Nurture Versus Nature is a story that turned out completely different to my original idea. I was intending that a youth who was cloned from the DNA of The Master would be an adversary for Davie in the same way The Master was to The Doctor. This story does leave the possibility open for such a character to emerge in the future, but I decided in this instance to stick with the principle of Nurture versus Nature.

The film alluded to in the story – The Boys From Brazil – was actually an examination of exactly that theme. Children cloned from the DNA of Adolf Hitler were being manipulated by neo-Nazis in order to produce new Fuhrers. The plan failed because Gregory Peck put a stop to them. But the question of whether nature or nurture wins still needs to be addressed.

Now, personally, I think it’s all about nurture. It’s about whether a child is brought up right, not what their DNA happens to be, that counts. And I think The Doctor would be of the same opinion. He doesn’t believe that Marton, simply because he has The Master’s DNA, would grow into The Master. He has seen that the boy was brought up by loving parents, and was prepared to take the gamble that helping him become a Time Lord, in control of his own destiny, would pay off.

There were always questions about how The Master came to be executed on Skaro. The whole thing comes from the pre-titles sequence of the 1996 TV Film. He was executed in a strange sort of machine that vapourised his body, and The Doctor took his remains back to Gallifrey – or that was the plan.

But who exactly on Skaro put The Master on trial? Who asked The Doctor to witness the execution? The last we heard, Skaro was a smoking cinder after being blasted by the Hand of Omega. And before that, it was the home of the Daleks. A Dalek like voice is actually heard saying ‘Exterminate’ before the execution.

It is, of course, the fault of the American film makers who didn’t check the facts and confused everything. But here’s a way of sorting it all out. Suppose The Master was captured by the Kaleds before Davros developed the Daleks and they hadn’t been totally corrupted? That would make some kind of sense.

Anyway, under circumstances like that, I suggest, The Doctor went to Skaro to witness the death of his former friend, former enemy, and to carry out his last wish. And in those same circumstances, for the purpose of this story one of The Master’s followers managed to get hold of a sample of his DNA to make The Master’s immortality possible.

Or as The Doctor believes, The Master’s redemption, through Marton, who he is giving the chance to be a good Time Lord.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077269/