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November 1st, 2014 229 comments

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Series Eight Story Arc Who is Missy – Revealed

In the mysterious world of the Nethersphere, plans have been drawn up. Missy is about to come face to face with the Doctor, and an impossible choice is looming.

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229 comments

  • Harold Saxon

    November 3rd, 2014 - 4:12pm

    Loved the big reveal,i think this version of the master is very good,i can accept her!

    Reply
  • Lee

    November 3rd, 2014 - 2:01pm

    I liked the homage to Troutons, Invasion but the rest of it was pants. Maybe the Doctor will regenerate into Rowan Atkinson next. That would tie in with the gender swapping premise at least when he finally turns into Joanna Lumley.

    Reply
  • Lee

    November 3rd, 2014 - 12:27am

    I’ve been a DW fan since I was a kid. Watched every available episode at least 3 times over by now, probably more. Since Steven Moffat took over the series has gone from bad to worse. It’s not the acting particularly but the storylines that are just so groan inducingly inept. Oh the moon’s a great big egg. You’d think the Silurians would have noticed some great space thing coming to lay an egg and not thought it was a huge asteroid on a collision course with Earth. No continuity with established Who. The little hints about turning the Doctor into a woman have been rife and it’s ridiculous. How could any society exist where you marry a person of one gender only for them to swap to the opposite gender at some time down the line? It would be total chaos. Divorce rates would be sky high. Who would get custody of the kids, the mum or the dad/mum whatever? Would the original mum then change into a bloke, a mum/dad? The CSA would’ve had a field day. Perhaps the Master still has some of his abilities left from being the Keeper of Traken and merged with a woman like he did with Tremas, Nyssas dad?

    Reply
    • Dalek The Supreme

      November 3rd, 2014 - 2:34pm

      Doctor Who has NEVER been big with continuity. For example, in The Daleks, it was established that the Daleks gradually mutated into what they became, but in Genesis of the Daleks, their origins are changed, and it’s a mad scientist who genetically engineers them.

    • Lee

      November 7th, 2014 - 3:06pm

      Granted in the case of the Daleks there’s been a bit of lateral thinking involved in their origins. What happened to the Dals? Were the Dals the remnants of Kaled survivors after the destruction of the dome or the ancestors of the Kaleds, thus, in a round about way evolving into the Daleks? Who knows. The Thals that Hartnels Doctor encountered only had sketchy records and had been wandering around Skaro for years. Maybe Thals and Dals were just Tribe names? All I’m saying is they had already re-established the Silurian history through previous episodes of the current (modern)Doctor Who, so not only is an egg laying creature from outer space in direct contradiction to original DW its also contradicting the current series. That kind of writing, with all due respect, is just plain stupid.

    • 100,000BC

      November 7th, 2014 - 4:39pm

      Perhaps the egg/moon had already been laid and was left for whatever reason floating in the middle of space, seemingly an asteroid to whoever could monitor it, and it eventually came into the orbit of the Earth.

      And we don’t know what time lord society is like, maybe they are only expected to stay with a partner for one regeneration. Maybe they don’t have partners as such, or maybe this gender-defying regeneration is a result of the Master’s biological messing, body-swapping, slime-snake-morphing and general all-round abuse of his own body.

    • Lee

      November 10th, 2014 - 12:40am

      Well OK the moon is a giant egg of some space fairing dragon thing that gestates for millions of years and is born as a fully-grown adult egg laying dragon thing. And the egg it lays isn’t polished like a billiard ball it’s covered in exactly the same craters etc as the previous egg that it hatched from.
      In 2039 the Mexicans build a moon base and even though in 2049 there is no space flight/astronauts or space program of any kind by 2050 the Germans have launched their 10th mission to the moon. Though obviously it’s the new moon/egg. By the mid 2050’s there’s a weather control station built. (Which gets attacked by Cybermen in 2070). Oh and some time before she lands on Mars in 2058 Adelaide Brooke lands on the Moon. So in 9 years we go from no space program and no trained astronauts to building a base on Mars. Yep that’s totally credible.

      As for the question of Time Lords or should I say Gallifreyans concept of relationships. The Doctor happily leaves Leela (and K9) to stay on Gallifrey to be in a relationship with Andred. The Doctor has a granddaughter and has been engaged three times we know of, granted once was by accident to an Aztec woman, so the Doctor at least and of course Andred have some concept of “partners”.

