Sunday, September 18, 2022

Top Five Magnificent Bastard Moments: The Pratt/Beevers Master (Doctor Who)

 *Spoilers.*

I was remiss to refer to this Master in his Character Highlight post as the Geoffrey Beevers Master. I’d forgotten that Beevers only played him in “The Keeper of Traken.” Prior to that, when the Master had appeared as even more of a husk in “The Deadly Assassin,” he was voiced by Peter Pratt, so both of them have some ownership over this regeneration. Impressively, despite only appearing in two serials, I still found enough Magnificent Bastard moments for a full Top Five—this Master did not come to play.

 

Framing the Doctor (Series 14, Episode 10 – “The Deadly Assassin: Episode 2”)

The desiccated Master has a plot to revive himself, one that involves assassinating the Lord President of Gallifrey. Now, he already has an assassin who can get this done for him. There’s no need for him to tinker with the Matrix to lure the Doctor back to Gallifrey and bait him into position so he’s in the single most incriminating spot when the president is killed. His assassin even points this out to him—they can use any old patsy, so why go through all the trouble of getting the Doctor there and blaming it on him? Well, anyone who knows the Master already knows the answer to that one! As he explains, his hate is the only thing that’s keeping him going in his decayed state. It’s not enough for him to restore himself: he also has to destroy the Doctor in the process.

 

Using the Rod of Rassilon (Series 14, Episode 12 – “The Deadly Assassin: Episode 4”)

The Master steals the Rod of Rassilon in order to unlock the Eye of Harmony, the black hole that powers the Time Lords’ navigation through the Time Vortex. Doing so will restart his regeneration cycle—and, you know, give him enough power to become the supreme ruler of all the universe (after all, Master gonna Master.) However, exposing the Eye of Harmony has catastrophic effects on Gallifrey, and his quest to save his own life threatens to rip the entire planet apart. Before the Doctor is able to stop him, he causes a great deal of seismic destruction.

 

Taking Over Kassia (Series 18, Episode 22 – “The Keeper of Traken: Episode 2”)

Hidden in his TARDIS, which is disguised as a Melkur statue, the Master gains the sympathy and the affection of the goodhearted Kassia, who visits and tends to the Melkur. This gives him ample opportunity to manipulate her into helping him. When it’s finally time to execute his plan, he gives her a “gift” that turns out to be a control band—when she wears it, she becomes his eyes and ears, allowing him to witness what’s happening all over Traken. It also enables him to use the Melkur’s deadly powers through her, and he uses her to kill Seron. Total bastard move.

 

Killing Kassia (Series 18, Episode 23 – “The Keeper of Traken: Episode 3:”)

The Master’s latest plan to restore himself is to gain access to the Source, an immense power that can only be wielded by the Keeper of Traken. After using Kassia and positioning her to be named Keeper herself, he swaps places with her at the exact moment of transformation, materializing his TARDIS in her place to seize the Source for himself. Yet another instance of the Master killing someone the second they outlive their usefulness to him.

 

Stealing Tremas’s Body (Series 18, Episode 24 – “The Keeper of Traken: Episode 4”)

When the Master fails to harness the power to regenerate his own body, his obsession pushes him to an even worse act: taking someone else’s. He’s already killed Kassia, and now he traps her widow and merges his decayed body with Tremas’s, taking him over. A despicable act by a desperate Master.

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