Saxon Master


 * For the Saxons, see separate article.

"The drumming, Can't you hear it? Inside my head. I thought it would stop. But it never does. It never, ever stops. Inside my head. The drumming, Doctor, the constant drumming, It's everywhere. Listen. Listen. Listen. Here come the drums... here come... the drums..."

Harold Saxon was an alias and identity adopted by the renegade Time Lord known as the Master, who, passing himself off as a Human, had himself elected as Prime Minister.

Regeneration
Recently liberated from the Human form of Professor Yana, he fatally wounded his assistant, Chantho, who though dying, fired a gun at him. The wounded Master managed to get into the Doctor's TARDIS. He decided that since the Doctor had a youthful new body, he should too and so regenerated into one. The Master then left the Doctor on the planet Malcassairo with Futurekind about to burst in the laboratory door. The Master now had the TARDIS and the Doctor's hand (which Jack Harkness had taken with him to Malcassairo) that contained the Doctor's DNA. (DW: Utopia) He took the stolen TARDIS to Earth in the 2000s. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Ariving on Earth
It is unknown exactly when the Master arrived on Earth, but he made his first public appearance about one and a half years before the Doctor had met his current companion Martha Jones, shortly after the downfall of Harriet Jones. In this appearance he unveiled the Archangel Network, which he had developed and was hailed as a telecommunications breakthrough. By this point he had taken the identity of Harold Saxon, complete with fabricated past, which while not being very convincing was believed thanks to the influence of the Archangel Network.

Political career
By December 2007 he had become minister of defense of Great Britain, and on Christmas eve he for the first time came to real prominence ordering the British Army to use tanks to fire at and destroy the Empress of the Racnoss's webstar. (DW: The Runaway Bride, The Sound of Drums)

During 2007 he was already campaigning for the general election as Prime Minister of Great Britain (DW: Love & Monsters). He used the simple slogan "Vote Saxon." (TW: Captain Jack Harkness)

"Saxon" asserted that extraterrestrial life did exist and that the British must do something about the fact. This stance made him popular in early 2008 after reports of the Judoon having transported the Royal Hope Hospital to the Moon (DW: Smith and Jones)

With his election seemingly a sure thing, a number of politicians from other parties flocked to his side. Harold Saxon was elected prime minister in May 2008, and visited the royal palace soon after. (DW: The Sound of Drums)


 * British Prime Minister
 * May 2008
 * Preceded by: Harriet Jones
 * Succeeded by: Aubrey Fairchild

Technological innovations
The Master started the Archangel Network. This telecommunications network, tied to mobile phones, carried a subtle mind control signal which made Humans trust him. The network affected the Doctor so that, on Earth earlier, he had never had any suspicions as to "Saxon", even in his ninth incarnation where the very essence of another Time Lord should have been detected by him ordinarily (The Master arguably technically existed inside of 2008, after the Tenth Doctor had released him from the year 100 Trillion, in the Ninth Doctor's relative future. To those few Humans conscious of it, the signal sounded as a persistent drumbeat (the same as the constant drumbeat the Master always heard) that only they could hear.

He also designed the Valiant, UNIT's air carrier, as well as a laser screwdriver, which he reserved for his own use. (DW: The Sound of Drums) "Saxon" funded the rejuvenation experiments of Richard Lazarus, presumably revealing (at least in part) the biological processes involved in a Time Lord's physical Regeneration, the similarities to which were noted by The Doctor himself after observing the process.(DW: The Lazarus Experiment) With the results from this, as well as the Doctor's DNA, the Master learned how to apply the results to the laser screwdriver, in order to age the Doctor.

Other activities
The Master also contacted the Toclafane, the child-like yet vicious cyborg remnants of the future Humans who had never found Utopia. (DW: The Sound of Drums) He also cannibalized and converted the Doctor's TARDIS into a paradox machine so as to change history. (DW: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords) At some point he also took a devoted Human wife, Lucy. (DW: The Sound of Drums) After Martha had left with the Doctor, he had an agent meet with Martha's mother Francine and tap into a conversation between Francine and Martha via the superphone, which could contact Martha through space and time. (DW: 42)

As Prime Minister
In 2008, he was elected as Prime Minister. He gassed to death his cabinet in the recently rebuilt 10 Downing Street, stating to the public that they had gone into seclusion, and shortly afterward announced first contact with the "friendly" Toclafane who could protect Earth against alien threats. He put Jack Harkness's allies, Torchwood 3, on a futile trip to find him in the Himalayas and branded the Doctor, Jack and Martha as criminals. The Master repaired to The Valiant, which the governments of Earth considered neutral territory and therefore fitting for formal first contact with alien life. The Master had the Toclafane murder the American President Elect Arthur Coleman Winters. The Master captured the Doctor and Jack Harkness, who had come to The Valiant. Earlier that day, the Master's agent had had Francine Jones, Martha's sister Tish and her father Clive arrested and taken to the Valiant. (Martha's brother Leo had received a warning from her and gotten away in time.) (DW: The Sound of Drums)

During The Year That Never Was
The Master used his laser screwdriver to kill Jack and to age the Doctor about a hundred years. Martha managed to escape. The Master ordered the Toclafane to kill one tenth of humanity and commenced their invasion (DW: The Sound of Drums ). One year later, in 2009, the Master had converted Earth into a slave camp which he ruled from The Valiant. Here the Master kept Martha's family, the Doctor, and Jack imprisoned. The Master hoped to soon expand his New Time Lord Empire into space. Martha used the legend of the Doctor (which she had spread), the thoughts of Earth thinking "Doctor" at the same time, and channeled their psychic energy through the Archangel Network, which the Doctor had spent a year infiltrating with telepathy. The psychic energy restored the Doctor and give him telekinetic powers. Jack attacked the paradox machine and reversed time back one year. (This wouldn't affect anyone aboard The Valiant.) Lucy shot her husband, who, defeated, refused to regenerate. The Master then apparently died in the Doctor's arms.

