utilised the efforts of Katya Dabrowski to bring the Collins family to an apartment in central London, while creating a diversion for the Doctor in Barking with glass mosquito creatures. Warning the Collins family that the Doctor was a dangerous and deceitful alien, the Master tricked them into creating a portal to the time locked dimension, which they were also sent through. The Master also stole the Doctor's TARDIS after killing his chess buddy Gabriel Gayle, and had the Doctor escorted from the Collins family's home to the Master's apartment. The Master linked the Doctor's TARDIS to his own in order to aid the Doctor through the time lock, so he could be reunited with the Collins family. After he killed Jack Hayes to prevent himself from being arrested, the Master had Katya accompany the Doctor to the other dimension.
Travelling to the locked dimension, the Master met Kiadine, a being who was locked away by the Time Lords for splitting a chronon. He gave the Master his powers so that he would conquer Gallifrey on his behalf. The Master's exposure to the chronon storm gave him god-like powers, and he began to fight with the Doctor for mastery of them. The Master fired one final attack as the Doctor stood arm-in-arm with the Collins family, and found that his attack had been repelled back at him with the same artron energy in the bodies of the Collins family that had brought the Master to the dimension. Though his skin began to rapidly decay, the Master was able to escape in his TARDIS and regenerated while declaring his intent of revenge on the Doctor. (COMIC: Doorway to Hell) However, his next incarnation emerged in a decayed state due to the artron energy deficiency (PROSE: The Dead Travel Fast) that had been caused by the Collins family's counterattack. (COMIC: Doorway to Hell)
Post-mortem
When the "Tremas" Master was stripped of his Trakenite body by the Time Lords, and after his plot to steal the Fifth Doctor's regenerations failed, he found himself confronting mental projections of all his past incarnations, and was able to steal a bit of life energy from each of them, allowing him to regenerate back into his Trakenite body. (PROSE: The Velvet Dark)
While explaining to Alice Obiefune how time worked different during the Last Great Time War, the "Child" Master briefly turned back into his "UNIT enemy" incarnation. (COMIC: Kill God)
The "UNIT enemy" Master's voice was heard by the "War" Master whilst he was still under the powers of the Chameleon Arch, telling him to "destroy" his human persona, and return "[his] power" back to him. (TV: Utopia)
Undated events
- The Master travelled with Finsey, a woman who was fascinated by his evilness, until he saw no further use for her and tried to have her killed. (AUDIO: The Transcendence of Ephros)
Other realities
Alternate timelines
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In an alternate timeline where the Cybermen allied with Rassilon to take over history, (COMIC; Supremacy of the Cybermen) the Master, while fighting the Third Doctor, was caught up in a time distortion which resulted in him being cyber-converted while pleading to the Doctor for help. (COMIC: Prologue: the Third Doctor)
Parallel universes
In the Inferno Earth, the Master was still a loyal Time Lord who went under the name Koschei. He was working for the Celestial Intervention Agency and travelled with a human companion called Ailla. They became stranded on Earth after defeating the Great Intelligence, and the Republic of Great Britain captured him for information. Ailla was killed and Koschei was tortured until all his regenerations were used up. Koschei died when he was confronted by the Master from N-Space, who turned off his life-support machine at his request. (PROSE: The Face of the Enemy)
In one universe, the Master worked for the United Nations, until he defected to China, during the 1970s when his TARDIS was placed beyond his reach. In 1997, when the Doctor was exiled by the Time Lords, the Master regenerated into a new incarnation after being caught in a plane crash. (AUDIO: Sympathy for the Devil)
Psychological profile
Personality
As the rival of the Third Doctor, the "UNIT enemy" Master was often arrogant and impatient, taken to be rude towards all and showing no tolerance for stupidity. (TV: The Dæmons, The Sea Devils, The Time Monster, Frontier in Space) To sway others to his way of thinking, the Master acted as a suave and debonair gentleman, with a sardonic sense of humour, (TV: Terror of the Autons, The Time Monster) but, when his own survival was at stake, the Master would not hesitate to betray his allies to save himself. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
The "UNIT enemy" Master was willing to play the long game, spinning a web of lies while maintaining several back-ups in his schemes. (TV: The Mind of Evil) He seemed to truly believe his delusions of grandeur, proclaiming that he and the Doctor could "reign benevolently," ending "war, suffering [and] disease," (TV: Colony in Space) and that, instead of "all this talk of democracy, freedom, [and] liberty", the world needed "strength, power and decision." (TV: The Dæmons) When the Doctor accused him of being paranoid, the Master stated that everyone was paranoid, and that he was just honest about his paranoia. (TV: The Time Monster)
The Master held himself in high-esteem, even believing himself immune to the mind parasite within the Keller Machine, when he was only able to resist its attack on him for a short time, and with great effort. (TV: The Mind of Evil) He also demonstrated a strong confidence in himself when he walked into the UNIT HQ on the edge of London without fear of capture, instead hypnotising a handful of UNIT personnel. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
He held a particular hatred for humanity, deeming them primitives, (PROSE: Anger Management) and once stated that destroying them would "be a reward in itself". (TV: The Sea Devils) He also disliked rats for their similarities to humans. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master)
The "UNIT enemy" Master also had a juvenile side to him, making blithely sarcastic comments about an impending nuclear meltdown, (TV: The Claws of Axos) enjoying an episode of Clangers in his prison cell, (TV: The Sea Devils) and reading The War of the Worlds while trying to instigate a war between Earth and Draconia. (TV: Frontier in Space) He also had a sadistic side, taking particular pleasure in goading the Brigadier into attacking Axos when they both knew that it would put the Doctor and Jo Grant in danger, (TV: The Claws of Axos) and showed considerable delight in blackmailing the Doctor and Jo on Uxarieus. (TV: Colony in Space)
