You have to hand it to the Doctor Who production team, as they managed to keep this whopper of a twist under their hats. New Year’s Day’s opening episode of season 12 ended with a heck of a cliffhanger, as one character was revealed to be one of the show’s most iconic villains in disguise: the Master, now played by Sacha Dhawan.
Once the episode aired, the former Iron Fist star took to Instagram to come clean about how he got the role and what it was like to join the Doctor Who family. In fact, Dhawan’s lengthy, heartfelt post reveals that, at the time he got the call to audition, he was rehearsing a play with none other than a former Time Lord. What are the chances?
“It’s January 2019, and I’m in the middle of a rehearsed play reading with a talented bunch of actors, one of whom is Peter Capaldi, who I’ve been watching in awe for the last couple of hours.”
Dhawan explained that he’d just spoken to his agent at this point and was desperate to unload on Capaldi and ask him all kinds of questions. However, he knew he couldn’t spill the beans to anyone, especially not his new mortal enemy, the Doctor.
“I sit opposite Capaldi, staring at him once again but more intently this time round. He’s got all the answers to so many of my questions right now; ‘Peter what do I do, WHAT DO I DO?!’… but the reality is, I’m sworn to total secrecy. Capaldi looks up from his script and meets my gaze as he sips his coffee. He smiles at me. F**k.”
The star went on to say that this small gesture by Capaldi meant a lot of him. Dhawan added: “I recalled the look Capaldi gave me as he sipped his coffee, a strange blip in time, as if he knew I’d been granted access to the ‘secret’.”
In his post, the star says that he was considering taking a break from acting due to feelings of burnout and anxiety but landing the role of the Master reinvigorated his love for his job and also gave him renewed confidence in his abilities.
Doctor Who fans were already blown away by his brief turn as the villain in the last couple of minutes of the premiere, so tomorrow’s “Spyfall Part 2” should be even more epic, as Dhawan will have additional time to put his stamp on the character. Don’t miss it.
