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| Saxon Master | Appearances | Talk |
Using the alias "Harold Saxon", the Master engineered his election as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-2000s, and then sought to use the Earth to create a new Gallifrey. When his plan was foiled, he was shot by his wife, Lucy, and decided not to regenerate and die to spite the Tenth Doctor.
After a faulty resurrection by the Disciples of Saxon, the Master used the Immortality Gate to create the Master Race and attempted to free Gallifrey from the time lock of the Last Great Time War, but instead entered the last day of the war to get revenge on Rassilon.
The Master left Gallifrey after it returned to the universe, and eventually ended up on a Mondasian colony ship, where he came face to face with a future female incarnation of himself known as "Missy". When the Master made the decision to flee from the Cybermen instead of facing them with the Twelfth Doctor, he was stabbed by Missy, but was able to fatally injure her with his laser screwdriver before he regenerated from the stab wound.
Biography[]
A day to come[]
While in a crash landing with River Song, the War Master laughed at the idea of him regenerating and waking up next to River's dead body. (AUDIO: Concealed Weapon)
Post-regeneration[]
- Main article: War Master's second regeneration
The newly-regenerated Master abandons the Doctor at the end of the universe. (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Having escaped the Last Great Time War by disguising himself as the human Professor Yana, the War Master resurfaced after meeting the Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness at the end of the universe on the planet Malcassairo, only to be shot in a confrontation with Yana's assistant, Chantho. Locking himself inside the Doctor's TARDIS, the Master regenerated, deciding that his new form would be "young and strong" to match the Doctor. The newly-regenerated Master left the Doctor, Martha and Jack on Malcassairo with the Futurekind about to burst in the laboratory door, taking the TARDIS and the Doctor's DNA template via the Doctor's hand, which Jack had taken with him to the planet. (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) Because of the Doctor's last-minute intervention, the TARDIS would only take the Master to Earth in the 2000s, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) with his first stop being to the Scoundrels Club to recover from the regeneration process. (PROSE: Dismemberment)
Rise as "Harold Saxon"[]
Crafting a plot to plunge Earth into disaster after regenerating, the Master took on the alias "Harold Saxon", and set about fabricating a past for his disguise to gain political support. While writing an autobiography for the Saxon persona, Kiss Me, Kill Me, he met the Honourable Lucy Cole in publishing, and the two were married in 2007. He revealed his true identity to her, and took her to see the end of the universe to make her completely loyal to his destructive schemes.
At the end of time, the Master located the last of the human race who had never found Utopia, who had regressed into childlike, vicious cyborgs in floating, mechanized spheres. He made an agreement to allow them to escape extinction and live anew in the past, so long as they helped him conquer Earth, and when they agreed, he dubbed them the "Toclafane", named after the Time Lord bedtime story. When they returned to 2007, he cannibalised and converted the Doctor's TARDIS into a paradox machine so the Toclafane could kill their human ancestors without jeopardizing their own existence. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)., Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
As Saxon, the Master entered the British government as Minister for Communications, where he designed the Archangel Network. The network used fifteen orbital satellites to link mobile phones across the globe, while it secretly sent out a mind control signal to make the humans trust him. He then moved on to become Minister of Defence, where he was a driving force in designing UNIT's flying aircraft carrier, the Valiant. The Master then launched the "Vote Saxon" campaign for the general elections for British Prime Minister, and adopted a stance that extraterrestrial life did exist, and needed to be dealt with. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)., Love & Monsters [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006)., Captain Jack Harkness [+]Catherine Tregenna, Torchwood series 1 (BBC Three, 2007).)