It is not known if the general public -- or indeed the UK government or UN -- were ever made aware of Saxon's true identity. In the book 'The Torchwood Archives' it states Harold Saxon simply disappeared along with President Winters.

Resurrection
Since her last appearance, Lucy Saxon has been imprisoned. One of the warders is Miss Trefusis, the woman who retrieved the Master's ring. On Christmas Eve night, the prison governor brings Lucy to a chamber where it is revealed that most of the staff are fanatics of the Master who have been working ever since his apparent death to bring about his resurrection. With the help of the ring and a biometric imprint taken from Lucy, the Master reappears in a swirl of energy, but Lucy and some other warders have prepared for this eventuality and Lucy hurls a harmful potion at the Master. Harold Saxon's followers were all killed in an explosion which also killed his wife, Lucy. At least one of these knew that he was actually The Master.

The Master Race
The Master survives the blast, but his life force is left in a state of constant depletion, forcing him to drain the vitality of a number of homeless people on a desolate construction site. Later encountering the Master, the Doctor discovers that the drumming in his head is not a symptom of insanity, but perfectly real. A squad of troops suddenly appear, sedating and kidnapping the Master and taking him to the mansion of billionaire Joshua Naismith. Naismith enlists the assistance of the Master to mend the malfunctioning Gate. After the Master breaks out of his straight jacket and flies into the gateway then because he has set the gateway to Human and he is in the the machine every Human on Earth then becomes copies of the Master. As the Master steps out of the gateway he tells the Doctor that he has turned the Humans into the "Master Race" as he looks round and everyone is the Master. As the Doctor looks round and every Master is laughing at him.

The Last Act of the Time War
"You did this to me! All of my life...you MADE me!"

- The Master

The High Council of Time Lords manages to make contact with the Master using the rhythm of the drumbeats in his head - the same rhythm as a Time Lord's heartbeat - and sends him a White Point Diamond, only found on Gallifrey, to boost the signal. Fitting the diamond to a nuclear bolt to boost the signal, the Master tears open the time lock on the war, bringing back the Time Lords. As Lord President Rassilon and his council arrives, the Master announces that he intends to transplant himself into the entire Time Lord race, just as he had the human race. The Lord President, using his gauntlet, reverses the effects of the Master's transplantation, and brings Gallifrey back into the universe - on a collision course with Earth. As the President reveals what was planned at the final days of the war - bringing an end to time itself and shedding their mortal bodies - the Doctor steps in with Wilfred Mott's pistol, undecided: To kill the President or the Master, and sever the link. As the Master mocks him, calling him a coward, and Rassilon taunts him by saying that the last act of his life was murder, the Doctor sees a familiar Time Lady among Rassilon's entourage, then turns back to the Master and instructs him to step out of the way. The Master, suddenly realizing what the Doctor has in mind, jumps to the side as the Doctor shoots the nuclear bolt holding the white-pointed star, destroying the link.

As Rassilon prepares to kill the Doctor, the Master tells the Doctor to step out of the way, and unleashes his energy bolts, screaming in rage at the President, claiming that "you made me" and counting the beats of the rhythm that had resounded in his head all of his life. Sacrificing himself, the Master and the Time Lords vanish in a burst of white light, and Gallifrey disappears from Earth's sky, returning the Time Lords and their world to the eternal hell of the Time War. (DW: The End of Time, Part Two)

Personality
Like most of his previous incarnations, "Saxon" was dapper and charming but also greatly manipulative and sadistic, taking pleasure in the humiliation and suffering of others.

"Saxon" was also arguably the most overtly insane portrayal of the Master to date. Usually in a disturbingly happy mood, he grinned manically at the slightest occurrence, and often did strange and unpredictable things. Such examples include repeatedly opening a door to look at the Toclafane murdering a reporter, giving a thumbs up to a man choking on gas, and childishly chiding the Doctor. He did have a dark side though, where he became rather serious with just a touch of malicious humour. His joie de vivre, childish, hypomanic demeanour and eccentric sense of humour were all traits shared by the Tenth Doctor, of whom this iteration of the Master could be thought a dark parallel; the yin to the Doctor's yang.

Saxon was also probably the "trendiest" Master yet, exhibiting a fondness for popular music such as Rogue Traders and the Scissor Sisters and a knowledge of pop culture. Saxon shared his previous incarnations unique and slightly gothic sense of style, usually dressing in dark double breasted suits and sporting a long, Dracula-esque overcoat with red silk lining.

Behind the Scenes
The first, very minor reference to Harold Saxon, occurs in Love & Monsters when the Abzorbaloff sits reading a paper which mentions a Saxon election victory on its cover. The second (and first direct) reference happened in a dialogue reference at the end of The Runaway Bride. Saxon also crossed over into the Torchwood spinoff itself, with "Vote Saxon" posters being visible in one episode.

The BBC created an official in-universe campaign website for the election as well. In 2007, a popular online meme among Doctor Who fans making the popular the "Vote Saxon!" slogan.