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"Doctor Who": BBC Looks Back on The Master's More Masterful Moments [VIDEO]

Well, it's about time. Every genre hero has to have a nemesis. Doctor Who has several – the Daleks, the Cybermen – but only one is his real archenemy. The Master.

Now it's his turn to have a long compilation video on the official Doctor Who YouTube Channel.

"I Am The Master. And You Will Obey Me."

The Master is that enemy every hero of a story needs: a dark reflection. His shadow self. The Master and the Doctor were childhood friends. They became Timelords together. They know all the same tricks and knowledge.

But the Master went the other way. He went bad. He's a meglomaniac, a psychopathic, a murderer. And he loves it.

The role calls for an inordinate amount of hamming, of course, and every actor who played him rose to the occasion.

The First Master: Bond Villain

Roger Delgado played the Master during the 3^rd Doctor's run. He had a debonaire, patrician quality about him as he went about plotting. Delgado had a certain Hammer Studios air about him as well, a Bond villain to Jon Pertwee's Bond-esque Doctor. The writers planned to reveal something big, like the Master was going to turn out to be The Doctor's brother or something, but Delgado passed away prematurely.

The Second Master: Melting

Peter Pratt played the Master in the 4^th Doctor story "The Deadly Assassin" as a decaying corpse in a raggedy robe. He was burning through his final regeneration and his body was literally falling apart. That didn't stop him from framing the Doctor for assassinating the president of Gallifrey.

The Third Master: Moustache-Twirler

Anthony Ainsley played the Master longer than any other actor, introduced in Tom Baker's final season and lasting all the way through the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th Doctor's runs. Ainsley played him as an evolution from Delgado but with a glint in his eye. This Master was the archetypal moustache-twirling villain from old school serials.

The Fourth Master: American Ham

Eric Roberts in that one TV movie. Nothing more needs to be said.

The Fifth Master: The War Master

Derek Jacobi played the first Master of the new show's era. He was probably the highest-calibre classic actor to lay the role. While he only lasted a few minutes, he made enough of an impression that Big Finish continues to produce audio dramas set during the Time War.

The Sixth Master: The Sneer

John Simm matched David Tennant as a Master who came off like an aging psychopathic juvenile delinquent. Showrunner Russell T. Davies introduced a pulpable homoerotic tenson between the 10^th Doctor and this Master that fans have shipped endlessly since.

The Seventh Master: Missy

Steven Moffat gender-swapped the Master as a way to change things up and prepare the audience for a female Doctor. Michelle Gomez played Missy as a kind of evil Mary Poppins. She also brought an overt deranged sexual charge to the character. She also had a complete story arc, unlike the other Masters.

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