Theory:Timeline - The Master

This page lists appearances of the Master in the order in which he experienced them. It relies on much speculation to fit semi-contradictory sources together, and should absolutely not be seen as representative of this wiki's general policy.

Limiting factors
Events after Doctor Who are difficult to reconcile with each other as they offer contradictory accounts to what happened when the Master escaped the Eye of Harmony.

Series basics
to be added

Timeline
It was intended that Magnus be the Master and the War Chief, who were intended to be the same character. Divided Loyalties identified the two as separate, but the dream flashbacks are stated by the Doctor to have been nightmares, and are therefore unreliable.

First incarnation

 * PROSE: Lucifer Rising (flashback)
 * The Doctor and the Master meet for the first time.


 * AUDIO: Master (flashback)
 * At the age of eight, the Doctor kills their mutual childhood bully Torvic, but makes a deal with Death to transfer the memory of killing him to the Master instead.


 * TV: The Sound of Drums (flashback)
 * TV: The End of Time
 * The child who would become the Master is presumably in his first incarnation.


 * PROSE: Lucifer Rising (flashback)
 * PROSE: Tomb of Valdemar (flashback)
 * PROSE: Harvest of Time (flashback)

Magnus

 * COMIC: Flashback
 * "Magnus" lives on Gallifrey. He's said to carelessly waste regenerations.

Leaving Gallifrey

 * AUDIO: The Toy (flashback)
 * The Master is living on Gallifrey. He attends a ceremony for Susan.


 * AUDIO: The Toy (flashback)
 * The Master leaves Gallifrey.


 * AUDIO: The Destination Wars
 * The Master's TARDIS broke down almost immediately after leaving Gallifrey, and he has become stranded.

The Dark Heart

 * PROSE: The Dark Path
 * The cover shows the Master as already in his incarnation first seen in Terror of the Autons. However, the cover does not accurately portray the Master's clothing. Authorial intent was that after The Dark Path, the Master regenerates into the War Chief, and eventually reuses the appearance of this incarnation as the "UNIT incarnation".

War Chief

 * TV: The War Games / PROSE: Doctor Who and the War Games
 * The Master is a renegade and lives off-Gallifrey. The War Lords try to execute him, but he just regenerates.

Felix Kriegslieter

 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus
 * The War Chief has regenerated into "Felix Kriegslieter", who, after being caught in a nuclear explosion, regenerates into the "Victor Magister" incarnation. Ace describes the new incarnation as "a young man, tall, dark and satanically handsome".

Victor Magister

 * PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus
 * The Master regenerates from the "Felix Kriegslieter" incarnation into the "Victor Magister" incarnation.


 * PROSE: The Nameless City
 * The Master is wearing the clothes of the incarnation seen in Terror of the Autons, but targets the Second Doctor, rather than the Third. He is malevolent and the Doctor is travelling with Jamie and not Victoria, so after The Dark Path.


 * PROSE: Prisoners of the Sun
 * The Master doesn't appear, but a Time Lord mentions that he has escaped Shada.


 * PROSE: Third Eye View
 * PROSE: Masters of Terror
 * PROSE: Reconnaissance
 * Leads into Terror of the Autons.


 * TV: Terror of the Autons / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons
 * PROSE: Doorway into Nowhere
 * The Master is stuck on Earth.


 * TV: The Mind of Evil / PROSE: The Mind of Evil
 * PROSE: Deadly Reunion
 * The Master's TARDIS is operational.


 * PROSE: UNIT Christmas Parties: Christmas Truce
 * TV: The Claws of Axos / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Claws of Axos
 * TV: Colony in Space / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon
 * TV: The Dæmons / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Dæmons
 * PROSE: Freedom
 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * The Master is imprisoned.


 * COMIC: The Man in the Ion Mask
 * PROSE: The Face of the Enemy
 * The Master is imprisoned.


 * PROSE: The Switching
 * The Master moves to Fortress island, leading into The Sea Devils


 * TV: The Sea Devils / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils
 * The novelisation places this, from the Master's perspective, after Frontier in Space, which is contradicted by its novelisation.
 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Set after the Doctor talks with the Master during The Sea Devils.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * The Master retrieves his TARDIS from where he hid it in The Face of the Enemy.


 * PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy
 * PROSE: The Seismologist's Story
 * PROSE: Doctor Who Fights Masterplan "Q"
 * PROSE: The Touch of the Nurazh
 * TV: The Time Monster / PROSE: The Time Monster
 * COMIC: Prologue: The Third Doctor / Supremacy of the Cybermen
 * COMIC: The Heralds of Destruction
 * PROSE: The Spear of Destiny
 * PROSE: Listen - the Stars
 * PROSE: Out of the Green Mist
 * COMIC: The Time Thief
 * PROSE: Hidden Talent
 * AUDIO: The Transcendence of Ephros
 * PROSE: The Christmas Inversion
 * GAME: Time Streams
 * GAME: Legacy
 * SP: Recall UNIT: The Great Tea-Bag Mystery
 * PROSE: Last of the Gaderene
 * COMIC: The Glen of Sleeping
 * COMIC: Fogbound
 * PROSE: Smash Hit
 * PROSE: The One Second Hour
 * COMIC: Character Assassin
 * PROSE: The Duke of Dominoes
 * The Doctor has regenerated, and the Master doesn't recognize him as being the Doctor.


 * COMIC: The Judas Goatee
 * PROSE: Unlimited
 * COMIC: Party Animals
 * AUDIO: The Killing Stone
 * During the course of this story, the Doctor regenerates.


 * PROSE: Verdigris
 * The Master intends to go to Skaro and ally with the Daleks, leading into Frontier in Space.


 * TV: Frontier in Space / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Space War
 * COMIC: Doorway to Hell
 * The Master has returned from his affair with the Daleks and the Draconians. At the conclusion, the Master is burned and regenerates.


 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks
 * The Master is badly injured, leading into The Deadly Assassin. According to this, the Master is already in his thirteenth incarnation. Note that this contradicts Sympathy for the Devil, where he is able to regenerate after the Doctor's exile, Doorway to Hell, which presents a different account of his regeneration, and The Two Masters, where the version of him burnt is probably a different one.

Damien Scott

 * AUDIO: The Two Masters (Old Master flashbacks)
 * The Master has regenerated. He encounters his future self, who burns him. The Old Master steals the New Master's body.


 * AUDIO: Vampire of the Mind

Van Houten

 * AUDIO: The Two Masters (Old Master)
 * The Master is badly injured.


 * PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks (final scenes)
 * The Master, scarred and disfigured, is found by Goth, leading into The Deadly Assassin.


 * TV: The Deadly Assassin / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin
 * AUDIO: The Museum of Curiosities
 * AUDIO: Jago & Son (cameo)
 * AUDIO: Maurice (cameo)
 * AUDIO: The Woman in White (cameo)
 * AUDIO: Masterpiece
 * The Master left Gallifrey straight for Earth looking for the Doctor.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen
 * COMIC: The Five Masters
 * PROSE: Harvest of Time
 * The Master is captured by the Sild.


 * GAME: Legacy
 * PROSE: The Scarlet Shadow
 * The Master attempted to steal Iris Wildthyme's body.


 * AUDIO: Trail of the White Worm
 * AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure
 * AUDIO: The Light at the End
 * The Master hasn't met Nyssa yet, placing it before The Keeper of Traken. Release order position for original Four/Leela Big Finish audios.


 * AUDIO: The Evil One
 * AUDIO: Requiem for the Rocket Men
 * AUDIO: Death Match
 * PROSE: Special Occasions: 1. The Not-So-Sinister Sponge
 * TV: The Keeper of Traken / PROSE: Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken
 * The Master gains the body of Tremas.

Tremas

 * TV: Logopolis / PROSE: Logopolis
 * TV: Castrovalva / PROSE: Castrovalva
 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Set immediately after the Master abducts Adric during Castrovalva.


 * AUDIO: Smoke and Mirrors
 * The Master is trying to reconstitute his body after it was broken down when Castrovalva was destroyed.


 * TV: Time-Flight / PROSE: Time-Flight
 * PROSE: Night Flight to Nowhere
 * TV: The King's Demons / PROSE: The King's Demons
 * TV: The Five Doctors / PROSE: The Five Doctors
 * PROSE: The Velvet Dark
 * PROSE: Birth of a Renegade
 * PROSE: The Creation of Camelot
 * TV: Planet of Fire / PROSE: Planet of Fire
 * PROSE: A Town Called Eternity
 * The Master is scarred because of Planet of Fire.


 * TV: The Caves of Androzani / PROSE: The Caves of Androzani
 * AUDIO: Winter
 * The Master attempts to steal the Fifth Doctor's remaining regenerations.


