Everything you needed to know about that Rasputin scene.
As the latest incarnation of The Master in Doctor Who, Sacha Dhawan has had quite the adventure (in space and time). But there are certain moments that stand out to him above all others.
While the actor hasn’t ruled out returning to the show in the future, he sees his last appearance in the show, in The Power of the Doctor, as an ending to his Master – at least for now.
So, as part of RadioTimes.com’s 60 Days of Doctor Who, we caught up with the Doctor Who icon to ask him some burning questions from the fans.
If you could feature in an episode alongside another Master…. which one would it be?
Submitted by @nerddenreal.
Dhawan: “Michelle Gomez. We met recently at a Comic Con in New Zealand of all places, and we had to do an interview together for some press. I wasn’t the Master, like I didn’t realise I was considering her as the Master. She’s the Master, Missy! And I was just slightly like a goofy fan. But we got to hang out and we had the best time ever. I knew immediately if we got to do scenes together, it would be chaos, like it’d be amazing. She is so great. I’d love to work with her.”
RadioTimes.com: “Even the little video you put out on social media together, it sent fans into a tailspin.”
Dhawan: “Totally it did. She’s great. She’s got such a such a amazing fanbase, when you get to meet her as well, she’s just brilliant. I really took to a shine to her. I sent her a message recently, like, ‘Oh, god, I adore you’ because we were just kind of going back and forth with messages. She’s got such a great heart and she’s just funny and brilliant. And that was meeting her for a couple of days. Can you imagine us filming together? Chaos.”
What was your favourite scene to film in Doctor Who?
Submitted by @uwuttaker.
Dhawan: “I’d probably say the plane scene and I’d probably say… It’s hard to say really, I enjoyed all of them [but] I’d say yeah, the Rasputin scene. And it wasn’t even for the dance, really. I mean, the dance was a good part of it. I just really loved doing it. I had a moment when I was like, going to the restroom during the scenes and you kind of look yourself in the mirror and you’re like, ‘I’m dressed as Rasputin’. This is nonsense! This is crazy!”
Is there an extended cut of the Rasputin dance?
Submitted by @CooperHillier.
Dhawan: I was convinced that in the script, it said, ‘Rasputin dances’, and it doesn’t. I think he just clicks the song on and for some reason, I read it in my head that he dances so I was doing the scene.
“And then they put the music on and I just started dancing, thinking that was what was in the script. But they must have thought, ‘Well, this is Sacha, this is kind of what he does, let’s just go with it.’
“And they let me dance for about five minutes, I was proper going for it! I hadn’t planned what moves I was gonna do, I just knew on that day I had to dance. I think because I was really adrenalised and gearing myself up for it for the last couple of days, I just broke out into – I was squatting, jumping, and I think they thought, ‘This is quite cool’.
“Unfortunately they couldn’t keep all of it in because it wasn’t planned but they did keep some of it so I was quite happy.”
“Loads of people have picked up on it and stuff, but I think when I got the script and saw it, I just loved the idea of Rasputin dancing to Boney M, so I was listening to the song constantly when I was in London, and I think I had the beat in my head and when it came to it, I just like, let loose. I’m glad it made the cut!”
RadioTimes.com: “I can’t believe it wasn’t actually in the script.”
Dhawan: “I actually looked back recently, I thought ‘I should just check this’. And then I thought, ‘Oh my god, it doesn’t even say The Master dances’, it just says he clicks the song on. So that was just a complete misread in the script on my part.”
How did you go about playing a character that’s been played by so many other actors too?
Submitted by @Galifreyboi.
Dhawan: “I really wanted to put my own spin on it and I didn’t really look too much at other actors or the history too much. I didn’t want to get bogged down by it. And then Chris [Chibnall] and Matt [Strevens] also gave me the freedom to kind of own it, which was fantastic.
“I think that’s what’s great about Doctor Who, when other actors come in to incarnate different roles, they’re really allowed to put their own stamp on it, even in terms of costume as well.
“Ray Holman, the costume designer, for me, who worked on my incarnation, was incredibly collaborative. But something maybe I’ve not spoken about is reveals really work well, where you almost kind of – especially if you’re coming in as a different character is to almost separate the two, which is a really good tip, because I think when I initially was preparing for O, I was trying to be too clever with it. And you could tell that it was the Master.
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“So I did this thing, which really helped me, which was I kind of separated the script into two. So I looked at it as two different projects. So all the Master stuff I just put away in a cupboard and never looked at it for ages and I just looked at O, and I thought okay, so I’m coming in just playing this kind of nerdy science guy and I just almost forgot that I was coming in as the Master.
“So I did all the O scenes, and I thought, ‘Okay, that’s all done’. And then I thought ‘Right, now I can look at the Master. So that was two separate characters. So it meant that the reveal works really well. Because I think if you watch O, I didn’t intentionally do this, but there’s no kind of Master-esque of things to him. He’s not trying to be clever or anything and I think it helps.
“So that was my approach specifically to that episode. Then as I was the Master and the episodes went on, I just… I always wanted to just keep investigating him, keep being playful. Coming back for The Power of the Doctor, I didn’t want to just do the same thing, which is why you didn’t see me in the purple costume and stuff, I wanted to kind of try and do something different.
“I feel like the Master is brilliant because he’s a master of disguise. He’s not that comfortable at being himself, but he loves being other people or putting on a mask, so, really I think underneath all of that is someone incredibly vulnerable that we’ve maybe not seen yet. I don’t know. That’s, that’s my interpretation anyway. So I’d be interested in seeing what that side of him is – a really, really vulnerable side.”
RadioTimes.com: “That makes so much sense because in that reveal, your face completely changes.”
Dhawan: “Yeah, and Jamie, the director, gave me a really good note on that day, which was, “I really want to see the decision of you going, ‘Okay, I’m going to show to the Doctor now that I’m the Master’ He said, ‘Just ramp it up a little bit, even if it feels big,’ So it made me like, do something quite odd with my eyes, they went up slightly.
“And I think that was when people went ‘What? This is odd’. And it really was such a good note from Jamie, because it was slightly alien, watching his eyes. Because suddenly, he’s making that choice.”
Did you take anything from set?
Submitted by @taylz19_TTT.
Dhawan: “I didn’t take anything but they kindly, at the end when I finished, they gave me my whole costume and everything, and also the Tissue Compression Eliminator, which was like, ‘Oh, my God, so I’ve got it’. I mean, I didn’t quite know what I’m going to do with it, but kind of put it away.
“But it was awesome. It kind of made me feel a bit like ‘Oh, I’m definitely finished, then! I’m not coming back. Okay, thanks a lot!’ Like, ‘Okay, bye, everybody!’ It was great that they gave me all of I didn’t have to steal it.”
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