      Now back onto the original gripe, the Master throughout all his lives has shown little more than contempt to every woman he’s met, even Time Ladies like the Rani, not to mention his wife, so why would he chose to regenerate into something that he would feel is inferior, to himself? Doesn’t make any sense at all.

    • Lee

      November 15th, 2014 - 1:07pm

      Re the engagements thing, it was 4 times not 3 I forgot about him accidentally getting engaged to Marilyn Monroe at a party, said he was off to get married but don’t know if he followed through on that one. So he definately married Elisabeth the 1st and River Song. Presumably, given he’d had family on Gallifrey when he left with his grandaughter Susan he had been married there too, or whatever their equivalent is. Or at least in a relationship of some sort. Unless of course, Jenny,his biological accident daughter, somehow goes back in time to Gallifrey and has a daughter called Susan. Now that would be an intersting plot twist. So I think it is a reasonable assumption that time Lord society has simularities to our own. Unless of course he’s just doing it to “fit in”.

  • ollie

    November 2nd, 2014 - 8:29pm

    I thought it was Susan initially. Angry at being left behind by her grandfather. Not sure all fans would have got that it was the rani – only die hard fans – and it’s not like she was a truly memorable character.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 9:11pm

      But Susan was his granddaughter… That’d be very disturbing has she been calling the Doctor her boyfriend, and she kisses him. It would make no sense, nor would it be right for Missy to have been Susan.

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 9:26pm

      Oh yeah… I forgot the kissing!

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:17pm

      I thought she could have been Susan’s grandMOTHER

  • daleksean

    November 2nd, 2014 - 8:20pm

    My jaw dropped when the master was revealed (or is it the mistress now) but somehow im disappointed I hoped it would of been The Rani.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    November 2nd, 2014 - 8:01pm

    Isnt this evidence of Gallifrey still existing if the Master is still alive?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 3rd, 2014 - 12:00am

      Gallifrey still exists, we already know about that, however there is a gap in the story in The End of Time, so it is possible the Master was never “sent back” to Gallifrey in the first place (namely because he was never there to be “sent back” in the first place, so it’s possible he just slipped out the door while the Doctor was passed out and Wilf conveniently forgot to mention it).

  • Drw

    November 2nd, 2014 - 5:41pm

    Anyone see the books on the shelf? One is “hyper scape body swap tickets”. Any ideas??

    Reply
    • Drw

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:42pm

      In Clara’s place at start amongst post it’s.

    • Handbot10

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:46pm

      It is a refernece to the BBC proms, The 11th doctor and clara used them to get into the albert hall yet it had side affects, making the doctor bald.

  • RUSTY

    November 2nd, 2014 - 1:12pm

    the rani was abandoned but the master was NOT

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 3:15pm

      i ( while watching it ) thought she was the rani

    • Dalek The Supreme

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:50pm

      The Doctor didn’t exactly help him in The End of Time, did he?

    • Drwho101

      November 2nd, 2014 - 6:50pm

      This could be the master meeting out of order with the doctor,it’s moffat after all,the doctor could abandon the master in the future some time

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 7:19pm

      Personally think its the master after last of the time lords, after he refused to regen the doctor cremated him so maybe he appeared in heaven? and this is how this happened. if that’s the case Missy wouldn’t even recall End of time because that master was a copy

  • The Moffat Paradox

    November 2nd, 2014 - 11:35am

    As far as I am aware Timelords/Timeladies switching genders has never been established before as premise and other than if that means the Doctor could also switch genders that would appear to have certain implications.

    Does that mean Gallifreyians could in a number of regenerations be fathers/mothers,grandfathers/grandmothers,uncles or aunts? Unless something else still at work is yet to be revealed here.

    Reply
    • The Surgeon

      November 2nd, 2014 - 12:30pm

      The Corsair did it loads.

    • The Moffat Paradox

      November 2nd, 2014 - 1:15pm

      That character is referred to in “Shada” which has never been made as an actual official TV episode and as being a “big strapping bloke” killed by House in “The Doctors Wife” at last regeneration.

      So I take the view that the TV series is ALWAYS canon and that aint canon until we see it done/explained in canon.

    • The Doctir and Handles

      November 2nd, 2014 - 1:18pm

      Would be a bit weird for a gallifreyan kid of his dad turned into a mum..