On Christmas Eve of 2007, he gave orders for British Army tanks to destroy the Racnoss empress' webstar, (TV: The Runaway Bride [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2006 (BBC One, 2006).) an action which outgoing Prime Minister Harriet Jones publicly praised. (PROSE: Judge, Jury and Executioner) His stance on aliens gained him even more popularity after the Judoon briefly transported the Royal Hope Hospital to Earth's moon in 2008. (TV: Smith and Jones [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) (AUDIO: Recruits) On that same day, he was asked to appear on Big Celebrity Dance Mania, but declined the offer. (PROSE: The Secret Lives of Monsters)
The Master visited "Saxon's" old high school during the campaign, using the Archangel Network to brainwash the staff into having false memories of "Saxon" to gain political support. One teacher, James Curtis, was resistant to the Network, so the Master used his laser screwdriver to implant the appropriate memories into his mind. (PROSE: Speech Day)
The Master also funded the physical rejuvenation experiments of Richard Lazarus, presumably revealing at least in part the biological processes involved in a Time Lord's physical regeneration. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment [+]Stephen Greenhorn, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) Using the experiment's results and the DNA acquired from the Doctor's hand, the Master configured his laser screwdriver to be able to age the Doctor by halting his regeneration process. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) The Master also began investigating Martha's family, sending at least two agents to spy on Martha through her mother, Francine (TV: The Lazarus Experiment [+]Stephen Greenhorn, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)., 42), as well as Captain Jack's team, Torchwood Three, who he sent on a "wild-goose chase" to the Himalayas to get them out of the way before the Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack arrived back from the end of the universe. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
The Master was also briefly kidnapped by the Sild, along with all his other incarnations. (PROSE: Harvest of Time)
The Master with the Toclafane. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Several politicians from other parties joined the Master's side just as he was elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2008, which led him to kill his cabinet in 10 Downing Street for betraying their causes just because he was winning. As Saxon, he told the public his cabinet had gone into seclusion, and introduced the Toclafane to the Earth, pretending they were a friendly and kind race who could protect Earth from alien threats.
Around this time, the Doctor and his companions finally returned to the present and saw the Master had become Prime Minister. Intercepting a call Martha was making to warn her brother to hide, the Master spoke with the Doctor and learned that the Time Lords were all but extinct and Gallifrey was no more. During this conversation, the Master had the Doctor, Martha and Jack framed as terrorists responsible for the Cabinet's murder and forced them into hiding, as well as arresting Martha's mother, father, and sister. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
The Year That Never Was[]
Information from The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy needs to be added
The Master announces the end of the world. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
The Master moved to the Valiant, which the governments of Earth considered neutral territory and therefore fitting for formal first contact with alien life. The Master had the Toclafane murder the American President Arthur Winters and captured the Doctor, Martha and Jack, who had come to the Valiant earlier that day — the Master had seen past the perception filter and knew he and the others were there all along. Using the results from Professor Lazarus's experiment, along with the DNA in the Doctor's hand, the Master used his laser screwdriver to age the Doctor into an old man, and then ordered the Toclafane to kill one tenth of humanity and commence their invasion as Martha escaped. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) The Toclafane subsequently recruited human agents to enforce his rule. (AUDIO: Deceived)
While ruling the world for a year, the Master discovered that the Drast had secretly invaded before he arrived. Furious, he ordered the Toclafane to burn Japan, where the Drast were situated. (PROSE: The Story of Martha) When he was informed one of his agents, Miss Beecham, was plotting against him and had a personal army of Toclafane, the Master sent his forces to capture and kill her. (AUDIO: Deceived) By 2009, the Master had converted Earth into a slave camp which he ruled from the Valiant. The Master aged the Doctor even further and planned to expand his New Time Lord Empire into space. He built an army of warships to take his war across the universe.
The Master hunts down Martha Jones a year into his rule. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Martha used the legend of the Doctor, which she had spread, and the thoughts of Earth thinking "Doctor" at the same time. Their psychic energy was channelled through the Archangel Network, which the Doctor had spent the year infiltrating telepathically. The psychic energy restored the Doctor and gave him telekinetic powers, with which he removed the Master's laser screwdriver from his hand. After cowering from the Doctor's forgiveness, the Master used Jack's vortex manipulator to teleport him and the Doctor to Earth, where he threatened to use the black hole converter to detonate the rockets, but was foiled by the Doctor's knowledge that the Master could not kill himself. The two then teleported back to the Valiant just as Jack destroyed the paradox machine.
