Podcast: Play in new window | Download
After a host of technical difficulties, we're making another go at the Two-minute Time Lord podcast with a look at the conclusion of Series 3 of Doctor Who, "Last of the Time Lords." There's a reason the Master made his final choice, and it's reflected in a behavioral economist's study of how powerful a motivator spite can be in the real world.
(A transcript and mp3 of Kai Ryssdal's October 1, 2008, interview with Dan Ariely is at Marketplace.)
Refusing to regenerate was the only thing The Master could do. He's insane. His relationship with The Doctor is like Joker's with Batman in "The Dark Night Rises." Batman would never kill the Joker because he has a moral high ground, and the Joker will never kill Batman because he's too interesting. Otherwise The Master would have offed The Doctor as soon as he captured him. It's all a big game to The Master.