The Master / Mistress
The Master was a renegade Time Lord, a one-time friend of the Doctor and his longtime opponent. They were friends from childhood and schoolmates at the Time Lord Academy. Sometime along the way, they had a falling out and the Master developed an intense hatred for the Doctor.
Early Life
The Master had a friendship with the First Doctor and they used to play with each other as kids. At the age of eight, the Master was taken for his initiation into the Academy. When he gazed into the Time Vortex through the Untempered Schism, he went mad which manifested as a constant drumming in his head that worsened over time.
While at the Academy, the Master was tutored by Borusa. He also apparently led some of the Academy students in a revolt against the corrupt President Pundat the Third. The story goes that when Pundat died, he was replaced by an even worse President. When the Master talked revolt again, they tried recruiting the Doctor and using a seven-year old girl named Larn who was the last of Rassilon’s descendants. The Doctor refused and the government discovered the plans for the revolt. The Doctor and Larn escaped Gallifrey and the Master killed the President, forcing him to flee Gallifrey.
Dealings with the Second Doctor
Once the Master (at that time, he was known as Koschei) left Gallifrey, he ran into the Doctor in his second incarnation. The result of this run in was the Master being trapped in a black hole and he swore to get revenge on the Doctor.
The Master escaped and succeeded in gaining access to the Time Lord Matrix. He stole classified information which allowed him to gain information for many of his future devious schemes.
Dealings with the Third Doctor
During the beginnings of the Doctor’s exile on Earth, the Master was imprisoned on Shada by the Time Lords. Unfortunately for the Doctor, the Time Lords decided to keep him busy on Earth by releasing the Master. The Master kept tabs on his old friend, slowly making connections with the Autons and infiltrating UNIT headquarters.
Finally, the Master became directly involved in plans against the Doctor and he joined forces with the Nestenes in their second invasion of Earth. A Time Lord agent finally told the Doctor that the Master was free and on Earth. The Doctor stole the Masters dematerialization circuit and forced the Master to be stuck on Earth.
During his brief exile on Earth, the Master posed as a scientist who created the Keller Machine and used it to hijack a missile containing nerve gas. In the process of stopping him, the Doctor lost the dematerialization circuit which the Master found and used to leave Earth.
The Master returned to Earth and attempted to gain control of a cult so that he could harness the power of immortals. His plan backfired and he temporarily joined forces with the Doctor.
The Master had many plans to take over the Earth and defeat the Doctor but always was defeated by the Doctor.
The Last Incarnation
Following the 22nd century Dalek invasion, the Master went undercover and killed David Campbell, the husband of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan. Unaware of who Susan was, he had kidnapped Susan and took her hostage against the Eighth Doctor. To escape him, Susan used his own Tissue Compression Eliminator against him while he was holding a Dalek matter transmuter. The explosion deformed him and because he was on his last incarnation, he couldn’t regenerate to heal himself. Susan left in the Master’s TARDIS but this alerted the Time Lords to his whereabouts. They sent Chancellor Goth to capture him but the Master took control of Goth and made him a slave. The Master set a trap for the Doctor so that he could blame the Doctor for the murder of the President while using the power of the President to renew himself.
After escaping Gallifrey, the Master continued on in his deformed state, joining forces with various races including the Kraals. He eventually found his way to the planet Traken and attempted to use the power of the Keeper of Traken to renew himself. Although the plan was defeated by the Doctor, the Master gained enough power to allow him to steal the body of Tremas.
Tremas’ stolen body
Immediately after stealing Tremas’ body, the Master laid a trap for the Doctor and trapped his TARDIS in a gravity bubble. Once that was done, he held the planet of Logopolis hostage until they gave the Master its secrets. This broke the Logopolitans’ blockade of entropy and threatened to destroy the universe. Before the Doctor was able to prevent this, the entropy swallowed several galaxies along with the entire Traken Union. The Doctor and Master teamed up to prevent the entropy from progressing further but the Fourth Doctor fell to his death, causing him to regenerate once again.
The Master continued to cause problems for the Fifth Doctor. His plans eventually led him to helping the Time Lords free the Doctor and his previous incarnations from a plot by Borusa to learn the secrets of immortality. He was promised a new set of regenerations but Rassilon freed him before the Master could collect on the reward.
Shortly after leaving Gallifrey, the Master was experimenting on his Tissue Compression Eliminator and accidentally shrank himself. He wound up traveling to Sarn, hoping that the Numismaton Gas present on the planet would restore him. The gas, however, increased the power of the Source of Traken still remaining in his body and so instead of the fires of the gas destroying him, they rejuvenated him and restored him to his full size.
