Born: 20th August 1932 (as Anthony Holmes)
Died: 3rd May 2004 (aged 71 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1981-1986, 1989

The younger of two sons conceived out of wedlock by Clarice Holmes and noted Shakespearean actor Henry Ainley, London-born Anthony Holmes spent much of his childhood in orphanages as his mother battled poverty. This included a period in New York, to which he was evacuated during the Second World War. In 1942, Holmes made his screen debut, uncredited, in the war movie The Foreman Went To France. His national service was spent in the Parachute Regiment, and Holmes subsequently worked as an insurance clerk before deciding to follow his father into acting. He was involved in amateur theatre during the Fifties, and then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. By the time he graduated in 1964, he had adopted his father's surname for professional purposes.

Ainley was soon appearing in the West End, while making his television debut in a recurring role on It's Dark Outside. More small screen credits during the Sixties included episodes of The Avengers, The Champions and Department S, while amongst those on the silver screen were Naked Evil, Inspector Clouseau, Oh! What A Lovely War, and uncredited in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. During the Seventies, Ainley had a starring role in Spyder's Web. Other television included everything from Doomwatch to Brett to Upstairs, Downstairs to Target. His movie appearances became less frequent, but still included the horror Blood On Satan's Claw, crime drama Assault, and as the villain in the fantasy adventure The Land That Time Forgot.

When it was decided that the Master would be brought back on a recurring basis, Ainley was a natural choice

Ainley had worked with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner on The Pallisers and executive producer Barry Letts on the classics serial Nicholas Nickleby. As a result, when it was decided that the Master would be brought back to Doctor Who on a recurring basis, Ainley was a natural choice. He debuted as the kindly Consul Tremas, father of companion-to-be Nyssa, in 1981's The Keeper Of Traken, before transforming into the evil Time Lord. Ainley's version was a visual echo of the original Master, Roger Delgado, but while Nathan-Turner intended the new incarnation to be less humorous and more malevolent, pantomime inclinations sometimes crept in. Ainley returned in the next story, Logopolis, where he caused the regeneration of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, and then bedevilled Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor in his debut adventure, Castrovalva.

Ainley would appear in five further serials with Davison, including the 1983 twentieth-anniversary special The Five Doctors and in a cameo as the Fifth Doctor regenerated at the conclusion of the following year's The Caves Of Androzani. Ainley's refusal to acknowledge that he wore a toupee became a source of amusement amongst cast and crew, especially when the Master was disguised as the sorcerer Kalid in Time-Flight... for which Ainley demanded that he be given a bald cap to wear over his wig. Meanwhile, rare appearances outside of Doctor Who during the Eighties included episodes of Mackenzie and The Boy Who Won The Pools.

As the decade wore on, Ainley's relationship with Nathan-Turner began to cool, and he came to feel that the Master was being emasculated: he was reduced to miniature size in 1984's Planet Of Fire and then, in his appearances with Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor, played second fiddle to new Time Lord villains the Rani (in 1985's The Mark Of The Rani) and the Valeyard (in 1986's The Trial Of A Time Lord). Three years elapsed before Ainley's final Doctor Who serial: Survival in 1989. His only confrontation with Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor turned out to be the last story broadcast as part of the programme's original run.

Independently wealthy by virtue of an inheritance from his father, Ainley retired from acting following the cancellation of Doctor Who. He made one further appearance as the Master in specially-recorded segments for the 1997 videogame Doctor Who: Destiny Of The Doctors from BBC Multimedia. Infamously reclusive, Ainley dedicated the rest of his life to his passion for cricket. He died on May 3rd, 2004. Karen Louise Hollis' biography, entitled The Man Behind The Master, was released by Fantom Publishing in 2015.