The Master thinks he’s God, and sometimes God has to be a little rough. Sometimes you have to have a little tornado, you know? He’s that kind of guy. He’s egomaniacal, which is insane.” This is The Word according to Eric Roberts, when asked to describe his interpretation of the Master in the 1996 TV Movie.
We are meeting up in a Heathrow hotel during a rare visit to the UK by the Hollywood actor, there to attend a convention for supernatural drama Lost Girl. When he greets DWM with a fist bump, and later says goodbye with a hug, it displays a casual familiarity which belies expectations, especially as we’re there to discuss his performance in a shortlived role two decades ago.
Wearing a light brown overcoat which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tenth Doctor’s, coupled with a classic white shirt and blue jeans combo, there’s little here to recall the sunglasses and leather coat which were the trademarks of his interpretation of the renegade Time Lord.