    • The Moffat Paradox

      November 2nd, 2014 - 2:48pm

      Or indeed vice versa.LOL imagine the sort of conversations if we could a Gallifrey version of “Coronation Street”:”I used to like you before you regenerated into a woman.”

    • Obsie

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:15pm

      If The Doctor changed gender what would Susan call the character after 50 years?

    • Dalek The Supreme

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:51pm

      The Doctor mentioned that his friend, the Corsair, was a girl several times in The Doctor’s Wife.

    • The Moffat Paradox

      November 2nd, 2014 - 7:01pm

      Will watch the episode again whenever but was probably thinking at the time that was all silly in all the dialogue there was about the Cosair and wouldn’t be done in practice for the can of worms it might open up for long term series credibility.

      Moffat just couldn’t make Missy the new Rani or something else altogether!

    • Anonymous

      November 3rd, 2014 - 12:03am

      It’s definitely stated in The Doctor’s Wife that the Corsair was a woman at one point (and just to point out, The Corsair had never been mentioned before that, definitely not in Shada).

      The point is also repeated in The Night of the Doctor where the Sisterhood of Karn offer the Doctor a female form for his ninth incarnation.

      If you think it is weird or disturbing, it gets worse because it happens in clownfish in real life… so Nemo’s dad should have been his mum by that point in the movie…

    • The Moffat Paradox

      November 3rd, 2014 - 8:53pm

      Does say in Tardis Core Wiki that The Corsair and his switching of genders is discussed by the fourth Doctor and Rommana in the Gareth Roberts novelisation of Shada.So wether Niel Gaiman in writing The Doctor’s Wife got this from that book or not which itself is from a never made into episodes script by Douglas Adams for the original series is for others to verify.

      In “The Brilliant Book” Neil Gaiman gives a backdground to the character saying 7 of his 9 regerations were male.So we might speculate that transgender regeneration IS possible but rare.(Assuming a Gallifreyan has any direct influence over this.)It`s maybe also possible the Sisterhood of Karn could have helped The Corsair switch gender which wouldn’t make them “conventional regenerations”.Just as the 8th Doctor didn’t want a convential regeneration so he could become the War Doctor.

      Some explanation of how The Master exactly became Missy and wether the events protrayed in “The End Of Time” have been erased by what happened in the TDOTD would be desirable in any event.As well as wether the Doctor is really that phased by this switching of gender.

    • Lee

      November 14th, 2014 - 1:33pm

      Males have X-Y chromosomes. Females X-X chromosomes. Comparison of human DNA has shown male DNA to be 99.9% identical to other male DNA. Similarly female-to-female DNA comparison shows the same 99.9%. However, males and female human DNA is only 98.5% genetically identical. That DNA is incorporated into every cell of the body.

      The Doctor, (according to the movie) is half human on his mothers’ side. So his genetic makeup must have some part human DNA. Regeneration, as the name implies is the regeneration of existing DNA, not the replacement of it. Therefore if born male it follows it is not possible to regenerate into a female without the addition at some point of the female chromosone from some outside source. Unless of course Gallifreyans carry both sets of chromosomes and can somehow switch one set on or off at the moment of regeneration, which seems a bit implausible to me.

      The Doctor however has exhibited absolutely no control over his regeneration process, certainly not the degree of control Romana seemed to possess, picking different bodies every few second before deciding on a copy of Princess Astra, maybe because of his half human DNA. So I would say that the Doctor hasn’t got the ability to become female without assistance, Sisterhood of Karn for instance.

  • The five doctors

    November 2nd, 2014 - 11:11am

    Heres my theroy on what the delete button means. Danny died on real earth but in parralel earth he is still alive so my theroy is that the delete button means that the cybermen are parralel earth cybermen and can delete and so can come and delete danny but in paralel earth danny is unharmed so then clara can go to parralel earth and live with danny so that is my theroy

    Reply
    • The Moffat Paradox

      November 2nd, 2014 - 12:35pm

      Think that its far simpler than that.The dead’s consciousness goes into a receptacle (the actual Nethersphere?) the Doctor recognised as Time Lord technology.When Danny’s consciousness is in it he’s being asked to by pressing delete to consent to his consciousness being downloaded and altered-as a Cyberman in this universe.

      Thats what I think Missy/The Master meant by saying why didn’t anyone think of creating Cybermen from Cyberspace before.

