While I was out for a walk during my lunch break, I had an interesting thought regarding the current season and a potential season 3. Assuming we don’t get the Daleks, Cybermen or Master in the current season, and a potential season 3 doesn’t release until at least 2027 (if it even includes any of the above villains), it will have been at least half a decade since any of them last appeared onscreen in The Power of the Doctor. That’s a far cry from the usual situation during the New Who era, and approaching the largest onscreen gap between appearances for these villains while the show has been continuously airing.
My question is, do you think “the big three” have been sufficiently rested, considering this fact, and would you be happy to see some or all of them in season 3? To me, their last appearance still feels pretty recent, but I would be interested to know if others feel the same.
- Yes, I would be happy to see any of these in season 3
- Yes, I would be happy to see one or two of these in season 3
- I’m ambivalent
- No, I would rather not see any of these in season 3
For reference, the current biggest gaps between full appearances for each of these monsters are:
The Daleks - 5 years (Evil of the Daleks to Day of the Daleks)
The Cybermen - 7 years (Revenge of the Cybermen to Earthshock)
The Master - 5 years (The Deadly Assassin to The Keeper of Traken) - as kindly pointed out by @mvancore
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I think I won’t mind if we don’t get them, but I won’t be actively like ugh why if we do
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Hot take, but I actually like the big three popular enemies, and like seeing them. I don’t even really think seeing one or more of them once a year is overuse (though with seasons this short, that could change).
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I would rather that they don’t appear, but I wouldn’t mind it if they are done in a unique and interesting way, like a Cyberman story leaning into the body horror aspect Spare Parts style.
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It depends on if the story told with them is good! I don’t need them to come back but I wouldn’t mind it either. I do think it’s fun to see how different doctors react to these though
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This is sort of where I’m at, really. I’m ambivalent towards seeing any of them again in the next season, but if any of them DO come back, I want some kind of fresh take on them. I think you could do a lot of interesting stuff with the Daleks or Cybermen given the current world political, social and technological climate, so they would be the two I would be most interested to see. If the Master were to come back, I would really want to see a bit of a break from the Simm/Gomez/Dhawan mould, and I don’t particularly see that happening, but I would love to be proved wrong!
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Sorry, not to be pedantic, but wasn’t the Master in Deadly Assassin? That’d only be a 3 year gap.
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You’re totally right! I completely forgot about The Deadly Assassin - I’ll update my post. Thanks for pointing that out 
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I think it’ll be sad if Ncuti never gets to face off against a Dalek 
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I like seeing them and it’s been a good long break! And I feel like The Daleks are a right of passage at this point, and would love to see Ncuti face them
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As annoyed as I am when the Daleks turn up all the time, I think seeing Fifteen in a story that plays up the scheming aspect of them would be really cool.
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If we have The Master return can we get one that’s confirmed to be an earlier incarnation please solely because I think it’s silly that we only ever get Doctor Vs Master in linear order on TV 
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I would be happy if we don’t see the Master until the 2030s to be honest, give the guy/gal a rest.
[*] Unless Michelle Gomez is available
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Okay but counterpoint: 15 and The Master both flirting with each other
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Ok that would be peak, as the cool kids say.
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I think this could be an interesting way to do the Master - give us a pre-Delgado incarnation, who isn’t as obviously villainous, but more of the “benevolent dictator” archetype. My biggest gripe with the New Who Masters is that they don’t have as strong a motivation as some of the other villains - they want to rule the world, but it isn’t clear what they want to rule the world for (and they frequently lapse into Joker-esque madness). I would be very interested to see an incarnation who wants to rule because he genuinely thinks he can improve the world, for example!
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15 Vs Macqueen would literally just be thinly veiled hatred through camp flirting and I think I’d die from joy if it happened
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This is exactly why I want more of the Milo Parker Master in BF; in Masterful he’s based all around pragmatism
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This is why I love Missy, she just wanted to be friends with the Doctor.
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I think the Big 3 were definitely due for a rest, so I haven’t minded not having them around too much. But they’re also iconic, so I wouldn’t mind seeing them again.
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