The Master eventually arrived on 19th century Earth where he came across another Time Lord that he knew, the Rani. They formed an uneasy alliance to stop the Doctor from interferring in one of the Rani’s schemes but the Doctor got the better of them and trapped them in the Rani’s TARDIS with a live tyrannosaurus rex. The Master was able to separate the Rani console room from the rest of her TARIDS and left her drifting through the vortex.
He recovered his own TARDIS and learned of the Valeyard so he hid in the Matrix on Gallifrey and watched the Doctor’s trial closely. Realizing that the Valeyard was a major rival, the Master reduced the Doctor but was trapped in the Matrix. The Time Lords eventually released him and after escaping he realized that he could regenerate his body since the Source of Traken was still within him.
The Source of Traken eventually faded and the Master reverted to his previous cadaverous form. He would eventually die in this form but after a confrontation with the Chronovores, he was able to restore his Trakenite body.
The Master visited Cheetah World where he took control of the inhabitants and sent them to modern day Earth. Exposure to the Cheetah World, however, changed the Master into a Cheetah Person. He attempted to trap the Doctor on the dying Cheetah World but his plan back-fired and he was left stranded on the planet instead.
After Cheetah World
Stories differ as to how the Master escaped from Cheetah World. Some stories say that he somehow went into the past and discovered a means to give himself a whole new set of regenerations. Others say that he lived on in Tremas’ body.
No matter which way the story goes, the Master eventually found himself in Egypt on Earth where he was captured by the Daleks and put on trial. He was tried and executed but his final wish was to have the Doctor transport his remains to Gallifrey. The Doctor took the Master’s ashes and set a course of Gallifrey but the Master’s consciousness survived death thanks to the Deathworm Morphant, escaped the casket and interfered with the TARDIS. The Master hid out in an ambulance and eventually killed the medic and took over his body. In this body, the Master attempted to steal not only the Doctor’s TARDIS but also his remaining lives. Thanks to Grace Holloway, the Doctor escaped the trap and the Master fell into the Eye of Harmony.
Shortly after his defeat, the Master laid one final trap for the Doctor which caused the Doctor, in his post-regenerative state, to get amnesia. The Doctor, however, was guided by Rassilon through his previous incarnations to help him regain his memory.
Through the Eye of Harmony
Once again, stories vary as to what happened to the Master once he entered the Eye. One account claims that he wandered the Time Vortex and almost died but was rescued by a being named Esterath.
Another story claims that an “echo” of the Master remained in the Doctor’s TARDIS and offered the Eighth Doctor advice through a portrait.
Eventually, the Master escaped the Eye of Harmony and possessed the body of a human named Richard just before World War I. Decided to migrate to America to avoid the war, he boarded the RMS Titanic not realizing the ships eventual fate. He managed to escape in a lifeboat when it sank.
The Master found himself in New York City where he took possession of another body, lived for 20 years as that man and then occupied the body of the man’s son. He stayed in this body and ran experiments to try to prolong the lifespan of his host body. He eventually isolated himself in a penthouse so he wouldn’t get sick. The host’s son caught on to what was happening and trapped the Master in the penthouse.
Unit discovered where the Master was but found him in a comatose state. They imprisoned the body in the UNIT vault and woke him every five years for one hour. After 15 years like this, the Master broke free. He found that UNIT also had his TARDIS in the Vault and used it to escape.
Impersonating the Doctor
The Master was once again rescued by a situation he got himself into by the Time Lords. They sent him on a mission to use the Eminence to fight the Daleks. The Master infiltrated UNIT by pretending to be a future incarnation of the Doctor. While there, he assited UNIT in defeating a number of alien incursions.
Eventually, the Master allied himself with the Eminence and allowed them to conquer Earth. The Doctor once again foiled his plans and the Master escaped in his TARDIS.
He later helped the Dalek Time Controller to create a new Dalek Army. Since the amount of humans were running out, the Master decided to start converting Sontarans into Daleks. He created a mutiny with the Daleks but the Doctor stole his TARDIS and left him stranded in a Dalek-Sontaran war.
Under the Chameleon Arch
The Master eventually died but was resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Last Great Time War. They believed him to be a perfect warrior. Frightened by the horror of the Time War, he ran away and hid at the end of the universe. He used a chameleon arch to hide as a human, Professor Yana. The War Doctor was sent by Rassilon to locate the Master but he was unable to.
As a human, he believed that he spent his life moving from one refugee ship to another. He retained the Master’s brilliant intellect and he eventually became involved in an attempt to send the remnants of humanity to Utopia. He eventually met the Doctor and Martha who spoke of Daleks and the Time War. Voices in his head commanded him to open the watch that he always carried, thus returning him to his true identity. He attacked his assistant and electrocuted her. Before she died, she shot him with a laser gun and he regenerated then stole the Doctor’s TARDIS and escaped to EArth.
