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The Best...TV villain

Roger Delgado as The Master in Doctor Who
  • Posted at 5:45pm
  • 24 July 2007
  • by MarkBraxton-RT
  • 2 comments

Whovians and enthusiasts of classic TV were over the Moon when Doctor Who regenerated in 2005. The Tardis came with the territory, of course, as did the companions and the monsters, but there was something missing…

That elusive piece of the jigsaw was found under the cosmic coffee table of the recent series-three finale, in the person of the Doctor's archenemy, the Master.

For where there is good, light and harmony, there is always evil, darkness and discord. And while in the programme's 44-year history there have been hordes of power-crazed species we can safely classify as evil, the personal nature of our hero's rivalry with his fellow Time Lord is so much more fun.

John Simm is the latest actor to "swish the cape", exuberantly playing the Master as a smirking sociopath.

But others have portrayed this intergalactic Moriarty. For many, first is still best: Roger Delgado's 70s incarnation was memorably menacing - all saturnine suavity and cultured delivery.

His iconic black leather gloves and dark-grey Nehru suit, and trimmed goatee bristling over a belligerently jutting jaw, added up to a neatly groomed kind of maniac.

His contemptuous click of the fingers to send minions scurrying and icy-calm threats of armageddon were scene-stealingly effective.

The Master rather lost his devilish good looks later on. Opera singer Peter Pratt had to play him as a lacquered corpse in 1976, while another transitional stage had him slithering around as a big slug 20 years later.

And the various interpretations didn't always convince. Anthony Ainley's 80s Master was a panto-style King Rat much taken to peals of ham-scented laughter. And there was Eric Roberts's shades-wearing CHiPs throwback in the misconceived 1996 one-off.

But so totemic is this TV role that it was handed, albeit briefly, to one of our most revered thesps: Derek Jacobi, before he morphed into the street-cred-tastic John Simm.

Which brings us full circle. There were other actors to play the Master: blink-and-you-missed-him types or those who voiced web animations, but life's too short for all that. Unless you're a Time Lord.

But why's the Master so great? Well, he has groovy powers: regeneration, of course (very eco-friendly), hypnosis, miniaturisation, and disguise, for starters. He's also more intelligent than the Doctor, having been awarded a higher degree, and has a bigger sonic screwdriver. Well, boys will be boys.

The philosopher Edmund Burke once said, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." The Doctor can hardly be said to do nothing, but he can never quite finish off his old pal, either.

It's like good and evil: the Doctor can't exist without the Master. After their first on-screen encounter in 1971, the Doctor admitted he was "quite looking forward" to seeing his nemesis again. Likewise in a 1983 caper, the Master said, "A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about."

What does the Master give us? Order from chaos, and perfect, recyclable, telegenic villainy.

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  • Posted on 28 November 2008
  • at 5:35pm
  • by Ilikecheese, yesido, ifyouaskmewhatilikeisayi like cheese

Personally i think that sylar from heroes is one of the best villain, but the master is an amazing villain to.

  • Posted on 08 August 2007
  • at 12:09pm
  • by Guest100

As soon as the Daleks and the Cybermen made an appearance in the new Doctor Who I prayed they would bring back the master. We weren't disappointed in John Simm who portrayed the evil and twisted Time Lord, except that his term was so short.

I especially loved the ending, with the Flash Gordon style picking up of the ring of power, (especially with Roger Delgado looking very Ming the Merciless in his first incarnation). With a female hand, was it the Masters wife, was it evil we have not yet met, or did the Master find a way to fool the Doctor into believing his death was real and managed to regenerate in a female form.

With calls for a female Doctor in the past it would certainly open up the path with a Male/Female Time Lord regeneration precident.

Which ever way (and if it's the last one I want royalties for the idea!) The new Doctor will hopefully continue to thrill us for many more series.

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