Time reversed to the moment of the paradox machine's activation, just after the US President was killed and just before the Toclafane arrived. Although this did not affect anyone aboard the Valiant due to being at "the eye of the storm," nobody else would know of the Master's reign of terror in "the year that never was". The Master then tried to escape but ended up running straight into Jack, who handcuffed him. The Doctor announced that, since the Master was a Time Lord, he was the Doctor's responsibility and would be imprisoned on board the TARDIS. However, the Master was shot by Lucy and refused to regenerate, dying in the Doctor's arms. The Doctor cremated the Master's body on a pyre, (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) but, long after he had left, Miss Trefusis, one of the warders of Broadfell Prison, (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) retrieved the Master's ring from his funeral pyre. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
As far as the general public were aware, Harold Saxon "went mad" and disappeared, (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) whilst AMNN presumed him to have died along with President Winters. (AUDIO: Driving Miss Wells) Among all ex-Prime Ministers, Saxon was on file by UNIT, who noted him as one of the Master's incarnations. (TV: Death in Heaven [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).) By the year 2119, Saxon was well-remembered enough that Alice O'Donnell referred to 1980 as "pre-Harold Saxon". (TV: Before the Flood [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).)
Rassilon's Final Solution[]
The Master's damaged body flickers between flesh and raw bones. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
On Christmas Eve in or around the 2000s,[nb 1] the Disciples of Saxon, led by the governor of Broadfell Prison, resurrected the Master using his ring and a biometric imprint taken from Lucy. However, Lucy had been prepared for this and hurled a Potion of Death at him, causing an explosion that killed herself, her accomplice and the disciples whilst the Master's life force was left in a state of constant depletion. In a state fluctuating between fleshy and skeletal, he was forced to consume huge quantities of food and devour humans to survive, also gaining enhanced agility and the power to send bolts of energy from his hands.
When the Doctor found the Master, the pair discovered that the drumming in the Master's head was real and not just a symptom of insanity. The Doctor also told him of the prophecy told to him by the Ood, but the Master quickly dismissed it, assuming that it was referring to him. Billionaire Joshua Naismith then captured the Master and enlisted his assistance to mend the malfunctioning Immortality Gate. The Master co-operated for his own purposes and used the Gate to transform every human on Earth, except Wilf and Donna Noble, into the Master Race — identical copies of the Master subservient to him.
After the Doctor and Wilf were rescued by two Vinvocci, the Master used the combined mental powers of the Master Race and a White-Point Star that had fallen on Earth to trace the origin of the drumbeat in his head. Receiving contact from the Time Lord High Council on the last day of the Time War, the Master tore open the time lock on the war, bringing back the Time Lords into whom he intended to transplant himself. However, Rassilon used his gauntlet to restore the human race and prepared to execute him before the Doctor got in the way with a pistol, eventually shooting the White-Point Star. As the Time Lords returned to the Time War, the Master attacked him, angered by the revelation that the Time Lords had caused the drumbeat, and disappeared with them. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
While the Moment foresaw the battle as ending with the Master and Rassilon both regenerating, (PROSE: Pandoric's Box) the Master was able to survive his encounter with Rassilon, though Rassilon still regenerated after the Master choked him with several White-Point Stars. (PROSE: Lords and Masters) The Master was on Gallifrey when all incarnations of the Doctor saved the planet by relocating it to another dimension; Missy, the Master's next incarnation, would reflect that the Doctor had saved her, and that Gallifrey was just "collateral damage". (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Steven Moffat, 50th Anniversary Specials (BBC One, 2013)., Death in Heaven [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).) After his "condition" was cured by the Time Lords, (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) the Master escaped Gomer's Asylum, blowing up the War Room in the process, (PROSE: Lords and Masters) and left Gallifrey in his TARDIS, seeing his departure as "a mutual kicking [him] out". (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Schemes after leaving Gallifrey[]
