h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I would like very much to join your group is it possible to have a chat about The Master and more specifically Roger Delgado?

Urm, the membership thing isn't that strictly enforced any more... never was, actually... and this is a pretty informal group anyway... informal meaning, amongst other things, that not very much seems to happen here! But, welcome anyway.

So, yeah, the Master. Personally I always preferred the Peter Pratt version but Rodge had his moments. I see you're looking to write an entry on him, there are a couple of pretty good sources on his life - DWM did a very detailed biography a couple of years ago and there's another okay one in Peter Haining's first book. The usual stuff - cockney, very long name, Spanish ambassador, dodgy Arab roles, DW in 1971, more popular than Pertwee, suspect aliases, Turkey, tragic premature death with only one future DW appearance still in the pipeline. His wife did a DW story too, playing a giant spider. (Don't mean to sound overly flippant there...)

Anything in particular you'd like to chat about?

I would love to chat about anything that is Master related or any of the Pertwee stories.

There's always been some debate about that scene in the Sea Devils where the Master's watching The Clangers and the Governor tells him they're not real, just puppets. I always interpreted the scene as the Master humouring the governor by pretending he thought they were real, but others have read the scene as the Master genuinely believing the puppets to have been real.

Which do you think it was?

I think he was being sarcastic and when he realises that Trenchard doesn't get the joke you can see the frustration clearly in his face

The Master's a nut but he's not stupid. He's displaying his famous deadpan sense of humour in front of a hard audience.

We were watching the Daemons the other night and were wondering how long exactly the Master was undercover as the vicar. It's hard to imagine him doing christenings or reading out the notices every Sunday morning. I'll bet he wasn't even legally allowed to marry people, either...