Theory:Timeline - The Master

This page lists appearances of The Master in the order in which he experienced them. It relies on much speculation to fit semi-contradictory sources together, and should absolutely not be seen as representative of this wiki's general policy.

Limiting factors
Events after Doctor Who are difficult to reconcile with each other as they offer contradictory accounts to what happened when the Master escaped the Eye of Harmony.

Series basics
to be added

Early life

 * TV: The Sound of Drums
 * The young Master stares into the Untempered Schism.


 * PROSE: Divided Loyalties
 * The Masters meets the First Doctor on his first day at the Academy. They later join the Deca.


 * AUDIO: Master
 * The Master and the Doctor are bullied by Torvic. After Torvic is killed, the Master becomes Death's Champion.


 * PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar
 * The Master and the Doctor travel into Gallifrey's past in search of Valdemar.


 * PROSE: Divided Loyalties
 * The Master goes on an Academy research project while the Doctor is expelled from the Academy.


 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * The Master and the Doctor work on the Consolidator.


 * AUDIO: The Toy
 * The Master attends a ritual in Arcadia, where he gives Susan Foreman a communication node disguised as a toy.


 * PROSE: Birth of a Renegade
 * The Master flees Gallifrey after failing to start a rebellion against the High Council.


 * AUDIO: The Toy
 * Immediately after they flee Gallifrey, the Master tries to use the communication node to find the Doctor.

Public enemy

 * PROSE: The Dark Path
 * Having begun calling himself "Koschei", and depicted as being the incarnation from Terror of the Autons, the Master meets the Second Doctor and, after learning that the Time Lords have been spying on him, gives into his evil temptation, only to end up trapped in a black hole.


 * PROSE: The Nameless City
 * The Master is wearing the clothes of the incarnation from Terror of the Autons, and is targeting the Second Doctor, setting this after The Dark Path.


 * PROSE: Prisoners of the Sun
 * The Master freed from Shada by the Time Lords to battle the Third Doctor.


 * PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy
 * The Master observes the events of Season 7 from the background, and makes contact with journalist James Stevens.


 * PROSE: Reconnaissance
 * The Master infiltrates UNIT HQ and interrogates Liz Shaw.


 * TV: Terror of the Autons
 * The Master goes public with his battle with the Doctor and UNIT by teaming up with the Nestenes. The Doctor steals his dematerialisation circuit, preventing the Master from leaving Earth in his TARDIS.


 * COMIC: Prologue: The Third Doctor


 * PROSE: Doorway into Nowhere
 * The Master is trapped on Earth.


 * TV: The Mind of Evil
 * The Master reclaims his dematerialisation circuit during his plot with the Keller Machine, allowing him to leave Earth in his TARDIS.


 * PROSE: Deadly Reunion
 * The Master has only just got his TARDIS working, settling this shortly after The Mind of Evil.

Christmas Truce]]''
 * PROSE: ''[[UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce (short story)|UNIT Christmas Parties:


 * TV: The Claws of Axos
 * After a failed alliance with Axos, the Master is trapped in a time loop by the Doctor.


 * TV: Colony in Space


 * TV: The Dæmons
 * In village of Devil's End, the Master tries to summon the Dæmon Azal. When his plan fails, the Master is captured by UNIT.


 * PROSE: Freedom
 * Set after the Master's arrest in The Dæmons. The Master is awaiting trial.


 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * Set between The Dæmons and The Sea Devils, as the Master is still in prison.


 * COMIC: The Man in the Ion Mask
 * Following his trial, the Master is being held at Aylesbury Grange Detention Centre.


 * PROSE: The Switching
 * After switching bodies with the Doctor, the Master makes arrangements to be moved to another holding facility after his plan to steal the Doctor's TARDIS fails.


 * PROSE: The Face of the Enemy
 * The Master is still locked up at Aylesbury Grange Detention Centre.


