11 Great Doctor Who Moments The Writers Chickened Out Of

This one is another repeat offender, although some show runners have at least tried to explain how this hasn't actually occurred. The antithesis of The Doctor, The Master has always been a great adversary for our heroic but flawed frontman, but the continual fake outs of them dying has only managed to cheapen their character and threat level overall.

His resurrection in the 1996 TV Special wasn't great, though this movie is largely ignored in terms of Who lore. His reappearance in the Tennant era episode 'Utopia' was brilliantly handled, but his death at the conclusion of the three part finale to series 3 looked final. His reincarnation for the finale of the Tennant era was a little far fetched, and while John Simm was great as always, the constant rebirths of the villain were already becoming tired.

The continuing deaths and subsequent returns have only managed to cheapen any impact The Master has, with the writers inadvertently turning the villain into a parody, ala Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. Be it being shot in front of our eyes only to return unharmed, ending up on Gallifrey the day before it was frozen, or returning in a new body in spite of her being unable to regenerate at her last death, each return just cheapens the character's impact that little bit more.