Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2024: Week 17
Doctor/Master is an enemyslash pairing in the Doctor Who fandom between The Doctor, the show's protagonist, and The Master, a reoccurring antagonist. The ship stems from fan reactions to The Doctor and The Master's in-universe relationship. In the show, The Doctor and The Master are presented as enemies that nonetheless retain mutual respect for each other, and once had a much more positive relationship together in the pairs' backstory, though the nature of the latter remains somewhat ambiguous, especially given the show's extensive expanded universe.
Due to Doctor Who's regeneration concept, both The Doctor and The Master have separate incarnations with different personalities and gender identities. This plot element has resulted in Doctor/Master serving as an umbrella to multiple ships. Additionally, the ship spans multiple categories; initially starting with slash ships, Doctor/Master now also includes het and femslash ships. Ships in the umbrella vary in popularity, with slash being the most common.