Still possessing blond hair and stubble, the "Saxon" Master was greeted by a female incarnation of himself known as "Missy," who had developed a plan to form a band to hypnotise viewers of Battle of the Bands Beyond the Stars. His decaying thirteenth incarnation, the incarnation possessing the body of Tremas and the incarnation possessing the body of Bruce all joined in the plan, and the team spent "decades" practising. (COMIC: The Five Masters) Much to his appreciation, the Saxon Master was allowed to play the drums. After unveiling their presence to the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald, (COMIC: The Abominable Showmen) the Masters prepared for their performance. However, the Tremas Master began to fight with Missy over the control of her device, believing that he alone could hold the universe in his grasp. The other Masters soon joined in the fight for power as well, while the Saxon Master joined seemingly for the fun of it. The five were quickly disqualified, seemingly destroying them. (COMIC: The Five Masters)
At one point, the Master decided to take control of the production of the drug sold by a dealer called "the Breeder". On the planet where the drug was produced, he came across a young woman, Tala, who gave him a transmitter so he could see the nearby village. The next evening, he revealed to her how the Elders of her tribe made a deal with a mysterious "Breeder" to enhance the drug by having the plants feed directly on some of the strongest members of the tribe. The Master then proceeded to kill the Elders and took control of the production, keeping Tala as his partner. (PROSE: The Night Harvest)
Alongside the "UNIT era" Master and the Tremas Master, the Saxon Master reacted with shock when Missy presented the three Masters with her infant child. (PROSE: Winning)
The Mondasian colony ship[]
The Master with his future incarnation. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Eventually, the Master landed on a Mondasian colony ship which was experiencing time dilation due to pulling itself away from a black hole, and took over the city on Floor 1056, where he "lived like a king until [the people] rebelled against [his] cruelty". Attempting to escape, but being "too close to the event horizon", the Master burned out his TARDIS's dematerialisation circuit, stranding him on the colony ship. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) Disguising himself as "Razor", the Master oversaw the "genesis of the Cybermen" via Operation Exodus.
While working for a hospital hosting the Conversion Theatre, the Master found Bill Potts, who had been given a cybernetic chestpiece after being shot on Floor 0000. (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) The two of them spent ten years on the lower decks, (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) where the Master learned that the Twelfth Doctor was at the front of the ship. Studying the woman travelling with the Doctor, Missy, the Master eventually deduced that she was a future incarnation of himself trying to turn good. Becoming "concerned about [his] future", the Master lured Bill into surgery for full cyber-conversion, knowing that the Doctor would never forgive him for it. Watching as the Doctor, Nardole, and Missy arrived, the Master revealed his identity to Missy, and the two of them gloated to the Doctor about the fate of his companion. (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Restraining the Doctor before taking him to the hospital roof, the Master flirted and danced with Missy until the Cybermen turned on them due to the Doctor expanding the Cybermen's definition of humanity to register lifeforms with two hearts as human. Just as Nardole arrived with a stolen shuttlecraft, the Doctor was attacked by one of the Cybermen. The Master and Missy attempted to convince Nardole to leave without him, but their shuttle was stopped by the cyber-converted Bill, who still retained her humanity. Crashing through 549 floors of the colony ship, the shuttlecraft gave out at one of the solar farms. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
That night, while the Doctor recovered from their escape, the Master, accompanied by Missy, ventured to Floor 0508 to revert the Doctor's edits to the Cybermen back on Floor 1056 and regain control of the Cybermen, though they were followed by Alit and a patient that Missy named "Topknot". However, after an encounter with a patrol of CyberNeomorphs, the Master abandoned his plans in favour of being rescued by Missy and Alit before destroying the Cyberman patrol, eager to return to Floor 0507 before any other Cybermen arrived. (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
After two weeks of searching, the Master and Missy found disguised lifts, but Missy accidentally summoned the Cybermen in her attempt to escape. Unable to return to the Doctor's TARDIS due to how quickly time was moving on the floor of the Cybermen, the Doctor insisted that they had to prepare for a confrontation.
