Doctor Who: Alex Macqueen’s Master – The right balance of classic and new

We look at Alex Macqueen’s Master, and why he stands out as one of the best modern incarnations of the Doctor Who villain.

We’re now less than a month away from the release of Masterful – Big Finish’s special celebration of the Master’s 50th anniversary. Naturally, many different incarnations feature in this box set – more than in any other multi-Master story, in fact. We’re particularly excited about John Simm finally making his Big Finish debut with this story.

But if there’s one Master that we’re particularly excited about returning, it’s Alex Macqueen. It’s been almost five years since we last heard from his Master – in fact, his previous appearance was in Big Finish’s first multi-Master story, The Two Masters. That was released back in 2016 – one year before we’d get to see two Masters appear in the TV show. (Rather notably, that release in itself was meant to celebrate the forty-fifth anniversary of the villain. It’s interesting to see how we’ve gone from having just two Masters in one story to at least eight in just five years.)

Of course, there’s a good chance that, even if you’re a big Doctor Who fan, you might not have heard of Alex Macqueen’s Master. While Michelle Gomez, John Simm, and even Derek Jacobi are instantly recognizable incarnations to fans, Alex Macqueen has been exclusive to the audios. And, as mentioned, it’s been a while since we last heard from him. So what makes his Master so fantastic?

Macqueen’s Master wasn’t just any incarnation – he was the first in the Time Lord’s second regeneration cycle.

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

New life

The first thing that you should know about Macqueen’s Master is that he’s the first of the Time Lord’s new life cycle. To do a quick recap: for much of the Classic Series, the Master was on his last life, surviving only by possessing others. When he returned in Utopia, however, we saw him regenerate. Simm’s Master explained this by mentioning that the Time Lords had “resurrected” him for the Time War.

This resurrection wasn’t covered when Macqueen’s Master was initially introduced – in fact, the exact circumstances weren’t revealed until last year’s multi-Master story Day of the Master – but the Eighth Doctor series Dark Eyes made it clear that he was the first incarnation of a new life cycle.

The reason why this is important is that he’s essentially an incarnation that slots between the Classic and New Series Masters. As a result, his style is a natural blend of them. There are moments when he’s as eccentric and manic as Simm or Dhawan. But then there are other moments when he’s cold and calculating, rather like Delgado’s or Beevers’s incarnations. It’s a tricky balance to get right and still make the character feel natural, but it works.

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Alex Macqueen

What really stands out about this Master is, of course, Macqueen himself. In the UK, Alex Macqueen is known for playing camp, comedic roles in shows like The Thick of It and The Inbetweeners. While his Master certainly has hints of those elements, Macqueen gets to demonstrate just how great he can be at playing villains with this role.

In terms of pure drama, he’s been given some great material over the years. UNIT: Dominion featured him pretending to be the Doctor, which was just a joy to hear. Vampire of the Mind and The Two Masters saw him play rather different sides to the Master.

But perhaps my favorite scenes of his Master are in the episode Masterplan from Dark Eyes 3. In this episode, he’s certainly not at his most powerful – in fact, he finds himself stuck in one room with McGann’s Doctor for most of it. But that’s what makes it so great. Because it allows each character to talk to each other like they haven’t talked in a long time. For each one to discover how the other thinks and what really motivates them. It’s a fascinating episode and features both McGann and Macqueen at their best.

It’s been far too long since we last heard from Macqueen’s Master. It’ll be an absolute joy to hear him – along with many other great Masters – in Masterful. But will we get to hear more from him in the future? Only time will tell.

Have you listened to any of Alex Macqueen’s previous stories as the Master? Are you excited for his (frankly long overdue) return? Let us know in the comments below.