The Master- Unbound

Hmm. It’s an interesting idea. One which would be hard to do without just making him into the Doctor. I did have a few ideas on what you could do with an Unbound Master though.

One where The Master was captured before he could leave Gallifrey and has spent the majority of his time in prison. Becoming ever bitter at hearing the news of what his old friend has got up to and wondering what might have been. Could imagine a Time Lord visiting him and asking;

“And tell me, what are you a Master of exactly?”

Be rather a depressing tale all things considered. Probably would end with him destroying Gallifrey leaving him the sole ruler (or Master) over a destroyed landscape. And there he would wait, biding his time until his old friend finally returns.

One where Susan was in fact The Master’s granddaughter. Definitely be one I’d be curious to see develop. Could see her being corrupted by The Master’s growing arrogance and general distaste towards the universe. Or perhaps calling in the Time Lords to arrest him, completely betraying his trust as she realises that they never should have left Gallifrey and dedicating the rest of her life to quiet non interference or simply observation. Watched over of course by the Time Lords to ensure she doesn’t follow in her grandfather’s footsteps.

And then, of course, there is the most obvious story idea. What if the Master truly changed his ways?

To the Master a Daughter

When I read this thread for some reason this notion jumped into my head and now I cannot get rid of the idea, so to help excise it I thought I would write a few things down.

The emotions that Tremas had for his daughter somehow still residing in the Master. Therefore he feels compelled to be with and keep safe his only daughter.

The Master doesn’t understand these feelings and is disgusted with himself, but it is a compulsion he cannot resist.

He has to convince Nyssa that he is still her father and suggests she ask him something only her father would know. So she does and he gives her the answer she was hoping for. He also says and does other things that persuades her that he is still her father.

It is only later that the audience discovers that the Master had already hypnotised Nyssa and primed himself with the answers and actions needed to convince her.

The problem with the Master having a companion is he doesn’t seem to need one and if he did have one we know the companion wouldn’t last very long! Resolving this was one of the reasons I liked the Master and young apprentice Master set up. For me this Master and Daughter set up would be similar as the Master would contain himself from killing his companion at the slightest provocation.

Nyssa would bring out a bit of good in the Master and conversely the Master would bring out a bit of bad in Nyssa.

Having someone else to care about would effect the Master’s plans and Nyssa would definitely assist the Master in concocting less outlandish and overly complicated schemes.

The Master would become an even greater foe for the Doctor. He might very well win on a more regular basis.

And speaking of the Doctor, the fact that the pivotal Logopolise would never play out with the Master’s involvement, might it still be the Fourth Doctor and Adric they encounter later in their adventures. And might Nyssa once again see the Fourth Doctor regenerate, but this time from a completely different perspective!?

I actually think the series (and the EU) missed a trick way way back when. It doesn't work with everything we know now, but imagine if the Master and the Doctor had *both* been Susan's grandparents. Susan as the child of the Doctor's son and the Master's daughter... certainly better than the "Master is the Doctor's brother" idea, IMO!

But here are a few prompts from me:

What if the Master...
...had left Gallifrey with the Doctor and they travelled on together?
...was UNIT's scientific advisor?
...was the Last of the Time Lords, after the death of the Doctor?
...became the President of the Time Lords?
...had successfully stolen the Doctor's body? (Tom Baker's my pick for that Master incarnation!)
...got a Wonderful Life-esque look at what the universe would have been like without him
...died and someone else took up the mantle? (The first Perfect Timing anthology apparently includes a future "Doctor" who was really the Last Companion.)

I also considered, as above...

...because imagine five different Masters in a death match to claim immortality! Given that it's an Unbound setting, they could even successfully kill off some of their past and future selves!

This whole thing is a Divergent Wordsmiths anthology waiting to happen though, isn't it, @wolfie53 / @dramaman? Especially since J.A. Prentice did "What if the Master was sent to Skaro instead of the Doctor?" in Genesis of Terror before the release of Anti-Genesis!

The Master's already been UNIT's Scientific Advisor (alongside Ian and Barbara) in "The Face of the Enemy" (in whcih, incidentally, he encountered the Inferno-universe Koschei who had been the CIA agent featured in that universe's version of "The Web of Fear" in the absence of the Doctor).

But... I wonder...

1) What if the Master got trapped in E-Space?
2) What if the Master successfully blackmailed the universe into making him its ruler?

I think Jacobis Master has cornered Evil...it’s would be cool if this Unbound was kind caring empathic the Unbounds Santa Claus 🤭😉

Don't tell the Master that - he once ripped the idea of Moriarty apart!

I mean, I'd love it, obviously--who wouldn't?

But... I don't see it happening, given Mark Gatiss tends to be working on so many different things. More practically, I'd be rooting for the Unbound Master to feature as a recurring villain for the NABS, to pit him against the Warner-Doctor again--something I kinda feel we got cheat out of in the Unbound Arc, since Gatiss was mostly playing opposite Bowerman in that story.

That actually might be a great idea.

As what does the MacQueen Master count? Is he a "new" one?
Because we definitely need more of him.
Derek Jacobi is always good value, he could go head to head with any of them.
However, if I could wish for something....
The Unbound Warner Doctor meeting the War Master.
That would be epic.