Doctor Who: 12 Greatest Master Moments Of All Time
5. Let The Work Of Government Begin
If ever there was a defining moment for John Simm’s unique version of the Master, then it was the deliciously black humoured cabinet office scene, where the Master gases everyone in the room in his bid to take control of the Earth. Delgado’s Master would have probably hypnotised them all, while Ainley would have used his trusty miniaturiser. Simm’s Master chooses a method as unhinged as his personality, a premeditated attack that needed props and precise stage management.
With shades of the boardroom massacre in cult movie, Dogma, the Master has absolutely no qualms about casually taking out the unsuspecting politicians and calling them out for their questionable morality in the process. They have no time to be properly afraid, and die with looks of bemusement etched on their faces.
Setting himself up as Harold Saxon, the new prime-minister, very much in the mould of Tony Blair, the Master commands a following with his soundbites, smug smile and false promises, despite being unashamedly juvenile. He is the popular school bully writ large, the one who makes laughter always at the expense of another, with the whole of Planet Earth as his playground.