Doctor Who: 12 Greatest Master Moments Of All Time
8. The Power Of Tooth And Claw
Antony Ainley would inhabit the role of the Master for one last hurrah in a series of specially shot cut scenes for the BBC computer game Destiny of the Doctors, but the aptly named Survival marked his final appearance in the show.
The Master’s ability to cheat death had become increasingly more ridiculous, and no explanation is given here as to how he survived being burnt alive when we last saw him (Planet of Fire), and once again the story ends with the Master facing certain death.
Sometimes dismissed as a poor Delgado impersonator, or the pantomime villain, Survival proves that with the right material, Ainley was up there with the best. Here the Master is both at his most powerful and most vulnerable as the Cheetah Planet takes its hold, turning him all teeth and claws.
The Master is finally resolved to his inevitable death, but that doesn’t stop him wanting to bring down the Doctor with him. There is very much a sense of finality about his meeting with the Doctor by the TARDIS, giving this scene an unusual degree of poignancy for 80s Doctor Who. But when the pair are transported to the dying planet, their struggle becomes truly epic.