Harold Saxon
The Master escaped Malcassairo with the Doctor’s TARDIS and the hand that contained the Doctor’s DNA. The TARDIS, however, was only able to take him to Earth in the 2000s where he created his alter-ego Harold Saxon. In this persona, he became the Minister of Defence of Great Britain where he was most known for ordering the Army to destroy the Racnoss webstar.
He eventually campaigned in the election for Prime Minster of Great Britain. He used the Archangel Network tied in with mobile phones to control the minds of humans so that they would trust him. This machine also affected the Doctor so that he had no suspicions that Harold Saxon was the Master.
In this guise, the Master also created a laser screwdriver and funded the rejuvenation experiments of Richard Lazarus.
He was finally elected Prime Minister in 2008 and his first order of business was to make first contact with the “friendly” Toclafane. Using the Toclafane, he killed the President of the United States and captured the Doctor and his companions. He then led the Toclafane invasion of Earth. Captain Jack was able to destroy the machine the Master used to change history and reversed time one year. The Master’s wife killed him but the Master refused to regenerate and died.
A year later, a cult known as the Disciples of Saxon made plans to resurrect the Master. Hoping to prevent his resurrection, Lucy, the Master’s wife, hurled a Potion of Death at the Master, killing everyone in the area except for the Master. His new form was flawed, having changed to blonde hair and being left in a state of constant depletion which made him consume huge quantities of food and drain the vitality of humans to stay alive.
He was kidnapped and enlisted to mend the Vinvocci medical machine (the Immortality Gate). Instead of repairing it, the Master jumped into the gate which transformed almost every person on Earth into identical copies of the Master. While in the process of doing this, the Time Lords contacted the Master via the drumming in his head and had him destroy the time lock on the Time War to bring back the Time Lords. The Master, however, had other plans and decided to imprint himself onto all the Time Lords just as he had done with the human race. Rassilon used his gauntlet to reverse what the Master had done and Gallifrey returned to the universe on a collision course with Earth.
The Doctor attempted to defeat Rassilon but the Master stepped in the way before Rassilon could destroy the Doctor. Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Master all vanished, presumably to the point in the Time War where they had just left.
Missy
Sometime after the incident with Gallifrey and the Time Lords, the Master regenerated into a new body, one that was female. She adapted the name of “the Master” into Missy which was the shortened form of Mistress. She was able to escape the pocket universe where Gallifrey existed and joined forces with the Cybermen. She took over the 3W Institute in order to create new Cybermen out of the dead. She was able to upload dying minds into the Nethersphere which was a virtual reality housed within a matrix data slice. This environment removed the minds’ emotion and then re-downloaded them into Cyber-converted bodies.
Sometime during all of her dealings with the Cybermen, Missy gave Clara Oswald the Doctor’s phone number, forcing them to meet while the Doctor was in his eleventh body. She kept the Doctor and Clara together, believing that she was the right companion to attract the Doctor’s interest and to make it easier for Missy to manipulate him emotionally.
Missy eventually met the Doctor and offered him her Cyber army. The Doctor gave control of the army to the Cyber-converted Danny Pink who order the army into the sky and destroy themselves. Missy gave the Doctor the coordinates to the current position. She lied and said that the planet had returned to its original position. Missy was shot and presumably killed by a rogue Cyberman who turned out to be the remains of Brigadier Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
Personality
The Master was technically the polar opposite of the Doctor. He was arrogant and vain which usually led to his downfall in all of his schemes. Each of the Master’s “incarnations” seemed to have variations of these particular personalities:
Thirteenth incarnation: The Master was often arrogant and impatient. He had no tolerance for stupidity and was often rude towards everyone. He was suave and debonair with a twisted sense of humour. He often enjoyed spinning a web of lies to create long games with schemes built into schemes. He could be juvenile at times but also had a sadistic side. He did kill people but saw murder as a regrettable necessity.
Degenerated body: In this form, the Master was mostly preoccupied with finding a way to regnerate. He tended to work in the shadows and hid his involvement in plans. His hatred towards the Doctor was stronger than ever and he was also more comfortable with killing people for the sake of killing them. In this state, his telepathic capabilities grew stronger.
Tremas: In this form, the Master was more flamboyantly evil who only trusted himself. He was very melodramatic, often resorting to lengthy speeches. He was now able to predict the Doctor’s movements so was able to maneuver the Doctor into his schemes with ease. He also had a genuine disregard for life in this format showed an unusual level of moral standards.
Tzun: In contrast, this form was calmer, less emotional and highly manipulative. He treated humanity like children.
