How do you decide which episode of Doctor Who is the best? You can’t. Realistically. We can all have personal favourites, but even then, comparing The Caves of Androzani to A Christmas Carol is extremely difficult as they’re entirely different beasts and they’re as good as each other.
Ah, but that’s where IMDb comes in. It can advise us on what the general voting public thinks at least, as audience ratings are conglomerated so that each serial can be given a fair enough score out of 10. Or mostly fair enough anyway. I’ve trawled through enough IMDb ratings to know some are absolute tosh. And yet, they’re interesting. They’re a reflection of the opinions of a decently-sized portion of the audience.
So, when celebrating 55 years of the Doctor’s arch-nemesis, the Master, I had to turn to IMDb to see what everyone else thinks. So here — discounting audio appearances and non-TV incarnations — are the best stories starring each incarnation of the Master.
(Please note that all scores are correct at the time of writing and may fluctuate slightly over time.)
Roger Delgado — The Dæmons — 7.7
The Master debuted in Terror of the Autons, 55 years ago, and Roger Delgado was so loved that they brought him back throughout his first season then again numerous times in the next two seasons. Many of his stories are rated very highly — Terror of the Autons itself averages 7.65, just beaten by The Sea Devils which gets 7.66 — but none more so than The Dæmons.
It’s got all the hallmarks of a Master classic: the evil Time Lord dressing up and pretending to be a quaint member of the community; his bringing into the world something horrific; and ultimately his realising that he can’t control what he’s brought about. And needless to say, Delgado is superb throughout. You can really see why many consider him the definitive Master.
Peter Pratt — The Deadly Assassin — 8.27
The first on this list that won’t come as any surprise: Peter Pratt was only in The Deadly Assassin as the Master, so of course that’s his highest-rated story. Parts One, Two, and Four all have scores of 8.3, which is huge. Part Three lets the side down with a lowly 8.2. For shame.
The four-parter is the only 20th Century Doctor Who where the Doctor doesn’t have a companion, coming after Sarah Jane Smith left in The Hand of Fear and just before Leela joins the TARDIS in The Face of Evil. It might’ve been neat to have the Master as the Doctor’s companion (something that does sort of happen, albeit in the non-canon animation, Scream of the Shalka); alas, Tom Baker wanted a go at travelling without a companion, so the production team gave him this to satisfy his curiosity and to prove the Doctor travelling solo doesn’t work. But The Deadly Assassin very much does work!
Geoffrey Beevers — The Keeper of Traken — 7.67
On TV, Geoffrey Beevers, husband of Caroline John, only appeared in one story as the crispy Master: The Keeper of Traken, taking over from Pratt potentially as the same incarnation. This four-part story, which introduced Nyssa to the TARDIS team (while also killing off her father, played by Anthony Ainley), doesn’t reach the heights of The Deadly Assassin, but Beevers is rather iconic as this incarnation, so we’re including this serial anyway.
He’s been in quite a few Big Finish adventures as the Master too, so even though he was only seen as this incarnation once on TV, this Master has a more considerable shelf life than many might think.
Anthony Ainley — The Five Doctors — 8.1
Anthony Ainley took on the role of the second proper Master, the previous two on-screen incarnations having been at the end of the regenerative cycle and therefore needing… well, a new body at last. The serials starring Ainley are a bit up and down with some neat highs and some devastating lows, but Anthony is never less than wonderful.
The Five Doctors takes the crown here with a mighty score of 8.1, but that’s to be expected really, considering it’s an anniversary special also starring four-and-a-bit Doctors, Rassilon, and returning foes like the Cybermen (who the Master outwits). If we look at the highest-ranking non-special serial, that’s quite special too: it’s Logopolis, Tom Baker’s swansong, rated at 7.8 (which I personally think is horribly overrated!). So that was Ainley’s first full serial as the Master — we’re not counting The Keeper of Traken, for which he played Tremas through much of the tale.
In case you’re curious, Survival, not only Ainley’s last but the last actual episode of 20th Century Who, that gets 7.3.
Eric Roberts — The TV Movie (1996) — 6.3
The only TV episode that Roberts has played the Master in, The TV Movie has had something of a renaissance or at least a reappraisal recently, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Its IMDb rating of 6.3 seems really harsh, especially as the special has a lot going for it, notably Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, Daphne Ashbrook’s Grace Holloway, the general charm and cinematography, and, of course, Eric Roberts as the Master. He chews up the scenery in a very Masterly way. His relationship with the Doctor is particularly good.
Did you know Roberts is in the video of The Killers’ perennial hit, Mr Brightside? Well, he is. Watch it again and think about how he channels the Master while flirting with Izabella Miko, the captivating dancer lead singer Brandon Flowers has his eye on.
