The fictional character most commonly likened to Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor is James Bond, thanks to his love of gadgets, exotic forms of transport, and the heavier emphasis on out-and-out action / adventure in the UNIT stories.
When contemplating their first full season in charge together - the eighth - Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks also saw a parallel with Sherlock Holmes. He was obviously the Doctor, whilst the Dr Watson role was fulfilled mainly by the Brigadier - old-fashioned, yet fiercely loyal, and who is constantly surprised and amazed by his super-intelligent friend.
If the Doctor was Holmes, and the Brigadier Watson - who then was their Moriarty? The Doctor had recurring foes, in the form of Daleks, Cybermen and Ice Warriors, but there had never been a recurring humanoid villain, singular. The closest had been the time-meddling Monk, having featured twice, but he was a humorous character, as likely to help the Doctor, when push came to shove, as harm him.
Men like Mavic Chen and Tobias Vaughn (both brilliantly played by the superb Kevin Stoney) or the rogue Time Lord War Chief had come over as Bond Villain-like characters, but had only been good for one story, being bumped off in the final episode.
As a Time Lord, co-created by Dicks, it always surprises that the ready-made War Chief wasn't resurrected, having survived being shot by the Aliens. If Edward Brayshaw had been keen, he could have been brought back as he was. If not, then as a Time Lord he could have regenerated into a new actor.
Letts and Dicks decided instead to create their own character from scratch. The only villain who could match the Doctor would be another rogue Time Lord - otherwise it would make no sense for the Doctor to continually fail to best him. Both went away to sleep on it, and next day Dicks came up with the name for the new character. This would be the Master - another academic title like "Doctor" but one which could have sinister overtones (e.g. Verne's Master of the World). Desiring mastery over people or things was a negative aim. Letts brought the actor to the table - the only person ever considered for the role. This was Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto, born in 1918 within the sound of Bow Bells and so a genuine Cockney, despite the exotic name (inherited from a Spanish father and a Belgian mother).
Delgado was well known for playing villainous roles, though not exclusively. He had been a friendly journalist in the second Quatermass serial, and the scientist hero of the radio serial The Slide (which formed the basis for Fury from the Deep). He had also been one of the Three Musketeers. Letts had worked alongside him as an actor, when again Delgado had been a non-villain. Letts had been the baddie, and Delgado had despatched him in a swordfight on a beach.
When it came to the numerous ITC-style series, however, Delgado's swarthy good looks had led to him cornering TV's villain market, and he had also played a couple of villains for Hammer and other studios.
The Master made his debut at the start of Season 8, in a sequel to the popular Spearhead from Space. His costume - immaculately tailored dark suit with Nehru collar and black leather gloves - had actually been the image that Jon Pertwee had wanted for his Doctor. Pertwee was unsettled by his new co-star (always insecure as a serious actor), especially when the new Radio Times cover seemed to suggest that he was the bigger star of the story - with some even thinking him a new Doctor.
Letts and Dicks admitted that having him feature in every story of the season, even if only in the second half of Colony in Space, was a bad idea - as the audience quickly came to expect him to show up.
He was captured at the end of the season, which allowed the character to be rested, and he would only feature in two of the five stories of Season 9. Noticing that directors thought he was permanently employed on Doctor Who, and therefore unavailable for any other work, Delgado decided to bow out after a few more appearances. He would only feature once in Season 10, and plans were initiated to write him out in Season 11, possibly alongside the Third Doctor. Asked if he wanted to leave with the door open for future returns, or to go out with a bang, Delgado requested the latter.
Sadly, plans were not allowed to proceed any further than some rough ideas, as Delgado died in a car crash in Turkey, on his way to a film set, in June 1973. He was 55.
The character was brought back in 1976, in an unrecognisable emaciated form, by Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe in The Deadly Assassin - the obvious villain for a story set on Gallifrey. Producer and script editor deliberately left him alive and healthier, having absorbed some of the energy of the Eye of Harmony, so that a future production team could recast the role. (They almost reused him themselves, however, as the villain of The Talons of Weng-Chiang).
Another emaciated version pitched up in The Keeper of Traken five years later, played by Geoffrey Beevers, but again this was designed as a temporary one-off to usher in a new full-time humanoid Master - as portrayed by Anthony Ainley. He played a more pantomimic version of the character, with increasingly pointless schemes, but lasted to the end of the series in 1989.
Eric Roberts was another one-off Master in the ill-judged 1996 TV movie.
When RTD brought the series back in 2005, he had a long term plan: Daleks in Series 1, Cybermen in Series 2, and the Master for Series 3. The oft-mentioned Harold Saxon turned out to be the Master, now played by John Simm (after a brief time in the form of Professor Yana - Derek Jacobi).
This new Master was younger-looking, to match the younger-looking Doctor, and he saw out the first David Tennant incarnation. The issue with Simm's portrayal was the whole "sound of drums" thing. The Delgado Master might have embarked on some poorly thought out schemes, but he was presented as quite sane. Ainley's plans were even more bizarre, but again he was never portrayed as crazy. There was never any hint of the character being driven mad by drumming in his head until Series 3.
When Steven Moffat took over, he opted to introduce the first female incarnation of the character - the marvellous Missy (Michelle Gomez), who featured alongside the Twelfth Doctor. The madness was toned right down. She was more cruel than crazy. Her final appearance coincided with the return of Simm's version - the first multi-Master story.
Rather than rest the character, Chris Chibnall gave us another male incarnation just a dozen episodes after the apparent demise of both Missy and the Simm incarnation. Sacha Dhawan revisited some of the craziness of the Simm version.
RTD is about to revitalise the series (hopefully). Who knows what plans, if any, he might have for the Master? It is time to go back to the Delgado model - a realistic, charming rogue, lacking the craziness of the Simm / Dhawan versions, or the pantomime villainy of the Ainley one.
RTD may elect to rest the character, but it shouldn't be too long to wait until he - or perhaps the next showrunner - revisits it. The cosmos without the Master scarcely bears thinking about...
No comments:
Post a Comment