Is it time to bring back the Master?

[Green Lantern]

The Master's one of the "big bads" of the show and he hasn't appeared since new years day 2010. Okay so it's good to take a break from some things but I think now is the right time to bring him back. Plus it doesn't help that he's one of my favourites.

What do you guys think though, would you like to see him return? And if so, how?

 

[Richard Baker]

No-
I think he had a great run (conquered the Earth), came back (conquered the Earth even better) and had a great exit. His back story and motivations have been explored and he wildly wandered from a mystery to a madman to decadent emperor to misunderstood despot to martyr- all with great SFX.

I think he has done well and I would hate to see him return and disappoint.

 

[Sketcher]

I fully expect the next time we see the Master is when the Doctor finds/frees Gallifrey. He'll have wormed his way up as the undisputed Lord President of the Time Lords.

 

[Mr Awe]

Yes, I'd like it if the Master came back. However, it has to be for the right story. Just having the Master come back doesn't guarantee that the story will be good. I'd also like the Master to revert to his charming but sinister self, ala Roger Delgado.

Mr Awe

 

[DWF]

He should only turn up when you least expect him to, it's better that way. There was a rumor of Charles Dance playing him this season, but that didn't happen.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I could go either way. But, to be honest, less is always more. I would say the same thing about the Daleks.

 

[Skellington]

Yes, but not as a villain per se. The sound of drums is presumably gone, and presumably the character is still about the same age as the Doctor - meaning that he's had about 1200 years to cop himself on. I like to think he spent some of the intervening centuries in that pocket universe as a major force behind some great cosmic projects. Though if Missy turns out to be a female incarnation of the Master and out to defeat the Doctor then it's a bit sad on several levels.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Though if Missy turns out to be a female incarnation of the Master and out to defeat the Doctor then it's a bit sad on several levels.

Why?

 

[Skellington]

Though if Missy turns out to be a female incarnation of the Master and out to defeat the Doctor then it's a bit sad on several levels.

Why?

Because it would roll back any character development that the character has had and because after leaving off with about 20 more or less consecutive defeats, the Master would be back to pantomine villain form, seemingly oblivious to the prospect of a 21st at the hands of a now 2000-year-old Doctor. I can't see Moffat going to that particular well. If she is a version of the Master then most likely there'll be a tentative alliance of sorts.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

The Master should never, ever come back. Not only did RTD simaltenously ruin AND enrich the character, he also concluded his story definitively.

Until the Doctor find Gallifrey, in 20 or so years from now, then maybe. But he needs a nice, long rest. LONG rest.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Spoiler: IF Missy is the Master/Mistress...

...then I don't think defeating the Doctor as such is necessarily her plan. After all, she considers him her boyfriend now, right? And no, the Mistress being in love with the Doctor is not as far fetched as it seems - think the Joker/Batman with the Joker getting a gender swap. Then think back to the odd vibe between Simm's Master and Tennant's Doctor. There's a very thin line indeed between hate and love. And the Doctor did stop the drums beating at last...

Missy gave him Clara as a means to get him to Trenzalore to answer the Question "Doctor Who?" - her plan A to free Gallifrey. With that having failed, Missy was forced to buy time and grant the Doctor a new lease on life. The endgame is for Missy to work together with the Doctor to spring Gallifrey from the 'Heaven' only she (so far) seems able to travel to and fro from. To do that, Plan B (which we've seen throughout this season): She's got to drive the Doctor and Clara apart and to convince him that, at age 2300+ years (at least) and fourteen incarnations, it's time to start thinking about retiring from being Savior of the Universe/Guardian of the Pudding-Heads.

But despite the best efforts of sleeper agent Danny/Orson Pink, Clara's too much in love with adventure and exploring the Universe to give it up. And despite what I suspect was a spiked dose of regeneration energy twisting the new Doctor's personality a bit (forcing him to act more like a traditional off-putting Time Lord and compulsively work out with chalk block transfer computations that can break Gallifrey's stasis, among other things), his innate heroic Doctorness is now reasserting itself.

So, time for Plan C - the direct approach. And since Missy and the Daleks aren't really on speaking terms anymore, she'll have to call up the next best thing...

 

[Skellington]

^ But who would give up such a splendid title as that (Guardian Of The Pudding-Heads)?

 

[Professor Zoom]

Though if Missy turns out to be a female incarnation of the Master and out to defeat the Doctor then it's a bit sad on several levels.

Why?

Because it would roll back any character development that the character has had and because after leaving off with about 20 more or less consecutive defeats, the Master would be back to pantomine villain form, seemingly oblivious to the prospect of a 21st at the hands of a now 2000-year-old Doctor. I can't see Moffat going to that particular well. If she is a version of the Master then most likely there'll be a tentative alliance of sorts.

Yeah. I agree with that. It would be nice to have a wee bit of character development for the Master besides the sound of drums in his head.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Master - like the Doctor, but EVIL!!! - is a ridiculous idea. RTD used it as well as he could but I'm not eager to see him return.

 

[Starkers]

In the same way that some incarnations of the Doctor have been darker and more aserbic than others, I'd love to see an incarnation of the Master who, if not exactly good, was more of anti hero and probably about as nice as the Master could be.

Of course such a character might be quite melancholic as he'd be well aware that, come the next regeneration, he'd probably revert to type.

 

[Green Lantern]

Well for a moment forget the Simm Master. In the classic series he was pretty much one of the main big bads. I think it'd be a shame to scrap the Master just because of two stories. I'm not saying retcon his story, but continue it. How about he is now a prisoner of the timelords now and he has been driven completely insane (again) and he escapes prison or something and wants to destroy Galifrey but the Doctor doesn't want that so he has to stop the Master and the Doctor defeats the Master, the master wants revenge and we have a new feud between the two! Or The master worms his way into position of president of Galifrey and his plan is ultimately to destroy Galifrey as revenge so the doctor stops him and the master hates him again. But you get the gist, this could be a cool way to continue to continue his story.

That or we could have a past incarnation of the Master, who said we needed to have his current incarnation? Maybe we have like the first Master or something, maybe before he's even taken his name and we can find out more about his past.

Either way the character's too good to give up on.

 

[MacLeod]

The Master is like the proverbial bad penny, he'll no doubt be back one day. Best not to over use him.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Either way the character's too good to give up on.

Is he? The Master is a good character? In what way? I'm fond of him because I'm a Doctor Who fan, but he has never been anything more than a moustache-twirling villain.

 

[StCoop]

Either way the character's too good to give up on.

He a villian who always loses and half the time has to beg the Doctor to help him out of whatever mess he's in. Not very impressive.

I'm starting to edge towards Missy = Mistress = Master mainly because the scenes where she reveals her identity have been removed completely from the preview copies of this week's episode.

Plus here's Rachel Talalay on the subject: "I read episode 11, the morning it came to me, as I left for the UK. I read it on the airplane and I shrieked! The other day when we were doing ADR, adding in the dialogue, the ADR technician slammed the console and said 'Oh my God, really? Really?'

It was classic, and I thought yes, it's going to work!"

 

[Mr Awe]

^ Unless there is more to that quote, it doesn't suggest that Missy is the Master.

Recently I'm leaning towards it being an evil echo of Clara from one of the timelines where she helped the Doctor. Perhaps the version who went back to 1968 and the Cyberman invasion.

Mr Awe