As the Doctor prepared to fight, the Master explained to Missy how he had blown the dematerialisation circuit in his TARDIS, which was surrounded by Cybermen on the bottom floor. Missy, recalling an instance where a very scary woman had pushed him up against a wall and insisted that he always keep a spare dematerialisation circuit, pushed the Master against the wall and insisted that he always keep a spare dematerialisation circuit, revealing the spare dematerialisation circuit she kept on her person. Before departing, however, the pair asked what the Doctor's plan was, knowing that he wouldn't be able to save everyone on the ship. As the Doctor explained that he wanted to save these people simply because it was the right thing to do and tried to implore the Master to stand with him in the battle, the Master made his refusal of the offer known, and he left with Missy. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Death[]
- Main article: Saxon Master's regeneration
Missy helps the mortally-wounded Master to escape. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
As they prepared to depart, Missy offered to hug the Master and, after stating her enjoyment for being him, she stabbed the Master in the back, mortally wounding him in order to force his regeneration into her. However, Missy made the wound precise so that the Master would have time to reach his TARDIS before the regeneration occurred. As he was helped into the lift, the Master asked Missy to explain herself, and she told him she planned to stand with the Doctor, believing they had been leading towards it their entire lives. Furious, the Master declared that he would never stand with the Doctor, and shot Missy in the back with his laser screwdriver at full blast, mortally wounding his future incarnation in a way he claimed had put her past the point of regeneration. Laughing, the Master declared that their perfect ending was always going to be "shoot[ing] [them]selves in the back." Still laughing and in pain, the Master returned to Floor 1056 in the lift, leaving Missy to allegedly die alone. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
In an aborted timeline, the Master attempted to avoid his regeneration into Missy by healing himself, first with the energies of Kiameth, releasing a sentient entropy wave on the universe in the process, and then by feeding on his own past incarnations who he time-scooped to the ruins of Kiameth, coming into conflict with Missy. These events were undone when the "War" Master created a paradox by poisoning all their past selves including himself and letting the wave consume Missy, having deduced the wave was actually the Master's own future form. (AUDIO: Masterful)
On her Spacebook profile, Missy acknowledged that she had died eighteen times before her current incarnation, not including stealing bodies. (PROSE: Girl Power!)
Post-mortem[]
After the Spy Master was imprisoned in the Toymaker's golden tooth for losing a game wit him, the Saxon Master's laughter could be heard among his other incarnations when someone with red nails picked up the tooth after the Fourteenth Doctor and Fifteenth Doctor defeated the Toymaker in their own game. (TV: The Giggle [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials (BBC One and Disney+, 2023).)
Other realities[]
In an aborted timeline, the War Master regenerated into a younger, dark-haired incarnation, who fought in the Last Great Time War with the War Doctor, but was erased from existence and reverted to the War Master when his attempt to escape the Time War resulted in a paradox. (COMIC: Fast Asleep)
Psychological profile[]
Personality[]
"Harold Saxon" smiles to the camera after giving a post-electoral speech. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Immediately after his regeneration, the Master appeared to have gone more insane than ever, gleefully jumping around the Doctor's TARDIS' control console, while ecstatically laughing, and toying with his new voice. (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) While more tormented than ever by "the drums" in his head, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) the Saxon Master admitted to seeing it as a central piece of his identity, convinced that something was calling to him through the drum beat. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) So much was he obsessed with them, that, on one occasion, "the drums" was all he would say. (COMIC: The Abominable Showmen, The Five Masters) On another occasion, however, the Master fearfully asked the Doctor if he thought "the drumming" would stop after he died. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Much like his previous incarnations, the Saxon Master was ostentatious; offering out jelly babies and grits, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) opting to wear eyeliner in preparation for being a woman in his next incarnation, (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) and dancing to the Rogue Traders (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and the Scissor Sisters. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He also enjoyed watching the Teletubbies, believing that the televisions in their stomachs was true evolution, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and thrived on chaos, describing the chaos of the last day of the Last Great Time War as "[his] kind of world", (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) and was excited about getting into fights. (COMIC: The Five Masters; TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) He also admitted to loving disguises, (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) and was particularly outraged when he was "stuck looking like the old Prime Minister." (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
