When I first started thinking about why the original Master was such a delicious villain, I thought in terms of his characteristic muahaha!! He seemed like a wonderfully campy nemesis for the Doctor, and though I don’t know that the character ever literally said, “they laughed at me at the Academy!” I really felt he should have.
As I went back over some of the Master’s stories I’ve seen so far (remember that I haven’t seen them all) and watched the DVD extra on Frontier in Space
His Master was intelligent, polite, charming, sharp-witted, suave, persuasive (even without the hypnosis), and completely evil. He cared not one whit for what damage his plans might do to the universe or any minor players, as long as he got a thrill from it – and showed up the Doctor. With the easy way he could arch his eyebrow with disdain, he had me at “universally.”
Part of the charm of this first and – in my opinion – never surpassed Master comes from the completely comfortable way Delgado clearly settled into the role. His mixed French/Spanish heritage (the man’s full name was Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto – what a mouthful!) gave him the saturnine looks that were perfectly suited to the antagonist parts he played most often. He seemed to relish it, and at least one actress with whom he worked claimed that he undoubtedly excelled as such roles primarily because in real life he was such a wonderful, generally respected and loved individual. Therefore, he could afford to submerge himself completely into his character when he worked (the presumption being that those with a real “dark side” would not want to allow it so close to the surface).
Whatever the root cause, it worked. He was a perfect foil to the Doctor (designed as a Moriarty to the Doctor’s Holmes). If you watch carefully, you can see how well balanced Pertwee’s Doctor and Delgado’s Master are – they’re on exactly the same level of drama, with the same carriage, same self-assurance, same off-the-scale intelligence, same arrogance… and same inability (unwillingness, even) to really do the other in (though I’ll admit the Master truly tries at least once, in The Time Monster
If you’re a neowhovian who’s never had the pleasure of seeing one of the Three/Master stories, do yourself a favor and track one down. (Those currently available on DVD in Region 1 (N. America) include Terror of the Autons, The Claws of Axos
Master matchup!
I have to agree, Delgado is absoutely fantastic. I grew up with Ainley, who in many ways is far campier than the wonderful Delgado–but the nostalgia factor certainly pushes Ainley up there neck and neck for me.
However, I just voted in your poll, and my vote? Jacobi. It all boils down to the eyes and the acting–he’s one of my favorite actors ever, plopped into one of my favorite roles ever. When Jacobi turned back into the Master, the narrowing of those Jacobi eyes was worth a thousand of those sampled, echoed, and 70’s-style repeated over and over maniacal laughs of a Delgado or Ainley Master. It’s just too bad Jacobi didn’t get the chance to come back again, and again, and again.
I mean really–a supervillain role played by an actor with enough gravitas to match the Doctor’s? Jacobi all the way. Although Benedict Cumberbatch as Omega could be runner up…
Lime
Neck and neck
I have to admit that Jacobi is a close second for me in the Master race (sorry – couldn’t resist!). Part of the reason I still rank him below Delgado is the very fact that he didn’t get to show us over and over and over just how brilliantly evil he was. Besides, he was just scary-creepy in full Master mode, while Delgado was a bit more of the charming, persuasive kind of evil that can be more insidious.
Of two minds
On the one hand, I love Derek Jacobi, and would have loved to see more of him as the Master. On the other hand, I love Derek Jacobi, and would have always wanted him to win, so I’m kind of glad that he didn’t stay in the role.
Apres moi, le deluge
My first Master was Anthony Ainley … I think in either ‘Keeper of Traken’ or, possibly, ‘Time-Flight.’ It was probably ‘Traken,’ considering how much esteem I held him in before I saw Delgado. Ainley had a wonderful, over-the-top, cackling, Snidely Whiplash thing going for him that was hard to resist. And they kept his appearances to a minimum, at least in the US versions, which were mostly the omnibus compilations by the time I was recording them.
But then I saw Delgado’s Master. What a treat. He was almost the perfect foil to Pertwee’s Doctor, and even though his plans were Byzantine and rubbish, they were always a lot of fun for JP’s Doctor to unravel. Watching them now, you can see what a good time they were having together. And JP’s line about looking forward to their next meeting makes sense. I look forward to it, too. Even after all these viewings.
After seeing RD’s Master, nothing else was quite the same — even the AA episodes that I’d liked before. When the Master was brought back, I frankly couldn’t be bothered. I think John Simm did a great job in his reincarnation in the new series his first time around. But he was actually too much on the ball and too successful at his plotting. When his next time came around, I was, frankly bored, and waiting for his too-successful plot to be unravelled. I like my old-school, slightly inept Master (but stylish, with manners and panache). Until they can figure out how to balance the two personalities (the Doctor vs the Master), who always seemed to be mirror images of each other, I’d rather not have him come back. But imagine the cold, calculating Master that would need to be the counter to Matt Smith’s frenetic, funny, dark and mad Doctor. Shudder.
Two sides of a coin
I think that's the key to a good Doctor/Master match-up. As you said, "stylish, with manners and panache" are what made Delgado's Master for me. He was effective because he was charming and likeable. Simms was just plain barking (which, I suppose, is what RTD thought was appropriate to counter Tennant, but didn't entirely work for me), and that made him just creepy and scary instead of… insidious. Delgado strikes me more as one who would tempt people into wrongdoing because he made it seem so "reasonable" with this smooth talk, like a more classic Lucifer figure. 🙂
Not sure I want to see how they'd balance the Master v. Smith. I can hardly imagine it would end up anywhere near as good as we fans might dare to dream.