Doctor Who: 12 Greatest Master Moments Of All Time
1. Couldn't Very Well Keep Calling Myself The Master.
The seeds of the Master becoming Missy had already been sown, when the Neil Gaiman episode The Doctor’s Wife made it clear that Time Lords can change gender when they regenerate. Whether or not Chris Chibnall gives us the first female Doctor, there is no doubt that Steven Moffat has made it possible in narrative terms. By changing the gender of the second most recognisable Time Lord, it is clear that this was a trial run, testing the waters for how the public might receive a female Doctor.
By all accounts it was a success, for whilst a minority hold on to the futile hope that John Simm’s return to Doctor will expose Missy as a fake, there has been widespread praise for Michelle Gomez’s brilliantly quirky and sadistic character. Her Master is more manipulative, more bonkers, more theatrical than ever before. The Master is back, free of the incessant drumming for the first time, but still hell bent on mischief and on fighting the Doctor. Clearly, getting those drums out of her head hasn’t redeemed her.
This big reveal scene in Dark Water is one of the all-time greatest Doctor Who moments, played to perfection by Gomez. Peter Capaldi’s reactions are spot on too, we see the colour literally drain from his face as he takes in the enormity of the revelation. But his shock has nothing to do with the Master’s gender. Instead it betrays the fact that that after the events of The End of Time, he didn’t expect to see his adversary again.
He’s about to get an even bigger shock when Missy and her predecessor team up. Crazy things tend to happen whenever the Master is involved, but this will almost certainly be the maddest yet.
Which Master moment is your favourite? Let us know down in the comments.