The Master leapt back onto our screens last week, occupying the bodies of actors Sir Derek Jacobi and then John Simm in his first on screen outing since 1996. As Simm continues his portrayal in the two-part finale to the third season of the revived Doctor Who - under the guise of Harold Saxon – we look at three key portrayals of the terrifying Time Lord…

Roger Delgado

“I am The Master and you will obey me!” With those sinister words, a legend was born back in 1971. Spanning three seasons of Jon Pertwee’s reign as The Doctor, The Master was behind many dastardly schemes to gain universal power and an expert at forming alliances with various alien species. His weapon of choice, apart from his mind, was a tissue compression eliminator that shrunk the unfortunate victim in a fatal way.

Delgado’s portrayal briefly showed a softer side in The Sea Devils, trying to convince The Doctor that he was a reformed man due to his time in prison watching The Clangers of all things. Alas, this was a typically cunning masquerade and his malevolent intent quickly resurfaced.

Anthony Ainley

Now a master of disguise, Ainley’s portrayal was noticeable for ramping up the pantomime bad guy element of the character. The subtleties of Delgado’s brooding portrayal were replaced by OTT laughter, but there was still plenty of fun to be had. Seemingly thwarted for the good at the end of every story, The Master would always find some sly way of wriggling out of trouble.

A regular adversary for the fifth and sixth Doctors, The Master returned in 1989 for the final story of the classic series, entitled ‘Survival’. Such was the occasion he actually changed his clothes into a more suave outfit, but his DNA was altered too as he began to turn into a Cheetah.

Eric Roberts

Who needs classically trained British thespians when you can have Julia Roberts' brother? Burning up the screen with leather jacket and shades instead of a goatee, this form of The Master only lasted for the solitary TV movie in 1996. The evil Time Lord's appearance at the start of the episode was far from human however, taking the form of a gloopy ooze before morphing into a snake like figure. The poor paramedic played by Roberts inadvertently deepthroated the creature and became possessed. Nice.

Fittingly, The Master’s weapon became the paralysing venom contained within him, although he did have a penchant for neck snapping and pushing women over balconies. He ultimately failed in his bid to gain The Doctor’s remaining regenerations and slipped off into the abyss, seemingly destroyed forever. Yeah, right…