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Doctor Who: 5 reasons why Derek Jacobi’s Master is one of the greatest ever

By James Aggas

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While he only appeared briefly on television, Derek Jacobi has now established himself as one of the greatest incarnations of the Doctor’s greatest foe thanks to Big Finish.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

The Master has been portrayed by many great actors in Doctor Who. But perhaps one of the best interpretations we’ve ever had was only on television for far too short a time. Here are five reasons why Derek Jacobi has played one of the greatest Masters ever.

On screen, we barely had him for a few minutes. While Derek Jacobi featured in most of the Doctor Who episode Utopia, it was only in the final few minutes that we saw him change from the kind and sweet Professor Yana into the terrifying and utterly ruthless villain the Master. Sadly, during those final few minutes, we also saw the Master change again – this time, physically, into John Simm.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against John Simm’s incarnation. And he was a great match for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, and became a memorable and much-loved incarnation in his own right.

But at the same time, even just for the few minutes that he played the role on-screen, Derek Jacobi was honestly perfect. From the moment you saw him transformed just from his very eyes, he completely owned the role of Doctor Who‘s greatest ever villain. He was ruthless, terrifying, and even had hints of Yana’s gentlemanly charm to him. (The way he still called Chantho “my dear”, even as he was unleashing utter chaos, was just perfect.)

For years, that was literally all we had of the character. For a decade, in fact. And then – ten years after his single appearance in Utopia – Big Finish announced The War Master, with Derek Jacobi in the lead role of his own spin-off series.

Fans who loved Utopia certainly had high hopes for the series. But I don’t think any of us could have predicted just how brilliant it would be. Or how fantastic Derek Jacobi could really be in the role. After almost two years, several series and numerous appearances in other spin-offs, one thing’s clear: Derek Jacobi is one of the best Masters we’ve ever had. Here are five reasons why.

For the first time in history, the Master was given his own spin-off series with Derek Jacobi’s incarnation. And it’s not hard to see why…(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

1. The first Master to get his own series

Admittedly, this was something that was at least partially done out of necessity. We know that the Tenth Doctor didn’t recognize Yana in Utopia, so the Doctor couldn’t have met his incarnation during the Time War. (Well, not more than once, anyway.)

If we wanted more stories of Jacobi’s Master, they would either have to be in his own series or in various spin-offs. (Having said that, the War Master will be appearing in Eighth Doctor box set Ravenous 4 later this month. But it will be the character’s first appearance in an actual Doctor Who story since Utopia, and it’s currently looking like he won’t meet the Eighth Doctor, anyway.)

However, there’s no question that his own series, The War Master, has worked brilliantly so far. The first series, Only the Good, was a particularly successful Big Finish release. So much so that, despite being set at the end of the Master’s time during the Time War, Big Finish announced several months later that three more box sets were being planned.

It’s not hard to see why it worked so well. Basing a whole series on one of Doctor Who‘s most clear-cut villains was certainly a huge risk. After all, having a likable protagonist is generally important, and that can be challenging when that protagonist is a complete psychopath.

However, Big Finish handled the character exactly right. They didn’t try to “redeem” him. Despite the title, Only the Good still features the Master as being absolutely ruthless. In some ways, he does try to do a good thing, but for completely the wrong reasons, and it ends up backfiring in a big way.

But the writers were still able to make him likable. It’s why the character worked so well with Roger Delgado in the first place. Like the original, the War Master has a lot of charm, and despite knowing that he’ll stab you in the back at any moment, you can’t help but like him.

But why does he work so well as a protagonist? What makes the War Master different to other Masters?

In a time as terrible as the Time War, the Master is at his strongest…

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

2. A sense of purpose

This is something that makes the War Master especially dangerous. There’s something Narvin says about him in the first volume of Gallifrey: Time War that describes him best. When his friend Romana wants to use the Master for a covert mission, Narvin is completely against it. One line in particular stands out:

"The Time War has given him purpose."

For a long time, I didn’t think about the implications of that line. But, after listening to the whole of The War Master so far, the implications of it have become clearer and clearer.

The Master of the Classic Series was often up to mad schemes. Trying to control doomsday weapons; summoning devils; change history etc. All of it seemingly on a whim.

Oh, it’s not that he didn’t plan for any of these. Indeed, he always aimed to plan for every step of his grand ambitions. But he was essentially grabbing every opportunity that he could. And he was always willing to do whatever it took to achieve those goals. No matter how many people suffered, no matter how many he killed, he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

But the Master of the Time War is different. Not because he’s less cruel in the War. Far, far from it. No, it’s because this time, he can justify his atrocities. Anything from casually killing others, to genetic experimentation, to laying waste to entire worlds – all of it can be justified in the name of the greater good. In the name of winning the war. Whether the Time Lords allow his actions or not, (at the very least, they certainly like to turn a blind eye to them,) the Master of the Time War is one of his most focused incarnations – and therefore, the most dangerous.

Whether he’s the protagonist or the antagonist, the War Master works brilliantly in both roles while still being the villain of the story.

(Image credit: War Master/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

3. Equally effective as both protagonist and antagonist

Going back to my earlier point about how likable the War Master can be as a protagonist, what works so well about Derek Jacobi’s Master is that he can be both a great protagonist and a great antagonist. There’s no question that he’s easily a villain in both roles. But it’s easy to root both for and against him.