John Smith: As John Smith, the Master was aware of his dark nature and was troubled by it. This form was more darker and evil than most of his other selves. He enjoyed being mysterious and often gave his enemies riddles as to his true identity.
Body Jumping: He was generally calm but also capable of a terrifying rage. He viewed life as being “wasted on the living”.
Time War incarnation: This version was theatrical and loved seeking attention. This Master also had a habit of imitating the Doctor which allowed him to infiltrate UNIT.
Yana: Yana was benign old man who was scatterbrained and lacked self-confidence. He was also a bit of a misogynist.
Harold Saxon: As Harold Saxon, the Master was more insane than ever and was tormented the most by the drumming in his head. He was extremely vain and self-centred.
Damaged Harold Saxon: After being resurrected, the Master was not only more insane but also more feral. He thrived on chaos and had no regard for life.
Missy: The Master fully embraced his female side in this incarnation. She retained her obsession with the Doctor and had a hunger for domination. But, unlike previous “incarnations”, Missy insisted that she wanted her friend back. She was, however, also very convincing when it came to lying.
Appearances
Terror of the Autons (TV)
The Mind of Evil (TV)
The Claws of Axos (TV)
Colony in Space (TV)
The Daemons (TV)
The Sea Devils (TV)
The Time Monster (TV)
Frontier in Space (TV)
The Deadly Assassin (TV)
The Keeper of Traken (TV)
Logopolis (TV)
Castrovalva (TV)
Time-Flight (TV)
The King’s Demons (TV)
The Five Doctors (TV)
Planet of Fire (TV)
The Caves of Androzani (TV)
The Mark of the Rani (TV)
The Ultimate Foe (TV)
Survival (TV)
Doctor Who - The TV Movie (TV)
Utopia (TV)
The Sound of Drums (TV)
Last of the Time Lords (TV)
The End of Time (TV)
Deep Breath (TV)
Into the Dalek (TV)
The Caretaker (TV)
Flatline (TV)
In the Forest of the Night (TV)
Dark Water (TV)
Death in Heaven (TV)
The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar (TV)
Destiny of the Doctors (Video Game)
Dust Breeding (Audio)
Master (Audio)
UNIT: Dominion (Audio)
The Light at the End (Audio)
The End of the Line (Audio)
Mastermind (Audio)
Trail of the White Worm (Audio)
The Oseidon Adventure (Audio)
The Evil One (Audio)
Requiem for the Rocket Men (Audio)
Death Match (Audio)
Smoke and Mirrors (Audio)
Time’s Horizon (Audio)
Eyes of the Master (Audio)
The Death of Hope (Audio)
The Reviled (Audio)
Masterplan (Audio)
Rule of the Eminence (Audio)
The Monster of Montmartre (Audio)
Master of the Daleks (Audio)
First Frontier (Prose)
Happy Endings (Prose)
Who Killed Kennedy (Prose)
The Dark Path (Prose)
The Eight Doctors (Prose)
Legacy of the Daleks (Prose)
Sometime Never… (Prose)
The Deadstone Memorial (Prose)
The Gallifrey Chronicles (Prose)
The Face of the Enemy (Prose)
The Infinity Doctors (Prose)
Prime Time (Prose)
The Quantum Archangel (Prose)
Deadly Reunion (Prose)
Last of the Gaderene (Prose)
Harvest of Time (Prose)
The Story of Martha (Prose)
The Nameless City (Prose)
The Spear of Destiny (Prose)
A Handful of Stardust (Prose)
The Duke of Dominoes (Prose)
Housewarming (Prose)
Freedom (Prose)
The Switching (Prose)
Hidden Talent (Prose)
The Seismologist’s Story (Prose)
A Town Called Eternity (Prose)
Stop the Pigeon (Prose)
Prologue (Prose)
Forgotten (Prose)
The Touch of the Nurazh (Prose)
UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce (Prose)
Omegemorphosis (Prose)
Doorway to Nowhere (Prose)
Listen - The Stars (Prose)
Out of the Green Mist (Prose)
Night Flight to Nowhere (Prose)
The Creation of Camelot (Prose)
The Time Savers (Prose)
The Fellowship of Quan (Prose)
The Radio Waves (Prose)
Doctor Who Fights Masterplan “Q” (Prose)
The One Second Hour (Prose)
Smash Hit (Prose)
Birth of a Renegade (Prose)
Reconnaissance (Prose)
Speech Day (Prose)
Master Faustus (Prose)
The Glen of Sleeping (Comic)
Fogbound (Comic)
The Time Thief (Comic)
Doctor Who and the Fangs of Time (Comic)
The Fallen (Comic)
The Glorious Dead (Comic)
Character Assassin (Comic)
Hunters of the Burning Stone (Comic)
The Man in the Ion Mask (Comic)
Prisoners of Time (Comic)
Early Life
The Master had a friendship with the First Doctor and they used to play with each other as kids. At the age of eight, the Master was taken for his initiation into the Academy. When he gazed into the Time Vortex through the Untempered Schism, he went mad which manifested as a constant drumming in his head that worsened over time.
