After two years of waiting, Sacha Dhawan’s incarnation of the Master makes his return to the Whoniverse in a new Doctor Who audio adventure. The actor made a surprise debut in 2020’s season 12 premiere “Spyfall”, where it was revealed that the Thirteenth Doctor’s (Jodie Whittaker) MI5 contact 0 was the rogue Time Lord, vengeful and angered after his world was shattered by recently uncovered Time Lord history. Burning Gallifrey down and wiping out the species once more, Dhawan’s incarnation of the Master tried to invade Earth with interdimensional foes, created Time Lord/Cyberman hybrids, and stole the Doctor’s body.
Big Finish has unveiled that the Master will return in Call Me Master: Inner Demons in February 2025. The three-story box set finds Dhawan’s Master is in the midst of an identity crisis at an unknown point in his life, as Robert Valentine’s “Self-Help” sees him dealing with his existential woes, Georgia Cook’s “The Clockwork Swan” sees him become an unlikely detective to solve murders at a futuristic theme-park, while Una McCormack’ “The Good Life” leaves him on a reclusive island among a religious order. The first box set will be released on the Big Finish website for £18.99, with a second currently untitled box set slated for September 2025.
What Call Me Master Could Mean For The Character
The Master’s Timeline Is Still A Mystery
Though Dhawan’s Master followed Michelle Gomez’s take on the character, there is still no solid connection between the two on-screen, as Doctor Who season 10’s finale “The Doctor Falls” sees Missy’s prior incarnation (John Simm) blast her with a laser shot strong enough to make a regeneration impossible. Big Finish themselves would explore the regeneration with the introduction of the Master’s following good incarnation, The Lumiat (Gina McKee), though Missy would ensure that her future self regenerates back into their worst self.
With The Lumiat being a Big Finish creation, it could be assumed that Call Me Master will take place after these events. However, it is unclear where in Dhawan’s Master’s timeline the events could occur, as there are multiple points where the Master could be in a crisis of identity. While those primarily familiar the TV series may assume that it is after he learned the truth about the Timeless Child, it could also refer to the reforming of his evil persona after the Lumiat, or following him being pushed back into his body in “The Power of the Doctor”, before he found himself the Toymaker’s prisoner.
Our Thoughts On Dhawan’s Big Finish Doctor Who Adventures
Dhawan’s Master Has The Potential For A Tragic Reinterpretation
Though he only appeared in three stories across Whittaker’s Doctor Who tenure, Dhawan’s incarnation of the Master has become a firm favorite. While the Master’s return to villainy was a reversal of the journey that Missy spent three seasons exploring, Dhawan’s performance retained the playful torment of past incarnations, while also having a manic and unpredictable edge that made him a perfect foe to the Time Lord.
Despite this, Dhawan’s Master also left room for alternative, more sympathetic interpretations, as he too had been deceived by the Time Lords, and now saw himself as inferior to one of the few beings in existence he considered a friend. As such, Dhawan’s Big Finish Doctor Who box set is a perfect opportunity to dive into a still mysterious take on the character.