"The Sound of Drums"
"This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that what this country really needs right now is... a doctor." -
Prime Minister Harold Saxon (aka the Master)
Since this episode is the (almost) culmination of all the clues, hints and cause/effects from many previous episodes of this season and prior (also from
Torchwood), I decided to resort to a quick summary of the episode and then launch into my patented stream-of-consciousness observations. So here goes....
The Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack all escape the Futurekind from last week's episode, "Utopia," via Jack's previously defective Vortex Manipulator (The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver comes in handy, doesn't it?) and end up in 21st-century England searching for the Master. The TARDIS was reprogrammed by the Doctor before the Master TARDIS-napped it into only being able to travel between the last two destinations, which were 21st-century England and 100 trillion years in the future. Since they didn't see the Master's regeneration, they have no idea what he looks like. Martha claims to have recognized his regenerated voice but just can't put a face to it. With political banners and election-results videos all around them, the realization smacks them right in the face: The newly elected prime minister, Harold Saxon, is the Master!
Eighteen months prior, the TARDIS returned to Earth with the Master. From that point on, he has worked to get himself elected PM by designing a satellite network that uses a perception filter to hypnotize the population. He has even been strategically laying the groundwork for the Doctor's eventual capture at the end of the episode.
After being elected, the Master kills the entire cabinet and later a nosey reporter (who turns out to be working for Torchwood). He sets into motion the next phase of his master (heh) plan, in which he stages a fake alien first-contact situation so that he can have the event televised around the globe the next day. During all of this, the Doctor and friends are almost captured by Saxon's cronies, who are using Martha's parents as bait.
While on the lam, the Doctor is able to use three keys from the TARDIS to act like the Master's perception filter, and they go on the offensive. They track down the Master at an airport where the U.S. president has just landed. Much to the Master's amusement, the president berates Mr. Saxon for not following protocol and then takes over the entire first-contact scenario.
The location of the meeting with the aliens is scheduled to take place on the
Valiant, a flying aircraft carrier under the control of UNIT. Overhearing all of this, the Doctor and Co. teleport via Jack's vortex manipulator to the ship with the intent of stopping the Master by placing one of the TARDIS keys around his neck, thus showing the world who Saxon really is. While in the belly of the
Valiant, they discover that the TARDIS is hidden away inside and that the Master has converted the Doctor's ship into a paradox machine.
The next day the plan goes awry as the aliens kill the president and the Master reveals himself as himself. The TARDIS key perception filters do not work on him as he easily captures the Doctor and Martha and "kills" Capt. Jack with his new Laser Screwdriver. The device also contains a genetic manipulator based on technology funded by Saxon from the episode "The Lazarus Experiment." With this technology and the Doctor's severed hand (which Capt. Jack lugged along in the previous episode), the Master has the genetic code to prematurely age the Doctor by 100 years. Jack revives himself while Martha is tending him and he gives her his Vortex Manipulator and tells her to teleport off the ship, which she is hesitant to do.
Meanwhile, the Master summons forth the aliens from a space/time rift in the sky from which six billion aliens exit. He orders the aliens to kill one-tenth of the world's population, which they seem very eager to do. To Martha's dismay her imprisoned family are brought into the bridge/conference room. Seeing no other way out, she teleports herself off the ship.
Goodness! Like I said, so much happens that not even a summary can do it justice! Time (lord?) for the observations:
" First up, here is the BBC's official Harold Saxon website (as seen in the episode):
Harold Saxon.
" Harold Saxon/the Master:
John Simm's portrayal as the Master is stunningly evil. Humorously over-the-top when needed and insanely evil - the Doctor's ultimate nemesis, quite literally the anti-Doctor. I'd give his performance two Master thumbs up, exactly like his response to the near-death cabinet member's comment: "You're insane!"
" Lucy Saxon and the Master, Part 2: I wasn't too sure what to make of the character at first, that is until she is being questioned by the reporter who is really an undercover Torchwood agent. I was thinking that the character was just in the dark about Saxon's plans as everyone else was (yawn), but when she responded to the reporter's intel by saying, "I made my choice for better or for worse.... Isn't that right, Harry?" Mr. Saxon, who was already in the room, answered her, "My faithful companion." She is in on the whole thing! I wasn't expecting that at all. Going with this anti-Doctor motif, the Doctor's companions seem almost sweet and wholesome, with no hanky-panky other than maybe some hand-holding (unless the Doctor "dances" off screen with them), whereas the Master takes a companion whom he calls his wife and kisses her openly.