While at the Academy, the Master was tutored by Borusa. He also apparently led some of the Academy students in a revolt against the corrupt President Pundat the Third. The story goes that when Pundat died, he was replaced by an even worse President. When the Master talked revolt again, they tried recruiting the Doctor and using a seven-year old girl named Larn who was the last of Rassilon’s descendants. The Doctor refused and the government discovered the plans for the revolt. The Doctor and Larn escaped Gallifrey and the Master killed the President, forcing him to flee Gallifrey.
Dealings with the Second Doctor
Once the Master (at that time, he was known as Koschei) left Gallifrey, he ran into the Doctor in his second incarnation. The result of this run in was the Master being trapped in a black hole and he swore to get revenge on the Doctor.
The Master escaped and succeeded in gaining access to the Time Lord Matrix. He stole classified information which allowed him to gain information for many of his future devious schemes.
Dealings with the Third Doctor
During the beginnings of the Doctor’s exile on Earth, the Master was imprisoned on Shada by the Time Lords. Unfortunately for the Doctor, the Time Lords decided to keep him busy on Earth by releasing the Master. The Master kept tabs on his old friend, slowly making connections with the Autons and infiltrating UNIT headquarters.
Finally, the Master became directly involved in plans against the Doctor and he joined forces with the Nestenes in their second invasion of Earth. A Time Lord agent finally told the Doctor that the Master was free and on Earth. The Doctor stole the Masters dematerialization circuit and forced the Master to be stuck on Earth.
During his brief exile on Earth, the Master posed as a scientist who created the Keller Machine and used it to hijack a missile containing nerve gas. In the process of stopping him, the Doctor lost the dematerialization circuit which the Master found and used to leave Earth.
The Master returned to Earth and attempted to gain control of a cult so that he could harness the power of immortals. His plan backfired and he temporarily joined forces with the Doctor.
The Master had many plans to take over the Earth and defeat the Doctor but always was defeated by the Doctor.
The Last Incarnation
Following the 22nd century Dalek invasion, the Master went undercover and killed David Campbell, the husband of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan. Unaware of who Susan was, he had kidnapped Susan and took her hostage against the Eighth Doctor. To escape him, Susan used his own Tissue Compression Eliminator against him while he was holding a Dalek matter transmuter. The explosion deformed him and because he was on his last incarnation, he couldn’t regenerate to heal himself. Susan left in the Master’s TARDIS but this alerted the Time Lords to his whereabouts. They sent Chancellor Goth to capture him but the Master took control of Goth and made him a slave. The Master set a trap for the Doctor so that he could blame the Doctor for the murder of the President while using the power of the President to renew himself.
After escaping Gallifrey, the Master continued on in his deformed state, joining forces with various races including the Kraals. He eventually found his way to the planet Traken and attempted to use the power of the Keeper of Traken to renew himself. Although the plan was defeated by the Doctor, the Master gained enough power to allow him to steal the body of Tremas.
Tremas’ stolen body
Immediately after stealing Tremas’ body, the Master laid a trap for the Doctor and trapped his TARDIS in a gravity bubble. Once that was done, he held the planet of Logopolis hostage until they gave the Master its secrets. This broke the Logopolitans’ blockade of entropy and threatened to destroy the universe. Before the Doctor was able to prevent this, the entropy swallowed several galaxies along with the entire Traken Union. The Doctor and Master teamed up to prevent the entropy from progressing further but the Fourth Doctor fell to his death, causing him to regenerate once again.
The Master continued to cause problems for the Fifth Doctor. His plans eventually led him to helping the Time Lords free the Doctor and his previous incarnations from a plot by Borusa to learn the secrets of immortality. He was promised a new set of regenerations but Rassilon freed him before the Master could collect on the reward.
Shortly after leaving Gallifrey, the Master was experimenting on his Tissue Compression Eliminator and accidentally shrank himself. He wound up traveling to Sarn, hoping that the Numismaton Gas present on the planet would restore him. The gas, however, increased the power of the Source of Traken still remaining in his body and so instead of the fires of the gas destroying him, they rejuvenated him and restored him to his full size.
The Master eventually arrived on 19th century Earth where he came across another Time Lord that he knew, the Rani. They formed an uneasy alliance to stop the Doctor from interferring in one of the Rani’s schemes but the Doctor got the better of them and trapped them in the Rani’s TARDIS with a live tyrannosaurus rex. The Master was able to separate the Rani console room from the rest of her TARIDS and left her drifting through the vortex.
