I got to thinking, after reading the "Master through the ages" thread, about an interview I read with Anthony Ainley in which he discussed his portrayal of the Master.

As I recall, Mr Ainley (who died in 2004) was almost universally slated for his hammy interpretation of the role, but in this interview, he stated he'd been instructed on how to play the character.

He was unhappy with this, as he felt the character had been reduced to a sort of pantomime villain (boo, hiss...) rather than the dark, menacing figure he wanted to be.

I personally admit I never liked his portrayal of the Master, but in light of this revelation, maybe it wasn't him I should have been annoyed with.

I'm interested to know if this has altered anyone else's perception of his time on the show. Or did you already like him in the role?

Personally I never had a problem with him in the role but this probably had more to do with the fact that I was only 8 when I first saw him and had (at that point) never experienced Delgado's Master.

In the same way that Tom Baker was my doctor, I guess Ainley was my Master. However, I can see how those that grew up with Delgado might view Ainley's take as a bit hammy.

Ainley was very much 'my' Master, too (I was 11 when he took over) and it was always a treat when he showed up-the cliffhanger in Time Flight where he's revealed to have been Kalid is still one of my favourite scenes. I've never understood why so many people these daycriticise his portrayal of the Master, I certainly don't recall that being the majority view at the time.

Anthony Ainley was 'my' Master too, growing up through the 80's, he used to scare me a lot!

I think what he said about not being able to play the part as he would like is similar to the problem Colin Baker had of not wearing the costume he would have liked. Therefore the blame must go to the producer for doing something that was not in the interests of the show in both cases.

I think I prefer Ainley's performances more in his earlier appearances like Logopolis than some of his later ones. I think his worst story for me was definitely Planet Of Fire, where that pantomine performance was at it's peak. Things improved slightly during his two sixth Doctor stories but his ultimate performance was in Survival, where he showed more pure evil and menace than he ever had before, and, off course, the change of costume was quite a neat touch as well.

The best part of Ainley's Master for me was, of course, his laugh, just loved the laugh......

That, and his addiction to unlikely disguises...

I liked Ainsley's master, yes he was hammy, but there were also hints of a darker side, like his casual comment to Nyssa about how her father's body was "still useful" when she confronted him about his killing him.

Poor old Tremas. But then, it was his own fault for having a name which was an anagram of 'Master'.

I liked Anthony Ainley as the master but after Roger Degaldo it was always going to be a hard act to follow for anyone taking the role.

In fact I have liked them all (although I was never too keen on Eric Roberts).

Roger was my personal fave out of all the actors playing this wonderful renegade timelord.

with you on all of the above

I relly do like Ainley's master...I can't fault him really. What I have a little problem with is that his master doesn't suit any of his Doctors....unlike Delgado who was a perfect match for Pertwee...and Simm for Tennant. I love the fact that the Master and Doctor are opposites and equals at the same time....yet I never get that feeling with Ainley and the Doctors he is with. Still a worthy enemy though.

No bias here, but I think he suited Davison's Doctor the best. Because Davison was so young and nice, the contrast worked better than Baker and McCoy.

The Ainley Master was the first one I saw until BBC2 repeated some Pertwee stories back in the late 80s/early 90s. Some people complain that he was too different to the Delgado Master but then you don't expect all the Doctors to act the same so why should all the Masters

Agreed. Though it didn't help that he was totally redundant in his two appearances during CB's tenure. In the first he was overshadowed by the Rani, in the second by the Valeyard-he was only there at all because he was apparently under contract to appear once a season!

"Oh my dear Doctor you have been naive." has the be one of the creepiest lines as it has been stuck in my head for years.

As is that ever so polite 'Doctor, what a pleasant surprise' from Survival...

I'd agree to a point....definitely, out of all the Doctors that he appeared with, Five was best suited to him. I don't know, its just after seeing the chemistry between Delgado and Pertwee, and then seeing the similar magic between Simm and Tennant, it kind of falls flat for me. And I feel that this is probably because I feel when they introduced Ainley as the Master, they just tried to make him into a more OTT Delgado, instead of letting him come to his personality, like they would do with the Doctors. Of course I love the Doctor and Master being OTT, but for me, that pure chemistry was never there fully between Ainley and his Doctors...closet it came was with Davison.

Yes, you're right. Colin Baker has often said he'd like to have had a thumping good Master story, the relationship, if thats' the right word, never had time to develop properly between the Sixth Doctor and the Master.


I do actually like Delgado's Master as well, I think the dynamic between his Master and The Doctor works well because of the friendship between him and Pertwee. Not sure if the Tennant/Simm relationship really worked for me but that's just a personal thing. Thought it worked better when Jacobi was briefly in the role.

That could still happen as Geoffrey Beevers who played the Master in The Keeper of Traken is still alive and has twice played the Master on Big Finish CDs so there's no reason why 6 and the Master could not meet again

I'd actually already read somewhere that Anthony was somewhat constrained in the way he played the Master; there was an account by a fan who'd visited the set during the filming of one of Anthony's stories, and who had indicated to Anthony that they found his portrayal a little hammy. Anthony said little to this, but later when the fan was watching him act, he began to give a very subtle, menacing and creepy performance. The director stopped him and asked him to do it more OTT, and Anthony then gave the pantomime-style performance so often criticised, to the director's obvious satisfaction. Anthony then looked at the fan and rolled his eyes, as if to say "See what I'm up against?"

I can't vouch for the truth of that story, but I post it for what it's worth. At any rate, Anthony was capable of being a great Master, as he showed in Survival.

Anthony only had to smile to make my buttocks clench.

Here's my favourite tribute video to him and the other Masters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4gJuwGdBIg

That is very interesting if true...

I don't agree with that statement at all.

There are times when AA was a little hammy, and those occasions are flagged up fairly often, but he has not been "universally slated".

I'm another one with an 80s childhood, and loved seeing the Master. I still do love watching his stories (especially the Davison ones, which are my childhood heyday).



The nastiest bit, for me, is killing poor Auntie Vanessa. Horrible.



Good point! The Ainley Master was clearly modelled on and inspired by the Delgado character. There are real differences between the two, though.



That could well be the case. The Master's final appearance (Survival) is a totally different performance from all the previous ones, and just goes to show how sinister and alien he could be. Yes, the Master can be a panto villian, but I'd argue that John Simm's was pantoier than all the others put together.

As Tremas and Portreeve, AA is unrecognisable. In fact, the first time Mrs Chuff watched Castrovalva, Portreeve wasn't spotted as The Master In Disguise until quite late in the day! AA was a perfectly good actor, and the AA version of the Master is a key part of my Who-love.

Anthony Ainley was a smashing actor. I caught him by chance in a recent repeat of "Upstairs Downstairs" playing a very smooth aristocratic politician on the make to the life. I remember also a late 60s spy series on ITV called "Spyder's Web" where he wa co-lead.

Talking of "ham" (which AA was certainly not) he was the grandson of the great Edwardian actor-manager Sir Henry Ainley. There is a recording of the old man reading a speech from Otello. Now THERE was ham !

He was my Master too (in Dr who terms ). I thought his usefuless though expired when Nyssa left as he was in her fathers body.

shame that there was so little of Derek Jacobi.