BOOK OF LISTS: TOP FIVE MASTER STORIES - NUMBER FIVE

I was filled with shame by the fact that I only wrote one entry in the month of October. How can I even call myself a Blogger - much less, a Doctor Who Fan Who Blogs - if I'm producing so little content?! 

Part of what makes creating material for this blog tricky is that I don't rely too much on opinion pieces and actually research a lot of what I write about. So writing an entry can become quite a bit more involved than it does for most people that blog (or vlog, for that matter) about Doctor Who. It is far easier to just state opinion than it is to present actual facts. 

But, as we reach December, I do an Epic End-of-Year Countdown about something I like about the show. I've listed my Top Ten Favorite Doctor Who Stories. Or Ranked Doctors in my Order of Preference. Or things like that. It's a fun way to finish off the blog for the year that isn't too taxing on me. 

Normally, I won't do this until the last month of the year. But, because of my lack of content in October, I've decided to start this little tradition earlier and extend it for a longer period of time. Because I will be just expressing opinion for the next two months, it will be easier for me produce more material and give you all more blog to enjoy.    

HOW I'M GOING TO DO IT

Rather than try to compile one gigantic countdown that can span the course of two months, I'm going to do a series of smaller ranking systems. Basically, I'm going to create Top Five Lists for the three most popular recurring villains/monsters the show has featured. So, the five best Master stories, Cybermen tales and Dalek adventures. And, of course, I'll be writing a somewhat detailed explanation of why I've ranked them the way I have. 

It's been quite sometime since I've done a BOOK OF LISTS post. Instead, I've been working on REVIEW OVERVIEW essays. So I should make it clear that this really will be my own personal opinion being expressed. There will be no special criteria that I will establish like I have been with the REVIEW OVERVIEW format. This is me purely expressing my tastes and nothing more. 

So, let's begin with the Master. 

TOP FIVE MASTER STORIES - NUMBER FIVE: 

THE MIND OF EVIL 

I should say this upfront: this will be the only story on this list featuring Roger Delgado as the Master. 

I know a lot of other fans compiling a list like this would mainly have tales involving Delgado's Master in most of the positions. If not, all of them! To many, he was the greatest Master of them all. And his stories are beyond reproach. He is the best of the best. 

Well, if you bothered to read my Ranking the Masters series, you know he's not at the top of my list (This is where he made it: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-of-lists-ranking-masters-part-3.html). I don't hate Delgado as the Master, of course. In many ways,.he is quite good. 

I'm not all that fond of a lot of his stories, however. The plots of most adventures that feature him are pretty repetitive: the Master is messing with things that he can't control. This re-tread does mean that there's not much that stands out all that strongly. A lot of the time, I think we're just meant to be excited to see that the Master is back and not care too hard about what he's actually up to! I would even dare to say that, because the premises aren't very diverse, some of his stories are downright weak. I've never, for instance, been able to understand how anyone can find The Daemons all that particularly enjoyable. Honestly, I'm actually getting tired of the Master by the time we reach this point in the season! 

I've actually said a lot about Mind of Evil in an Unsung Classic essay (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/03/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-unsung.html). So I will try not to do too much of re-tread, myself. This post, in fact, will accomplish what all essays of this nature will do. It will focus on how well of a job the story does on featuring the recurring villain/monster. In this way, we should get a different review from the one I've already offered. 

Yes, Mind of Evil is hanging its hat in the usual place. Once more, the Master is meddling in something that will become his undoing. In this case, of course, it's am alien psychic parasite that he's placed at the core of the Keller Machine.  But, just this once, he's actually working on a second plan. A legitimate subplot! How crazy is that?!! 

The Master is also trying to use the Thunderbolt Missile to plunge the world into a Third World War that should wipe out the bulk of humanity. As this happens, he intends to sit safely in his TARDIS and only come out when things have settled down. He will be able to easily enslave the survivors. Is it much of an alternate agenda? No. But, by golly, I'll still take it! For once, the Delgado Master is doing more than just putting his nose where he shouldn't. And it's just so nice to see that! 

The subplot also makes a fair amount of sense. Without a properly functioning TARDIS, he can't really do much more than wipe out humanity. But this complication in his life does create a very nice link to the first tale of Season Eight. Which rounds out those first ten episodes quite nicely. As Mind of Evil closes, these first few clashes between the two Time Lords feel very complete. If only the production team had decided to leave the character alone for a bit. No such luck, though. The Master will just keep returning and returning and returning (this isn't even an exaggeration - he comes back three more times in a row!).

There is another flaw to the Delgado Master that Mind of Evil skirts around quite nicely. While other performers who have taken on the role play up the character's insanity and go a little OTT in places, Delgado seemed to be playing things straight. But there were always moments in his adventures where things got a bit camp. This wasn't even always Delgado that would make this choice. Sometimes, the silliness was written right into the script. When such scenes occur, it never sat well with me. It just felt out of place for this particular incarnation. 

Mind of Evil never really seems to go in that direction. Everything the Master does sits on the right side of serious. Even really strong visuals like the Master puffing a cigar in his limo as he listens to horrible, sinister music doesn't seem to go too far. We're able to believe in the character for the whole six episodes. At no point does it feel like Delgado is chewing up the scenery or just being a bit absurd. I think it's important that his Master was skewed that way. Sadly, we only seem to really get this with this tale. In other cases, we have instances like the Master believing claymation characters are actual aliens! 

The way the Master gets inserted into the plot is also done quite nicely. In Episode One, we don't see him at all. But we still witness the results of the masterplan he has been constructing. Even in the second part, he is still on the sidelines quite a bit. His interference seems somewhat inconsequential. Only as Part Three kicks in does the Master really start to feel like he's propelling along the conflict. From that point on, he is now heavily involved with things. And I do love how he moves along through the story. Slowly but surely arranging things until he's got all his ducks lined up for the execution of his ultimate objective. It all comes together quite nicely. Even the way he contends with various obstacles seems so smooth and calculated. This, to me, really is the Delgado Master at his best. He is suave to the point of being completely nonplussed. No matter what sort of pressure he may seem under. 

Of course, there is just the briefest moment of panic for him. Which creates one of my favorite moments in the whole history of the character. Yes, I blathered on about this in the other entry, too. But I must still say: a giant version of the Doctor towering over the Master and laughing at him mockingly is an absolutely gorgeous image. It shows the true root of the villain's insecurity. When influenced by the Keller Machine, he doesn't witness horrible monsters or terrible danger. Instead, he sees his arch rival telling him he's minute and ineffectual. It's brilliant.

The other really important aspect to the story that gets mentioned in the other essay but bears repeating here is the how much this all feels like something out of Season Seven. Pertwee's first season is the only portion of his era that I relish all that much. The other four do feel very formulaic and repetitive. The lack of variety to the plots of Delgado's Master certainly help to re-enforce this point. But, for six episodes of Season Eight, we go back to happier times. In so doing, we get a better Master. 

Those are, essentially, the key elements that set Mind of Evil above the rest of the Delgado stuff. These qualities are enjoyable enough that it actually propels the story into my Top Five. It's not just the strongest Delgado Tale, it's one of the best Master Stories ever. 

I really do feel it's a masterpiece (pun completely intended).