Sacha Dhawan

OF DOCTOR WHO

Q: What’s the guy who played The Master on the most recent seasons of “Doctor Who” doing now? I also saw him on “The Great” and thought he was, well, great.

A: I feel your pain in talking about “The Great.” When a show is called that and is actually well-made and popular, it can be hard to find ways to describe it that don’t seem like cheating.

And meanwhile, when an actor plays a character named The Master and does a job that can only be called masterful, you start looking downright lazy as a writer. So thanks, Sacha Dhawan. England-born Dhawan came to viewers’ attention — in North America, at least — via “Doctor Who” in early 2020, playing The Doctor’s all-time (literally) great nemesis. Then a few months later, Dhawan turned up on our screens again in the historical Hulu dramedy “The Great,” playing well-meaning bureaucrat Orlo. Unfortunately, his newer projects are unlikely to get the same exposure on this side of the Atlantic.

This past summer he starred in a new crime-drama series called “Wolf” for the British Broadcasting Corporation. And he recently signed on to star in another one — this one called “Virdee.” There’s no word yet on when that one will be released.

But we shouldn’t hold our breath over here, because British crime shows rarely make it over to us. And that’s understandable, since there’s so much of a learning curve involved, even regarding terminology. What’s a DI? Is that more or less important than a constable?

Some of them become available on the streaming services, but that’s usually just the biggest hits — the coppers on shows such as “Happy Valley” and “Broadchurch” can be seen over here, despite their strange uniforms — but that’s just a drop in the barrel of U.K. cop shows. And it remains to be seen if either of Dhawan’s new shows will hit that level of popularity.