Speaking at Cheltenham Literature Festival, John Simm (The Master in Doctor Who) stated he would be keen to reprise the role and play a 'quieter' Master.
“I’d love the opportunity to play him differently, I’d love to have another take on him, to be a bit quieter.”
Simm was the seventh actor to take on the role of The Doctor’s arch-adversary – most recently in the 2009 Christmas special – and was notable for his manic cackling.
“I started annoying myself after a while,” he confessed. “Russell T Davies had a specific idea of what he wanted him to be like. So I just had to do exactly what he wanted me to, and he wanted a giggling lunatic.”
However, he did admit that the Master’s blond hair was his idea: “That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have listened to my instinct there.”
"There's a new writer now" he continued, referring to Davies’ successor Steven Moffat – “and I’m sure his take on him would be different so I’d be interested to have a look at it. I’d like to take the Master to a very, very dark place.”
Simm is currently filming another BBC1 drama called The Village in which he also plays a "nutter".
“It's about the residents of a village in Derbyshire over a hundred years," he explained, "as seen through the eyes of a guy who’s now the oldest man in the world – a character called Bert.”
“I’m Bert’s dad. It’s like no other part I’ve ever done: he’s a farmer and a real piece of work. He's not farmer Barley Mow; he’s more like There Will Be Blood.”
UPDATE - 1:00pm
John Simm recently tweeted in response to the Radio Times news item, stating:
"Thats not strictly true. I was answering a specific question at a Q+A session. #dontreadtoomuchintoit"
+ The Village is expected to air on BBC One in 2013.
[Source: Radio Times]