 * TV: The Sea Devils
 * The Master builds an alliance with the Sea Devils to escape from Fortress Island.


 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Set after the Doctor talks with the Master during The Sea Devil.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * Set immediately after The Sea Devil, with the Master retrieving his TARDIS from Devil's End.


 * PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy


 * PROSE: The Seismologist's Story


 * PROSE: Doctor Who Fights Masterplan "Q"


 * PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh


 * TV: The Time Monster


 * PROSE: The Spear of Destiny


 * COMIC: The Heralds of Destruction


 * PROSE: Listen - The Stars


 * PROSE: Out of the Green Mist


 * COMIC: The Time Thief


 * PROSE: Hidden Talent


 * PROSE: The Christmas Inversion


 * PROSE: Last of the Gaderene


 * PROSE: The One Second Hour


 * COMIC: Fogbound


 * PROSE: Smash Hit


 * COMIC: Character Assassin


 * COMIC: Party Animals


 * COMIC: The Glen of Sleeping


 * PROSE: The Duke of Dominoes


 * PROSE: Night Flight to Nowhere


 * COMIC: The Judas Goatee


 * PROSE: Verdigris
 * Having had enough of Earth, the Master has arranged a meeting on Skaro, leading into Frontier in Space.


 * TV: Frontier in Space


 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * In one account, the Master is severely deformed by his own Tissue Compression Eliminator and left in a moribund state on Tersurus, leading into The Deadly Assassin.


 * COMIC: Doorway to Hell
 * In another account, the Master regenerated during an encounter with the Twelfth Doctor that occurred immediately after Frontier in Space.

A body in decay

 * AUDIO: The Two Masters
 * The Master is attacked by on Tersurus, and left in a decaying state. The Cult of the Heretic then switch the Masters' bodies.


 * AUDIO: Vampire of the Mind
 * Set during The Two Masters, with the Master in the body of his future incarnation.


 * AUDIO: The Two Masters
 * The Master hires the Transhuman Sisters of the Unholy Protocol and the Dragonhunters to kill his older self. After the Seventh Doctor switches the Masters back, the decayed Master is put back on his path to The Deadly Assassin.


 * TV: The Deadly Assassin
 * The Master allies with Goth to use the Eye of Harmony and the Sash of Rassilon to restore his body, but he is defeated by the Fourth Doctor.


 * As revealed in Masterpiece, the Master's attempt to follow the Doctor's TARDIS through the transduction barrier resulted in him being stuck in London during the 1890s.


 * AUDIO: The Museum of Curiosities
 * The Master successfully hypnotises Inspector Quick.


 * AUDIO: Jago & Son
 * AUDIO: Maurice
 * AUDIO: The Woman in White
 * AUDIO: Masterpiece
 * The Master's plot to drain Jago and Litefoot's energies are thwarted by the Sixth Doctor, and he is forced to flee.


 * PROSE: The Scarlet Shadow
 * The Master attempts to steal Iris Wildthyme's body.


 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * The Master is captured by the Sild.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen
 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * Follows on from The Abominable Showmen.


 * AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure


 * AUDIO: The Light at the End


 * AUDIO: The Evil One


 * AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men


 * AUDIO: Death Match
 * Follows on from Requiem for the Rocket Men.


 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 1. The Not-So-Sinister Sponge


 * TV: The Keeper of Traken
 * After failing to become the Keeper of Traken due to the interference of the Fourth Doctor, Adric, and Nyssa, the Master regenerates himself by stealing the body of Tremas.

In Tremas' body

 * TV: Logopolis
 * Set almost immediately after The Keeper of Traken. The Master's thwarted plan to hold the universe at ransom results in the Fourth Doctor regenerating.


 * TV: Castrovalva
 * Set immediately after Logopolis, with the Master trying to trap the Fifth Doctor in Castrovalva, only to end up trapped in there himself.


 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Set immediately after the Master abducts Adric during Castrovalva.


 * AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors
 * The Master is still trapped in Castrovalva.


 * TV: Time-Flight
 * The Master has managed to escape from Castrovalva, but has damaged his TARDIS in the process. He attempts to use the Xeraphin gestalt to repair his ship, but is foiled by the Doctor and left trapped on Xeriphas.


 * TV: The King's Demons
 * The Master uses Kamelion, an android he found on Xeriphas, in an attempt to prevent the signing of the Magna Carta, but is thwarted when the Doctor takes Kamelion from him.


 * TV: The Five Doctors
 * The Master is summoned to Gallifrey by Borusa to assist the four trapped incarnations of the Doctor, but his help is denied and he attempts to kill the Doctor instead. After being subdued, the Master is sent away by Rassilon.


 * PROSE: The Velvet Dark


 * PROSE: Birth of a Renegade


 * PROSE: The Creation of Camelot


 * TV: Planet of Fire
 * After he is shrunk by his own Tissue Compression Eliminator, the Master tries to use the Numismaton Gas of Sarn to restore himself, but is apparently disintegrated by the Doctor.


 * PROSE: A Town Called Eternity
 * Follows on from Planet of Fire, with the Master using the Fountain of Youth to restore his burned body.


 * AUDIO: Winter
 * Set concurrently with TV: The Caves of Androzani, with the Master using his link with Kamelion to sabotage the Fifth Doctor's regeneration, only to be thwarted by Nyssa.


 * TV: The Mark of the Rani
 * The Master is still being asked how he survived the events of Planet of Fire.


 * PROSE: The Time Savers


 * PROSE: A Handful of Stardust


 * PROSE: The Fellowship of Quan


 * PROSE: The Radio Waves


 * GAME: Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror


 * TV: The Ultimate Foe
 * The Master assists the Sixth Doctor in his trail against the Valeyard.


 * PROSE: The Quantum Archangel


 * AUDIO: The End of the Line
 * The Master is threated by the Valeyard into leaving the Doctor alone.


 * PROSE: Master Faustus


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen


 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * Follows on from The Abominable Showmen.


 * COMIC: Facades


 * COMIC: Cat and Mouse
 * The Master wears his cloak from Destiny of the Doctors, but has his youthful appearance and is unaffected by the Cheetah virus.


 * COMIC: The Choice
 * Follows on from Cat and Mouse, and leads directly into Endgame.


 * COMIC: Endgame


 * The Master arrives on the Cheetah World, and takes control of the Cheetah People. (TV: Survival).


 * PROSE: Dr. Seventh
 * The Master is wearing his clothes from Survival, and is working with the Cheetah People, but does not appear to be infected with the Cheetah People.


 * TV: Survival
 * As a Cheetah virus begins corrupting his systems, the Master has a final showdown with the Seventh Doctor, which ends with him being trapped on the exploding Cheetah World.


 * PROSE: Stop the Pigeon
 * The Master has escaped Cheetah World, but is still infected with the Cheetah virus.


 * PROSE: Prime Time
 * The Master is trying to acquire a new body to escape the Cheetah virus.


 * PROSE: Omegamorphosis
 * The Master has a black goatee and is trying to steal another body, due to being in his final incarnation.


 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * The Master is no longer infected with the Cheetah virus, and has a much older appearance, with greying hair. After his plan to trap the seven Doctors in the Determinant is foiled by the Graak, the Master is captured by an unknown enemy.


 * PROSE: First Frontier
 * The Master claims to have been trapped in 1957 immediately after escaping Cheetah World with a Kitling. After his body is repaired by the Tzun, the Master is able to regenerate after being shot by Ace.

Reduced to an old body

 * AUDIO: Dust Breeding
 * The Master has been stripped of his Trakenite body by the Warp Core, and is reduced back to his decaying form. After the Seventh Doctor destroys the Warp Core, the Master is flung into time and space.


 * AUDIO: Master
 * After living a peaceful life for ten years, the Master is offered a choice by Death.

