Whether he’s a time-travelling Bond villain, hate-inspired skeletal nightmare or psychopathic man-child, he’s still an important fixture in the show – let’s not diminish him by trying to make him sensible. Let’s just say it was the sound of drums or the Doctor’s childhood mistake that drove him insane, and leave it at that. The fun of the character lies partly in seeing how well the story can convince us that this time, just once, he might win.

The Master first arrived on screen in 1971’s Terror Of The Autons, seemingly a Moriarty to the Doctor’s Sherlock Holmes. He was charming, cunning, and utterly vicious. Roger Delgado was a perfect foil to Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. After a whole season of stories featuring the character there could’ve been a case of diminishing returns, but the Master’s presence could lift a story that was flagging. Brilliant as it is to watch Delgado charm his way through a story, it’s when he’s on edge that you really get a glimpse of the Master’s sadism. Never anything less than entertaining, and sometimes a chilling psychopath, Delgado’s untimely death in a car crash meant his farewell at the end of Frontier In Space is not the moment it should be.

The Master only meets Tom Baker’s Doctor twice. The effect this has is that it makes each appearance special. The Keeper Of Traken was apparently ludicrously exciting on initial broadcast, back in the days where spoilers were easily kept. Fans look back on the character’s return, with Anthony Ainley having enormous fun being evil, as stupendous event television of its time.

Logopolis may contain some of the stupidest things ever broadcast, but you can’t deny the impact the return of the Master had, and the implications of part three’s cliffhanger: he and the Doctor must work together to save the universe. Previously hypothetical faeces have been verified epistemologically. Shit just got real.