#fivemaster

The Doctor is the well-contained vampire of UNIT, a facility for the capture of monsters. The Master is the latest capture; UNIT offers the Doctor a deal for his freedom. OR: The Doctor is used to suppressing his instincts, used to being a part of UNIT. The Master wants to remind him who he really is.

Relationship: Fifth Doctor/The Master (Ainley)

Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Vampire Doctor, Vampire Master, Alternate Universe - Human, Science Experiments, Human Experimentation, Blood Drinking, Minor Fifth Doctor/Vislor Turlough, it's not the major pairing but its existence is a plot point, Mind Control, Memory Loss, (not everything happens in chapter one obviously), Time Lord Telepathy (Doctor Who), as a separate thing from the mind control, Plotty, Horror, Slow Burn, Time Lords are Assholes (Doctor Who), essentially this takes place in a world where aliens from dw are the result of unethical science experiments, (ie silurians sea devils cybermen. and the time lords are vampires), oh and also: the master's history of bodysnatching

castrovalva - a bunch of people created by the master & loyal to the portreeve, including two people sent to fetch the doctor ("he has betrayed the portreeve") then being turned against him (1-0 to the doctor)

time-flight - people the master has hypnotised and the xeraphin (2-0 to the doctor)

the king's demons - the doctor shows up in a court the master has power in, swordfights the master, taking his place as the king's demon. because this is about whether people trust the king, the master then plays this to turn people against the doctor. despite the doctor winning the battle for kamelion and escaping, he loses the court of public approval (2-1 to the doctor)

the five doctors - the master plays to the court of doctors, and loses absolutely every single time, and then gets punched unconscious. total loss in the court of public approval. (3-1 to the doctor)

planet of fire - the doctor initially wins over everyone's approval, but the arrival of the master sees the vast majority of people turn against him. this is only rattled when the master no longer needs the approval. (??-?? to the doctor, because the master can't actually win enough points here)

in conclusion, ???????????

it's worth noting that a lot of the fifth doctor's era is about public approval in a way you don't see in a lot of other doctor's eras (i think the only stories you could argue don't have this is sort of four to doomsday, sort of arc of infinity, sort of mawdryn undead, definitely enlightenment, maybe the awakening and maybe the resurrection of the daleks. i think the only one definitively not about "can we get them to trust us" is enlightenment. in conclusion, ???????)

oooo what an interesting concept. i think in part it’s i two parts here really: one is i think the fifth doctor very commonly deals with Shame, and thus the concept of having committed suicide is kind of awful for him to stomach. it’s easier to let it be the master’s fault, especially when the master killed tegan’s aunt and is wearing nyssa’s dad and both nyssa and adric are children (or at least are classified as children by their drinks in black orchid), and that gives him something to be angry about and a reason why the master Really Deserves it this time and lets him channel his anger often extremely unfairly onto the master (re: five doctors). i think to some extent the master knows he’s working as fivey’s punching bag because then you get plots such as “the master steals a concorde” and “oh no he might ruin king john’s reputation” which is like. okay. you’re not even really trying. because again the doctor is really quite angry and it’s better for everyone that he takes it out on the master.

which brings me onto the second half: it’s better for the master to hang onto this fiction too—if he gloats about killing the doctor, he’s focusing on a recent and horrifying event and agreeing with the doctor’s shielding. he’s not touching on any actual raw wounds. if he does, he will lose the doctor, and he’ll lose him forever—hell, just being genuinely vulnerable in planet of fire got him Burnt To Death. a lot of the master’s and the doctor’s interactions in this era feel a hell of a lot like pantomime because THEY ARE. they ARE a pantomime. and this is the fiction at the core of it—that the master killed the doctor, when really all he did was give him the opportunity to let go. (literally.) the anger is real (doctor), the yearning is real (master), and they’re both lying every second of every interaction.