A new regeneration

 * PROSE: First Frontier
 * Recovering from his regeneration, the Master escapes by leaving a booby-trap for the Doctor in a nuclear warhead.


 * PROSE: Housewarming


 * PROSE: Happy Endings
 * The Master is seeking the Loom of Rassilon's Mouse to prevent his Tzun body for decaying.

The Deathworm Morphant

 * AUDIO: Mastermind
 * The Master is captured by the Daleks in the Valley of the Kings to be placed on trial on Skaro.


 * PROSE: The Novel of the Film
 * The Master sends a psychic message to the Seventh Doctor before he is executed; asking him to retrieve his remains and return them to Gallifrey.


 * TV: Doctor Who
 * Having survived his execution on Skaro as a Deathworm Morphant, the Master forces the Doctor's TARDIS to land in 1999 San Francisco, where, after the Doctor is critically injured, the Master possesses the body of Bruce. Bribing Chang Lee, the Master hunts down the Eighth Doctor to steal his body and remaining regenerations.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen
 * The Master is still wearing Bruce's clothes, setting this before he donned the Gallifreyan clothing during Doctor Who.


 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * Follows on from The Abominable Showmen.


 * TV: Doctor Who
 * During a final fight with the Doctor in his TARDIS, the Master is sucked into the Eye of Harmony.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * Now trapped inside the Eye of Harmony, the Master leaves behind a crystalline structure that erases the Doctor's memories.


 * PROSE: Sometime Never...
 * An echo of the Master speaks with the Doctor from within the Eye of Harmony.


 * PROSE: The Deadstone Memorial
 * An echo of the Master speaks with the Doctor from within the Eye of Harmony.


 * PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles
 * An echo of the Master speaks with the Doctor from within the Eye of Harmony.


 * COMIC: The Glorious Dead
 * As his essence is left wandering the Time Vortex after passing through the Eye of Harmony, the Master is saved by Esterath to take part in the fight for the Glory, and is resurrected into the body of a deceased vagrant.


 * COMIC: The Fallen
 * The Master observes the Eighth Doctor combat Donald Stark.


 * COMIC: The Glorious Dead
 * Forming an alliance with Sato Katsura, the Master turns Earth into a dystopia to anger the Doctor into fighting him for the Glory. After besting the Doctor, the Master learns that the real contest was between Sato and the Doctor's companion, Kroton. When Kroton wins, he removes the Master's influence from the TARDIS and place the Master somewhere that he could not escape.


 * PROSE: Forgotten
 * The Master escapes the Eye of Harmony by influences the dreams of Edward Grainger.


 * PROSE: Prologue
 * Set during Forgotten. The Master is prevented from killing the infant Edward, by the Doctor, Violet and the adult Edward.


 * PROSE: Forgotten
 * The Master escapes by possessing the body of Violet's fiancée, Richard.


 * AUDIO: Mastermind
 * Following on from Forgotten, the Master survives by possosing various bodies until he is imprisoned in the UNIT Vault. Upon hypnotising UNIT officers Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato, the Master retrieves his TARDIS and escapes from the Vault.

The War King of the Homeworld

 * PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street
 * Appearing as a man with a rosette, the Doctor's "oldest friend" has survived the War and is determined to save Gallifrey. He speaks of politics with Scarlette.


 * PROSE: The Book of the War
 * "A renegade" returns to "the Homeworld" with warnings of the War and becomes a politician, eventually being crowned as the "War King".


 * PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5
 * The War King sends Homunculette to investigate the Elder Things.


 * AUDIO: Body Politic


 * AUDIO: Words from Nine Divinities
 * The War King is consumed by what was originally his grandfather clock TARDIS, Lolita.


 * The Eighth Doctor was eventually able to remove the events of the War, and the War King's existence, from the timeline. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell)

A new lease of life

 * The Master is rescued from "a predicament" by Coordinator Narvin to fight the Daleks by using the Eminence.


