Rank the Masters

[Cutter John]

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Anthony Head as the Master becomes Prime Minister? So, would that mean that Doctor Who would exist in the same continuity as Little Brittain.

Drat, I didn't realize he was already well known for a show in the UK already (I only know him from Buffy and DW). Pity that. When I think of him, I imagine the administrator from "School Reunion". Particularly that scene by the pool with Tennant. He has that smooth, yet slightly mad quality that makes a good Master.

[Guy Gardener]

Little Britan is what Anthony was doing 10 years ago before his stint on Merlin.

Oh god.

They're making another Percy Jackson Movie.

[Orac Zen]

Roger Delgado. The original and best. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the way he, Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning played off each other greatly added to the appeal of the Master's appearances.


(large gap)


everyone else.

Jacobi was pretty good, but then again he's a marvelous actor and always eminently watchable. Ainley had his moments, mostly when he wasn't hamming it up. I didn't find Pratt and Beevers particularly interesting and the little I remember of Roberts in the role is...err...not good. And I dislike Simms' ludicrously over-the-top Master every bit as much as I dislike Tennant's Doctor.

[ToddCam]

Cool.

I'm only going to go with the TV ones, since I am just starting to get into audio, and novels are a distant goal.

Let me preface that I don't mind goofiness in my TV or my Doctor Who specifically, but the Master seems to me to be someone of great dignity.

6. Seventeenth Master (the most recent one/"Harold Saxon")
Too ridiculous. Before I started watching classic Who, he was all right, but now I find him to be way too ridiculous a version of the Master.

5. Fifteenth Master (the one from the TV movie)
Somewhat menacing at first, then just a little too goofy and camp.

4. Thirteen and a halfth Master (the burned one)
It's hard to say about this version. I found him so unpleasant to look at it was kind of difficult to catch his performance. Seemed ok.

3. Sixteenth Master ("Yana")
Only very briefly actualized as The Master, but he was pretty menacing there. I liked him as Professor Yana too.

2. Fourteenth Master (Nyssa's dad's body)
Anthony Ainley's Master was a little silly, but he was a pretty cool villain. I actually like his little chuckle. I actually preferred his performance as Tremas, though.

1. Thirteenth Master (the first one)
The original Master, Roger Delgado, did a really great job. I thought he was a perfect foil for the Doctor.

[Emh]

1. Roger Delgado. Exquisite, elegant, shameless and the perfect foil for The Third Doctor. There is no beating him. He's, well, the master.

2. Anthony Ainley. The extra (JNT-induced) hammy performances aside, Ainley was wonderfully charming with a sinister chuckle. I'm constantly quoting "Oh, my dear Doctor, you have been naive." It's just a shame JNT forced Ainley to ham it up when Ainley wanted to play the character straight with a darker feel. It's a pity he didn't get the opportunity to perform for Big Finish.

3. Geoffrey Beevers. This is mostly in regard to the Big Finish audio plays than his performance in The Keeper of Traken. He drips with cunning and manipulation and creepiness in all of his performances, but especially in the atmospheric Master.

4. Derek Jacobi. I wish he had more time as The Master because every moment he was on screen as The Master (and Yana) was sheer joy. His performance as The Master in Scream of the Shalka is also very good.

5. Peter Pratt. Actually prefer his burned to as crisp version of The Master over Beevers (but part of that was due to the make-up), but he only had one appearance, whereas Beevers continues on with Big Finish.

6. John Simm. I'm really torn with him. I love John Simm as an actor and there are many moments in his performances that pure brilliance, but there other moments that are downright embarrassing (although I blame RTD mostly on this count). Like Ainley, I wish RTD let him the character more straight and I can only hope Simm gets the opportunity in the future.

7. Eric Roberts. There's not much to like about his performance. Ugh.

[marillion]

Cutter John wrote:

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Drat, I didn't realize he was already well known for a show in the UK already (I only know him from Buffy and DW). Pity that. When I think of him, I imagine the administrator from "School Reunion". Particularly that scene by the pool with Tennant. He has that smooth, yet slightly mad quality that makes a good Master.

It could still work.. After all, Bill Pullman can play the President in two universes (ID4 and 1600 Penn), why not Anthony Head?

[Anji]

Roger Delgado took evil to a whole new level. Delgado, Delgado, Delgado!

[The Borgified Corpse]

Cutter John wrote:

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Drat, I didn't realize he was already well known for a show in the UK already (I only know him from Buffy and DW). Pity that. When I think of him, I imagine the administrator from "School Reunion". Particularly that scene by the pool with Tennant. He has that smooth, yet slightly mad quality that makes a good Master.

