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The Master returns - Radio Times, June 2007 |
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Nick Griffiths discovers how Russell T Davies has turned the wicked Time Lord into a very 21st-century villain.
"His return was as inevitable
as the passing of the
seasons. The Daleks might
be the Doctor's persistent
archenemy, but he always had one
"arch nemesis", the Time Lord yin
to his yang - the Master.
In the old days of the classic series,
that announcement would have been
accompanied by dramatic chords.
(Oldsters will remember the wonderful
Roger Delgado, from Jon Pertwee's
era in the early 1970s, all sinister facial
hair and dark arts.)
But the Master of today is more subtle - if no less despicable.
"I took about 18 months to think
about how to revive the character -
how to portray him and to make him
fun and new and convincing and
terrifying, and eventually it clicked,"
explains Who supremo Russell
T Davies. "I loved Roger Delgado
as a kid, but it's
hard to present
a great big evil
Time Lord today."
The latest
incarnation of the
Master is in the
guise of Harry
Saxon, a politician.
The Master of
yore was more
a malevolent
gadabout, plotting
to destroy the
universe and siding
with any monster
that had taken exception to the
Doctor. "Exactly!" says Davies.
"So I gave him a context and some
history, with the Derek Jacobi episode
[Utopia] and a little bit of
an origin story. But I didn't want to
rewrite history and suddenly give him
a back story he never had."
To appreciate instantly the change
in direction, just look at the man they
cast: John Simm. He's not exactly
Wolf from Gladiators.
"Well, he's a limitless actor,"
explains Davies. "That's all you're
asking for. Because the part is dark
and funny - very funny in places - and
he's got to be agile and quick-witted.
It's extremely hard to cast an actor in
this country who can match up to
David Tennant, especially on David's
own show, but he and John together
are just the perfect pairing.
"John's not a great big strapping
six-footer with a moustache, so it's not
the image of a typical sci-fi villain,
which suits it perfectly because there's
so much more life and depth. To be
real and contemporary and exciting -
that's what you're looking for."
John Simm details the secrecy
surrounding this masterful piece of
casting: "Julie [Gardner, executive
producer] and Russell came up to
Manchester where I was filming
Life on Mars - a top-secret midnight
meeting after a night shoot in a
hotel - and Russell described what
was going to happen. I was like,
'Yes. Absolutely. I'll do that!'
"It's a great honour. I'm not a sci-fi
maniac or anything but I enjoy it,
and my little boy Ryan is obsessed with
it. The wonderful thing about the new
Doctor Who is that you can sit down
with your family and watch it - so
I wouldn't have
been able to show
my face in the house
again if I hadn't
taken this part!"
The previous
two-part series
finales have featured
epic Dalek battles,
and while this one
also has battles,
it's "a lot more
personal", says
Davies. "It'll be
absolutely huge,
with the most
locations we've ever used, some of the
biggest effects shots, astonishing
visuals and virtuoso scenes with
David Tennant and John Simm."
You can't beat a legendary rivalry -
this one even spilt over into real life,
when Tennant and Simm compared
gadget screwdrivers. Davies recalls,
"David said it was outrageous to
discover that John Simm's was bigger
than his sonic screwdriver. Truly.
I was getting texts from him: 'Have
u seen the size of [Simm's] laser
screwdriver?'"
**
Find out more about previous fiendish incarnations in our Past Masters feature - or take a look at our full Doctor Who guide.
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