Engineer and architect. Founded Time Lord society. Mostly regarded as a hero but considered a tyrant by his opponents. Was resurrected to lead his Time Lord descendants in the fight against the Daleks in the Last Great Time War. Willing to create a paradox so strong that all creation would be destroyed and the Time Lords would elevate to beings of higher consciousness. Completely bonkers.
The Doctor’s tutor at the Time Lord Academy and later Lord President of Gallifrey. Strict but possessing a keen mind, Borusa would ultimately be corrupted by his high office. Longing for immortality so he could rule Gallifrey as President Eternal, risked the planet’s safety by opening the long-forbidden Death Zone and forcing four of the Doctor’s incarnations to search for the fabled Ring of Rassilon. Achieved his goal when he was trapped for all time as a statue in the Tomb of Rassilon. Completely bonkers.
The Doctor’s best enemy. As friends since childhood, the two Time Lords attended the Academy together but would follow very different paths. Whereas the Doctor left Gallifrey to explore and help the people of the universe, the Master left to enslave others to his will. An expert at mesmerism and disguise, the Master was driven mad the day he was made to stare into the Untempered Schism. From that day on, the Master would endure the constant sound of drumming in his mind. He would later learn that Rassilon himself was responsible for his unending torment and that from birth he was destined to aid Gallifrey’s return from the Time War. Completely bonkers (and then some).
Born the same year as the Doctor, the Rani was exiled from Gallifrey after accidentally accelerating the growth patterns of her laboratory mice. The now monstrous-sized rodents rampaged through the Capitol, eating the President’s cat and mauling the Lord President himself. A brilliant if amoral scientist, the Rani conquered Miasimia Goria, but her experiments on its populous removed their ability to enter R.E.M. sleep. Later, she conquered the peaceful world of Lakertya with a mercenary band of Tetraps from the planet Tetrapyriarbus. Completely bonkers.
Leaving Gallifrey long after the Doctor, the War Chief allied himself with the War Lords. Now armed with the power of time travel the warmongers kidnapped soldiers from various points in Earth’s history, pitting them against each other. The victors would then be recruited as an army against the rest of the galaxy. He was killed by the War Lords when they uncovered his plot to overthrow them. Completely bonkers.
Whereas Time Lords such as the Master or the War Chief lusted after power, the Monk simply wanted to meddle. The Doctor first encountered him attempting to prevent the Norman conquest of 1066. He then planned to provide King Harold with anachronistic technology so by the time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, the tragedy appeared on television rather than the stage. He honestly believed Harold would make a better king so you could argue that his heart was in the right place, even if his motives were flawed. After foolishly teaming up with the Daleks, the Monk was stranded on a frozen planet by the Doctor. Not so much bonkers, just mischievous.
THE MASTER MAD-O-METER
To the Doctor, the Master is the quintessence of evil, to Rassilon, he’s Gallifrey’s most infamous child. To the Rani, however, he was an asinine cretin. But just how potty were his nefarious plans?
Terror of the Autons – Plans to take over the world using a Nestene energy unit, troll dolls, plastic chairs and a few fake daffodils.
Mad rating: 2
The Mind of Evil – Disguises himself as Professor Emil Keller, uses an alien mind parasite to control inmates of Stangmoor Prison so he can steal a Thunderbolt missile, blow up a peace conference and bring about World War III.
Mad rating: 3
The Claws of Axos – In return for his life, plans to serve Earth up on a plate to the energy-vampire Axos.
Mad rating: 1
Colony in Space – Posing as Earth Adjudicator, plans to steal the Uxariean Doomsday Weapon, which he can use in an almighty protection racket.
Mad rating: 2
The Daemons – Masquerading as Mr Magister, a local Anglican vicar, forms a cult and summons a giant horned alien in the crypt of a village church in order to receive vast cosmic powers.
Mad rating: 2
The Sea Devils – While pretending to languish at Her Majesty’s pleasure, steals Navy equipment to revive a Sea Devil colony which he will use to take over the world.
Mad rating: 1
The Time Monster – Assumes the role of Professor Thascales to build Transmission Of Matter Through Interstitial Time (or TOMTIT machine). Uses it to try and control the powerful, pan-dimensional entity known as Kronos.
Mad rating: 2
Frontier in Space – provokes a devastating interplanetary war between the Draconian and Earth empires so his allies, the Daleks, can easily invade. Hopes to rule Earth in their name, at least.
Mad rating: 1
The Deadly Assassin – Nothing more than a rotting corpse at the end of his regenerative cycle, works to place a puppet President in the highest office on Gallifrey so he can use the power of the Eye of Harmony to prolong his life.
Mad rating: 2
The Keeper of Traken – Still nothing more than a rotting corpse at the end of his regenerative cycle, works to place a puppet Keeper in the highest office on Traken so he can use the power of the Source to prolong his life.