Doctor Who IV - Everything Whovian - Would you like a jelly baby?

[ZeroBG82]

That's it. A poor man's Joker, who himself is a tired overused villain in the comics.

Given the wardrobe choice in this second appearance, this was almost certainly a conscious decision on the part of everyone involved. Dhawan's Master is the Joker.

It's not my favorite take, in particular coming as it does after Michelle Gomez's absolutely pitch perfect arc with Missy, but there are moments where it's particularly bad and others where it sings. Dhawan has a way of just looking at somebody and channeling menace and threat that works really well. But they definitely didn't find the right balance in either of his appearances so far.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Given the wardrobe choice in this second appearance, this was almost certainly a conscious decision on the part of everyone involved. Dhawan's Master is the Joker.

It's not my favorite take, in particular coming as it does after Michelle Gomez's absolutely pitch perfect arc with Missy, but there are moments where it's particularly bad and others where it sings. Dhawan has a way of just looking at somebody and channeling menace and threat that works really well. But they definitely didn't find the right balance in either of his appearances so far.

It's a carry over from Simm's Master. Gomez' Mistress remains the best, though.

[Silvermoth]

That’s true, missy was amazing

[Matt]

It's a carry over from Simm's Master. Gomez' Mistress remains the best, though.

Roger Delgado is still, by a huge stretch, the best Master of them all.

[Jokerz79]

Roger Delgado is still, by a huge stretch, the best Master of them all.

Agreed just wish Derek Jacobi could had played the Master longer I think he could had been closet we could had gotten to Delgado's Master in New Who.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Agreed just wish Derek Jacobi could had played the Master longer I think he could had been closet we could had gotten to Delgado's Master in New Who.

It was a glorious five minutes.

[ChrisIII]

I think Simm's final performance in Doctor Falls was somewhat Delgado/Ainleyish in a few ways-it was toned down quite a bit from his RTD days and his appearence-with the beard fully back, the crude disguise and mostly black outfit also visually recalled that as well.



One thing is I don't recall Delgado laughing that much, I think that sort of became more of a thing under Ainley. Delgado seemed to be the 'sanest' Master.

[Jokerz79]

I think Simm's final performance in Doctor Falls was somewhat Delgado/Ainleyish in a few ways-it was toned down quite a bit from his RTD days and his appearence-with the beard fully back, the crude disguise and mostly black outfit also visually recalled that as well.



One thing is I don't recall Delgado laughing that much, I think that sort of became more of a thing under Ainley. Delgado seemed to be the 'sanest' Master.

The Doctor Fall's and preceding episode were the only times I liked Simms' Master but I thought Missy was fantastic from the start.

[Celgress]

Agreed just wish Derek Jacobi could had played the Master longer I think he could had been closet we could had gotten to Delgado's Master in New Who.

Co-signed, "Professor Yana" would have made a great longer-term Master. *sigh*

[ZeroBG82]

It's a carry over from Simm's Master. Gomez' Mistress remains the best, though.

While I agree that the manic Simm take has informed Dhawan's, they are not really all that similar.

Plus they literally put dude in a purple suit.

They weren't at all being subtle here. Master = Joker.

[Celgress]

While I agree that the manic Simm take has informed Dhawan's, they are not really all that similar.

Plus they literally put dude in a purple suit.

They weren't at all being subtle here. Master = Joker.

True, there is no originality left in this character.

I pity the next showrunner who follows Chibs. They'll have a monumental mess to clean up, the Master's current mischaracterization being only one issue the ludicrous looking "Time Lord" Cybermen being another lol.

[Anthony W]

True, there is no originality left in this character.

I pity the next showrunner who follows Chibs. They'll have a monumental mess to clean up, the Master's current mischaracterization being only one issue the ludicrous looking "Time Lord" Cybermen being another lol.

You pity the next showrunner? Are you kidding me? The bar is going to be set so low that the new guy is going to have the easiest job in the world.

[Matt]

The bar may be, as you say, set low but I think he's referring more to narrative messes, rather than quality of stories.

For example, trying to make the Doctor actually effective again and somehow not a victim would be an interesting challenge.
Restoring The Master to be a type of villain you love to hate (like Delgado's version) would be also a challenge. Enough with the zaniness, jumping around, general lack of self control - making him suave and sophisticated again is what would make him far more sinister.

Actually coming up with some original ideas would be the real key, however. In this latest mess, the one thing that irked me the most was the apparent destruction of the Time Lords. Again. It happened in the novels. Then it happened again in the Time War. The Doctor worked hard to restore them, they had a very brief screen time again ... before being wiped out again. Off screen and without any sort of explanation, even.
It was repetitive and didn't actually add anything to the story itself. Lazy writing.

[Steel Inquisitor]

While I agree that the manic Simm take has informed Dhawan's, they are not really all that similar.

Plus they literally put dude in a purple suit.

They weren't at all being subtle here. Master = Joker.

I meant that they both used the Joker for inspiration.

[Somecrazyaussie]

I am so done with the Master and all the "I am so crazy" shenanigans.

I am as well. I liked Dhawan in Spyfall. But his Master was really overdone in TTC. I really wish we could get a Master in a similar vein to Delgado. I really only liked Ainley in Survival. Which is the only time he came across as menacing.

Everybody since has tried to make him as crazy as possible to play up his threat level. Missy gets away with it because there the craziness was presented in a truly menacing way.