Doctor Who - Documentary s08e02 Episode Script

1 Who is the villain going to turn out to be behind the scenes? It's the Master.
The Devil incarnate.
I am your vicar.
I'm also going to be an alien murderer.
Well, Doctor, we meet again.
(TWO LITTLE BOYS BY SPLODGENESSABOUNDS PLAYING) When we grow up we'll both be soldiers #And our horses will not be toys #And I wonder if we'll remember When we were two little boys There's no question that in our discussions, Terrance and I, we talked about the relationship between the Doctor and the Brigadier as being very like Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.
And that led inevitably towards where was Moriarty? And the thing about Moriarty was that he was an equal.
As intelligent as the Doctor, as witty as the Doctor.
And there is a sense in which one is the mirror image of the other.
The Doctor was the model for the Master, if you think about it, because the Doctor was always a rebel, he was on the run, he had stolen the Tardis.
So, in a sense, they had more in common than they had differences, in a way.
They were like this, weren't they? The Master's first scene, he is so suave, he's so cool.
I am usually referred to as the Master.
-Oh, is that so? -Universally.
And then that's cut with the Doctor totally making a hash of trying to sack Jo Grant.
Now look at it, you ham-fisted bun-vendor! Jo Grant blunders in, he would want to sack her, but can't quite do it himself, so he's got feet of clay.
This is a bit difficult for me to say but Thank you, Jo, I can see you're going to be of great help to me.
-Uh, do sit down.
-Oh, thank you.
SHEARMAN: The Master might kill people, but he's usually extremely polite.
The Doctor, on the other hand, is a bully in this story.
No, do carry on, it's most interesting.
Jon certainly had a tendency to be arrogant, to be snappish, to tick people off.
Authoritarian figures always put his back up, that was the kind of rebel side of him.
The Master didn't seem to like that, mainly, I think, because he thought he was an authoritarian figure.
I see you've done your homework, Colonel.
The Master just takes over a plastics factory through being charming.
And that didn't occur again with the Doctor yelling at a bureaucrat.
Who's in charge of you pen-pushers these days? Old Tubby Rowlands, isn't it? Lord Rowlands is head of our department, yes.
Yes, I was saying to him in the club only the other day The Doctor, yes, he's got a certain amount of arrogance, a certain amount of "Yes, I'm the clever one, you be quiet".
We accept the Doctor being tetchy and snappy because we know he's basically good.
And his instincts are kindly and he will always do the right thing.
Even though we see the Master being charming and suave and diplomatic and almost rather lovable, we know he's black-hearted and evil.
There are probably times when the Doctor wants to be more like the Master.
What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish.
If the Doctor were much more of an angel, then he would be the perfect match for the Master.
But the Doctor isn't.
He's an eccentric, somewhat bumbling, absolutely brilliant.
His heart's in the right place, which is the key to the Doctor, but he's not this angel, this Superman character.
You're quite right, Jo.
I'll apologise.
If I have the time.
Whereas his opposite, the Master, is very much the most evil man in the world.
(CHUCKLING) Congratulations, Mr Farrel.
Usually I can overcome opposition, but your will is exceptionally strong.
SHEARMAN: He actually compliments him upon the fact that he can break his hypnosis, before cheerily going downstairs to find a way of making him die.
'Terror of the Autons', I think there's a real emphasis on the Master is murdering people, they use the word "murder".
Every single character who gets killed by the Master is given a bit of back story.
"Cut out the hard-boiled eggs," I said.
And I think that really emphasised him as the new big baddie.
SHEARMAN: who'll throw a technician off the radio telescope as he's climbing up, because just as you think you're getting to know him, you're getting to understand how suave he is, Holmes will just make him do something which is actually quite, quite repulsive and quite alien.
A lot of not very nice, evilly minded people, they're often unbelievably charming.
I mean, I can't imagine that you know, you look at Marlon Brando's Godfather.
(AS DON CORLEONE) "Hey, little girl, you want a cookie? "Go kill that little girl.
" What's interesting in 'Terror of the Autons' is you see the Master almost mimicking the Doctor's life.
And I love the fact that the Doctor has UNIT, a bunch of soldiers, and the Master takes a circus.