He recovered his own TARDIS and learned of the Valeyard so he hid in the Matrix on Gallifrey and watched the Doctor’s trial closely. Realizing that the Valeyard was a major rival, the Master reduced the Doctor but was trapped in the Matrix. The Time Lords eventually released him and after escaping he realized that he could regenerate his body since the Source of Traken was still within him.
The Source of Traken eventually faded and the Master reverted to his previous cadaverous form. He would eventually die in this form but after a confrontation with the Chronovores, he was able to restore his Trakenite body.
The Master visited Cheetah World where he took control of the inhabitants and sent them to modern day Earth. Exposure to the Cheetah World, however, changed the Master into a Cheetah Person. He attempted to trap the Doctor on the dying Cheetah World but his plan back-fired and he was left stranded on the planet instead.
After Cheetah World
Stories differ as to how the Master escaped from Cheetah World. Some stories say that he somehow went into the past and discovered a means to give himself a whole new set of regenerations. Others say that he lived on in Tremas’ body.
No matter which way the story goes, the Master eventually found himself in Egypt on Earth where he was captured by the Daleks and put on trial. He was tried and executed but his final wish was to have the Doctor transport his remains to Gallifrey. The Doctor took the Master’s ashes and set a course of Gallifrey but the Master’s consciousness survived death thanks to the Deathworm Morphant, escaped the casket and interfered with the TARDIS. The Master hid out in an ambulance and eventually killed the medic and took over his body. In this body, the Master attempted to steal not only the Doctor’s TARDIS but also his remaining lives. Thanks to Grace Holloway, the Doctor escaped the trap and the Master fell into the Eye of Harmony.
Shortly after his defeat, the Master laid one final trap for the Doctor which caused the Doctor, in his post-regenerative state, to get amnesia. The Doctor, however, was guided by Rassilon through his previous incarnations to help him regain his memory.
Through the Eye of Harmony
Once again, stories vary as to what happened to the Master once he entered the Eye. One account claims that he wandered the Time Vortex and almost died but was rescued by a being named Esterath.
Another story claims that an “echo” of the Master remained in the Doctor’s TARDIS and offered the Eighth Doctor advice through a portrait.
Eventually, the Master escaped the Eye of Harmony and possessed the body of a human named Richard just before World War I. Decided to migrate to America to avoid the war, he boarded the RMS Titanic not realizing the ships eventual fate. He managed to escape in a lifeboat when it sank.
The Master found himself in New York City where he took possession of another body, lived for 20 years as that man and then occupied the body of the man’s son. He stayed in this body and ran experiments to try to prolong the lifespan of his host body. He eventually isolated himself in a penthouse so he wouldn’t get sick. The host’s son caught on to what was happening and trapped the Master in the penthouse.
Unit discovered where the Master was but found him in a comatose state. They imprisoned the body in the UNIT vault and woke him every five years for one hour. After 15 years like this, the Master broke free. He found that UNIT also had his TARDIS in the Vault and used it to escape.
Impersonating the Doctor
The Master was once again rescued by a situation he got himself into by the Time Lords. They sent him on a mission to use the Eminence to fight the Daleks. The Master infiltrated UNIT by pretending to be a future incarnation of the Doctor. While there, he assited UNIT in defeating a number of alien incursions.
Eventually, the Master allied himself with the Eminence and allowed them to conquer Earth. The Doctor once again foiled his plans and the Master escaped in his TARDIS.
He later helped the Dalek Time Controller to create a new Dalek Army. Since the amount of humans were running out, the Master decided to start converting Sontarans into Daleks. He created a mutiny with the Daleks but the Doctor stole his TARDIS and left him stranded in a Dalek-Sontaran war.
Under the Chameleon Arch
The Master eventually died but was resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Last Great Time War. They believed him to be a perfect warrior. Frightened by the horror of the Time War, he ran away and hid at the end of the universe. He used a chameleon arch to hide as a human, Professor Yana. The War Doctor was sent by Rassilon to locate the Master but he was unable to.
As a human, he believed that he spent his life moving from one refugee ship to another. He retained the Master’s brilliant intellect and he eventually became involved in an attempt to send the remnants of humanity to Utopia. He eventually met the Doctor and Martha who spoke of Daleks and the Time War. Voices in his head commanded him to open the watch that he always carried, thus returning him to his true identity. He attacked his assistant and electrocuted her. Before she died, she shot him with a laser gun and he regenerated then stole the Doctor’s TARDIS and escaped to EArth.
