Doctor Who: 10 Things Fans Want From Series 9 (But Won't Get)

5. The Regeneration Of John Simm's Master Into Michelle Gomez' Missy

One of the favourite elements of the 50th anniversary celebrations was the minisode The Night Of The Doctor which finally brought a resolution to the Eighth Doctor's story. It's not a given that a regeneration scene has to be filmed, and indeed the botched opening scene in Time And The Rani remains one of the lowest points in the show's history. Colin Baker's Doctor deserved the full final story that the actor requested, but instead we witnessed a bewigged Sylvester McCoy play a poorly disguised Sixie. As if that wasn't ignominious enough, some BBC insiders explained that the regeneration was triggered by a fall from the Doctor's exercise bike. Colin Baker quite rightly refused to be part of such a travesty, but when he said no, the BBC should have broken with tradition and avoided the regeneration scene altogether. Arguably too, the TV Movie would have been more successful in attracting a new audience and securing a future for the show had it started with McGann - the approach taken by Russell T Davies with Eccleston in Rose. But the most vexing of the unanswered questions from Series Eight is the untold story of how the Master, last seen travelling back to Gallifrey with Rassilon in The End Of Time Part 2, came to be Missy. It has led to expectations that all will be revealed in a future story and even the hope that John Simm will return to film a regeneration scene. But is it strictly necessary? The Master is an escape artist extraordinaire and it's not the first time the character has returned from the dead without explanation (Planet Of Fire - Survival). While in 2009 John Simm wasn't adverse to returning to the role, he and the show have since moved on and I can't see Michelle Gomez in a wig mimicking her predecessor. Besides, Steven Moffat likes to tease us with open-ended plot points and unanswered questions. The decision to bring back the master was character driven, not story driven. The idea of a female Master has been a big enough thing to play around with, without having to work out a convoluted plot to explain how she came to be. In the June edition of the official Doctor Who Magazine, Moffat was asked point blank "Is Missy the regenerated John Simm Master?" Judging from his answer, that part of the Master's story has yet to be written, "In my head, as it stands, she's the one after John. But my researches aren't complete, so I'd better say nothing."