We felt that the Master had got to be made equally powerful.
But his intentions are very different.
When the Master's first introduced in the story, and the Doctor first realises that the Master's on Earth, he's very, very dismissive of him.
He's an unimaginative plodder.
The Master's trying his very, very best, in every story that he ever encounters the Doctor in, to show off to the Doctor that he's actually anything but.
He's got these fantastic plans, and he's actually going out there and he's going to control the universe or bring down civilisation in some way or another.
And what he obviously wants is the Doctor to sort of sit back and say, "Yes, you did do better than me at school "and you've got the imagination to show for it as well.
" LIDSTER: The Master seems jealous of the Doctor in some ways.
Seems to want to be like the Doctor, and you know, 'Mind of Evil', by the time of his second story, he's smoking cigars, driving round with a chauffeur.
He's even got himself a pretty girl companion.
Whereas the Master's greatest fear is the Doctor laughing at him.
So, there's a real strange relationship between them.
The problem with the Master was that he was too good, in a way, that he was so good, I mean, also, there is a question which people eventually ask.
If the Doctor is so brilliant, why can't he catch the Master? If the Master is such an evil genius, why can't he kill the Doctor? Neither of them ever quite make it and that does get faintly silly, over a period of time.
You actually believe it when Rex Farrel keeps on asking about the Master and asking whether he minds the Doctor's foiled him again.
You, for once, believe the Master's bluster in saying, "No, actually, I'm delighted the Doctor survived.
"This means the episode can carry on and we can have a bit more fun later.
" You see, the bomb is by way of being a greetings card.
A small little gallantry on the eve of battle.
The Master is very, very casual about killing the Doctor.
He has a crack at it, it's very easily diverted.
So, then he says, "Ah-ha! Never mind.
"I'll get you next time!" And the next time, drawing this out.
And you think, "Come on, man, get on with it.
" The Doctor becomes hunted in a way that he isn't in earlier stories.
Where throughout 'Terror of the Autons' he is constantly being attacked.
The Master is constantly sending people after the Doctor and setting traps for him and the Doctor has to react against that.
You see a side that isn't going out and seeking adventure, it's almost him as the victim.
Because throughout 'Terror of the Autons', despite the Master's plan, it's mostly seems to spend most of the four episodes sending people after the Doctor, setting traps for the Doctor.
He's an interesting adversary.
I admire him in many ways.
But you still intend to destroy him? Of course.
And the more he struggles to postpone the moment, the greater the ultimate satisfaction.
You get the feeling behind it all that the Doctor is not really too much in the Master's way.
And that the Master is not really all that bothered about disposing of him.
You see, Doctor, you're my intellectual equal.
Almost.
He gives up on his plans very easily, at the end of 'Terror of the Autons', where he's succeeding Your precious little planet is finished! the Doctor just turns round and says, "Do you think the Nestene consciousness "is going to tell the difference between you and me?" And the Master changes his mind.
It's actually more about hurting the Doctor than it is about conquering the human race.
SHEARMAN: That's the joy of the Master.
He's a genius who doesn't really think of the small things, which are very obvious at the same time.
LETTS: The reason why the Doctor always beats the Master is if the Master had won, we'd have all been out of a job.
The Doctor seems to relish the idea of having an enemy he can battle.
Now that he's stuck at home, it's like the Master is actually paying him home calls to keep him a bit more entertained.
As a matter of fact, Jo, I'm rather looking forward to it.
You hear some criticism about the Master being in every story in that season.
But actually, I think it must've been really exciting at the time.
It feels very much almost like one of the seasons of new Doctor Who, where there's an ongoing arc.
And that it's very much about the Doctor and the Master's relationship.
LETTS: Methinks it rather daft that the villain always turned up to be turns out to be the Master and is always defeated, as he was in the first of our Master seasons.
It was rather silly of us.
We forgot the rule about having a bit of variation.
DICKS: You're deprived of the element of surprise, because who is the villain going to turn out to be behind the scenes? It's the Master, you see.
Well, when you've done this five times, you're running out of options slightly.
From story to story, he seems quite different.
In 'Terror of the Autons', he's the king of the gadgets.
He's having fun killing people in the most bizarre of ways.
