‘MYTH MAKERS: ANTHONY AINLEY’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The last feature of ‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD is a tribute to Anthony Ainley, who played the ‘fourth’ Master in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. I greatly enjoyed this very special tribute. 🙂
Sadly, Reeltime Pictures didn’t get to do an interview with Anthony for a ‘Myth Makers’, since he sadly passed away in 2004. It’s a shame, as I enjoyed his interpretation of the Master in the TV show.
Thankfully, the Galaxy 4 shop in Sheffield recorded a panel talk with Anthony Ainley during a signing event. They gave Anthony’s panel talk to Reeltime Pictures so it could act as a ‘Myth Makers’ tribute.
It was lovely to see Anthony be interviewed for a panel talk back in 2000. I found myself laughing a lot whenever Anthony answered questions during the panel talk, sometimes in a humorous manner.
Anthony is regarded as a very private man, and it was nice to hear him share his memories of being in ‘Doctor Who’ when he played the Master on TV. It’s a shame he didn’t do any Big Finish audios. 😦
Jon Culshaw has done a reasonably decent job in recreating Anthony Ainley’s Master for Big Finish audio recently, but it isn’t the same when it’s not Anthony Ainley playing his Master for the audios. 😦
I’m surprised Big Finish didn’t approach Anthony to reprise his role for the Master in a ‘Doctor Who’ audio. Maybe they were about to, but it was too late by the time Anthony passed away, which is sad.
It was interesting to hear Anthony’s anecdotes, especially when concerning his working relationship with producer John Nathan-Turner. Anthony wasn’t keen on attending the conventions in the USA.
Not unless he was paid a reasonable fee. It’s implied JNT wasn’t happy with Anthony for that, but he must have still liked him as the Master, especially when he had him return for stories like ‘Survival’. 🙂
I would have liked to have met Anthony Ainley in real-life at a convention. He comes across as genuinely humble person. He seemed to enjoy meeting his fans when attending the signing event. 🙂
This ‘Myth Makers’ tribute is briefly introduced by Nicholas Briggs, who voices the Daleks and Cybermen on TV and on audio. Nick also works on a lot of Big Finish audios as a writer and a director. 😀
Throughout Anthony’s ‘Myth Makers’, there are contributions from Adrian Hulme, Ben Keywood and Andy Swinden, as they organised Anthony’s signing event and run the Galaxy 4 shop in Sheffield, I believe.
It was interesting to hear their thoughts about Anthony Ainley during the panel talk, and mostly it’s positive memories. I’m pleased Anthony brought joy to the convention organisers and fans that day.
It’s intriguing Anthony shared he didn’t receive the warmth from certain Doctors like William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee when working with them. 😐 He worked with Hartnell before ‘Doctor Who’.
I know William Hartnell could be sharp and bad-tempered at times and Jon Pertwee tended to divide those who enjoyed working with him and those who didn’t. Sometimes that can be a bit off-putting.
I recollect from a panel talk between Stephen Thorne and Michael Kilgariff at ‘Regenerations 2013’ in Swansea, 2013, that Stephen Thorne enjoyed working with Jon Pertwee whereas Michael Kilgariff didn’t.
Interesting parallels from that and Anthony’s panel talk. Anthony shares how much he enjoyed working with Tom Baker during his last two TV stories, recollecting how creative he was on the set. 🙂
Anthony even mentions that Tom Baker rewrote scripts sometimes. 😀 It was intriguing how Anthony compared Tom Baker’s creative stance to Peter Davison’s, who was quiet yet still good to work with.
I liked it when Anthony shared memories of working with Ron Jones who directed ‘Time-Flight’. It was funny when Anthony acknowledged that he knew fans didn’t like ‘Time-Flight’ when they saw it. 😀
I also liked it when Anthony shared his opinion on the ‘Doctor Who’ TV movie with Paul McGann and what he thought of Eric Roberts as the Master. Anthony does share how jealous he was with Eric. 😀
The Anthony Ainley ‘Myth Makers’ tribute has been great to watch indeed. I’m glad the Galaxy 4 people in Sheffield recorded a panel talk with Anthony and it ended up as a ‘Myth Makers’ tribute. 🙂
‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD compilation was something worth waiting for in 2020. In a time when things seemed bleak during the Covid-19 pandemic, I need escapism to calm my anxiety at home. ‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ 2-disc DVD set provided that for me, which I’m pleased about.
It was great to see the recorded panel talks and interviews with some of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stars from the Fifth Doctor era, especially the ones with Sarah Sutton in them. I was looking forward to seeing some of these stars again following 2020. I’m happy I did in Bedford in 2021 and in Newcastle in 2022. 🙂
‘Myth Makers: Anthony Ainley’ rating – 8/10
‘The Doctors: The Peter Davison Years’ DVD rating – 9/10
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Bradley's Basement 
Big Finish did approach Ainley to play the Master but he asked for considerably more money than they could afford to pay. More than they had paid the returned Doctor actors. Ainley loved playing the Master but always made sure the gig paid – (including signing autographs) – even though he was independently wealthy enough to turn down other roles.
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Hi cplmarr,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Anthony Ainley. I suppose that would make sense concerning Anthony Ainley wanting more money to be paid to play the Master in the Big Finish audios, much like how he wanted more money to be paid to go to the USA conventions with producer John Nathan-Turner. I suppose Big Finish was in their infancy stages by the time they started doing ‘Doctor Who’ audio dramas in 1999. It’s a shame as I still would have liked to have heard Anthony Ainley play the Master in the Big Finish audios. I enjoyed his version of the Master played by Jon Culshaw in ‘The Auton Infinity’ in the ‘Forty’ series.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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