A Few Thoughts on New Who's Master

It's officially one month until series 8 begins, so I have Who on the brain.  My latest Whoniverse rewatch has just taken me to the end of series 3 (seriously, how awesome is Martha?) and I thought I'd take a minute or two to look at the rather divisive Master penned by RTD and portrayed by John Simm.

Let me start by saying that, when I first saw the series, I'd heard beforehand that John Simm would be playing this famous classic-series enemy of the Doctor and, given my love for State of Play, I was pumped.  In "Utopia", between the return of Jack and the brief glimpse of the Master at the end (and that astounding cliffhanger - definitely one of my top five Whoniverse endings,) I powered through the rest of the season that night in a frenzy.  Unfortunately though, my main reactions to the Master in the final two episodes were "huh?" "meh," and "ugh."  After my wild anticipation, quite a letdown.

'Cause there's a lot of "huh?" "meh," ad "ugh" in this incarnation of the character.  He's over-the-top ridiculous, and "The End of Time" just doubles down on everything I dislike.  Some scenes are so hammy,  they make me cringe (but, I'm quick to defend, that's not entirely John Simm's fault - RTD shares a lot of the blame.  Given scenes like demonstrating "funny vs. not funny" expressions, or attacking a turkey carcass like a starved animal, what actor could have pulled those off in a nuanced way?). Throw in the fact that "The Last of the Time Lords" and "The End of Time" are my two least-favorite finales of the entire RTD era, and I could easily sour on the whole venture.

But that would be unfair because, having watched these episodes a few times since then, there is some good stuff to be had in this version of the Master.  His connection with the Doctor is fantastic, and Simm and Tennant play so well off of each other.  These characters have a long, charged history, and the events of the Time War have forged a fascinating bond between them.  They're the last two of their species, and so even in the midst of their battling and threatening and mind games, they sort of cling to one another.  The Master needs to provoke the Doctor, needs him to engage, needs him to prove they're both still there.  He's desperate for assurance that the Doctor hears the same drumming that he does, and when he thinks for a moment that he might have killed the Doctor, he's almost panicked until he sees that he hasn't lost his only peer.  The Doctor feels a similar pull, and these two are as likely to have weighty conversations as they are to fight.

That, and some of the demented loony routine actually works.  This Master has a borderline-playful brand of crazy that, when he's not devouring the scenery, can come off well.  Though the cabinet scene as a whole has too much face-pulling for my liking, I enjoy everything from the gask mask on, and the last scene of "The Sound of Drums" is one of my favorites ever, with everything going to pieces while the Master grooves to "Voodoo Child."  I mean, this is a guy who picks out a soundtrack for destroying the world - how can you not love that?