 * TV: The Mark of the Rani / PROSE: The Mark of the Rani
 * PROSE: The Time Savers
 * PROSE: A Handful of Stardust
 * AUDIO: The Hollows of Time
 * PROSE: The Fellowship of Quan
 * PROSE: The Radio Waves
 * GAME: Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror
 * COMIC: Facades
 * PROSE: Master Faustus
 * PROSE: Dr. Fifth
 * GAME: Legacy
 * PROSE: Time's Champion
 * The Master discovers the Valeyard, leading into The Ultimate Foe.


 * TV: The Ultimate Foe / PROSE: The Ultimate Foe
 * PROSE: The Quantum Archangel
 * AUDIO: The End of the Line
 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen / The Five Masters
 * TV: Survival / PROSE: Survival
 * PROSE: Dr. Seventh
 * Takes place during Survival from the Master's perspective.

Major Kreer

 * PROSE: First Frontier
 * The Master is affected by the Cheetah virus. It recurred after seemingly being cured in Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark as well, in Ace. The Tzun attempt to give the Master a new regeneration cycle, and his first regeneration cures the cheetah virus.


 * PROSE: Housewarming
 * PROSE: Happy Endings
 * The Master's supposed new regeneration cycle has not worked, and his body is breaking down.

Tremas once more

 * The Master's body regresses back to the Trakenite form.


 * PROSE: Stop the Pigeon
 * The Master is still infected with the Cheetah virus from Survival.


 * PROSE: Prime Time
 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * The Master recalls Survival, but no further clues are given as to which body he's in. He gains a Deathworm Morphant.


 * COMIC: Cat and Mouse
 * COMIC: The Choice
 * COMIC: Endgame
 * The Master is wearing the same costume as in Destiny of the Doctors. He is not affected by the Cheetah virus.


 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors / HOMEVID: Destiny of the Doctors

Mr Seta

 * AUDIO: Dust Breeding
 * The Master's Trakenite body has broken down by the Warp Core, turning him into the same form seen in The Keeper of Traken.


 * AUDIO: Master
 * PROSE: Omegamorphosis
 * The Master, in a stolen body, attempts to create an indestructible new one for himself, but is thwarted by the Doctor.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors
 * The Master heads for Skaro, leading into Doctor Who.


 * TV: Doctor Who / PROSE: The Novel of the Film (execution scene)
 * The Master is executed by the Daleks because... reasons.

Bruce

 * TV: Doctor Who / PROSE: The Novel of the Film
 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen / The Five Masters
 * Set while the Master is wearing Bruce's outfit.


 * PROSE: The Eight Doctors (cameo)
 * COMIC: The Glorious Dead (flashback)
 * The Master is saved by Esterath and given the body of a recently-deceased vagrant.

A Street Preacher

 * COMIC: The Fallen
 * COMIC: The Glorious Dead
 * The Master is banished to parts unknown by Kroton - most likely the Eye of Harmony, although not stated.


 * PROSE: Sometime Never... (cameo)
 * PROSE: The Deadstone Memorial (cameo)
 * PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles (cameo)

Don Maestro

 * PROSE: Forgotten
 * The Master escapes the Eye of Harmony again.
 * PROSE: Prologue
 * Set during the events of Forgotten.


 * AUDIO: Mastermind
 * Set directly after Forgotten. At the end, the Master is free and has his grandfather clock TARDIS.

War King

 * PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street
 * PROSE: The Infinity Doctors
 * The Magistrate lives on Gallifrey again.


 * PROSE: The Book of the War
 * The War King has scarring deliberately retained from his previous incarnation, and he keeps a hypercube as a momento.


 * PROSE: Judy's War
 * PROSE: The Taking of Planet 5
 * The War King is Lord President.


 * AUDIO: Body Politic
 * AUDIO: Words from Nine Divinities
 * The War King is consumed by what was originally his grandfather clock TARDIS, Lolita.


 * AUDIO: Nevermore
 * The Master doesn't appear, but his "current" state is referred to: he is not in a position to interfere with time.

Harcourt De'ath
After the War ends, the Master is resurrected by the Time Lords.
 * AUDIO: Time's Horizon (cameo)
 * AUDIO: Eyes of the Master
 * The Master was rescued by the Time Lords from "a predicament," which the Doctor is aware of.


 * AUDIO: The Death of Hope
 * AUDIO: The Reviled
 * AUDIO: Masterplan
 * AUDIO: Rule of the Eminence
 * AUDIO: The Monster of Montmartre
 * AUDIO: Master of the Daleks
 * AUDIO: Dominion
 * The Master is working in direct opposition to the Time Lords.


