Doctor Who: Why the introduction of Alex Macqueen’s Master was huge

Seven years ago, we were introduced to a brand new incarnation of the Master in UNIT: Dominion. We look back on why it was such a huge moment for Big Finish.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions. Image Courtesy: Big Finish Productions.)

These days, Big Finish are able to tell many Master stories with a wide selection of incarnations. But before then, they were only able to explore two incarnations of the character: one played by Geoffrey Beevers from the Classic Series, and a completely original incarnation played by Alex Macqueen. We look back on why the latter’s introduction to Doctor Who was so important.

Try and picture this. 2012. One year before Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary. On television, Matt Smith is having his penultimate year in the role of the Eleventh Doctor. Off-screen, Big Finish are releasing many special stories – including Dark Eyes, exploring the Eighth Doctor after one of the most traumatic events of his life.

Other major releases included the first season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, with Tom Baker resuming his old role for Big Finish. The season ended with Trail of the White Worm/The Oseidon Adventure. This was in itself significant, as it was the first major appearance of the Master in a Big Finish story in nearly nine years. Featuring Geoffrey Beevers in his old role as the decayed incarnation, the story helped to explore the gap between The Deadly Assassin and The Keeper of Traken, and finally gave us one more encounter for the Fourth Doctor with his old foe.

There was one other significant story released during that year, too: UNIT: Dominion. An epic four-part adventure, it was set to reunite the Seventh Doctor with his old friend/enemy Klein, which for regular Big Finish listeners was exciting enough.

But on top of that, the story featured something really intriguing: a future Doctor. Played by Alex Macqueen, this incarnation came across as fun-loving and joyous, but also arrogant and more pragmatic than the Doctor we know. For the first three episodes, Alex Macqueen played the role brilliantly, and it was easy to believe that he could be a distant incarnation of our favorite Time Lord.

Of course, then we got to the major reveal at the end of the third episode. And that’s when things got really interesting…

The introduction of Alex Macqueen’s Master was an incredibly exciting opportunity for Big Finish to explore.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions. Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions.)

Huge potential

When we found out that Alex Macqueen was playing a brand new incarnation of the Master, it was a hugely exciting moment. While Dominion had certainly hinted at it, the reveal paid off because honestly, you didn’t expect Big Finish to make a move that big.

Again, in regards to why this reveal was so exciting, it’s important to consider what was happening on television. Or, in this case, what was definitely not happening. It had been over two years since The End of Time, the last on-screen appearance of the Master at that point. We were still two years away from Missy.

So for Master fans, there wasn’t a great deal going on, except for Geoffrey Beevers resuming his old role on audio. Which was exciting, but also a little limiting, too. We basically knew that particular version of the Master’s story and how it would end (well, kind of) in The Keeper of Traken.

However, the introduction of Macqueen’s Master allowed for so many more possibilities! It gave the audios a whole new Master to play with! For listeners, the reveal had just as much impact as Yana opening the watch in Utopia, or “Missy” revealing what her name was really short for in Dark Water. The fact that we didn’t know exactly where this new Master came from (at least initially) added to that excitement!

While Dark Eyes 2 gave us one quick story of the two facing each other again, Dark Eyes 3 was entirely focused on the Doctor and the Master.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions. Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions.)

Pseudo-New Series

One thing we did get a good idea of at least was this new Master’s personality. Playful, funny and insane, this incarnation was similar in some ways to John Simm’s incarnation. However, at the same time, Macqueen’s was a little more restrained, sinister, and even sadistic. He was the kind of person who would traumatize one of the Doctor’s friends just for the “fun” of it. It gave us quite a distinctive take on the character: likable in some ways, but still dangerous and terrifying.

The fact that he was so similar to New Series Masters, while still having some of the classiness of those in the Classic Series, made the eventual reveal about where he came from unsurprising. While UNIT: Dominion completely avoided his origins, his eventual return in Dark Eyes 2 made it explicitly clear that he was the first incarnation of a new life cycle, placing him after all of the classic Masters, but before Jacobi’s.

This made the story of Macqueen’s Master even more exciting. Not only did it allow for a huge gap to be explored in the villain’s overall history. It also allowed for more Master stories with the Eighth Doctor.

Keep in mind, by the time Macqueen’s incarnation had been introduced, Big Finish had been making audios for Paul McGann’s Doctor for over a decade. And yet – during that whole time – the Eighth Doctor hadn’t had a full-on Master story since the TV movie, with the exception of the comic strip The Glorious Dead. So finally getting the chance to have more stories involving his archenemy – many more, in fact – was an exciting idea.

The last time we heard from this particular incarnation was in 2016’s The Two Masters. But I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of him…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Why Macqueen’s Master should return

It’s been a while since we’ve last heard from Macqueen’s portrayal of the character. The last time we heard him was in 2016’s The Two Masters. A bit of a shame, but there have been hints that we haven’t heard the last of this particular incarnation just yet.

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Which I’m very glad about. Since The Two Masters, Big Finish has given us stories with Derek Jacobi, Michelle Gomez and even Eric Roberts playing their old roles – and, in the case of this month’s audio Day of the Master, sometimes, at the same time! On top of that, Big Finish have created another original incarnation played by James Dreyfus, although this one is set far earlier in the Master’s life time. So it would be easy for Macqueen’s incarnation to be overlooked.

However, it would be a huge shame if that happened. Along with Derek Jacobi, Alex Macqueen might be one of the best Masters of the twenty-first century. From 2012 to 2016, he was literally one of just two Masters Big Finish had, and more than that – he was the only original incarnation Big Finish had created that was meant to fit into the history of the TV series. (True, we had Mark Gatiss’s take on the character much earlier, and that was fantastic. But it was also a Master from an alternative timeline, and arguably, far less risky as a result.)

If Macqueen’s take on the character hadn’t been so successful, I don’t think they would’ve tried again with James Dreyfus’s Master much later on. So I hope we get to hear more of such a fantastic interpretation of the character very soon.

Have you heard any stories featuring Alex Macqueen as the Master? Do you think his take on the classic villain is a good one? Do you think he should come back, perhaps even appear on-screen? Let us know in the comments below.