This article has been updated.
The Time Lord known as the Master (John Simm) regenerated into his female incarnation, “Missy” (Michelle Gomez), sometime after the final act of the Time War — but now both Masters will be sharing an adventure. John Simm has been confirmed by the BBC for a return to Doctor Who this season as the Master.
After rumors circulated in the tabloid The Sun on Wednesday, the BBC confirmed that Simm will, in fact, be back as the villainous Time Lord enemy of the Doctor.
“I can confirm that it’s true, thanks to the power of time travel I’m back,” said John Simm said in an official statement. “It’s always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can’t wait for you all to see what the Master gets up to in the next series.”
This confirmation comes right after the announcement that the preview for the second episode of Doctor Who Season 10 will contain a huge “brain-melting” spoiler. Showrunner Steven Moffat has confirmed that spoiler is that John Simm’s Master has traveled through time to team up with Michelle Gomez’s Missy, making this the first Doctor Who multi-Master story. Hopefully, it could be called “Day of the Master” or even “Masters of the Universe?” (Is that still taken?)
LEFT: the Master (John Simm) battling Rassilon in 'The End of Time.' RIGHT: The latest Master, the Mistress (Michelle Gomez)
“It’s been a huge pleasure to have fan favorites John Simm and Michelle Gomez face to face in the same role!” showrunner Steven Moffat said, “It’s not often you get to see a solo personality clash.”
Prior to her new incarnation as “Missy,” the Master was presumed dead on Gallifrey after fighting with Rassilon in the final moments of “The End of Time” in 2010. But, since the Doctor saved Gallifrey in “The Day of the Doctor,” that presumably means he saved the Master, too. When the Doctor returned to Gallifrey in “Hell Bent” — in Season 9 — the Master was nowhere in sight, but Rassilon had regenerated from Timothy Dalton into Donald Sumpter. Could the Master (John Simm) have still been lurking around at that point? Could he have regenerated into Missy at the same time? Who knows, but during the new season, fans will probably find out!
Doctor Who Season 10 debuts on April 15, 2017 on BCC and BBC America at 9 p.m. Eastern.
