John Simm has announced he is returning to 'Doctor Who' as The Master.
John Simm as The Master
The actor first portrayed the evil Time Lord in 2007 in the final three episodes of Series 3 - 'Utopia', 'The Sound of Drums' and 'Last of the Time Lords' - when he battled Tenth Doctor David Tennant.
Simm then returned at the end of 2009 for Tennant's farewell story 'The End of Time' making his final appearance in the role on New Year's Day in 2010 as Tennant regenerated into Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith.
Michelle Gomez then took over the famous role in Series 8 as later regeneration Missy, the first woman to portray the character, but now Simm is back to face Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi in his final series and his new companion Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie.
Revealing his incredible return, Simm, 46, said: "I can confirm that it's true, thanks to the power of time travel I'm back! It's always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can't wait for you all to see what The Master gets up to in the next series."
Viewers will witness a first for the show as Simm and Gomez will appear together on screen in a multi-Master episode, something which follows the various multi-Doctor adventures where fans have seen their favourite Time Lords come together such as the 1983 feature-length episode 'The Five Doctors' which marked the show's 20th anniversary with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison working with his previous incarnations.
Showrunner Steven Moffat - who was keen to keep the sensational spoiler under wraps - said: "Nothing stays secret for long on 'Doctor Who' but you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what The Master is up to and how he makes his return to face the Doctor. It's been a huge pleasure to have fan favourites John Simm and Michelle Gomez face to face in the same role! It's not often you get to see a solo personality clash."
Other classic foes confirmed to appear in Series 10 include the Daleks, the Ice Warriors and the Mondasian Cybermen - making their first appearance in the sci-fi show for over 50 years.
'Doctor Who' returns to BBC One on Saturday 15 April at 7:20pm with 'The Pilot'.
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