    • matt9982

      November 2nd, 2014 - 2:17pm

      If he presses delete it will delete all his emotions making him ready to be upgrade to a Cyberman.

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 9:34pm

      Good theory ideas

  • DocEke

    November 2nd, 2014 - 11:00am

    Oh, I hoped missy was a female Archie from balamory.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:30pm

      Or PC plod

  • CaptainJack2000

    November 2nd, 2014 - 9:54am

    Here’s hoping John Simm will return next episode for like a flashback to show the regeneration…

    Reply
    • Doctor Hugh

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:20am

      that would be unreal

  • paul c

    November 2nd, 2014 - 4:28am

    Well i didn’t see that one coming! i know there are comments about how can the master now be female? lets not forget a timelord can be whoever he/she wants to be! don’t forget the Corsair actually swapped genders too!
    I think this new version of the master/ missy and yes im confused now… will bring a new sinister edge to a classic character!
    I think i need a nice lie down now! 🙂

    Reply
  • Liason Ice

    November 2nd, 2014 - 4:15am

    It bugs me that I’ve become one of those annoying people who complain about every episode but Moffat has really backed me into a corner this year

    Reply
    • Dalek The Supreme

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:53pm

      Trust me, I feel even stranger. I’ve found fault with almost every episode this season, even ones I mostly enjoyed, and have gotten tired of Steven Moffat, even though he was in charge for the Eleventh Doctor, who was My Doctor.

  • Harold Saxon

    November 2nd, 2014 - 3:12am

    Delightful , glad he/she is back ! Delicious episode and good cliff hanger

    Reply
  • Obsie

    November 2nd, 2014 - 1:55am

    I assume we are going to be told how Missy/The Master has access to Time Lord technology since they are lost at the moment somewhere. If so, where’s his/her TARDIS?

    Reply
    • CJ

      November 2nd, 2014 - 8:37am

      I think it was St Pauls Cathedral

    • Obsie

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:12am

      Then how’s it managed to fit round it, Missy gained a TARDIS, unless from Gallifrey in a pocket universe, escaped and left the Time Lords still stuck there? I hope there’s some kind of explanation. Anymore ideas guys?

    • Drw

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:16pm

      We never found out who owned the tardis on top of James cordon’s flat. Maybe that was the master’s?

    • Dalek The Supreme

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:53pm

      It was implied that the TARDIS on top of Craig’s flat was the Silence’s from The Lodger.

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:19pm

      In time flight his tardis appeared around a Concorde and became a Concorde

  • MrHaloWho

    November 2nd, 2014 - 12:37am

    When Missy said “You left me,” I thought it was Susan. I then wondered why she was kissing him and thought of Romana. Why would the Master say the Doctor loved him (/her)?

    Reply
    • Obsie

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:13am

      I thought it was Romana for a few seconds gone barmy and seeking revenge on The Doctor.

    • ColinB

      November 2nd, 2014 - 4:14pm

      I thought that too before switching to the rani.

  • Rob

    November 1st, 2014 - 11:36pm

    I’ve just remembered when the master was last in DW and he died but at the end a woman’s hand picked up his ring. At the time I thought it was Saxons wife but now we know.

    Reply
    • Big poo

      November 1st, 2014 - 11:43pm

      That was all explained in The End of Time.

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:21am

      You don’t understand do you? It was the woman in the prison. Everything about that was explained in the end of time!

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:27pm

      Though that is still a good theory…

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:28pm

      Unless it was missy attempting to bring back him/herself

  • Anonymous

    November 1st, 2014 - 11:26pm

    Well, when did the doctor leave the master? He left Romana, I mean, the master’s good now. What caused him/her to regenerate?

    Reply
    • starshipalaska

      November 1st, 2014 - 11:39pm

      My explanation (not sure if its 100% correct):

      In the End Of Time, the Master sacrificed himself to defeat the Time Lords and send them back into the Time War to burn in the final moments. However it was revealed in the Day of the Doctor that Gallifrey was never actually destroyed: only removed from time somewhere. Therefore even before this episode aired we knew that the Master was alive somewhere with them. Hence, the Doctor also had this knowledge, but hasn’t yet found Gallifrey, so according the Master ‘left him there’. No idea what caused him to regenerate. 🙂

    • wouldyoulikeajellybaby

      November 2nd, 2014 - 6:45am

      Doctor skarosa could be omega the founder of gallifrey and i would like to see Missy/master in her tardis but im big on skarosa theory.