Harold Saxon
The Master escaped Malcassairo with the Doctor’s TARDIS and the hand that contained the Doctor’s DNA. The TARDIS, however, was only able to take him to Earth in the 2000s where he created his alter-ego Harold Saxon. In this persona, he became the Minister of Defence of Great Britain where he was most known for ordering the Army to destroy the Racnoss webstar.
He eventually campaigned in the election for Prime Minster of Great Britain. He used the Archangel Network tied in with mobile phones to control the minds of humans so that they would trust him. This machine also affected the Doctor so that he had no suspicions that Harold Saxon was the Master.
In this guise, the Master also created a laser screwdriver and funded the rejuvenation experiments of Richard Lazarus.
He was finally elected Prime Minister in 2008 and his first order of business was to make first contact with the “friendly” Toclafane. Using the Toclafane, he killed the President of the United States and captured the Doctor and his companions. He then led the Toclafane invasion of Earth. Captain Jack was able to destroy the machine the Master used to change history and reversed time one year. The Master’s wife killed him but the Master refused to regenerate and died.
A year later, a cult known as the Disciples of Saxon made plans to resurrect the Master. Hoping to prevent his resurrection, Lucy, the Master’s wife, hurled a Potion of Death at the Master, killing everyone in the area except for the Master. His new form was flawed, having changed to blonde hair and being left in a state of constant depletion which made him consume huge quantities of food and drain the vitality of humans to stay alive.
He was kidnapped and enlisted to mend the Vinvocci medical machine (the Immortality Gate). Instead of repairing it, the Master jumped into the gate which transformed almost every person on Earth into identical copies of the Master. While in the process of doing this, the Time Lords contacted the Master via the drumming in his head and had him destroy the time lock on the Time War to bring back the Time Lords. The Master, however, had other plans and decided to imprint himself onto all the Time Lords just as he had done with the human race. Rassilon used his gauntlet to reverse what the Master had done and Gallifrey returned to the universe on a collision course with Earth.
The Doctor attempted to defeat Rassilon but the Master stepped in the way before Rassilon could destroy the Doctor. Gallifrey, the Time Lords and the Master all vanished, presumably to the point in the Time War where they had just left.
Missy
Sometime after the incident with Gallifrey and the Time Lords, the Master regenerated into a new body, one that was female. She adapted the name of “the Master” into Missy which was the shortened form of Mistress. She was able to escape the pocket universe where Gallifrey existed and joined forces with the Cybermen. She took over the 3W Institute in order to create new Cybermen out of the dead. She was able to upload dying minds into the Nethersphere which was a virtual reality housed within a matrix data slice. This environment removed the minds’ emotion and then re-downloaded them into Cyber-converted bodies.
Sometime during all of her dealings with the Cybermen, Missy gave Clara Oswald the Doctor’s phone number, forcing them to meet while the Doctor was in his eleventh body. She kept the Doctor and Clara together, believing that she was the right companion to attract the Doctor’s interest and to make it easier for Missy to manipulate him emotionally.
Missy eventually met the Doctor and offered him her Cyber army. The Doctor gave control of the army to the Cyber-converted Danny Pink who order the army into the sky and destroy themselves. Missy gave the Doctor the coordinates to the current position. She lied and said that the planet had returned to its original position. Missy was shot and presumably killed by a rogue Cyberman who turned out to be the remains of Brigadier Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
Personality
The Master was technically the polar opposite of the Doctor. He was arrogant and vain which usually led to his downfall in all of his schemes. Each of the Master’s “incarnations” seemed to have variations of these particular personalities:
Thirteenth incarnation: The Master was often arrogant and impatient. He had no tolerance for stupidity and was often rude towards everyone. He was suave and debonair with a twisted sense of humour. He often enjoyed spinning a web of lies to create long games with schemes built into schemes. He could be juvenile at times but also had a sadistic side. He did kill people but saw murder as a regrettable necessity.
Degenerated body: In this form, the Master was mostly preoccupied with finding a way to regnerate. He tended to work in the shadows and hid his involvement in plans. His hatred towards the Doctor was stronger than ever and he was also more comfortable with killing people for the sake of killing them. In this state, his telepathic capabilities grew stronger.
Tremas: In this form, the Master was more flamboyantly evil who only trusted himself. He was very melodramatic, often resorting to lengthy speeches. He was now able to predict the Doctor’s movements so was able to maneuver the Doctor into his schemes with ease. He also had a genuine disregard for life in this format showed an unusual level of moral standards.
Tzun: In contrast, this form was calmer, less emotional and highly manipulative. He treated humanity like children.
John Smith: As John Smith, the Master was aware of his dark nature and was troubled by it. This form was more darker and evil than most of his other selves. He enjoyed being mysterious and often gave his enemies riddles as to his true identity.