For example, along with his own series, he’s also appeared in numerous other spin-offs, too. As mentioned, he appeared in Gallifrey: Time War last year – in a rather effective tie-in to his first box set, Only the Good – but he’s also appeared in both UNIT and The Diary of River Song.

But it’s not just in other series that he works as an antagonist. In The Coney Island Chameleon by David Llewellyn, the Master is more in the background during the episode, with the story focusing on the characters of Giuseppe and Esther. During the course of the episode, the Master hunts them down, and we’re left wondering what his motives are, giving us a shocking ending. So even in his own series, the Master can work extremely well as the main antagonist of the episode.

Now, it’s unsurprising that Jacobi’s Master works well as an antagonist. It’s why the Master was created in the first place – to give us a worthy opponent against the Doctor.

But Jacobi’s incarnation always feels like the most dangerous Master of them all, and makes for an extremely effective antagonist. It’s for exactly the same reason he works as a villain protagonist – he’s a strong character, one that’s perfectly charming and quite likable, at times. But he’s also extremely focused on his goals and knows how to achieve them. And he’s more than happy to make sacrifice any lives along the way to do that (so long as those lives aren’t his own, of course). Because of this, you can find yourself rooting for him just as much as against him.

The War Master has featured in many great stories already – not just in his own series, but even beyond.

(Image credit: Gallifrey/Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

4. Many excellent stories already

One thing that has really helped to make the War Master so enjoyable is the fact that he features in so many great stories that handle the character brilliantly. This is something that is of course hugely important to making a truly great Master.

For example, Anthony Ainley was a great fit in the role, but not many of the stories he featured in used his Master to his full potential. His Master was initially one that was responsible for wiping out so much of the universe, before becoming the kind of Master that had schemes as grand as…well…trying to prevent Magna Carta. His final television story, Survival, did give us the very best interpretation of his Master, at least.

Fortunately, Derek Jacobi hasn’t had to worry about that, thanks to the many great writers at Big Finish. The very first volume of his own series gave us a great mix of stories – Beneath the Viscoid was a simple but effective way of reminding us why this protagonist definitely wasn’t the same as the Doctor; The Good Master is a great introduction for the Master’s new companion; The Sky Man is an extremely dark and effective Master-lite episode, while the finale The Heavenly Paradigm ends things in an extremely satisfying way. All four episodes are fantastic stories, giving us a box set that simultaneously establishes the series while also acting as a chronological finale to it.

Other adventures

Following box sets have also been extremely effective. The Master of Callous is radically different, and has seemed to receive a more divisive reaction compared to Only the Good. But it’s also an extremely satisfying four-hour epic that depicts the rise and fall of both a family and the colony world they live on – both of which are thanks to the Master.

Rage of the Time Lords is my least favorite volume, and yet the truth is that it’s still an extremely strong volume in its own right. It also gives us a fantastic story of Jacobi’s Master facing the Doctor, something that didn’t really happen on television. When the Master finally reclaimed his identity at the end of Utopia, there was barely a glimpse between him and the Doctor before he regenerated.

Even outside of his own series, he’s featured in some great stories. My favorite in particular is The Devil You Know from Gallifrey: Time War. It’s an excellent three-hander that explores the relationship between the Master and former companion Leela, and features an extremely effective ending.

So on audio at least, the War Master has been handled brilliantly. We may not get many more appearances of his incarnation – currently, there haven’t been any announcements made for any series of The War Master after upcoming box set Anti-Genesis – but we have thankfully had a good number of great stories for him, at least.

Of course, the biggest reason why the War Master is so brilliant is Derek Jacobi himself.

Photo: Seán Carlsen (Narvin), Derek Jacobi (The Master) and Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks).. Doctor Who: The War Master.. Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

5. Derek Jacobi

Of course, out of all the reasons why Derek Jacobi’s Master is so brilliant, the man himself is probably the most significant. Derek Jacobi has been one of the very best British actors for a long time now. He’s starred in numerous films and television series, and came extremely close to portraying one of the greatest villains in film history, Hannibal Lecter. So his casting as the Master is absolutely perfect.

While he only played the role very briefly on television, what we saw of his incarnation was enough to let us know how brilliant he was. Moments like showing how much “Yana” had changed with just a single look, or his announcement of, “I…am…the Master!” are nothing less than iconic. The only downside was that it was over far, far too quickly.

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Thankfully, that changed with Big Finish. Thanks to their direction for the character, we’ve been given one of the best interpretations of the Master so far. One that’s evil, calculating and terrifying, all the while acting with incredible charm. And Jacobi plays all of those sides absolutely brilliantly.

His Master is a lot more restrained than Simm’s or Gomez’s, but it’s also considerably more chilling, too. It really is one of the best interpretations of the character in decades, possibly since Roger Delgado himself. We’ve had many great Masters since then – Geoffrey Beevers is deliciously evil as the emaciated incarnation of the character; John Simm is brilliantly insane and a great opponent to Tennant’s Doctor; Alex Macqueen is both hilarious and terrifying in his interpretation, and Michelle Gomez is bonkers but brilliant.

But Jacobi stands out brilliantly. Even with a life mostly on audio, his Master stands out as one of the most effective and one of the most terrifying. Even if we don’t get many more stories to enjoy on audio with his Master, we can still be grateful for getting one of the greatest interpretations of the character in any format.

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Are you a fan of Derek Jacobi’s Master? Have you enjoyed any of his audio stories so far? Do you think we should’ve had more of his incarnation on television? Let us know in the comments below.

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