Sacha Dhawan, who plays the latest incarnation of the Doctor’s childhood friend-turned enemy, the Master, says he’s keen to come back to Doctor Who in future – that is, if fans like what he does with the role in The Timeless Children.

Dhawan has teased that the finale of Series 12 is particularly bleak:

“It’s made me want to do more – if they ask me back, that is… It all depends on how episode 10 goes down. So far, the fans like it, but the Master’s so unpredictable. I was doing some extra voice work a couple of weeks ago and I was watching the finale going ‘Wow – this is really dark.’”

He goes on to say that this upcoming episode will peel back another layer of the Time Lord:

“You know, the Master has so many different sides. And you’ve seen a few of them only in two episodes, but [now] you’ll really get to know who this guy is.”

Sacha is probably previously best known to Doctor Who fans for playing Waris Hussein in An Adventure in Space and Time (2013), and debuted as the Master in this year’s first episode, Spyfall. He also appeared in Sherlock as Ajay and Dracula, both by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, as Dr Sharma.

He’s otherwise known for parts in Marvel’s Iron Fist, Line of Duty, Last Tango in Halifax, The Tractate Middoth, and The Boy with the Topknot. Personally, I’m very happy Dhawan’s in the series as such an iconic bad guy, especially as he comes across as a really nice, approachable, and talented chap – and so is a great ambassador for Doctor Who. Fingers crossed he gets to return as the Master in stories beyond Chris Chibnall’s time as showrunner too.