In 1974 Jon Pertwee's Doctor was to have one last showdown with Roger Delgado's Master. Christopher Morley explores what would've been 'The Final Game'.
Had an unfortunate and tragic accident not have taken place, we could have been a very different end for Jon Pertwee's Third
Doctor. You see, Planet Of The Spiders
wasn't first choice as Pertwee's send-off. But for the sad
death of Roger Delgado, we would have actually seen the Master face off
with his old foe once more. The stakes were high for The
Final Game! Just how high will
become apparent...
The original plan
for the ending of Season 11 was to reveal that the Master was either
brother to the Doctor, or his darker side personified - the idea of
which was of course recycled in the form of the Valeyard for the
Sixth Doctor's Trial Of A Time Lord arc.
Earlier, vaguer hints to the idea that the goatee bearded agent of
chaos was a 'dark half' of the Doctor's personality had also been
included in Logopolis
by the Fourth Doctor himself while explaining the nature of his exact
relationship with his old foe to Adric & Nyssa. Of course,
there's also the Dream Lord from Amy's Choice....
But back to the proposed 1974 adventure. In a then
unthinkable twist, the Master was to have sacrificed himself, followed
shortly after by the Doctor's regeneration into his newest
incarnation! So while we actually saw this as Third became Fourth...
...the original idea was to have something similar to what the Tenth
Doctor would go through in The End Of Time -
John Simm's Master dragging himself back into the Time War, allowing
for the Doctor's survival and subsequent changeover into his
Eleventh incarnation...
Serves Rassilon right for basically using the Master as a stooge, we say!
There was also a hint at a brotherly link between the two enemies in Planet Of Fire, the Master making the suggestion to the Fifth Doctor and Peri.
Had he not died
in a car accident in Turkey, Roger Delgado had previously expressed a
desire to leave the series anyway, having told producer Barry Letts
he would make a final appearance in the role after Frontier
In Space but no more.
The character of the Master would of course return in The Deadly Assassin, but Roger left an indelible mark on the part over the four seasons he played the role. Indeed, it's this part which made his reputation. Delgado and Jon Pertwee were close friends off-screen, and his untimely death was one of the spurs for Jon's decision to leave the series and the role of the Third Doctor behind. It's testament to all the Who crew that the substitute story is so well remembered today, and a fitting tribute that Delgado's widow Kismet lent her vocal talents among the spidery throng...
Of course, Planet of the Spiders is certainly no pore substitute and a great final adventure for the Third Doctor. Among the many highlights on view is a certain crystal as first seen in The Green Death making its return, the Brigadier getting embarrassed by the clairvoyant Professor Clegg, and the Doctor forced to risk life & limb to stop those nasty arachnids...what's not to like?
Whoever plays the character today or in the future, and whatever sex he or she may be, we shouldn't
forget the man who made the Master what he is and the incredible on screen rapport he shared with Jon Pertwee...
Doctor and Master. Marvelous chaps. All of them.
However, his death came after
a car he was traveling in during shooting on an unfinished and
never completed film named Bell Of Tibet fell
into a ravine - and so Planet Of The Spiders
was commissioned in place of The Final Game.
The character of the Master would of course return in The Deadly Assassin, but Roger left an indelible mark on the part over the four seasons he played the role. Indeed, it's this part which made his reputation. Delgado and Jon Pertwee were close friends off-screen, and his untimely death was one of the spurs for Jon's decision to leave the series and the role of the Third Doctor behind. It's testament to all the Who crew that the substitute story is so well remembered today, and a fitting tribute that Delgado's widow Kismet lent her vocal talents among the spidery throng...
Of course, Planet of the Spiders is certainly no pore substitute and a great final adventure for the Third Doctor. Among the many highlights on view is a certain crystal as first seen in The Green Death making its return, the Brigadier getting embarrassed by the clairvoyant Professor Clegg, and the Doctor forced to risk life & limb to stop those nasty arachnids...what's not to like?
But the knowledge
that the Master might have been involved had Roger survived might
lead some to speculate as to whether or not he'd have tried to seek an
alliance with the Spiders, as he did with the Autons and Axons.
Instead we get Lupton, eager to gain power beyond his means by
working with them. We also get two Time Lords for the price of one!
The Doctor's old mentor K'anpo Rimpoche (or the Hermit) left
Gallifrey to live in peace on Earth as a Buddhist monk- a reflection
of producer Barry Letts's keenness to explore aspects of the faith. His 'assistant'
Cho-Je is actually his future self, too. Trippy! You might notice
that the ritual/incantation used to bring Spiders to Earth is
remarkably similar to Buddhist spiritual meditation/chanting...
Of course, if you've had the pleasure of taking a gander at The Abominable Snowmen, you'll know this isn't the Doctor's first experience of the teachings of the Buddha. Back then he was in his Second incarnation, footloose and comparatively fancy-free.
Of course, if you've had the pleasure of taking a gander at The Abominable Snowmen, you'll know this isn't the Doctor's first experience of the teachings of the Buddha. Back then he was in his Second incarnation, footloose and comparatively fancy-free.
Doctor and Master. Marvelous chaps. All of them.
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