Next story, 'Mind of Evil', he's suddenly sitting in a limousine with a chauffeur, smoking a cigar.
It takes quite a while for him actually to sort of seem to be having that sense of fun.
It's not really until 'The Dæmons', when you get that sense that he is a man who can disguise himself as a vicar.
And it's Delgado's charm and comic ease with that.
"I am your vicar, I'm also going to be an alien murderer.
" He's always at his best when you really want to like him.
When you see him in 'The Sea Devils', and almost breaks your heart that he's being evil, because you want him to be this character that you actually can just hang out with and go and visit from time to time.
I love the scenes of the Doctor and Jo going and visiting him, um, because the Doctor genuinely seems to care about him.
He's genuinely concerned for his well-being.
And then you have the brilliance of the Master laughing at the end of the scene.
And you know the Master hasn't turned over a new leaf.
But, it's fascinating again, watching how he does it.
SHEARMAN: If there's a fault to the Master in Jon Pertwee's stories, it's that he becomes a bit predictable.
He will show up once or twice a series, if not five times a series in his very first year.
And that makes him seem rather safe.
DICKS: What we did for later seasons, we dropped him and then we would bring him back occasionally.
And so just when people had forgotten him, you know, you'd get about episode three, you'd say, "The Grand Ambassador from Mars is about to arrive" and "Ha-ha!" Now, that was fine for us.
Worked very well.
Didn't work so well for Roger, because he came to Barry eventually and said, "Look.
" He said, "I'm losing work, "because people think I'm doing Doctor Who all the time.
"So, they don't offer me jobs.
" And so, Barry said, "Well, do you want to drift quietly away "or do you want to go out with a bang?" And Roger said, "Oh, no, no.
I want to go out with a bang.
" And we had a sort of idea of some enormous plot or a threat to the universe, and then in the very final crunch, the Master would sacrifice himself to save the Doctor, thus redeeming him from his career of evil, you see.
But it never got very far, because tragically, Roger was killed in an accident.
They don't have that Reichenbach Falls ending.
It's what it feels like it needs.
Yeah, it's a shame, I think, because it's been such a fascinating relationship that just kind of disappears.
The end of the Roger Delgado version of the Master in the It's a very, very clumsy scene at the end of 'Frontier in Space', where he seems to shoot the Doctor, or maybe he doesn't, because it's quite badly mixed.
To end so abruptly, actually it's the last shock the Master gives us.
The Master vanished, until Bob, bless him, brilliantly brought him back in 'The Deadly Assassin', in a sort of mutilated form.
Despite looking so hideous, he feels like it's the same person.
Because he's still got all that charm.
That's still there and it's just fascinating watching that.
I think 'Keeper of Traken' was actually very clever, in that the Master just uses his voice.
And Geoffrey Beevers has got such a lovely voice.
The Master just uses his voice to do exactly what Roger Delgado did, which was charm people.
And then, of course, he came back as Anthony Ainley later on.
BIDMEAD: When John mentioned to me that he wanted to bring the Master into the stories, I thought, "Yes! Oh, this is nice, "because as a mirror to the Doctor, "we can develop some interesting stories here.
" And of course, Delgado was gone by then.
But we did have a wonderful substitute.
LIDSTER: I think he's got a lot of what Roger Delgado had.
He's charming and he's funny and he brightens up a scene.
BIDMEAD: If you're going to wheel on the Master, he's certainly not an extra, he's not a small-part player.
He's the main story, and he'd better be there for a damn good reason.
When he's reintroduced in 'Keeper of Traken', he kills off the Doctor.
That's the brilliance of it, is he's there for a trilogy of stories in which you actually see Tom Baker leave the show.
And it gives him a great sense of moment.
For me, the breakthrough was the realisation that we were dealing with a medieval mystery play and this was the Devil incarnate, the guy emerging in a puff of smoke from the left-hand side of the stage.
And that's the only way that I could make sense of him.
LIDSTER: The Master should be a reflection of the Doctor.
Roger Delgado was, John Simm was to David Tennant.
Anthony Ainley isn't, really.
He's I think his performance is great, but I think the problem is that he's made to look like Roger Delgado, he's made to try and be like him.
