Ahead of Missy’s return in tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, we take a look at every incarnation of the Doctor’s Time Lord nemesis ever…
The Mainline Masters
The Original Master
Played by: Roger Delgado
Appearances: ‘Terror of the Autons’, ‘The Mind of Evil’, ‘The Claws of Axos’, ‘Colony in Space’, ‘The Daemons’, ‘The Sea Devils’, ‘The Time Monster’ and ‘Frontier in Space’
Doctors Faced: Third Doctor
When the Doctor was exiled to Earth in his third incarnation, he was notified by the Time Lords that the Master had escaped his Gallifreyan prison and had followed his old friend and enemy to the planet to cause havoc. This incarnation of the Master was suave and urbane and seemed to never run out of alien nasties to ally himself with in various bids to take over the world.
The Crispy Master I
Played by: Peter Pratt
Appearances: ‘The Deadly Assassin’
Doctors Faced: Fourth Doctor
At some point after the Third Doctor and the Master’s last encounter, the villain reached the end of his final life, decaying into a grotesque, disfigured husk. Now a being of pure malevolence, the Master attempted to use the Eye of Harmony, the power source of the Time Lords on Gallifrey, to restore his lives. The Doctor defeated him and thought him dead but, in reality, he escaped…
The Crispy Master II
Played by: Geoffrey Beevers
Appearances: TV – ‘The Keeper of Traken’. Audio – ‘Dust Breeding’, ‘Master’, ‘And You Will Obey Me’, ‘The Two Masters’, ‘The Light at the End’, ‘Mastermind’, ‘Trail of the White Worm’, ‘The Oseidon Adventure’, ‘The Evil One’, ‘Requiem for the Rocket Men’, ‘Death Match’ and Jago and Litefoot
Doctors Faced: Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, Seventh Doctor (Sixth and Eighth Doctors in multi-Doctor story)
The same incarnation returned five years later in ‘The Keeper of Traken’ (this time played by Geoffrey Beevers, who has reprised the role on audio several times). At the end of the story, the Master managed to possess the Trakenite Tremas, thereby finding himself a new body at last.
The Tremas Master
Played by: Antony Ainley
Appearances: TV – ‘The Keeper of Traken’, ‘Logopolis’, ‘Castrovalva’, ‘Time-Flight’, ‘The King’s Demons’, ‘The Five Doctors’, ‘Planet of Fire’, ‘The Caves of Androzani’, ‘The Mark of the Rani’, ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’ and ‘Survival’. Video Game – ‘Destiny of the Doctors’
Doctors Faced: Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor, Sixth Doctor, Seventh Doctor (First, Second, Third Doctors in multi-Doctor story)
The ‘Tremas Master’ then went on to do battle with the Fourth Doctor – playing a key role in his death – his three subsequent incarnations. This Master was a maniacal, almost moustache-twirling villain who enjoyed nothing more than causing chaos across the cosmos.
The American Master
Played by: Eric Roberts
Appearances: Doctor Who: The Movie
Doctors Faced: Eighth Doctor
After he was executed by the Daleks, the Master survived as a translucent serpent-like creature. This creature possessed an American paramedic called Bruce and endeavoured to try to steal the Doctor’s remaining regenerations, this time using the Eye of Harmony located in the Doctor’s TARDIS. This Master could be menacing but also had a flair for the theatrical.
Professor Yana
Played by: Derek Jacobi
Appearances: ‘Utopia’
Doctors Faced: Tenth Doctor
After running away from the Time War, the Master hid himself away at the end of the universe and used a Chameleon Arch to change himself into a human. WIth no memory of his true self, he became the kindly Professor Yana, helping to protect the last of humanity. Unfortunately, when he encountered the Doctor, the real Master awakened. Just in time to regenerate…
Harold Saxon
Played by: John Simm
Appearances: ‘Utopia’, ‘The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords’, ‘The End of Time: Parts One and Two,’ TBA.
Doctors Faced: Tenth Doctor, Twelfth Doctor
After being shot, the Master regenerated from his sinister elderly self into a younger incarnation. This version was more insane than ever before, revealing that he had heard “the sound of drums” in his head ever since childhood – the true cause of his madness and drive to cause chaos. The last time we saw him he was sent back to the Time War with the rest of the corrupt Time Lords, but we will see him again soon…
Missy
Played by: Michelle Gomez
Appearances: ‘Deep Breath’, ‘Into the Dalek’, ‘The Caretaker’, ‘Flatline’, ‘In the Forest of the Night’, ‘Dark Water/Death in Heaven’, ‘The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar’, ‘Extremis’ and ‘World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls’
Doctors Faced: Twelfth Doctor
For unknown reasons, the Master regenerated again – this time into his first female incarnation. Known as Missy – short for the Mistress – this version retained much of her previous regeneration’s unhinged nature but with a deeper desire to reconnect with her old friend the Doctor – often her evil schemes were a warped attempt to please him.
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