The Master (The TV Movie)

Following his execution by the Daleks, The Master inhabited a snake-like creature variously called a morphant or deathworm. In this form, he then possessed a 20th century human named Bruce.

Preparations
The Master had earlier prepared for his execution on the Dalek homeworld Skaro by transferring his consciousness to a new host.


 * Though both accounts credit him with having done so deliberately, one claims that he absorbed a deathworm (EDA: The Eight Doctors), another that he used a Skarosian life form called a morphant (DWM: The Fallen).

Whichever method he actually used, his consciousness survived the death of his physical body. The Seventh Doctor stored the ashes in a casket and set course in his TARDIS for Gallifrey. En route, however, the Master's morphant/deathworm form escaped the casket and interfered with the TARDIS, causing a timing malfunction, and the ship materialised in San Francisco in the last days of 1999. (DW: Doctor Who)

Takeover
Upon exiting the TARDIS, the Doctor got caught in the crossfire of a gangland shooting and got picked up by an ambulance. As he lay wounded, he saw the Master's form exiting the TARDIS via its keyhole, but he was unable to communicate this information to the humans nearby. Bruce attended to the Doctor, but while he was loading him into the ambulance, the Master hid inside a bag. Later, after Bruce had returned home and gone to bed, the Master forced his way into Bruce's body via the man's mouth, killing the human and taking over his body. The act of doing so, however, tired the Master and he initially slept.

The next morning, the Master, now inhabiting Bruce's body but realizing the decaying form would not last long, launched his scheme to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations. His first act, however, was to kill Bruce's wife.

The transformation into Bruce included some complications. His eyes retained the "cat's eye" appearance, a hold over from his experiences on Cheetah World (DW: Survival), forcing him to wear sunglasses to remain inconspicuous. Also, Bruce's body began to decay rapidly.

The Master befriended Chang Lee, a young gang member who had been present when the Doctor was shot, and who had stolen the TARDIS key, with the aim of winning him over to his side. With Chang Lee's help, he entered the Doctor's TARDIS and regaled Chang Lee with stories of the Doctor's supposed villainy (claiming, among other things, that it was the Doctor who had stolen the Master's regenerations). He also planned to open the Eye of Harmony and cause mass destruction. With Chang Lee's further assistance, the Master was able to open the Eye, during which time he discovered not only that the Doctor had once again regenerated, but that the Doctor, apparently, was half-human, which seemed to answer a few of the Master's longstanding questions about his foe. (DW: Doctor Who)

Defeat
The act of opening the Eye had the unexpected side-effect of restoring the Doctor's memory. The Doctor and his companion, Dr. Grace Holloway, eventually made their way back to the TARDIS where the Master, now dressed in Gallifreyan robes, greeted his enemy. In the ensuing battle, the Master used a form of mind control on Grace. He also killed Chang lee by brutally snapping his neck.

Following a struggle at the lip of the Eye of Harmony, the Master fell into it. The Doctor claimed that he had been "eaten" by the TARDIS. (DW: Doctor Who) Shortly after his defeat, the Master laid a final trap for the Doctor by leaving a crystal-like structure that would give the Doctor amnesia. (EDA: The Eight Doctors)

He was, however, rescued from the Eye of Harmony by Esterath. (DWM: The Glorious Dead) (See the incarnation page, The Master (The Fallen), for more details.)

It was later shown that the Time Lords somehow resurrected him to fight in the Last Great Time War, but he ended up running in fear to the end of the universe where he was disguised as Professor Yana and later regenerated into Harold Saxon, the form he ultimately died in.

Behind the scenes

 * Though the script to Doctor Who referred to the Master in this form as a "morphant", this name does not appear onscreen.
 * Gordon Tipple played the Master's previous incarnation, who appears only in a cameo and does not speak; it is unclear whether Tipple was portraying the same incarnation played by Anthony Ainley or another version of the Master.
 * Bruce's last name is never revealed on screen, though he is known as "Bruce Gerhardt" in the novelisation.