Doctor Who: Could Big Finish recast Roger Delgado’s Master in 2021?

Next year will see many Masters feature in the Doctor Who villain’s fiftieth-anniversary box set Masterful. Could Roger Delgado’s also feature through a re-cast? And if so, what would this mean for Big Finish?

Have you seen the covers for Masterful yet? Right now, the standard and limited editions of the Master’s fiftieth-anniversary audio box set look pretty fantastic. Particularly the latter, which features one key Master center stage: the original, Roger Delgado. We’ve had one or two actors play chronologically earlier incarnations of the Doctor Who villain, but Delgado will always be known as the true original to fans.

Now, it’s very possible that he’s on the limited edition cover only because of its bonus content – specifically, the new three-hour audiobook Terror of the Master. After all, while Big Finish has cast their very own Masters in the past – including Mark Gatiss, Alex Macqueen, James Dreyfus, and, more recently, Milo Parker – they haven’t recast any established ones with new actors.

But could Masterful be the story that changes that? For something as big as the fiftieth-anniversary, it would probably be the best time to try something so bold. In fact, both covers for Masterful suggest that they’ve recast one Master already – in this case, the incarnation originally portrayed by Anthony Ainley. It’s clear that his Master has his own role to play in this major story, and we’re excited to find out what.

We’ve had many stories on audio with the Third Doctor from Big Finish. Is it time for the Master to finally appear in The Third Doctor Adventures?

Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions

The Master and the Third Doctor

So what could such a major recast mean, beyond the fiftieth-anniversary story itself? Well, the first thing that leaps to mind is that we could have stories told on audio of the Third Doctor battling the Master.

Big Finish has told many stories with the Master for many different Doctors – including the first two, who faced James Dreyfus’s chronologically earlier incarnation.  But other than purely narrated Short Trips and multi-Doctor story The Light at the End, Three hasn’t had an audio adventure with the Master yet.

This feels like a missed opportunity. The Master was such a huge part of the Third Doctor’s era on television. Not just because the character had been introduced during that time, but also, because there had been so many stories told with Roger Delgado’s Master. In some ways, Delgado’s Master was the black sheep of the UNIT family, someone who was a part of it almost as much as the Third Doctor, the Brigadier, and Jo.

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Delgado’s Master and other Doctors?

So far in the audio range The Third Doctor Adventures, there have been no stories featuring the Master. At two stories a year, that’s not exactly surprising. But after five years and a total of 12 stories, a Master story for the Third Doctor on audio is definitely due. Especially during the villain’s fiftieth-anniversary year.

Who knows: once cast, we may have Delgado’s Master encountering other Doctors. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened: he met the Eighth Doctor in Legacy of the Daleks, and the Twelfth in the comic Doorway to Hell. (Rather interestingly, these two stories rather conflict with each other over a major point regarding this Master.)

Regardless, the recasting of Delgado’s Master would be hugely exciting, especially if they cast extremely well. Here’s hoping that we get to hear such a major recast in Masterful – and beyond.

Do you think Big Finish should recast Roger Delgado’s iconic original Master? If so, which Doctors would you like him to face? Let us know in the comments below.