Body Jumping: He was generally calm but also capable of a terrifying rage. He viewed life as being “wasted on the living”.
Time War incarnation: This version was theatrical and loved seeking attention. This Master also had a habit of imitating the Doctor which allowed him to infiltrate UNIT.
Yana: Yana was benign old man who was scatterbrained and lacked self-confidence. He was also a bit of a misogynist.
Harold Saxon: As Harold Saxon, the Master was more insane than ever and was tormented the most by the drumming in his head. He was extremely vain and self-centred.
Damaged Harold Saxon: After being resurrected, the Master was not only more insane but also more feral. He thrived on chaos and had no regard for life.
Missy: The Master fully embraced his female side in this incarnation. She retained her obsession with the Doctor and had a hunger for domination. But, unlike previous “incarnations”, Missy insisted that she wanted her friend back. She was, however, also very convincing when it came to lying.
Appearances
Terror of the Autons (TV)
The Mind of Evil (TV)
The Claws of Axos (TV)
Colony in Space (TV)
The Daemons (TV)
The Sea Devils (TV)
The Time Monster (TV)
Frontier in Space (TV)
The Deadly Assassin (TV)
The Keeper of Traken (TV)
Logopolis (TV)
Castrovalva (TV)
Time-Flight (TV)
The King’s Demons (TV)
The Five Doctors (TV)
Planet of Fire (TV)
The Caves of Androzani (TV)
The Mark of the Rani (TV)
The Ultimate Foe (TV)
Survival (TV)
Doctor Who - The TV Movie (TV)
Utopia (TV)
The Sound of Drums (TV)
Last of the Time Lords (TV)
The End of Time (TV)
Deep Breath (TV)
Into the Dalek (TV)
The Caretaker (TV)
Flatline (TV)
In the Forest of the Night (TV)
Dark Water (TV)
Death in Heaven (TV)
The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar (TV)
Destiny of the Doctors (Video Game)
Dust Breeding (Audio)
Master (Audio)
UNIT: Dominion (Audio)
The Light at the End (Audio)
The End of the Line (Audio)
Mastermind (Audio)
Trail of the White Worm (Audio)
The Oseidon Adventure (Audio)
The Evil One (Audio)
Requiem for the Rocket Men (Audio)
Death Match (Audio)
Smoke and Mirrors (Audio)
Time’s Horizon (Audio)
Eyes of the Master (Audio)
The Death of Hope (Audio)
The Reviled (Audio)
Masterplan (Audio)
Rule of the Eminence (Audio)
The Monster of Montmartre (Audio)
Master of the Daleks (Audio)
First Frontier (Prose)
Happy Endings (Prose)
Who Killed Kennedy (Prose)
The Dark Path (Prose)
The Eight Doctors (Prose)
Legacy of the Daleks (Prose)
Sometime Never… (Prose)
The Deadstone Memorial (Prose)
The Gallifrey Chronicles (Prose)
The Face of the Enemy (Prose)
The Infinity Doctors (Prose)
Prime Time (Prose)
The Quantum Archangel (Prose)
Deadly Reunion (Prose)
Last of the Gaderene (Prose)
Harvest of Time (Prose)
The Story of Martha (Prose)
The Nameless City (Prose)
The Spear of Destiny (Prose)
A Handful of Stardust (Prose)
The Duke of Dominoes (Prose)
Housewarming (Prose)
Freedom (Prose)
The Switching (Prose)
Hidden Talent (Prose)
The Seismologist’s Story (Prose)
A Town Called Eternity (Prose)
Stop the Pigeon (Prose)
Prologue (Prose)
Forgotten (Prose)
The Touch of the Nurazh (Prose)
UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce (Prose)
Omegemorphosis (Prose)
Doorway to Nowhere (Prose)
Listen - The Stars (Prose)
Out of the Green Mist (Prose)
Night Flight to Nowhere (Prose)
The Creation of Camelot (Prose)
The Time Savers (Prose)
The Fellowship of Quan (Prose)
The Radio Waves (Prose)
Doctor Who Fights Masterplan “Q” (Prose)
The One Second Hour (Prose)
Smash Hit (Prose)
Birth of a Renegade (Prose)
Reconnaissance (Prose)
Speech Day (Prose)
Master Faustus (Prose)
The Glen of Sleeping (Comic)
Fogbound (Comic)
The Time Thief (Comic)
Doctor Who and the Fangs of Time (Comic)
The Fallen (Comic)
The Glorious Dead (Comic)
Character Assassin (Comic)
Hunters of the Burning Stone (Comic)
The Man in the Ion Mask (Comic)
Prisoners of Time (Comic)