Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Reasons To Be Excited About The Return Of John Simm's Master
5. A Perfect Team Up
A highlight of any multi-Doctor story is the repartee between the Doctors. There is much fun to be had in watching them compete for top dog status, or show bemusement, embarrassment, or grudging admiration at each other’s quirks. We can expect the same when the two Masters come together. Expect plenty of fireworks, and a classic ‘Christmas lights’ I can do better than you kind of face off along the way.
Both Missy and the Master are deliciously insane in their evil machinations. But aside from the gender, which hopefully won’t be flagged up as an issue here, they are quite different kettles of fish. Simm’s Master liked to play the popularity card, ingratiating himself with the human race before dropping them like a bad penny. He loved to toy with people’s emotions and watch their reactions when he revealed they’d been duped.
Missy on the other hand has no time for human relationships, reserving all her flirting for the Doctor. Channelling Delgado’s original, she looks down on humanity as mere minnows or puppets. She has no qualms, for instance, about converting corpses into Cybermen as a present for the Doctor. The emotional impact on the living doesn't even enter her head.
Working together is unlikely to come easy, and unlike the various Doctor team-ups it won’t end well for them. Imagine a school bully scheming with an evil headmistress and you probably won’t be far off from the kind of dynamic the two will share.