While he thought killing to be a sign of poor preparation and unprofessionalism, (PROSE: The Dark Path) the "UNIT enemy" Master would casually murder those whom he could not control, (TV: Terror of the Autons) or who were standing in the way of an item he required. (TV: The Claws of Axos) While he initially believed that those who died as a result of his schemes to be "necessary sacrifice[s]", (TV: The Sea Devils) he came to see killing "pawns" as "the only way to win" by the end of his life, even resorting to murder simply as a demonstration of power. (COMIC: Doorway to Hell)
Unlike his following incarnations, the "UNIT enemy" Master was rarely resentful, instead accepting defeat with only a slight annoyance, (TV: The Dæmons, Frontier in Space) due to him trying not to dwell on his mistakes. (AUDIO: Terror of the Master) The Master also learned from his mistakes, placing an alarm in his TARDIS (TV: Colony in Space) after the Doctor stole his dematerialisation circuit. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
Being a haughty psychopath, he regarded most beings as his inferiors, but had a mutual respect for the Doctor as a worthy opponent and his near intellectual equal, (TV: Terror of the Autons, The Sea Devils) and even showed a certain respect to the Doctor's companions, even if he still considered them inferior. (TV: Frontier in Space)
Considering his quarrel with the Doctor to be something of a game,[source needed] the Master would only resort to killing the Doctor if he viewed him as an unmovable obstacle in his plans, (TV: Terror of the Autons) though he was willing to risk the Doctor's life on the Keller Machine to satisfy his curiosity. (TV: The Mind of Evil) However, the Master was not above working alongside the Doctor when necessary, (TV: The Claws of Axos) and even offered to rule the universe with him. (TV: Colony in Space)
He viewed "brutal warlords" to be "[his] type of people". (PROSE: Anger Management)
While in Atlantis, the Master formed a relationship of sorts with Queen Galleia, remarking that she was beautiful and promising her power. Both Galleia and Lakis commented that the Master had "the bearing of a God". (TV: The Time Monster)
The Thirteenth Doctor remarked that, while he was still "evil", the "UNIT enemy" Master had been "an old charmer". (PROSE: The Doctor vs the Master)
After an attack he made on the Twelfth Doctor was sent back at him, the Master, claiming he would get his revenge on the Doctor, proudly welcomed his regeneration, declaring that death was meaningless to him and that "all life [would] obey [him]". (COMIC: Doorway to Hell)
Habits and quirks
The "UNIT enemy" Master would often smoke a cigar. (TV: The Mind of Evil, The Time Monster)
Skills
A master manipulator, the "UNIT enemy" Master knew how to use others' greed and sense of duty as bargaining tools in his schemes, (TV: The Claws of Axos, The Sea Devils) and how to use his authority as an adjudicator to manipulate and influence the human factions and their competing aspirations on Uxarieus. (TV: Colony in Space)
The "UNIT enemy" Master was also stronger than he appeared, as he was able to physically overpower Luigi Rossini, (TV: Terror of the Autons) Harry Mailer, (TV: The Mind of Evil) Smedley, (TV: The Sea Devils) and John Benton, (TV: The Time Monster) and was capable of breaking a human's neck with his bare hands without much difficulty. (PROSE: The Dark Path) He was also able to make a small jump onto a moving lorry from a bridge, and then swing down to the driver's cab to hypnotise the driver. (TV: The Claws of Axos)
Appearance and clothing
In his twelfth incarnation, (PROSE: CIA File Extracts) the Master resembled a mature, elegant man, with a swarthy complexion, brown eyes, and mild streaks of grey in his hair. He had a goatee beard, which also had white skunk stripes. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
While travelling with Ailla, the Master dressed in a grey double-breasted suit, a silk shirt, and a cravat with a silver bird-of-prey tiepin. (PROSE: The Dark Path)
As an enemy of UNIT, he generally wore a black Cardin-Nehru jacket, with dark trousers, black leather boots and gloves, and a white cuff-linked shirt. (TV: Terror of the Autons) On occasion, he would wear a suit, with either an orange, grey or blue tie. (TV: Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Time Monster)
During his imprisonment on Fortress Island, the Master wore a black cape over a white turtle-neck jumper, with black trousers, but switched these for a naval officer's uniform while secretly infiltrating HMS Seaspite. During his return and subsequent escape from Fortress Island, he changed back into his black Nehru jacket and trousers. (TV: The Sea Devils)
The Master's UNIT file described him as "a guy of swervey complexion, with a goatee and a receding hairline." (AUDIO: Mastermind) Missy remembered him as "the Beardy One". (PROSE: Meet Missy!)
Behind the scenes
Character conception and development
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks often discussed that the relationship between the Third Doctor and the Brigadier was similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and envisioned a counterpart of the Doctor to act as "Moriarty", a character that became "the Master", his name being developed to counter the Doctor's — like that of his enemy, "Master" is an academic title.(DOC: The Doctor's Moriarty)
In the Third Doctor's original final episode concept, the Master would have redeemed himself and given his life to save the Doctor, after which the Doctor would have regenerated; however, this story was never developed due to the sudden death of Roger Delgado. Over thirty years later, this idea was reused in The End of Time, with John Simm's incarnation of the Master sacrificing himself to save the Tenth Doctor from Rassilon.
Off-screen relationships
Although they played antagonists on screen, Roger Delgado and Jon Pertwee were actually close friends in real life. In interviews and convention Q&A sessions, Pertwee often cited the death of Delgado as one of the factors that led him to leave the show. (DOC: PanoptiCon 93, MM VHS 15)
Footnotes
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