The Master

"I am the Master, and you will obey me!" The Master is a majorly recurring villain from the Doctor Who series. He is a member of the Time Lord race and is the childhood friend turned archenemy of the Doctor. An insane megalomaniac, the Master's choice of name comes from his ultimate ambition, to conquer and reign supreme over the universe.

The Master has been played by various actors, originally by the late Roger Delgado followed by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beevers (the same incarnation), the late Anthony Ainley, Gordon Tipple (in a cameo), Eric Roberts, Derek Jacobi, John Simm and most recently Michelle Gomez as a female incarnation known as Missy (short for Mistress).

The late William Hughes also played a child version of the Master in flashbacks shown in the third series. Many voice actors have also voiced The Master in the Big Finish audio stories (i.e Alex Maqueen, Derek Jacobi, Chris Finney (as the Ainley Master) and James Dreyfus).

Backstory
The first incarnation of the Master was the Doctor's friend and schoolmate at the Academy on Gallifrey, until a falling out occurred between them. At age 8, the Master was exposed to the Untempered Schism, and started to hear drumming, at least partially explaining his mental instability.

Inventor incarnation
Like the Doctor, the Master would also flee from Gallifrey in a TARDIS of his own, but the poor condition of his craft resulted in his first trip being a crash-landing on Destination. He took charge of the planet, becoming its hero. He assumed the title of "The Inventor", and developed the planet's technology for his own ends, pitting the human colonists against the Dalmari, saving them each time, and urging them to pursue an arms race should they come back. This was to manipulate the colonists into develop nuclear technology, to refuel his ship's engines. When the First Doctor arrived, he changed his plans and tried to steal the Doctor's TARDIS to escape. He was briefly able to trick Ian and Barbara into leading him to the ship, but the two were able to work together and overpower the Master, subsequently using the fast return switch to take the TARDIS back to Destination. The Master ultimately became trapped in his own laboratory after the Doctor had rerouted its power to help Destination to rebuild.

TV series
The Master encountered the Doctor during his Third incarnation when he was trapped on Earth. Wanting to make the Doctor suffer, the Master embarked on various schemes, such as allying with the Nestene Consciousness, using a mind parasite and stealing a missile to disrupt a peace conference, working with Axos to destroy Earth, trying to steal a doomsday weapon on the planet Uxarieus before being arrested by UNIT after trying to summon a Daemon Azal.

The Deadly Assassin
In this state, the Master came across the fellow Time Lord, Chancellor Goth. Sensing that Goth was hungry for power, the Master was able to mentally influence and use him for a scheme to steal the artifacts of Rassilon, in order to steal energy from the Eye of Harmony, which he hoped would help him to restore his damaged body to a healthier state, as well as getting revenge on the Time Lord and the Doctor, by also using the artifacts to destroy Gallifrey. The Fourth Doctor was, however, able to foil this scheme, but could not stop the Master from escaping once again in the aftermath.

Time War incarnation
In the body of a child, the Master worked with the War Doctor and the Squire during the Last Great Time War, until an attempt to flee the conflict resulted in him regenerating into an older body.

Quotes
"I only need two things. Your submission and your obedience to MY WILL!"

- The Master, The Daemons. "You do not understand hatred as I do. Only hate keeps me alive."

- The decayed Master, The Deadly Assassin. "You are indeed a worthy opponent, Doctor. It's what gives your destruction its... piquancy."

- The Tremas Master, The Mark of the Rani. "Life is wasted on the living!"

- The Bruce Master, the TV Movie. "This is my masterplan! Every eventuality has been considered!"

- The De'ath Master, Masterplan. "Say something nice."

- Missy, Death in Heaven.