Sure, we all knew that Michelle Gomez was returning as the Master in the next season of Doctor Who. But now we know she’s being joined by one of her former selves: none other than John Simm himself. I mean, sure, if the Doctor can bring along his past selves for adventures, why not his best friend/mortal nemesis?
The news announced today by the BBC—which was preceded by recent talk from Steven Moffat of a “major spoiler” appearing in a next time trailer attached to the show’s season 10 premiere—marks Simm’s first return to the role of the Master since 2010's “The End of Time.”
That story, the final one of David Tennant’s tenure as the Doctor, saw Simm’s Master sacrifice himself to stop the Time Lords from wrenching their home world back into existence. Even that was after he’d already “died” a first time in the climax of his debut in the show in season three. So if there’s one thing that Simm’s Master can do, it’s survive seemingly fatal odds repeatedly. Here’s what Simm himself had to say about his return:
I can confirm that it’s true, thanks to the power of time travel I’m back. It’s always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can’t wait for you all to see what the Master gets up to in the next series.
The BBC would not confirm how and why Simm’s incarnation would return, but Steven Moffat did confirm at least one thing: Michelle Gomez’s Missy and Simm’s Master will be “face to face” on screen. Which is going to be an amazing sight to behold. Doctor Who returns on April 15.
[BBC]