 * AUDIO: Time's Horizon


 * AUDIO: Eyes of the Master
 * The Master recalls being in San Francisco on 31 December 1999, setting this after Doctor Who.


 * AUDIO: The Death of Hope


 * AUDIO: The Reviled


 * AUDIO: Masterplan


 * AUDIO: Rule of the Eminence


 * AUDIO: The Monster of Montmartre


 * AUDIO: Master of the Daleks


 * AUDIO: Dominion
 * The Master is working against the Time Lords.


 * AUDIO: The Two Masters
 * The Master attacks on Tersurus. The Cult of the Heretic then switch the Masters' bodies.


 * AUDIO: And You Will Obey Me
 * Set during The Two Masters, with the Master in the body of his past incarnation.


 * AUDIO: The Two Masters
 * The Masters are restored to normal by the Seventh Doctor, who undoes the damage they have done and sends the Master back to his rightful place in history.

The Last Great Time War

 * At some point in the Last Great Time War, the Master is resurrected by the Time Lords into the body of a small child. He also made a pact with the War Doctor.


 * COMIC: Outrun
 * The Doctor and the Master aren't aware of who coined the term "Exterminhate", setting this before they met the Volatix Cabal.


 * COMIC: The Then and the Now
 * The Doctor and the Master land on the Overcast homeworld.


 * COMIC: The Organ Grinder
 * Alice Obiefune arrives in the Master's TARDIS from the future. Ending leads into Kill God.


 * COMIC: Kill God
 * The Master attempts to flee the War in his future TARDIS, only to realise too late that he is causing a paradox, leading directly into Fast Asleep.


 * COMIC: Fast Asleep
 * Being at the centre of the paradox causes the Master to regenerate into the incarnation seen in Utopia.


 * After watching the Dalek Emperor take control of the Cruciform, the Master flees from the War and the Time Lords, landing at the end of the universe. The Master uses a Chameleon Arch to turn himself into a human named "Yana", and eventually finds himself working on the Utopia Project on Malcassairo with Chantho.


 * TV: Utopia
 * Upon the arrival of the Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness and Martha Jones, Yana is spurred to open the Chameleon Arch and return to his true identity. The Master is shot by Chantho when he kills her, but he is able to commandeer the Doctor's TARDIS before he regenerates.

As Harold Saxon

 * TV: Utopia
 * Regenerating from his "Yana" body, the Master steals the Doctor's TARDIS.


 * The Master lands in the early 21st century, and, under the alias "Harold Saxon", sets up a political career while converting the TARDIS into a paradox machine. By 2007, he marries Lucy Cole, and takes her the end of the univer to breach an alliance with the Toclafane. Serving as Minister of Defence, the Master begins a campaign to become Prime Minister after the downfall of Harriet Jones.


 * TV: The Runaway Bride
 * "Saxon" orders for British Army to destroy the Empress of the Racnoss's webstar.


 * PROSE: Speech Day
 * The Master hypnotises a school into thinking he was a past student.


 * TV: The Lazarus Experiment
 * "Saxon" funds the rejuvenation experiments of Richard Lazarus, and a mysterious man meet with Francine Jones, Martha's mother, to turn her against the Doctor


 * TV: 42
 * "Saxon" has an agent monitor a conversation between Francine and Martha through the superphone.


 * TV: The Sound of Drums
 * "Saxon" sends Torchwood Three on a wild-goose chase to the Himalayas.


 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * The Master is captured by the Sild.


 * TV: The Sound of Drums
 * With the pieces ass in place, the Master wins the election, unveils the Toclofane to the public, and entraps the Doctor and Jack as he begins his dominion over the world, with only Martha escaping.


 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy


 * PROSE: The Story of Martha


 * TV: Last of the Time Lords
 * Set one year after The Sound of Drums. Before he can begin his New Time Lord Empire, the Master is thwarted by Martha and the Doctor, and shot by his wife. He refuses to regenerate and dies.


