Doctor Who Series Eight - The Return of the Master?

While usually we don't cover rumours on this blog when it comes to film and television, this one was definitely something people would be interested to know.

At the recent Newcastle Film and Comic Con panel for Doctor Who, Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy has allegedly spoken of the return of an old villain for this year's series. Not only that but also of other elements which could prove to be a very interesting twist if proven to be true.

Reported on by DenofGeek.com, McCoy supposedly stated that John Simm's previous role had been recast for another actor. While no exact names were given, the figure was supposedly "very scary" but very little else. Already this news has been lined up with previous announcements ranging from the involvement of Charles Dance to Michael Smiley. Furthermore, this is only McCoy's word and as the article points out "he's a man with a healthy sense of humour" so this could just be a prank of sorts.

That said, it does bring about something a few people have been wondering about for some time: Just how the Master will return and in what form. Having been repeatedly killed off multiple times over the years in seemingly permanent ways, only to return again and again, he seems almost unkillable. A few times this has been remarked upon, but after his seemingly final end fighting his own race, it would take quite the miracle for him to return once more.

Furthermore, the Time Lord has taken on more than a few different approaches when it comes to his personality. Roger Delgado, the original actor, portrayed him as a calculating and very villainous yet charismatic figure. Anthony Ainley followed this up with a healthy dose of ham in his performances, admittedly largely thanks to the writing. The less said about Eric Roberts' miscast role the better. Finally, John Simm's performance seemed to have been the result of turning him into the Joker minus the face paint. We've been steadily following a certain line with each progressive incarnation of the character, with writers turning him into more and more of an insane and overt figure as time went by.

The question is, if we were to see him return once more, would writers continue to write along these lines or try to turn him back into more of a figure like Delgado's portrayal? Many suspected figures suggest either interpretation is possible. For the moment it's just a suggestion for what may be to come, but combined with suggestions that Peter Capaldi's run may be more in line with the Third Doctor's series (and not just in the costume) this is an interesting turn of events. Expect a bit more on this as we move towards the new series.