Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords

Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords
by Russell T Davies
Originally Broadcasted: June 16th-30th, 2007

The Doctor, Martha, and Captain Jack travel to the end of the universe where an old enemy, The Master is awakened. The Master steals The Doctor's TARDIS and returns to modern day England where he hatches a plan to become Prime Minister. But The Master is after much more than just England, he's after the whole planet. Seizing control and aging The Doctor beyond belief, it's up to Martha to save Earth and potentially the universe...

The first series of new Doctor Who brought us the inevitable return of the Daleks, the most famous Doctor Who enemy. Series 2 brought back the Cybermen, so then the obvious choice to bring in for Series 3 was The Doctor's greatest enemy, The Master. Every bit The Doctor's equal, The Master knows how to get to The Doctor and delights in seeing his pain. But when we first see The Master in Utopia, he doesn't actually know who he is, thanks to the chameleon watch device introduced earlier in Series 3. Thanks to some unfortunate prodding from Martha, Professor Yana (the human version of The Master) opens the fog watch and the evil inside is rekindled. Derek Jacobi's version of The Master then regenerates into John Simm, and that's where the mania really kicks in. Throughout The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, The Master is portrayed as a raving lunatic, more so than he's ever been before in the history of Doctor Who. But the thing is, he's also extremely powerful. Right under The Doctor's nose, he becomes prime minster of Great Britain and The Doctor is virtually powerless against him, which is so unusual to see. The tables are completely flipped in this story. With some remarkable special effects and makeup, The Doctor is twice aged, so old that he can barely move. It's up to Martha to spread The Doctor's name around the world. It's such a clever way to defeat The Master. Just through the power of words. Two other clever things in this three-parter is Yana's name, which ends up being an acronym of what the Face of Boe said to The Doctor in Gridlock: "You Are Not Alone". And then the reveal that the Toclafane are actually the humans from the end of the universe is clever, yet really terrifying at the same time. The season finales during the Russell T Davies era were always really clever and epic, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it would be this one. The Master has always been my favorite Doctor Who villain, so getting to see his grand return to "new Who" was just amazing to me at the time. Here's hoping he'll make another return next year for the 50th anniversary!

Luke's Rating: 10/10