Behind his charismatic and charming demeanour, however, the Saxon Master was sadistic and childishly degrading, even going as far as to slip subtle and private jabs at the Doctor into his public speeches. When Francine, Clive and Tish were forcibly taken to the Valiant under armed guard, the Master shamelessly treated the ordeal like a school field trip, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and, during the Year That Never Was, kept them as slaves, taking every opportunity he could to belittle them, even goading Francine into murdering him, until the Doctor convinced her otherwise. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He also made Bill Potts aware of his part in her Cyber-conversion to upset her, and was disappointed when his remarks seemed to have failed, stating that she had "[taken] all the fun out of cruelty". He was also alarmed and disgusted at the idea of his future self gaining empathy, (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) and disliked being interrupted. (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
He was extremely vain and narcissistic, with the Tenth Doctor noting that he would never destroy himself, even if he could destroy the Earth with him. During the Year That Never Was, he had monuments of himself built all over Earth, and, according to Martha Jones, had even sculptured himself onto Mount Rushmore. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He also used the Immortality Gate to turn the human race into duplicates of himself, which he dubbed the "Master Race", and also threatened to do the same to the Time Lords, even asserting that Rassilon "[would] [look] better as [him]." (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) His vanity was so vast that he collapsed and wept out of shame when the Doctor forgave him for his actions. After he expressed revulsion at being "kept" by the Doctor, the Master was shot by Lucy and, to spite the Doctor, decided not to regenerate and die. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) After meeting his female successor, Missy, the Master admitted to being attracted to his future self, flirting and dancing with her. However, when he saw the possibility that Missy would aid the Twelfth Doctor, the Master killed her. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) During his rule of Kiameth, he had statues of himself made and eventually agreed to help the War Master attempt to stop the entropy wave in hopes of the people loving him again. (AUDIO: Masterful)
The Saxon Master also had an exceptionally heightened sense of his own brilliance, even reciting a Bible-style verse of his own making to the Doctor as the Toclafane invasion began. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He also held the Time Lords as the absolute superior race, automatically assuming the right to alter history on the principle of him being a Time Lord, (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and was confident that he could beat an entire city of Cybermen while only being armed with his laser screwdriver. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) He gloated at length to his past selves, claiming he was superior for being the one who had finally "won". (AUDIO: Masterful) However, when his plans were foiled, the Master would turn cowardly, retreating at the first opportunity or allying with whoever could better protect him. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007)., The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010)., The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
The Master still held the lives of others without thought, assassinating the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, setting the Toclafane on Vivien Rook, ordering Arthur Winters's execution as a show of power, commanding the decimation of the population of Earth to emphasise his new dominion, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) destroying the islands of Japan when he learned that the Drast had been operating in Yokohama, (PROSE: The Story of Martha) siphoning the life forces of the people who resurrected him, and unceremoniously consuming Sarah, Tommo and Ginger, leaving them as skeletons. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) He also showed a sadistic glee when he resorted to murder, continuously listening in on Rook's dying screams, being excited by the prospect of killing the immortal Jack Harkness a second time, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and chuckling after casually killing Thomas Milligan. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He was also known to kill those who brought him bad news. (PROSE: The Story of Martha)
The Master was somewhat misogynistic, believing that women had "a way of disappointing [him]", and were "fickle" for being "lovey-dovey" at one moment and trying to kill him in an instant. (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
He favoured a pragmatic approach, such as deciding to use a laser screwdriver instead of Tissue Compression Eliminator due to it having more functions, though he did still enjoy using the "old school" TCE. (PROSE: The Night Harvest)
The Saxon Master showed minimum affection for the Doctor. Even after he aged the Tenth Doctor to an elderly man, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) the Master continued to humiliate him by having him live in a makeshift tent aboard the Valiant during the Year That Never Was, and then furthered the humiliation by ageing the Doctor until he morphed into an ancient dwarf-sized body, and then kept him locked up in a bird cage. (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) When Missy told him of her plans to join forces with the Twelfth Doctor, the Master adamantly stated his refusal to stand with the Doctor and killed Missy with his laser screwdriver. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) The Master was even willing to die to spite the Tenth Doctor, (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and claimed to prefer death than begging for the Twelfth Doctor's help. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) He relished describing how he had supposedly finally killed the Thirteenth Doctor to his other selves. (AUDIO: Masterful)
However, the Saxon Master was not without his reservations, considering the Ultimate Sanction to be suicidal, but was still willing to subject himself to it to appease Rassilon. He also had a sense of honour, as he sacrificed himself to save the Doctor from Rassilon after the Doctor chose not to kill either of them, also getting his revenge on Rassilon for implanting "the drumming" in his head, and for Rassilon trying to kill him for being "diseased". (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).)
