10 Dumbest Things In Doctor Who: The Movie

4. The Master

Doctor Who the TV Movie Paul McGann Eric Roberts
BBC Studios

When choosing a villain for this feature-length adaptation of Doctor Who, the writers opted to bring back one of the Doctor's oldest, most formidable foes.

In the opening stages of the movie, the Master is executed by the Daleks for all the evil things he's done. You know you're bad when even the Daleks think you've gone too far!

He eventually seizes control of a human body when the TARDIS lands on Earth, which he does by way of a... weird, ghostly snake thing? Huh? Why the Master survived execution and turned into a reptile is one thing, but it's the performance of Eric Roberts that we're focusing on here.

Roberts - an Oscar-nominee, and the brother of Julia - plays the part with the sort of garishness usually reserved for pantomimes. He's over-the-top and theatrical to the point of parody, and it's very hard to take him seriously. Especially when he's dressed in those robes.

It feels wrong to rag on an actor as talented as Roberts, but if the movie wanted to reinvent Doctor Who, then this probably wasn't the best route to take.

 
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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.