The return of the Master in season 12 of Doctor Who has divided some fans, with little explanation of what happened to the seemingly rehabilitated, or at least partially rehabilitated, Missy. Sacha Dhawan’s intense take on the character, revealed in the latest season’s two-part opener, was a throwback to a more unhinged and sadistic version of the Time Lord, compared to where we saw the character during the Capaldi era. And a new theory put out by ScreenRant says that Dhawan’s Master is actually a previous regeneration, and likely one that preceded Missy, but came after John Simm’s portrayal.
In this context, the Master would still be a more straightforward villain, and closer to the manic energy of Simm’s incarnation. Although it’s always a bit hard to work out Doctor Who continuity, the theory suggests that Dhawan’s Master roughly overlaps with Matt Smith’s Doctor. Given that the Eleventh Doctor never met the Master, the regeneration we meet wouldn’t have interacted with Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor.
As ScreenRant explains:
One key aspect of this theory hinges on where this current version of the Master comes from in the Doctor’s timeline, and although there haven’t been many clues thus far, one significant possibility is that he’s the version of the Master that existed at the same time as the eleventh doctor. The Master was one of the few classic Who villains completely absent from Matt Smith’s tenure as the Doctor, but that doesn’t mean that the Master wasn’t around at the time. Timeline details are always a little fuzzy, but it currently seems as if the Dhawan version of the Master comes after the Simm version but before Gomez, placing him squarely in the eleventh doctor’s territory.
With Dhawan set to appear in at least two more episodes this season, we’ll likely get some backstory, or possible foreshadowing to the Master’s storyline. What we probably won’t receive, however, is a satisfying answer to the Timeless Child mystery, with Jodie Whittaker recently admitting that the full implications of the Gallifrey plot won’t happen in this season. In this context, our money’s on the Master returning for a finale, or two-part episode, that partially deals with the questions set up in the season premiere.
Based on what we know about season 12, this year will see the return of other Doctor Who villains and monsters, including the Cybermen and the Judoon. Whether this will arrest the series’ recent ratings decline is unclear, although it’s worth pointing out that current showrunner Chris Chibnall produced a strong Daleks episode with last year’s special.
For now though, we’re just hoping that the next run of episodes will return Doctor Who to the quality of season 11, after a mixed opening block of installments.