While he originally avowed affection for his wife, Lucy Saxon, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) the Master's vanity and overconfidence in his successful taking of Earth led him to forego such pretences, even teasing her with the possibility of replacing her with his masseuse. He was, however, unsurprised when she shot him, instead making a quip about it "always [being] the women". (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
After his sabotaged resurrection, the Master displayed a feral state that led him to act like a predatory animal, plagued by an insatiable hunger. Despite this insanity, the Master was capable of lucid conversation, nostalgically discussing his childhood friendship with the Tenth Doctor. He was also still a cunning strategist, allowing himself to remain Joshua Naismith's prisoner so he could repair the Immortality Gate and use it to create his Master Race, all so he could turn the Earth into a warship, but then improvised a plan where he used his duplicates to locate the source of "the drumming". (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) The insanity he developed due to his botched resurrection and the drumming was fixed when the Time Lords repaired his body back to normal. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Though she referred to him as "the Bonkers One", (PROSE: Meet Missy!) Missy recalled an enjoyment for being the Saxon Master, stating how he "burn[ed] like a sun, like a whole screaming world on fire." (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) Alit described the Saxon Master as being "an odd and frightening man" with a habit for "nasty comments and exaggerated gestures". (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
The Saxon Master held a respect for the Decayed Master due to his tenacity for survival. (AUDIO: Masterful)
After he was fatally stabbed by Missy, the Master admired how his death was "very nicely done", and found that it was "good to know [she] [hadn't] lost [his] touch." Though he accepted his impending regeneration, the Master was unwilling to accept that Missy would stand with the Doctor, and shot her dead. He then began laughing at their "perfect ending" being them "shoot[ing] [them]selves in the back", and continued to laugh as he made his way to his TARDIS, (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) though he did attempt to escape his coming demise by exploiting the energy source at Kiameth, and also showed great hostility towards Missy for killing him. (AUDIO: Masterful)
Habits and quirks[]
The Saxon Master made a habit of saying, "Oh, no you don't", saying it when the Doctor was locking the TARDIS's coordinates, (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) when avoiding a conversation with the Doctor, when the Doctor restored his youthful physiognomy with the Archangel Network's telepathic link, (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and when fending off a Cyberman. (PROSE: Alit in Underland)
Skills[]
The Saxon Master shared the Tenth Doctor's technical knowledge, as he was able to construct his laser screwdriver from Earth components, cannibalise the Doctor's TARDIS and turn it into a Paradox machine, miniaturise Richard Lazarus' genetic manipulation technology, (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) and was able to repair the Immortality Gate for Joshua Naismith. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) He also designed the Archangel Network and the Valiant. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Like his previous incarnations, the Saxon Master had dangerous foresight and knew it was a mistake to give the Doctor hints about his plans while he could intervene. (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) His methods for dealing with the Doctor during his reign as Prime minister showed an efficient and simple mindset; framing the Doctor for murder to send the police after him, arresting Martha's family for insurance, and luring Torchwood Three away to the Himalayas to prevent Jack from recruiting their aide. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) He was likewise straight to the point when explaining how the time differentials were affecting the Mondasian colony ship to Bill Potts. (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
The Saxon Master was also a decent fighter, having brawled with his other incarnations on equal footing, (COMIC: The Five Masters [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.) struck the Tenth Doctor down with a single punch to the face, (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) knocked down a partially-converted Cyberman with a blow to the back of their head, (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) and overpowered the Twelfth Doctor in unarmed combat. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
Appearance[]
The Master talking to Bill Potts. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).
The Saxon Master was young, with light brown hair, and dark brown eyes. (TV: Utopia [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) According to the Twelfth Doctor, he had a "round face". (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017). As "Harold Saxon", the Master would wear a black blazer with a white shirt and black kipper tie. While meeting President Arthur Winters, he wore a black coat with a crimson lined interior. He wore a ring on his left ring finger, bearing the Lazarus Laboratories logo completed with circular Gallifreyan inside the disks on a green jewel background, while also wearing a wedding ring on his left ring finger. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
After his botched resurrection, the Master's hair was bleached light blond, and he grew some stubble. To remain inconspicuous, he wore a black hoodie over a scarlet T-shirt with gunmetal grey cargo trousers and black boots. Due to the corruption of his life force, the Master's outer skin would fade away and reveal the translucent blue life energy encasing his body, exposing his skeleton and internal organs, with each fluctuation making an unsettling primal roar. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) After being "fixed" by the Time Lords, the Master no longer distorted into the translucent blue energy. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).
