“I WON’T LIE, I HAD A CRY AT THE END!”

Sacha Dhawan is bowing out as the Master

How would you sum up the Centenary Special?

It’s trying to make sure that we give the audience a really nice final farewell. With it being Jodie’s last, the crew really wanted to do it justice and make it as brilliant as possible, so it did feel slightly charged, in a good way. I can say from filming it that it felt epic. But it also felt really emotional as well. I’ve seen a rough cut, and it’s a really brilliant episode. It ticks all the boxes. I won’t lie, I had a cry at the end!

How do you keep a recurring character like this fresh?

One of the things I said to Chris [Chibnall] is, “Once people have seen an incarnation they go, ‘Oh right, I’ve seen that now.’” But with the Master, he’s a master of disguise.

I was always keen on keeping the audience guessing, and not getting too comfortable, always keen on reinventing it slightly. That’s the real joy I have in disappearing for a bit and then coming back – you never know quite what you’re going to get. I think

I’ve hopefully achieved that with the episode.

If the Master stood trial, could he get off by pleading insanity? Is he bad or mad?

I think that he puts on a bit of a persona and there’s always some kind of intention behind everything in terms of all the choices that he makes. I don’t think he’d be afraid of going to prison – I think he’d strangely get off on that in some way! One of the things he gets off on is chaos. Even though there’s a clear intention to what he does, he doesn’t quite know what the outcome’s going to be. And that’s exciting for him. If the outcome’s great, brilliant. If not, then he’s still got nothing to lose because he hasn’t got anyone else – he’s on his own anyway. That’s how I see it.

What are your favourite memories of the role?

Two moments that stand out are: firstly, the call when I got the job. I’d actually made a decision to take some time out, so I was excited to play the role but really nervous as well. I’m thinking, “Am I in the right mental state to do this justice?” But coincidentally, when I got that call, I was doing a play reading with Peter Capaldi – it was so strange.

I remember getting the call, then going back in and looking at Peter in a completely different way. I couldn’t say anything, but his energy just kind of generally put me at ease, and I thought, “I’m sitting with Doctor Who himself and I’ve just got the call.” It’s like, the universe is giving you signs that it’s going to be okay.

The second was when we did the reveal on the plane [in “Spyfall Part One”]. No one had really seen how I was going to do it until the first rehearsal, and seeing everyone’s reaction put me at ease, because I was really nervous. I remember the first AD coming up to me: he gave me a hug and said, “My son’s gonna love you.” From then I was flying again, after a year or so of doubting myself and my ability.

Did you manage to pocket any souvenirs?

When I finished filming, as a parting gift they gave me all my costume, with a lovely pocket watch attached to it as well. They also gave me the tissue compression eliminator – all the stuff that I was going to steal! So that’s one bit of history that I’ve got for myself, that’s locked away in a cupboard somewhere. I do wear it secretly at weekends!