Doctor Who: The Master & River Song Wound Up In The Same Prison

Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Missy #1

The hit series, Doctor Who has revealed that one incarnation of the Master was locked in the same prison as Professor River Song. The life of a time traveler is never simple; it’s hard to avoid meeting people out of sequence. That makes love and marriage even trickier. The Doctor has always been aware of this, of course, but even he was taken aback when he first encountered Professor River Song.

It took centuries for the Doctor to unravel the mystery of River Song. He eventually learned she was the daughter of his companions Amy and Rory, conceived within the TARDIS, and that she had been spirited away as a child in order to be used as a weapon. In fact, not only was she the Doctor’s wife and lover, but she was also the person imprisoned for killing him. The crime of (apparently) killing the Doctor meant River Song was sentenced to a maximum-security prison called the Stormcage, although of course she broke out with entertaining frequency.

Doctor Who: Missy #1, by Jody Houser and Roberta Ingranata, reveals River Song wasn’t the only person connected to the Doctor to be imprisoned at the Stormcage. Another of the inmates was an early (possibly the first) incarnation of the Master, the Doctor’s nemesis, who had apparently been sentenced to a spell in the Stormcage after being defeated by the Third Doctor. Interestingly, this seems to have been during the period where the Doctor was still exiled to Earth, meaning he couldn’t check up on his old enemy.

The Stormcage is becoming an increasingly intriguing prison, simply because it appears to house a number of inmates with knowledge of time travel; the villain in the Doctor Who episode “Rosa,” Krasko, had also been imprisoned at the Stormcage; he knew how to use a vortex manipulator, and he recognized a TARDIS. It’s possible the Stormcage is specifically designed with the purpose of holding time travelers, which would mean other notable enemies of the Doctor could wind up there as well.

The Master is actually broken out by his future self, Missy, although he doesn’t recognize her and she pretends to be the Doctor in order to wind him up. Quite hilariously, it doesn’t take the Master long to stab his opponent in the back – literally, when he discovers a sword and attempts to engage “the Doctor” in a duel. Whatever kind of prison the Stormcage may be, it’s now site of a battle between two versions of the Master, which means things are sure to get messy in future Doctor Whostories. It’s just as well this early Master hasn’t heard about River Song; he’d target her whether he thought she was the Doctor’s wife or his killer, either to get at the Doctor or because he couldn’t abide anyone else killing his foe.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

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A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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