 * TV: The End of Time
 * The Master is resurrected by the Disciples of Saxon, only for Lucy to sabotage the process, at the cost of her own life. After a talk with the Doctor, the Master is captured by Joshua Naismith to repair the "Immortality Gate". The Master instead uses the Gate to turn the humans into the "Master Race", and uses his new resources to bring Gallifrey out of the time lock of the Time War. When Rassilon makes to kill him, the Master fights him back into the Time War.


 * Back on Gallifrey after it is saved by the thirteen Doctors, the Master forces Rassilon to regenerate, and is then restored to health by the Time Lords, before leaving Gallifrey one again.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen
 * The Master still has his blonde hair and stumble. All he is willing to say is "the Drums".


 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * Follows on from The Abominable Showmen.


 * The Master arrives on a Mondasian colony ship, and takes over the city on Floor 1056 until the Mondasians rebel against him. Unable to escape due to being too close to a black hole, the Master disguises himself and hides amongst the people.


 * TV: World Enough and Time
 * The Master meets Bill Potts, and learns about the Twelfth Doctor and, who is his future incarnation. Ending leads directly into The Doctor Falls.


 * TV: The Doctor Falls
 * The Master is fatally injured by Missy, forcing him to regenerate into her, but he kills her before he makes his way back to his TARDIS.

A female body

 * The Master successfully regenerates into a female form, and dubs herself "the Mistress", or "Missy" for short.


 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Missy acquires three matrix data slices from Lucy.


 * Missy creates the 3W Institute in order to create a Cyberman army of the dead as part of her plan to rekindle her friendship with the Doctor. To further her plan, Missy arranges for Clara Oswald to join the Eleventh Doctor, and that they remain together when he regenerates into his twelfth incarnation.


 * TV: Deep Breath


 * TV: Into the Dalek


 * TV: The Caretaker


 * TV: Flatline


 * TV: In the Forest of the Night


 * TV: Dark Water
 * After watching the Doctor from afar, Missy meets the Twelfth Doctor when he and Clara visit the 3W Institute. She begins her Cyberman invasion and reveals her identity to the Doctor, leading directly into Death in Heaven.


 * TV: Death in Heaven
 * Missy's plan is thwarted by the Doctor and Danny Pink, and Missy is seemingly killed by a Cyber-converted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.


 * TV: The Magician's Apprentice
 * Missy comes out of hiding to reveal that she is still alive.


 * TV: The Witch's Familiar
 * Missy meets Davros for the first time in the Dalek City.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen


 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * Follows on from The Abominable Showmen.


 * PROSE: Yes, Missy


 * PROSE: Dr. Twelfth


 * TV: Extremis
 * Missy is captured by the "Enemies of Life" to be executed, but is saved by the Doctor and Nardole. She is placed in Quantum Fold Chamber and taken to St Luke's University in the 20th century to be redeemed.


 * TV: Thin Ice
 * In 2017, Missy realises the Doctor had begun traveling again, and bangs on the Vault doors.


 * TV: Knock Knock
 * The Doctor has dinner with Missy.


 * TV: The Lie of the Land
 * Missy meets Bill Potts when the Doctor comes to her for advice on how to defeat the Monks.


 * TV: Empress of Mars
 * Nardole releases Missy from the vault so she can help him return the TARDIS to 1881 Mars.


 * TV: The Eaters of Light
 * With the Doctor now trusting her more, Missy is asked to do maintenance on the TARDIS.


 * TV: World Enough and Time
 * Missy is taken to colony ship to test if she can be redeemed, but instead finds herself face-to-face with her "Harold Saxon" incarnation, leading directly into The Doctor Falls.


 * TV: The Doctor Falls
 * Despite a relapse in personality, Missy decides to join forces with the Doctor after fatally wounding the Master, but is killed by her past incarnation before she can.