MEME 4 - WHEN IS "MASTER O"

As with other posts to be found at the beginning of this blogathon, I’m writing this one early in January of 2020 – in the morning of the day on which the second part of “Spyfall” will be shown later that night.  So for alls I know, this question has already been resolved.

But in the meantime….

With this meme, one of the ‘Doctor Who’ Facebook pages posed the question: Is Sacha Dhawan’s incarnation of the Master (the O Master?) from after Missy’s incarnation or before it?  And if before, is he then from before Roger Delgado or from the space between John Simm’s incarnation and Missy?

I’ve always wanted a whole season dedicated to the eleven incarnations of the Master before Delgado’s introduction of the character to the audience.  It would be a feast of great guest stars – you’d have to nab the very best to make the role memorable, especially if it turns out to be a one-shot appearance.

Here are some ideas for actors to interpret the Master:

• Jeremy Irons
• Helen Mirren
• Philip Glenister
• Eric Idle
• Adrian Lester
• Jim Broadbent
• James Buckley (My choice for the First Incarnation as a young man)

For some of them, the role could be perfect for a recurring opportunity; others could be around only long enough to endure regeneration; and some of them could even team up to battle the Doctor.

If it turned out that Dhawan was one of these regenerations, I’d be okay with that (although I had hopes for him as the Doctor.)  He certainly has made the role memorable with his introduction in “Spyfall Part One”.

I went In to my embrace of his performance thinking that he was the next regeneration after Missy.  However, I was bothered that the mellowing of Missy’s temperament was cast aside so easily even with the new personality quicks with each new incarnation of any Time Lord.

But what if Dhawan is a Master from after John Simm’s dive through the dimensional veil to return to Gallifrey and before the Twelfth Incarnation met Missy?  Up until now, I think we all assumed that Missy was the incarnation directly after “Harold Saxon Reborn”.  But that was quite a span of Time between his exit and her entrance.

So Who knows?

What do you think?