I've been curious about the Doctor's changing attitude towards the Master. The Third Doctor seemed to be close friends with him at times it seemed, but pretty much all everybody from Tom Baker on in the TOS was glad to see him "gone"-Davison in particular let him 'die' in those flames in "Planet of fire", and the Seventh Doctor (In Survival) admitted that one day he or the Master would wipe the other out, and seems ambivalent about the Master's fate.
However starting with the TV movie-where the Doctor offers to save the Master from the Eye of Harmony, and extending into the 2005-on series (Well, at least with Tennant, as the Master didn't appear in Eccleston's era and has yet to show up in Smiths), it seems that the former friendship between the two is hinted at once again, and the Master is less of a villain the Doctor would rather be gone permenantly. He cries when he 'dies' in Last of the Time Lords, He even offers him a sort of limited companionship-twice!
I got the feeling that RTD always liked the original Delgado version of the Master, and might have felt that the 70s-80s version sort of turned him into a cardboard villain. It's worth noting the villains the Master and the Doctor bring up when reminiscing about the past are those both encountered during the Pertwee era-Axons, Sea Devils, Daleks etc.
Or it could be just something to do with the Time War, the Doctor misses the Time Lords so much, that there's only the two of them, with the rest destroyed/in a time lock/used as spare parts for House's servants or whatever.
Makes that Scissor sisters song the Master dances to kind of apt since it really kind of sums up their relationship.
However starting with the TV movie-where the Doctor offers to save the Master from the Eye of Harmony, and extending into the 2005-on series (Well, at least with Tennant, as the Master didn't appear in Eccleston's era and has yet to show up in Smiths), it seems that the former friendship between the two is hinted at once again, and the Master is less of a villain the Doctor would rather be gone permenantly. He cries when he 'dies' in Last of the Time Lords, He even offers him a sort of limited companionship-twice!
I got the feeling that RTD always liked the original Delgado version of the Master, and might have felt that the 70s-80s version sort of turned him into a cardboard villain. It's worth noting the villains the Master and the Doctor bring up when reminiscing about the past are those both encountered during the Pertwee era-Axons, Sea Devils, Daleks etc.
Or it could be just something to do with the Time War, the Doctor misses the Time Lords so much, that there's only the two of them, with the rest destroyed/in a time lock/used as spare parts for House's servants or whatever.
Makes that Scissor sisters song the Master dances to kind of apt since it really kind of sums up their relationship.