 * AUDIO: The Two Masters (New Master flashbacks)
 * AUDIO: And You Will Obey Me
 * AUDIO: The Two Masters (New Master)

The Time War

 * COMIC: Outrun
 * COMIC: The Organ Grinder
 * COMIC: The Then and the Now


 * COMIC: Kill God
 * COMIC: Fast Asleep
 * The Master is in the body of a small child, having been resurrected to fight in the Time War. He regenerates into the "Yana" incarnation of the Master due to a paradox.

Professor Yana

 * COMIC: Fast Asleep
 * The Master regenerates from his previous incarnation.


 * AUDIO: Beneath the Viscoid
 * AUDIO: The Devil You Know
 * AUDIO: The Good Master
 * AUDIO: The Sky Man
 * AUDIO: The Heavenly Paradigm
 * TV: Utopia
 * The Master has just left the Time War. He doesn't have a TARDIS. He regenerates into his "Harold Saxon" incarnation.

Harold Saxon

 * TV: Utopia
 * The Master regenerates from his previous incarnation.


 * PROSE: Speech Day
 * TV: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords
 * PROSE: Harvest of Time (captive)
 * The Master is captured during the Year That Never Was by the Sild. He is freed and returned to his time.
 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * PROSE: The Story of Martha
 * Set during the final scene of Last of the Time Lords.


 * TV: The End of Time
 * The Master is sent to the last day of the Time War.


 * TV: The Doctor Falls (mention)
 * The Time Lords cure his "condition" and banish him from Gallifrey.


 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen / The Five Masters
 * TV: World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls
 * The Master meets his future self, who shoots him in the back and begins his regeneration. He blasts her with his laser screwdriver, disabling her ability to regenerate and thus killing her.

Missy

 * PROSE: Dismemberment
 * Missy has recently regenerated.


 * PROSE: The Unwanted Gift of Prophecy
 * Missy meets Lucy Saxon and arranges for Lucy to shoot her previous incarnation.


 * TV: Deep Breath (cameo)
 * TV: Into the Dalek (cameo)
 * TV: The Caretaker (cameo)
 * TV: Flatline (cameo)
 * TV: In the Forest of the Night (cameo)
 * TV: Dark Water / Death in Heaven
 * Missy claims the Doctor "left [her] for dead." She is aware of the Doctor saving Gallifrey at the end of the Time War. The Doctor speculates that she has a TARDIS, though it does not appear.


 * TV: The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar
 * COMIC: The Abominable Showmen / The Five Masters
 * GAME: Legacy
 * PROSE: Yes, Missy
 * GAME: Master of Time
 * PROSE: Dr. Twelfth
 * PROSE: Doctor Who and the Horror of Coal Hill
 * PROSE: Lords and Masters
 * PROSE: Teddy Sparkles Must Die!
 * PROSE: The Liar, the Glitch and the War Zone
 * TV: Extremis
 * Missy is captured by the "Enemies of Life" to be executed, but is saved by the Doctor and Nardole. She is placed in Quantum Fold Chamber and taken to St Luke's University in the 20th century to be redeemed.


 * PROSE: Girl Power!
 * Missy is being held in the Vault, but is not yet attempting to reform.


 * TV: Thin Ice
 * In 2017, Missy realises the Doctor had begun traveling again, and bangs on the Vault doors.


 * TV: Knock Knock
 * The Doctor has dinner with Missy.


 * TV: The Lie of the Land
 * Missy meets Bill Potts when the Doctor comes to her for advice on how to defeat the Monks.


 * TV: Empress of Mars
 * Nardole releases Missy from the vault so she can help him return the TARDIS to 1881 Mars.


 * COMIC: The Great Shopping Bill
 * Nardole says Missy cannot be let outside of the Vault again.


 * TV: The Eaters of Light
 * With the Doctor now trusting her more, Missy is asked to do maintenance on the TARDIS.


 * TV: World Enough and Time
 * Missy is taken to colony ship to test if she can be redeemed, but instead finds herself face-to-face with her "Harold Saxon" incarnation, leading directly into The Doctor Falls.


 * PROSE: Alit in Underland
 * Set after the prologue of The Doctor Falls.


 * TV: The Doctor Falls
 * Despite a relapse in personality, Missy decides to join forces with the Doctor after fatally wounding the Master, but is killed by her past incarnation before she can.