By the time he found the Twelfth Doctor aboard the Mondasian colony ship, the Master had aged somewhat, now having grey hair and a goatee beard. He also discarded his previous clothes for a black asymmetrical frock coat with a large crimson lined collar on the left-hand side, an olive green shirt, (TV: World Enough and Time [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) dark trousers, and black zip-up boots. (TV: The Doctor Falls [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).
When the Third Doctor saw the Saxon Master in Sild captivity, he described what he saw as "a young man in a business suit, beardless, with a mop of boyish hair," and that his face "seemed friendly and plausible", overall thinking him "the kind of man people would find easy to trust." (PROSE: Harvest of Time)
Other references[]
Shortly after his initial confrontation with the Saxon Master, the Tenth Doctor, whilst in a Multi-Doctor Event with the Fifth Doctor, disclosed that the Master had "just shown up again" after asking his fifth incarnation if he had just had one of his own battles with the Tremas Master. When the Fifth Doctor asked if the Master still had "that rubbish beard", the Tenth Doctor answered that he had "no beard this time", but did mention him having a wife. (TV: Time Crash)
Whilst trapped in the Matrix by the Spy Master, the Thirteenth Doctor remembered the Saxon Master, amongst many others, in order to break out of the computer system. (TV: The Timeless Children)
Behind the scenes[]
The Visual Dictionary is a valid source
- The Saxon Master's alias, "Mister Saxon", is an anagram for "Master No. Six.", reflecting his status as the sixth incarnation to be seen on-screen after the UNIT era Master, the Decayed Master, the Tremas Master, the Bruce Master and the War Master. However, according to Russell T Davies, such an anagram was purely coincidental.[source needed]
- The 2010 edition of The Visual Dictionary suggested that the Saxon Master was the seventeenth incarnation, by stating that the Master has inhabited "at least seventeen bodies" by then, whilst acknowledging that he had stolen the bodies of Tremas and Bruce Gerhardt after having used up his regenerations.
- Russell T Davies considered that the Master, after being resurrected in The End of Time, could have dyed his hair in a public toilet before a "smart businessman" walked in. The Master would have then murdered him, "maybe after sex", and taken his clothes. Ultimately, Davies decided against this, that it would not happen "for obvious reasons". (The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter)
- J. K. Woodward, who worked on the Star Trek crossover Assimilation², released a piece depicting the Saxon Master facing Khan Noonien Singh.
- In the story of Doctor Who: Legacy, time travelling Sontarans' attacks on the timeline are felt by the Saxon Master, who appears in the clothes of Professor Yana. After witnessing the universe collapse with Lucy Saxon on Utopia, the Master, seeking to establish his New Time Lord Empire, leads the Toclafane in overrunning the Sontaran Empire and pursuing the Doctor. As the Doctor's incarnations assemble, the Master likewise gathers his other selves, retrieving the Decayed Master from the collapsing reality and the paradox generator wielding UNIT era Master.
- "The Saxon Master" was the internal name used to distinguish the incarnation of the Master portrayed by John Simm in Masterful, as revealed in the behind-the-scenes track for its release.
- In the Terrible Time Lords in Doctor Who The Official Annual 2024, the Simm incarnation's name is given as the "Prime Master", as a pun on his reign as Prime Minister.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Both Planet of the Dead [+]Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts, Doctor Who Easter Special 2009 (BBC One, 2009). and The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010). are referred to in dialogue as taking place after the end of Journey's End [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)., which is set in either 2008, according to TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]James Moran, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008)., TV: The Waters of Mars [+]Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, Doctor Who Autumn Special 2009 (BBC One, 2009)., and AUDIO: SOS (and heavily implied by TV: The Star Beast [+]Russell T Davies, adapted from Doctor Who and the Star Beast (Pat Mills and John Wagner), Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023). and TV: The Giggle [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials (BBC One and Disney+, 2023).), or six weeks after the middle of May 2009, circa June, according to PROSE: Beautiful Chaos. However, the year of The End of Time is unspecified, as is whether or not it is intended to be the Christmas immediately after Journey's End.
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