And actually, I think it would've been more interesting if he hadn't.
You get to episode 13 of 'Trial of a Time Lord' and everything's just a bit confusing.
You've got all these people in hats watching these adventures, Doctor Who's got a new companion who we've never met before.
And then the Master pops up on the screen and he's been watching the story, and he's Again, Anthony Ainley's just brilliant, there's such a joy about him.
When Mel has a go at him and he just sort of dismisses her.
You're sort of on his side.
You think, "Yeah, you're funny.
" Once he starts appearing contractually, it becomes a bit of a problem.
Because you begin to feel that the Master's only there to introduce a rubbish robot, or he's only there to be the fall for The Rani.
Just seems to be whatever the story wants him to be.
Sometimes he wants to destroy things, sometimes he wants power over things.
The problem with the Master in the '80s is first, the coincidence of the Doctor seems to keep landing wherever he is.
But also, the Master gets destroyed a lot.
So, you've got 'Castrovalva', where he gets torn apart by villagers.
In 'Time-Flight' he's sentenced to an eternity with the Xeraphin.
'Planet of Fire', he's sort of burnt alive.
In 'Mark of the Rani', he gets trapped with a growing tyrannosaurus rex and Kate O'Mara.
And, you know, he dies every time.
But then he's always back.
The mystery plays, of course, cycled round.
So, when God won over the Devil, the Devil had to come back next week for the next mystery play and the same is true, of course, of the Master.
But the Master has to be definitively destroyed at the end of the story, I think.
He's become less of a real character and more of a plot device.
In 'Time-Flight' the line is, "So you escaped from Castrovalva.
" In 'King's Demons' it's, "So you escaped from Xeriphas.
" So, you're given the real sense, that in between stories, all he's done is wait for the next story to come along.
The original Master used to wear disguises to get into places, so he could plant bombs and traps and further his plan.
The new Master, the Anthony Ainley Master, dresses up as a scarecrow for no reason.
Or in 'Time-Flight' or in 'The King's Demons', where you think there's actually no reason for you to be wearing a disguise other than the fact it's going to be a nice surprise for the audience.
SHEARMAN: 'Planet of Fire' tries very hard to give the Master a good send-off.
It's obviously fatally flawed, inasmuch as it won't be a send-off.
Anthony Ainley will be back next year in 'Mark of the Rani', which does seem a great disservice to bring him back at all, in that instance.
Because if you can't bring him back for a very good reason and only have him coupled with, frankly, an even better character in that story, then why bother? Had that been the final appearance, the Master's tantalising hint the Doctor and he may have been possibly brothers, something much, much closer, really would pay off very, very well.
It is mentioned, obviously, in 'Last of the Time Lords', and it's such an obvious idea by that point, that the production team didn't go down that route at all.
It would've seemed silly now to say, "The Master and the Doctor, arch-enemies, "and also, guess what? Shock horror, brothers.
" 'Planet of Fire' was probably the last time that that particular idea might have had an impact.
LIDSTER: In the new series, John Simm is playing a mad version of the Doctor.
He's manic, he's young, he's got a pretty companion.
They dress similarly, they both have nice, smart suits, they both babble a lot.
I love the fact that the Doctor and the Master's first scene in 'Terror of the Autons' is on the phone.
-Hello, yes, what is it? -Hello, Doctor, is that you? And their first scene in 'The Sound of Drums' is on the phone.
And all the way through their relationship, you get the impression that the Master almost just wants the Doctor to acknowledge him, wants him to acknowledge what he's done, wants him to acknowledge how evil he is.
He wants to anger the Doctor and really, he wants to enjoy that power he has over him.
And the fact that the Doctor just forgives him at the end of 'Last of the Time Lords' is just the worst thing the Doctor can do to the Master.
The last thing the Master wants is forgiveness.
Because it's basically, for him, it's like being ignored.
It's like everything he's done means nothing.
The Doctor doesn't really care.
Did you think I would leave you dying When there's room on my horse for two Climb up here,Joe, we'll soon by flying Back to the ranks so blue Can you see,Joe, I'm all atremble Perhaps it's the battle's noise Or maybe it's that I remember When we were two little boys (SINISTER LAUGHTER)