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John Simm

You are my voodoo child....

British actor, most famous for being Seventies-trapped Woobie Sam Tyler in Life On Mars and a magnificently hammy Master in Doctor Who. Other notable roles include Sexby in the English Civil War drama The Devil's Whore, Raskolnikov in a BBC adaptation of Crime and Punishment, and characters in the films Skellig and 24 Hour Party People (in the latter, playing Joy Division guitarist/New Order lead singer Bernard Sumner).

Still, The Mighty Boosh asks "Who the fuck is John Simm?"

Tropes

Clint Squint: Repeatedly as the Master.
Executive Meddling: Apparently Russell T Davies pushed him to play the Master as a "giggling lunatic" and Simm later admitted he felt he couldn't give the required depth to the character.
Grim Up North: His roles in Life On Mars and (to a lesser extent) Clocking Off.
Large Ham: Went Ham-to-Ham with David Tennant, and depending on who you ask, he won.
Manly Tears: Pretty often in Life On Mars.
- Also teared up as the Master in the End of Time.
Mean Character, Nice Actor: As the Master.
Method Acting: He says there's no such thing as the Method, but since the term is colloquially used to refer to Stanislavskian acting styles, this fits in with his training and his acting style.
So My Kids Can Watch: It's the reason he was in Doctor Who.
- Irony: After watching his own performance, he thought his own children shouldn't see what he did as The Master due to it being too disturbing.
Urban Legend / Half Truth: There is one going around that he would be returning to play as The Master. While he has mentioned he would like to play the role, and Steven Moffat has stated that The Master could return someday, a Tweet in April 2012 has stated that he doesn't plan on playing the Master anytime soon. Whether this means he hasn't been approached or turned down the role is anyone's guess.
- A recent interview stated that he would love to play The Master again, but he just hasn't been approached for the role yet.