Now that the irritation of Season Eight is out of the way (see the previous entry for the link to my opinion on the whole horrific situation. Beware if you're in America, though - spoilers!) I can get back to some proper work.
If you've been hanging around Fanfiction.net, you may know that this chapter has been rewritten several times. I now have several grey hairs, in fact, due to the stress this one has caused me. I knew the set points I wanted to get across, but having the Doctor non-vocal for a whole chapter while the Master talked to himself was difficult at best. Normally when I write them, they spark off each other. This time, I had no material to work with except the Master's little soliloquy.
The little line about torture was an empty threat, in case anybody was wondering. While I admit that before this regeneration it might have been a possibility, by this point the Master's insanity and emotions have become far too complex.
The first time I watched Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Timelords I paid a huge amount of attention to Simm's facial expressions (he is a fabulous actor). Even when he was mocking and vain, you could still see the way the Master reacted to the Doctor - almost afraid of what he might do/say/see.
Obviously we know that the Timelords have telepathy (see The Girl in the Fireplace for an example), and I wanted to show the Master's fear - the Doctor's ability to scare him, even when he's bound and gagged.
When I'm writing my version of the Master, there are a lot of conflicting ideas inside that corrupted head of his, but when I'm trying to get into his character there's a single statement that keeps recurring. As melodramatic as it might sound I imagine him shouting it furiously inside his head:
MAKE IT STOP
I'm not saying that's literally what goes through his head, but from a writer's perspective, those three words pretty much sum up all the anger, confusion and downright fury that is the Master.
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