" Jack and Torchwood: Most TV shows probably would not deal with these effects on a spin-off series, but
Russell T. Davies isn't a slacker, so he effectively addresses this via an aside from Saxon, who states that he has sent them off on a "wild goose chase" in the Himalayas. We are given an explanation (finally) about how Torchwood could still be in operation after the events from Season 2 finale episodes, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday." Jack has rebuilt Torchwood into a different organization than the one the Doctor dealt with. In fact, Jack calls the new Torchwood a tribute he made in honor of the Doctor.
Spoiler alert: Torchwood Season 1 finale
This explains much about Jack (does he have a crush on the Doctor as well?) and also brilliantly ties into his last comment from the season finale of
Torchwood, "End of Days" where he states that he would have opened the rift for "the right kind of doctor." This mirrors Saxon's election speech quoted at the top of this page. What's interesting and strangely parallel here (or is anti-Doctor a better term?) is that Jack would open the Cardiff rift for the Doctor and the Master's rift and the ensuing events are a result of well... I'll just save that for next week's blog.
End spoiler
This episode is the second time that the Doctor has to chastise Jack for his potential actions. Last week Jack wanted to shoot the Futurekind, and this week he mentions that he would break the neck of the Master. As the Doctor points out, "That sounds like Torchwood." Odd that this is the same Torchwood that was built in honor of the Doctor.
" Although it sounded savagely brutal, I found it extremely black-comedic the manner in which Saxon and his wife kept opening the door to the room where the reporter was being killed. Who could have thought that screaming for one's life would be funny?
" Continuity and references: I love them when they occur within TV shows as this sort of makes it more real to me in the sense that the characters are growing, learning and remembering the past. I believe that they are a reward of sorts for steady viewership; maybe reward isn't the correct term. It's almost like the DVD Easter Eggs from the episode "Blink," and it's very cool to spot them in repeated viewings of episodes of
Doctor Who. It's also interesting to see how far into the future Russell T. Davies has planned out the episodes and how everything ties in together. Here's a brief list that I jotted down while watching this episode: Downing Street is rebuilt; references to the events in the episodes; "The Christmas Invasion" (Harriet Jones) and "The Runaway Bride"; the Archangel Network; Professor Lazarus, UNIT (also referenced in one episode in Season 1); all the "news footage" from those previous episodes; not to mention all the Saxon references in this season (and I believe in the finale of Season 2). There are one or two Saxon references in
Torchwood so keep an eye out for those. Finally Jelly Babies and Gallifrey, need I say more?
" Martha: Let's just say that I wouldn't want to get on Martha's bad side. Did you see how she angrily responded to the Doctor after her apartment exploded? Probably still some pent-up Rose jealousy bursting out there (heh) on top of her concern for her family's safety. What she might have forgotten was that the Doctor wasn't the cause of all of this, but rather she was, as she kept going on and on about the pocket watch in the previous episode and that triggered the Master's rebirth! Essentially, this is all her fault!
" Music: For the most part, I have been impressed by the music for this revival series and this episode's score is like none other (except maybe next week's episode). Almost every theme can be heard here with the exception of Rose's theme. Martha's music seems to stand out to me as it's more subtle than say the Master's drum theme. There is even a bit of the
Torchwood score thrown into the mix. Not sure about the rest of you, but I had goose bumps during the scene when the Doctor and the Master had their first true conversation as the music swells, then goes silent.
" Time War and the Master, Part 3: The Master tells us how he was resurrected (from the Eye of Harmony from the events in the Fox
Doctor Who TV-movie, I assume) to help fight in the Time War but ran away and hid himself where no one would find him. Makes perfect sense and it was foolish of the Time Lords to think they could trust him. Curious how the Doctor didn't know about this though.
" Best dialogue sequence about the Master:
Martha: "... and what is he to you? A colleague or"
The Doctor: "A friend at first."
Martha: "Thought you were going to say it (he?) was your secret brother or something."
The Doctor: "You've been watching too much TV."
" Best line about the Master:
Harold Saxon: "So America is completely in charge?"
President Winters: "Since Britain elected an 'ass,' yes!"
" The young Master: Remind anyone else of Damien from
The Omen?
" Perception filter and Martha: The Doctor explains to Martha the TARDIS key perception filter thusly, "It's like when you fancy someone but they don't even know you exist." Sadly, Martha knows this feeling all too well.
" "Here come the drums" and visual effects at the end: How almost Nero-like of the Master to be looking down at the destruction of one-tenth of the population, especially when he plays the music as the rift opens and the aliens surge forth. One word to sum up the visual effects at the end: Wow!
" Final thought: How much would it have sucked if this episode was the season finale? We would have to wait an entire year literally to see the conclusion!
Until next time! Expelliarmus!
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