Doctor Who: Watch Eric Roberts play the Master again in this short clip

For the first time in over twenty-four years, Eric Roberts has played Doctor Who’s greatest villain on-screen again, in a short clip from Big Finish.

So Big Finish treated us to a nice little surprise yesterday. Released on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube was a short little clip. Not a trailer, but not an audio clip, either. Instead, it was Eric Roberts portraying the Master again – for the first time on-screen since the Doctor Who TV movie.

In the below clip, the Master talks directly to the audience. He talks about how he enjoys how “compliant” humans can be, as well as talking about Halloween. (I strongly get the impression that this clip was supposed to go out on the day itself, but was unfortunately delayed. Ah well.)

He also makes it clear that he’s currently imprisoned and that he’s waited for his freedom for an “eternity”. He also makes one promise to his viewers:

"One day soon, I will be free."

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A hint of what’s to come?

This is definitely a very special treat. To be honest, it’s still amazing to think that Big Finish somehow got Eric Roberts to return to a role he played once on television back in 1996 – almost a quarter of a century ago. When he appeared in The Diary of River Song in Jan 2019, he was still finding his feet in terms of the audio medium. But by the time Ravenous 4 was released in October the same year, he was definitely much more comfortable playing the role again and had a lot of fun with it.

He’s equally great in the above clip. Writing-wise, there’s more focus on the sinister and restrained aspects of the character, something that Roberts clearly enjoys playing. I’m already looking forward to hearing him return to the role soon.

But what is the clip for? Well, while it’s not exactly a trailer, it is a nice hint of what we can expect from Roberts’s own upcoming audio box set. Released in Mar 2021, Master! will feature three brand new stories focused on the villain. The box set will even guest star Chase Masterson as Vienna Salvatore – a character who has a Big Finish series of her own.

And of course, before then, we’ll get to hear Roberts’s Master – plus many, many others – in the fiftieth-anniversary box set Masterful in January. So, along with his appearances in The Diary of River Song and Ravenous 4, fans who enjoyed the above clip can enjoy plenty more of Roberts’s distinctive take on the role.

Were you a fan of Eric Roberts’s take on the Master in the TV movie? If not, have either the audios or the above clip changed your mind? Let us know in the comments below.