He's known for a few shows in the UK. Shortly after he left Buffy, he did a drama about wealthy middle-aged men called Manchild. (That show also starred Don Warrington, who played the President of Great Britain in the alternate universe in "Rise of the Cybermen.") He also played Uther Pendragon on Merlin.

But then, nothing about Little Britain should be taken too seriously. Tom Baker provides the narration and he's constantly breaking the 4th wall. In one episode, he just refers to Anthony Stewart Head as "That guy from Buffy." In another, Tom Baker insists that there's never anything good on TV "except for Doctor Who reruns and that one episode of Black Adder II that I'm in."

[diankra]

And long before Buffy, Anthony Head was well known in the UK as 'that guy from the coffee ads'. Or even as 'that guy who's played the posh bit part in loads of things. You know, the one who's a bit like Nigel Havers but never seems to get the lead role.' ISTR that he originally tried his luck in the States because typecasting from the coffee ads meant he was losing out on roles in the UK.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

ToddCam wrote:

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1. Thirteenth Master (the first one)
The original Master, Roger Delgado, did a really great job. I thought he was a perfect foil for the Doctor.

Why do you call him the 13th Master?

[Redfern]

He's taking the position that Roger Delgado is the version of the Master whom Chancellor Goth found burned and disfigured on Terserus (as played by Peter Pratt). Since Pratt's Master is at the end of his 13th incarnation, so is Delgado's.

There's nothing emperical to suggest Delgado has regenerated 12 times, but then again, there's nothing really to refute it. Delgado's form just happens to be the first time we as the audience have seen the Master.

Sincerely,

Bill

[Blamo]

1 - Roger Delgado - Affably evil is a good description of him and his mannerisms. He is a cross between a gentlemen, a scholar and a thug, rather like Moriarty and a match for the 3rd Doctor. His scenes with the Doctor are almost always standout, whether it's fighting one another or being tolerant of the others existence.

Of course he has his problems, like the fact that he's almost always double crossed.

2 - John Simm - One of the problems with RTD's 10th Doctor was that he was just as flippant with evil villains as Douglas Adams 4th Doctor, which had the habbit of killing a lot of tension. As such John Simms Master makes a great foil for the 10th Doctor, being equally as flippant towards the "heroes". He is pretty much a dark reflection of Tennants Doctor.

Also for all the goofiness of Last of the Time Lords, Simms Master is perhaps the most effective of all the Masters.

Well, until the whole "I believe in fairies" thing.

3 - Decaying Master - The Grim Reaper Master. A bit comic booky but when the look was done right he actually looked to be the scariest villain/monster in Doctor Who.

I get the feeling RTD tried to copy that idea when it came to "End of Time", problem was it just ended up being utterly silly.

4 - Anthony Ainley - This is a hard one, Ainley's Master had a lot of poor stories and hamming it up didn't help. I feel he was at his best in Logopolis, Five Doctors and Survival, but the rest damn poor.

5 - Derek Jacobi - If they ever do bring the Master back, I hope he's like Derek Jacobi's the very short stint. Chilling, such a shame we didn't get to see more of him.

6 - Eric Roberts - Not bad, but the venom spitting thing just didn't work for him.

[ToddCam]

If it's ever shown or revealed that the Master had an incarnation after the Delgado one that became the burned one, I have no problem accepting Delgado was the Twelfth, or even earlier. I read that a novel established he was in his final incarnation due to some encounter with the Second Doctor, or something? I haven't read it yet, and may never, because I find Doctor Who novels difficult to read.

Edit: Also, I don't really like referring to the incarnations of the Doctor as the actors, so I try to apply the same terminology for the Master and Romana. I hate equating characters and actors other than for the occasional in-joke reference. I especially hate it when a character is called the actor as if that's funny.

[diankra]

ToddCam wrote:

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I read that a novel established he was in his final incarnation due to some encounter with the Second Doctor, or something?

The Dark Path, written by this forum's very own LoneMagpie.

[Konata Izumi]

ToddCam wrote:

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I especially hate it when a character is called the actor as if that's funny.

It is funny, when the actor's mannerisms or pretty face are more prominent than the character's traits less associated with the actor. That's kind of, not how it's supposed to go

But I do agree otherwise about referring to characters with their actors' names. Suits that with Ten it works as an abbreviation of Tennant too so you can't really separate the actor

I think why it's not nice to refer to characters by their actor's name is that, it sounds like the actor is nothing but the character hers playing. And that's not nice. Even if I have no idea who else they might be.