    • CJ

      November 2nd, 2014 - 7:50am

      Knowing the Master he would of stole a set of regenerations…

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 11:33am

      No need, CJ, he was resurrected by the Timelords at the beginning of the Time War meaning he still has 10 (I think) left

    • Drw

      November 2nd, 2014 - 5:21pm

      Isn’t the original master dead? John Simms version died. Then using his ring etc a new master was resurrected by the woman in the prison. Technically this master went back to gallifrey. So is missy some how a regeneration of the master who died? (Maybe after the ring was taken) or a regeneration of the master who returned to gallifrey?

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:24pm

      Though we should remember the master IS insane sooo yeah.

  • Sebatron

    November 1st, 2014 - 11:12pm

    Steven Moffat you fantastic GENIUS!!!

    This episode was amazing, and I screamed at the reveal!

    The Master is back, or is it Missy? 🙂

    Bring on Next Week!!

    Reply
  • what just happened on who!

    November 1st, 2014 - 11:04pm

    the master (missy) kissed the doctor

    Reply
    • The five doctors

      November 2nd, 2014 - 9:40pm

      Like TheHostProdouctions said in his episode review on YouTube that was Jon Pertwee and Rodger Geldago , David Tennant and John Sim and Derek Jacobi and Paul McGann and Eric Roberts and Peter Davidson , Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy with Anthony Ainley at one point ( not physical or anything like that just in previous regrnarations.)

    • yognot

      November 3rd, 2014 - 6:24pm

      And all the fan fics come true

    • The five doctors

      April 11th, 2015 - 9:59pm

      Just think all the fangirls ( no offence) !!!

    • The five doctors

      April 11th, 2015 - 10:01pm

      *Delgado

  • Sir doctor

    November 1st, 2014 - 10:26pm

    I’ve just dipped into the future. And back again just seen the new master and the carthdrall is her tardis

    Reply
    • MrHaloWho

      November 2nd, 2014 - 12:38am

      I think the red phone box is her TARIDS.

    • wouldyoulikeajellybaby

      November 2nd, 2014 - 6:46am

      Where/

  • Matthew Nelson

    November 1st, 2014 - 10:24pm

    I was expecting the Rani but how can a women be the Master?

    I am too confused right now.

    Reply
    • Sebatron

      November 1st, 2014 - 10:55pm

      When a Time Lord regenerates, it can be any gender, no matter which one they had before

    • Ian

      November 2nd, 2014 - 3:39pm

      Gender regeneration, what a load of cobblers.
      An insult to all previous actors.

  • simon w

    November 1st, 2014 - 10:14pm

    Wow good story. I was talking to a friend and another who fan acouple of weeks ago who I thought Missy was and I sayed to him I think she is a femail version of the master and he sayed I dont think so. I sayed the master could regemerate into a woman at some point in time so could the doctor he was no the master will alwas be a woman. He has egg on his face now. lol Hope next weeks final is going to be a good one.

    Reply
  • WFK DVD Collector 14

    November 1st, 2014 - 9:51pm

    I can’t believe it! What a shock! I thought it was the Rani right up until it was revealed!

    Still though… Could Moffat just have fooled everyone?

    Reply
    • Michael

      November 1st, 2014 - 10:08pm

      i was well dissapointed the master was redeemed and moffat ruined it

    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:23am

      I agree Michael!

  • Anonymous

    November 1st, 2014 - 9:25pm

    Here I am from the future, and as we all know now it’s. ..
    Well I wont spoil it but lets just say that Steven Moffat is a liar.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 2nd, 2014 - 10:23am

      Yep

  • Ian

    November 1st, 2014 - 8:14pm

    Not the Master, not the Rani.

    Either Clara or Romana – final guess

    But still have the nagging Valyard in my head due to the blatant name drop in the previous series.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 1st, 2014 - 10:19pm

      Lol!

  • LordofWHO

    November 1st, 2014 - 7:52pm

    Final guess of a new version of the Valeyard

    Reply
  • the astronaut of death

    November 1st, 2014 - 7:17pm

    ok my final guess in the master

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 1st, 2014 - 9:28pm

      Well your right.

  • CJ

    November 1st, 2014 - 6:30pm

    I’m sticking with someone else

    Reply

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