Happy Birthday to Who? – 10th July: John Simm

By 2007, the revived series of Doctor Who had firmly established itself as a modern success and had triumphantly reintroduced old foes like the Daleks and the Cybermen to the masses – but there was one classic villain that had yet to make a comeback… that is, until the series finale of the third series, at least! The renegade Time Lord known as The Master blasted back onto television screens across the nation, played by none other than today’s birthday boy, John Simm!

Prior to taking on the role of The Doctor’s arch rival/best frenemy, Simm was perhaps best known for playing Detective Inspector Sam Tyler in BBC series Life on Mars between 2006 and 2007. Here, Simm got his first taste of time-travelling drama as his character found himself sent back in time to 1973 after being knocked down by a car. Simm left the show after its second series, feeling that he had taken the character as far as he could.

Not long afterwards, Series 3 of Doctor Who hit the air and Simm was revealed to be The Master following a shock regeneration from Derek Jacobi at the end of the tenth episode Utopia, leading into the revived show’s first three-part finale. In The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, The Master masqueraded on Earth as the prime minister, Harold Saxon, a story arc that had been built up since The Runaway Bride and throughout Series 3, with the “Vote Saxon” poster and slogan now being iconic of the show. The Master’s eventual plan was to unleash the Toclafane upon the Earth and use the planet to take over the universe, but he was stopped dead – literally – when he was shot by his wife Lucy Saxon, before refusing to regenerate in The Doctor’s arms.

However, that would not be the last we saw of Simm’s Master – as ever, he was one step ahead, and a group of his disciples brought him back to life using a ring found at his funeral pyre. During David Tennant’s swansong, The End of Time, The Master was a resurrected but unstable force, bursting with lightning bolt energy and his skeleton frequently flashing. Reduced to living as “the king of the wasteland”, he eventually found himself in control of the Immortality Gate – and with it, the minds and bodies of every human on the planet. His victory would be short-lived however, as his deeds were undone by the return of the Time Lords, and it was here that he was last seen, sacrificing himself to force Rassilon and Gallifrey back into the hells of the Time War. The next time The Master appeared on our screens, he had regenerated into Michelle Gomez’s Missy.

Most synonymous of Simm’s Master is the “four knocks” drumbeat that continues to drive him mad – in truth, this was a disease of the Time Lords’ making, placed into the mind of The Master to act as an escape route from the Time Lock surrounding them in the Time War.

Following his last appearance on Doctor Who, John Simm has appeared in other high profile television dramas like Mad Dogs (2011-2013) and Prey (2014). Whether we will ever see him return to the show, even if only for a flashback regeneration scene… time will tell!

Join us in wishing John a very happy 46th birthday today – we hope you have a celebration that’s as masterful as your performance! When we arrive at the door for your birthday party though, we promise not to knock four times…