The Master has always been truly masterful at concealing his true idenity. Over the years he has employed masks, aliases and other means to disguise himself whilst he plots his dastardly plans. Here BlogtorWho presents five of the best disguises used by this most devious of renegade Time Lords.
Mister Magister
The original Master, played by Roger Delgado, utilised a number of disguises and aliases. Some of these included Colonel Masters (Terror of the Autons), Dr Emil Keller (The Mind of Evil) and The Adjudicator (Colony in Space). One of his best however was as Mister Magister in The Dæmons. Wearing a pair of glasses, which were later discarded, he posed as a vicar in the rural English village of Devil’s End. Magister is also the Latin word for ‘master’ which of course The Doctor interpreted immediately. There is something particularly devilish about The Master posing as a clergyman and then summoning the Devil!
The Portreeve
Shortly after The Doctor’s fourth regeneration, his new incarnation sought respite on a tranquil planet called ‘Castrovalva‘. The Portreeve was an elder in Castrovalva, a title indicating an individual with authority over a town. A kind man with great wisdom. However he was revealed to be The Master in disguise having set a trap for the newly regenerated Fifth Doctor. Amusingly The Portreeve was credited as being played by Neil Toynay, an anagram of Tony Ainley, to hide the character’s true identity.
Kalid
In perhaps one of his more elaborate and striking changes of appearance The Master posed as Kalid in ‘Time Flight’. A strange mystic, with a hint of the Orient about his costume choice, he used psychokinetic power to attempt to control the Xeraphin. The character also provided us with another amusing anagram with the credited actor of Leon Ny Taiy concealing Anthony Ainley once again.
Professor Yana
On the planet Malcassairo at the end of the universe an old scientist attempted to help the remnants of humanity reach ‘Utopia’. Professor Yana enlists the help of the Tenth Doctor and his companions Martha Jones and Capt. Jack Harkness to overcome technical difficulties to launch the rocket. Dramatically we learn that the Professor is in fact a renegade Time Lord who used a chameleon arch to change his physiology and escape the Time War. Which Time Lord? The Master of course.
Mr Razor
Perhaps the most shocking reveal of all came just days ago. Mr Razor, a hospital assistant and maker of tea helped Bill in her recovery whilst trapped in a terrifying hospital. Shockingly he betrayed Bill and left her at the mercy of the hospital’s surgeon. It was only after that betrayal that viewers learned Mr Razor’s real identity. Not just The Master but an earlier regeneration of the character that we had not seen in years.
