Derek Jacobi's Master
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Just watched Utopia again and it got me thinking that I would have loved to have seen more of Derek Jacobi as The Master, I thought in the few minutes he was on screen (as The Master rather than Yana) he was such an effective villain. I like John Simm as The Master as well but I don't see why The Master had to be the same age appearance wise as David Tennant.
The Sound Of Drums and Last Of The Time Lords would have been very different with Sir Derek as The Master but I reckon they would have been brilliant. If they could work it into the storyline (a regression rather than a regeneration?) I'd still love to see more of the Jacobi Master.
Sadly the only other person who I would really love to see as the Master has already appeared as a minor villain in "New Who", namely Anthony Head.
The Sound Of Drums and Last Of The Time Lords would have been very different with Sir Derek as The Master but I reckon they would have been brilliant. If they could work it into the storyline (a regression rather than a regeneration?) I'd still love to see more of the Jacobi Master.
Sadly the only other person who I would really love to see as the Master has already appeared as a minor villain in "New Who", namely Anthony Head.
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The whole point of the original concept of the Master is that he is the equal and opposite of the (current) Doctor.
I think taking that to the point that he has to look the same as The Doctor is a bit extreme personally. Jacobi's Master was shown to be the intellectual equal of the Doctor, just as resourceful and just as sharp (albeit mostly in the guise of Yana). I don't think most members of the audience need the point driven home by the Master looking identical to the Doctor.
As I said, I like John Simm as The Master, I'd like to see him come back actually I think he and Matt Smith would be a great combination on screen, I just wish we'd gotten to see more of Sir Derek.
Agree with Leper about Anthony Head - I'm suprised he's not been back in the show - being dead doesn't usually stop Who villans coming back in one form or another...
Wasn't there rumours of Benedict Cumberbatch being lined up as the master at some point ?
It's not a case of looking like the Doctor...because yeah okay DT and JS are skinny lanky blokes......but you wouldn't mistake one or the other for the other....the point is their personality, their energy, their style as well as their intullect is a mirror image......Similar to the best Doctor/Master image of Pertwee and Delgado....both suave and dandy...and same amount of energy....that they could easily be two sides of the same coin.....and for me Tennat and Simms match that equalness......which as bloody brilliant as Jacobi was as the Master....their wasn't that sense of the two sides of the same coin.....but more of an evil fatherly figure....which may have been interesting, it may have not been....because it was great for the amount we saw....but the longer it lasted, maybe that same chemistry that Simms and Tennant had wouldn't have been there....Jacobi is a power of his own, everyone else would have been overshadowed....as he did in Utopia, from when he was Yana, too when he was the Master.
It's a bit like Ainely...I know some don't like his Master, but I think he is fantastic.....but the problem I have is that his Master doesn't really suit any of the Doctors he has been with (I do like him with McCoy now though), because instead of giving him his own identity, he was made in the image of Delgado......which is weird because when the Doctor regenerates, ad even Romana, they get their own look and personality...yet Ainley got that of the past Master....I think if they had given him the full look of Tremas...it may have been interesting.
But hey, Jacobi was great....the fact that he had such a small length of time, means he will forever be considerd a gem....rather than any thoughts of people getting tired of him....
I think Benedict would indeed make the perfect Master for Matt's Doctor
My thoughts exactly
No one's the problem is an older villian opposite a younger Doctor is a problem. It's just that the point of the Master is that he is the equal and opposite of the Doctor. As good as Jacobi was (for his 5 minutes as the Master) he was far from perfect for this reason
To add to what Darthbibble said.....those example you use are characters who may work...but they are not the Master....so they work on a different level to the Master....no one one would say they are the Doctor's equals....and none of them share the same chemistry that Pertwee and Delgado shared.
Yes Delgado did have a controlled menace (although he could be OTT too, Daemons a great example)...but then Pertwee did have a controlled eccentricity about him too....they were both sauve characters.....so JS's so called OTTness matched the hyperness of DT's Doctor....which Jacobi didn't have.....he may have been a perfect matching Master to Eccleston though....but not to Tennant. The Master shouldn't be completely played in a certain way (ie the Delgado way, because that is his Master)....that is the trap that Ainley was kind of stuck in....he couldn't be his own Master. Yes there are certain ways of the Master as there is of the Doctor ie mad fasion sense, eccentric...but the Doctor still is able to bring his own style into it each time...and I think that is what Jacobi and Simms got right...that when the Master regenerated...he wasn't just a younger version of Jacobi...but a Master in his own right, and perfect madness for the Tenth Doctor...IMO ofcourse
This. Simm was an embarassment. But his master was a creation of RTD.
So was Jacobi
I know that in the reality of the series it wouldn't have mattered since apparent age means nothing to Time Lords, but it would matter to the viewers.
Besides, I think it helped to delineate the nice Yana from the evil alter-ego.
Oh I agree....and I think that is why they went for someone as charming as Jacobi for the one-off Master in Utopia...someone who would be able to play that very grandad freindly cuddly Yana...to an instant turn as the evil Master!!!!! No matter who played Yana/Master...they were only going to be playing it for Utopia only.....so why not get the best!!!!:D
I still think he was better than Simm by a long shot and I see what you're saying but about the equal and opposite thing but in my opinion Jacobi was more closer to the original interpretation of the role than Simm. That's why I preferred him.
I still think Ainley was the best Master by a long while, maybe because, like Davison as my Doctor, I was brought up on him, and that laugh used to make me cringe!!!! And you're right, it was a shame he couldn't play it the way he wanted. I think in Survival it must have been the closest he got to how he wanted it.
I didn't mind him that much in LOFTTL but by the EOT he had gone completely overboard. :rolleyes:
Leaving aside all the character stuff brought up by others I suspect real life considerations would have got in the way. I'm still amazed that got him in the first place but could you imagine pitching a three parter (and the associated weeks and weeks of filiming, not to mention promotional duties) to Derek Jacobi? I have a sneaky suspicion he probably cost a bit more than John Simm as well
Jacobi has actually said he would have loved to have carried on, on that badly done Doctor Who clip show named "greatest moments" ....so I don't think fees were an issue at all, Jacobi seems like a huge fan, so it was for him as much as a coup as it was for us and the show.........but the length of his stint was part of what RTD wanted in order to tell the story he did.
I personally think that Jacob's was a much better Master and would have loved to have seen more of him in this role. The 5 minutes we saw of him, terrified me more than Simm's entire run.
Right on there! Not two days ago, (maybe four months
I prefer Delgados and Jacobis style thant Simms. How he would say things that were masterlike. If that makes sense.
Like "Don't worry my dear. As one door closes another must open."
I also think hes scarier because he was just a lovely man and then BAM! Hes a criminal mastermind.
Scary stuff for sure.
He was very good wasn't he! I found his sudden change in manner and persona quite chilling. He radiate malevolence! As much as I liked Simm's version its a shame Jacobi's didn't get more screen time.
Absurd comment. Mental health is an embarrassment is it? Maybe you could look at it like that, however it exists. There was nothing embarrassing about Simm's portrayal of mental derangement, nor nothing embarrassing in the writing. And yes, he was a creation of RTD, pretty much like all of NuWho was, so I guess you think the whole of NuWho is an embarrassment? Silly little eejit.
:eek: Gasp! Things are going to get spiteful now!
Good points on Ainley's Master, being a Tom Baker era Fan, he was a good Master but had moments of Fu Manchu !
Thgat's the problem with Simm's Master, good at times but too often a dancing, prancing Pillock most of time.
Some improvement in Tennant's last ep's .........
He was asked why he played The Master as he did, John Simm said that he was following direction, a poor excuse IMO