There's follows a joyous outburst about Utopia, the brilliant slice of Doctor Who aired last night. If you taped it and haven't watched, then don't read what follows...
No, really, don't read it. You'll regret it otherwise...
Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master Master! The Master is BACK!
Phew. I've been waiting to say that publicly for QUITE some fucking time, now.
Feels good. If you're a non-Who person and are wondering what the hell I'm on about, then The Master is the Doctor's absolute arch enemy. He was last seen in 1989, so his return - and a surprise return at that, if you don't read the spoiler/speculation sections of net forums - is A Very Big Deal. His reveal was, aptly enough, masterly, and sent shivers coursing through my brain and body.
28 comments:
"He was last seen in 1989..."
If you don't count Eric Roberts in the TV Movie.
The TV movie, camp though it is, is canon Who, no?
And yeah, great reveal. Would have liked to have seen more evil Jacobi before he became Simm-tastic though.
If John Simm isn't careful, he's going to become a SF icon.
Bloody marvelous sir.
Everybody needs a nemesis.
Rest assured, fellow Whovians, that I wasn't attempting to deny the canonicity of Roberts' Master.
I was merely being, as we say in the trade, stupid. :)
Between Survival and the TV Movie, the Master's got a lot of making up to do. Let's hope there's no small time villainy.
I'm confused. Didn't the Master die in the TV movie?
On another point: Eric Roberts V John Simm - One has acting talent and the other has a famous sister.
The master did die in TV movie. yes. after he had already died in Planet Of Fire.
and don't mention him being a CGI snake neither!
You're assuming all the adventures happen linearly - Utopia could be years before either Survival or the TV movie in the Master's personal time line.
Phew, I've broken out in a sci-fi sweat. I hate revealing how geeky I am in public.
I wanted more Jacobi too, he'd make a great Master.
So even though he's cool John Simm now, eventually he'll be a CGI snake and then Eric Roberts? The poor guy.
Hate to be like, you know, SANE, but isn't a cop-out if you just say that it *could* be another time in The Master's Line and that's why he's come back to life somehow with no explanation?! Wouldn't we get lambasted for this in our specs? Hmmmm? HMMMMM? But oh no: Dr. Who. Different rules apply. PLUCK OUT ALL YOUR EYES!
It's time travel, deal with it. Nothing has to happen in any particular order.
Battlefield, for example: the Doctor meets people who know who he is, even though he's never met them before.
That's why I don't quite get the 'all my people are dead' whinge. You've got a time machine, just pop back and say hello.
I think the Time War kind of erased most of them from time. Them and the Daleks... hey, that'd be how The Master's still alive, being that he was executed by The Daleks at the start of the TV movie. This way they'd never be around to do that, and hence... Jacobi. My brain has just melted in a geek frenzy. Damn those paradoxes.
Yes but Phil: I don't believe you can go back in time, hence the problem with the suspension of disbelief and all that. I believe you can only go FORWARDS, as Quantum physics demands... Are you all sitting comfortably Children? Then let me begin... Ah, fuck it. Time travel Dr Who style goes backwards. Apparently.
I was waiting for John Simm to say: "My name is The Master. I had an accident and I woke up in the Tardis. Now if I could only figure out the reason, then maybe I can go home".
Sorry, can we go back to the beginning. What is this Doctor Who?
Hmmm, yes, timelines. See, the thing is... Hmmm. Yes. The Doctor can't go back in time for a nostalgic cup of tea with his Time Lord brethren, because that would balls-up the timelines. Even though by that logic, the Doctor should never interfere during ANY of his adventures in time and space. Yes, technically he should merely function as an observer, while entire civilisations crumble to dust, or are subjected to horrendous enslavement.
This hasn't been spelt out, but as Oli says, maybe the Time War was so downright fierce, that the Time Lords and (most of) the Daleks were actually removed from the timeline. Gone forever. Never even existed. Hmmm? Yes? What? Are you listening to me, Chesterton?
Danny, I would have actually watched that ; )
Seriously, Time Travel can only go forwards. This is the problem with DR. WHO. Why aren't you all going up in arms??
Forwards Time Travel, madam? Is that when you drink three bottles of wine between 7pm and 11pm, then are instantly transported to the following morning, feeling disoriented and dehydrated courtesy of the Time Vortex's rigours and generally paying the price for fucking with the order of things?
No Jason that is NOT the law of Quantum Physics, that's just your drink-addled reprobate journo mind.
Jason: Erased from time? You mean like the Daleks were by the Hand of Omega in Remembrance of the Daleks?
Really worked for them, didn't it?
Lucy: Quantum isn't a real word, everyone knows it was made up by Donald P. Bellisario in 1989 because it sounds cool.
The tv movie wasn't cannon! it was pants. Did the Dr say in family of blood "Of course, I'm half human anyway. on my mothers side" hmm? No he didnt! I rest my case!
Lucy - if you watched the recent ep Blink, the Dr explains the non linear nature of time viewed from a non subjective viewpoint!
Jason, finally tracked down an issue of DWM - they'd sold out in my local shops, so popular are your articles! Good stuff, sir.
by the way, did you model your beard on Anthony Ainley? ;)
The TV movie is canon, if for no other reason than because Doctor 8 appears in 'drawn' form in Human Nature.
I am in denial regarding the rest of it though.
Half-human my arse.
As for timelines it is all very complicated and my head hurts when I think of it too hard.
Phil: just as in stranger aeons, where even death may die, even time-erasure itself can be erased. Ahem...
Martin: I did model my beard on Anthony Ainley, but he didn't think it suited him and opted to go with his own. :)
Yes, the TV movie is indeed canonical. Otherwise we'd be referring to Messrs Eccleston and Tennant as Doctors Eight and Nine respectively...
Even time erasure can be erased?
Is this like 'the sonic screwdriver opens every lock in the known universe ... except when it doesn't'?
By the way, if you've got a beard shaped like Anthony Ainley, that's one hell of an odd shaped chin you've got there.
'Quantum' is a cool word though.
Sadly everything that happened in the TV movie after the Doctor put his pants on was wiped out by the Time War. Especially that 'Half Human' guff which was wiped out twice for good measure.
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