Jonathan Pryce — The Curse of Fatal Death — 7.9
Okay, Jonathan Pryce was only the Master in this comedy skit, but it’s highly-rated and written by future showrunner, Steven Moffat, so we’re including it!
Quite honestly, I’m surprised The Curse of Fatal Death hasn’t got a higher rating than this, but perhaps people undervalue comedy. Doctor Who fans seem to like a good bit of humour — like City of Death, for instance — but they generally prefer something dark and gritty and unrelenting like Genesis of the Daleks. Ah well. This is still a great score for a great special episode.
Derek Jacobi — Utopia — 8.7
Utopia, Derek Jacobi’s only proper on-screen appearance as the Master, gets a huge 8.7 rating, and a large part of its success is Jacobi himself. He’s sublime as Professor Yana but steps it up a gear as the Master once that fob watch opens. The episode itself is a brilliant set-up, but at its heart is the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones playing off against Yana. You can see why Big Finish afforded Derek his own War Master series of audio adventures.
For anyone curious about Scream of the Shalka, in which Jacobi plays an earlier and out-of-continuity Master, that gets a rating of 6.8.
John Simm — World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls — 9.05
John Simm’s appearances as the Master all rate highly — though I must admit that I find the 8.9 rating for Part Two of The End of Time one of the most baffling things about this list because it’s largely terrible apart from the performances. Simm is one of my favourite actors, so it pleases me no end to see a story he plays a pivotal role in is the highest-rated serial starring the Master.
Yes, it’s World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls, in which the Twelfth Doctor battles the Cybermen, holding out hope where there’s none left, with his best friend, Bill Potts, already having been converted. And at the heart of that conversion? The Master, hiding so expertly in disguise that it caught a massive number of fans completely by surprise. Glorious.
William Hughes — The Sound of Drums — 8.7
Hughes appeared in only one brief scene in The Sound of Drums, but it was an important one: as an eight-year-old Master, this was one potential reason for the Master’s madness (going somewhat against what was established in Big Finish’s Master), as he stared into the Untempered Schism, described as a “gap in the fabric of reality” on Gallifrey. Archive footage of the scene was shown in a few other Tenth Doctor episodes.
Hughes was also in Torchwood as Alex Grainger in Sleeper, and he made an uncredited appearance in Vincent and the Doctor too as a visitor to the museum. This is, however, a very sad story indeed as William took his own life, aged just 20, in 2018.
Michelle Gomez — World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls — 9.05
As with Simm, World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls takes the crown for Michelle Gomez’s appearances as Missy, the first (that we know of) female Master.
Again, she has some very highly-rated episodes, but she does cameo in a lot of them, putting in regular appearances throughout much of Series 8 and Series 10 (and even when she’s not seen in the latter, her incarnation plays a mostly-silent role in other episodes like The Pilot and Knock Knock). As the only incarnation with a redemption arc, Gomez plays it beautifully, especially its apex in The Doctor Falls. You can really see why this one is so highly regarded.
Sacha Dhawan — The Power of the Doctor — 7.6
Poor Sacha Dhawan: a very talented actor, let down by poor scripts. That means his first story, Spyfall, gets an average of 6.6, while The Timeless Children… Oh, let’s leave that there, shall we? Nonetheless, Dhawan is excellent as a completely unhinged Master, and that’s especially highlighted in The Power of the Doctor. Quite honestly, its 7.6 rating feels too high: a rank afforded it for being the Thirteenth Doctor’s last episode and for the return of Tegan Jovanka and Ace. The Master has quite a nice little scene with the two companions (and his relationship with Yasmin Khan is particularly good), though it reads a bit like a fan’s checklist of their troubled history. ‘Don’t forget about Tegan’s shrunken aunt’ — tick! It’s donein such a clunky manner.
Still, Sacha is great. In fact, all the cast are. So there we have it: his Master’s best. So far. You never know, he might come back! The Master always comes back…
The Master Stories: The Best of the Best
So if we were making a list of these stories with ranks based purely on IMDb ratings, it would look something like this:
- World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls (9.05)
- Utopia/ The Sound of Drums (both 8.7)
- The Deadly Assassin (8.27)
- The Five Doctors (8.1)
- The Curse of Fatal Death (7.9)
- The Dæmons (7.7)
- The Keeper of Traken (7.67)
- The Power of the Doctor (7.6)
- The TV Movie (6.3)
So there we have it: World Enough and Time/ The Doctor Falls on top and The TV Movie at the bottom. But everyone will have their own takes on these things. For instance, I’d place The TV Movie at #2! And most would surely rate The Dæmons higher.
How would you rank the best and worst Master stories, DWC readers?
