The Master Fact File

Home Planet: Gallifrey
Life Form: Gallifreyan/Time Lord


The Master has in many ways been shown to be a parallel of the Doctor. He has an untempered genius, a psychopathic outlook on human life and a fantastic ego. His choice of name, "Master of all things" also indicates a deep-seated narcissistic outlook. Basically... he's full of himself.

The Master and the Doctor are shown to have similar levels of intelligence, and were classmates on Gallifrey. Both the Doctor and the Master have been shown to be skilled hypnotists, although the Master's capacity to dominate — even by stare and voice alone — has been shown to be far more pronounced.

During the earlier times, the Master's various TARDISes have fully functioning chameleon circuits and have appeared as many things. After the carnage of the Time War, it is unclear whether any of the Master's TARDISes still exist, but can be assumed that they were all wiped out saved the Doctor's.

The Master's original weapon of choice is the "tissue compression eliminator", which shrinks its target to doll-like proportions, killing them in the process. The Master also has a laser screwdriver, which functions as a powerful laser weapon, capable of killing with a single shot, and carries the ability to age victims rapidly.

While it has been historically expressed that the Doctor's consistent weaknesses throughout all his incarnations are his compassion and curiosity, the Master's weaknesses have usually been exposed as his pride/vanity and his insanity — in particular his obsessiveness.

History within the show

In 'The Sound of Drums', a flashback shows the Master at the age of eight, when as part of a Time Lord initiation ceremony he is taken before a gap in space and time, from which one can see the entire Vortex. The Doctor states that looking into the time vortex causes some to be inspired, some to run away, and others to go mad; he suggests that the latter is what happened to the Master.

A would-be universal conqueror, the Master's stated goal is to control the universe, with a secondary objective of eliminating the Doctor.

When he first appeared, the Master was involved in almost every adventure of the Doctor's, always getting away at the last minute before he is captured. He would often use disguises and brainwashing to operate in normal society, while setting up his plans and also tried to use othe r alien races and powers as his means to conquest.

This portrayal of the Master was as a suave, charming and somewhat sociopathic individual, able to be polite and murderous at almost the same time.

In his next appearance, in 'The Deadly Assassin', the Master appears as an emaciated, decaying wreck, at the end of his thirteenth and final life and, given the severity of his situation, this Master is much darker.
In 'The Keeper of Traken', the Master succeeds in renewing himself by taking over the body of Tremas (an anagram o f 'Master') Now with a body , the Master appeared on and off , still seeking to extend his life — preferably with a new set of regenerations.

The next we hear from the Master, he has been sentenced by the Time Lords to be executed by the Daleks as a punishment for his 'evil crimes'. The Doctor was taking his remaines back to Gallifrey when The Master, who had survived, takes on the form of a small, snake-like entity. This entity escapes and slithers inside the Doctor's TARDIS console, forcing the vessel to crash land.

This serpent form possesses the body of Bruce. However, Bruce's body is also unsustainable and begins to slowly degenerate. The Master attempts to access the Eye of Harmony within the TARDIS and steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations, but instead his body is sucked into it.

After the Time War, the Doctor was certain that he was the only Time Lord left, as he would have been able to feel the presence of any other survivers. However, this belief was short lived as he was told by the Face of Boe that he 'was not alone.'

In 'The Sound of Drums', it is revealed that the Time Lords resurrected the Master to serve as a front line soldier in the Time War. However, after the Dalek Emperor took control of The Cruciform, he fled the war in fear. He disguised himself as a human via the TARDIS' Chameleon Arch, which stores his Time Lord nature and memories in a fob watch, allowing him to become biologically human.

With this new form, he hid at the end of the universe as benevolent scientist, Professor Yana. The Doctor meets this human incarnation in 'Utopia' and Martha inadvertently causes Ya na to open the watch and becomes the Master again.
YANA turns out to be an acronym for the Face of Boes final words: You Are Not Alone.
The newly discovered Time Lord is mortally wounded during a struggle, regenerates, then steals the Doctor's TARDIS and escapes.

At the last second, the Doctor configures the TARDIS using his sonic screwdriver so that the Master is only able to travel between present-day Earth and the year 100 Trillion.

Following his escape from the end of the universe, The Master he arrives in the UK and assumes the identity Harold Saxon. By the time the Doctor has caught up with him, he has set up the Archangel Network, which allows him to influence humanity via a telepathic field, and risen to the office of Prime Minister.

In this incarnation, the Master seems more hyperactive and humorous than previous Masters. After becoming Prime Minister, the Master captures the Doctor and ages him so he can not fight back. From this, he rules the Earth for a year and turns whole nations into work-camps and bases for a fleet of war rockets.

Just as he is ready to wage war on the rest of the universe, the Doctor is restored to strength by the efforts of Martha Jones, using the Archangel network. The Doctor intends to keep the Master with him on the TARDIS, but this plan is thwarted when the Master is shot by his wife Lucy Saxon.

The Master then dies after refusing to regenerate, unwilling to be the Doctor's prisoner. Since his death emotionally hurts the Doctor, the Master views this as a victory. The Doctor then cremates him on a pyre. A female hand with long, bright red fingernails, picks up the Master's ring from the ashes, while the soun d of the Master's insane laughter rings in the background.

Episode Appeared
Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos, Colony in Space, The Daemons, The Sea Devils, The Time Monster, Frontier in Space, The Deadly Assassin, The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, Castrovalva, Time-Flight, The King's Demons, The Five Doctors, Planet of Fire, The Mark of the Rani, The Trial of a Time Lord, The Ultimate Foe, Survival, Eighth Doctor movie, Utopia, The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords.