Why I love the Spymaster #92: Increasing beard of increasing chaos!
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#92: Increasing beard of increasing chaos!
The Spymaster has four looks in The Power of the Doctor. In order of appearance, they are [from top to bottom] Ra-Ra-Rasputin, the seismologist, Thirteen's outfit, and the over-Doctored look.
As I note in #55: He's a mess as the Doctor!, the Spymaster becomes sloppier in personal appearance as the episode wears on. His clothes go from perfectly tailored to haphazardly layered [and clearly not fitting well].
This mini essay just points out that a similar change occurs with his facial hair. I can't really say it's a chronological progression because this is Doctor Who, show of decidedly wibbly chronology. However, the Spymaster first shows up in various paintings in his Ra-Ra-Rasputin guise.
Ra-Ra-Rasputin with exuberant facial hair thus appears first, both to viewers and to the Doctor. We're not exactly sure what it means, but, since it's the Master, it can't be good. The sheer volume of beard highlights its artificiality and kind of stands in for the complexity of the Spymaster's plan. The beard portends something particularly wild and wooly!
Thus the appearance to the Spymaster as seismology fan comes as a little shock. He looks so put together! And there's no facial hair! As the episode continues, however, the Spymaster drops the clean-shaven look, going back to bushy Ra-Ra-Rasputin. From there he bounces over into his Doctor-stealing form, in which his beard is now growing back. The more frantic and frenetic he becomes in his pursuit and attempted possession of the Doctor, the more facial hair he has. The beard serves as a reliable indicator of his level of internal chaos.
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