structural:scholar_edition
The Master

The Master is the Doctor's archenemy, a renegade Time Lord who desires to rule the universe. Conceived as " Professor Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes ", the character first appeared in 1971. As with the Doctor, the role has been portrayed by several actors, since the Master is a Time Lord as well and able to regenerate; the first of these actors was Roger Delgado, who continued in the role until his death in 1973. The Master was briefly played by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers until Anthony Ainley took over and continued to play the character until Doctor Who's hiatus in 1989. The Master returned in the 1996 television movie of Doctor Who, and was played by American actor Eric Roberts.

Following the series revival in 2005, Derek Jacobi provided the character's reintroduction in the 2007 episode " Utopia ". During that story, the role was then assumed by John Simm, who returned to the role multiple times throughout the Tenth Doctor 's tenure. In the 2014 episode " Dark Water ", it was revealed that the Master had become a female incarnation or "Time Lady", going by the name of "Missy" (short for Mistress, the feminine equivalent of "Master"). This incarnation is played by Michelle Gomez. Simm returned to his role as the Master alongside Gomez in the tenth series. The Master returned for the 2020 twelfth series with Sacha Dhawan in the role. This incarnation dubbed himself the "Spy Master" referencing a role he had taken with MI6.