Bruce Gerhardt (PROSE: The Novel of the Film) was an ambulance EMT in San Francisco in 1999 whom the Master possessed and, in effect, killed (TV: Doctor Who) as the Master, in this new form, continued his life of crime and deceptions. (TV: Doctor Who, AUDIO: The Lifeboat and the Deathboat) He was described by his wife as "a carer, someone who would inconvenience himself without a thought if it would help someone else". (PROSE: The Novel of the Film)
Biography[]
Life on Earth[]
In 1985, Bruce became a paramedic. He was married at some point, but had divorced from his wife by 1994. Shortly afterwards, he struck up a friendship with Miranda Gerhardt while he helped her after a car accident. The pair were soon married. (PROSE: The Novel of the Film)
On 30 December 1999, Bruce helped transport the Seventh Doctor and Chang Lee to Walker General Hospital after the Doctor's gunshot injury. He also unknowingly took the Old Master — in the form of a Deathworm Morphant — home with him.
The Master prepares to possess Bruce. (TV: Doctor Who)
That night, while Bruce lay in bed snoring, the Master possessed his body. (TV: Doctor Who) Bruce was killed in the process, (PROSE: The Novel of the Film) though the Master claimed that part of Bruce's consciousness still existed within the Master's psyche, able to witness everything the Master was doing in his body, and screaming. (AUDIO: Passion)
One of the Master-possessed Bruce's first actions was to kill Miranda, after which he set off in pursuit of the Doctor's TARDIS and the Eye of Harmony within it. After a shaky start, the Master soon mastered Bruce's body, which eventually began to decay. He also adopted Bruce's American accent. (TV: Doctor Who)
Bruce's fate[]
The Master, still in Bruce's body, was eventually sucked into the Eye of Harmony in the Doctor's TARDIS. (TV: Doctor Who) According to another account, when the Master stole a fraction of the Doctor's regeneration energy, he transcended Bruce's body and got stuck in an incomplete regenerative state as a Watcher. Grace Holloway perceived him as a brilliant white figure with a lumpy unformed face and a snarl which spoke with Bruce's voice. As in other accounts, this Watcher Master physically fought the Doctor and was trapped in the Eye of Harmony. (PROSE: The Novel of the Film)
As the Eye of Harmony tried to break Bruce's body down into pure energy, the Master managed to ride the energy into a spare room, which the Doctor's TARDIS then ejected into the Time Vortex to protect the Doctor. The Master would remain stranded in Bruce's body for many centuries, though it was re-energised and the decaying that was plaguing it ceased. (AUDIO: The Lifeboat and the Deathboat, Day of the Master) As a result of inhabiting Bruce's body, the Master found that he now lacked the mental defences he possessed prior, (AUDIO: The Lifeboat and the Deathboat) and the Ravenous had no interest in consuming him. (AUDIO: Day of the Master)
After the Master was sucked back into the Eye of Harmony, (AUDIO: Planet of Dust) Bruce's body was slowly destroyed, and the Master was only saved by the intervention of Esterath, who deposited him into the body of a deceased vagabond, completely destroying Bruce's body in the process. (COMIC: The Glorious Dead)
Despite the destruction of Bruce's body, the Master claimed Bruce remained alive within his consciousness and furiously aware, screaming in silence until such time as the Master might decide to voluntarily grant him death. (AUDIO: Passion)
Behind the scenes[]
- Bruce and Miranda were played by real-life husband and wife Eric Roberts and Eliza Roberts.
