Doctor Who: 10 Huge Questions After Spyfall Part One
2. How Did The Master Survive The Doctor Falls?
The Master was last seen in The Doctor Falls. John Simm was stabbed in the heart by Missy, while Missy herself was shot in the back by her predecessor, robbing her of the chance of redemption. It was the perfect final send-off for the character.
Doctor Who could have survived without a new Master, their story could have been ended, but the Master could never survive without the Doctor. His existence is defined by his opposition to his old friend, so much so that he once observed that ‘the cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about.’
The Doctor Falls turned out to be more about the Master’s ultimate demise, with the Capaldi Doctor’s send-off deferred for one last Christmas adventure. Moffat teased the possibility of redemption for the character, but unlike the original plans of Terrance Dicks (who was given a fitting tribute in Spyfall) and Barry Letts, Moffat could see no heroic end for the renegade Time Lord. The tragedy of the character is his lack of atonement.
Exactly how Missy escaped, or where in the character’s timeline this latest version fits will probably remain an open question, but it won’t be the first time the Master has made an unexplained miraculous escape. We never found out how the Anthony Ainley Master escaped from being burnt alive in Planet of Fire, or how he escaped from the Cheetah Planet. We never found out how the Eric Roberts Master survived his fall into the Eye of Harmony.