Doctor Who 3.11: Utopia

[selenay]

After three truly excellent episodes in a row, it was possibly inevitable that we'd have a slightly awkward one but it was still definitely one that needed seeing. The episode plot was more of a backdrop for the really important stuff: the return of Captain Jack and the final ten minutes.

Have I mentioned lately that Captain Jack is fantastic? Well, he is :-) And it was nice to see him forgetting the angst and being flirty, excited Captain Jack. The explanation for why he can't die works for me and is really interesting.

The idea that the Doctor can't cope with seeing something that shouldn't exist is a fascinating look at the Doctor's psyche. It makes sense of his leaving (I was sure that the Doctor knew Jack was there when he left the Game Station) and of why he didn't hunt Jack down. I have a feeling that it could also add an interesting aspect to the relationship between Captain Jack and the Doctor over the next couple of episodes.

Am I a bad person for seeing slashy vibes between Ten and Captain Jack?

I loved that Captain Jack was flirting with everything. I loved that he knew he's been "kissed" when he revived. I loved that Martha got caught by the Captain Jack Thing (not that thing, minds out of gutters please) so quickly. And it's so fun for her to see something that's impossible, after all the other impossible things she's seen, and still be surprised.

The idea of the TARDIS trying to run away from Jack because of what he is, and that's why they ended up at the end of the universe, is also fascinating. Is the TARDIS going to let Jack travel with them? It's another indication that, while the TARDIS isn't sentient, she's not quite an inanimate object either. For some reason, that's an aspect I've always liked even in the classic series. It's just that RTD sometimes makes it a little more obvious now.

Will the TARDIS now be working with the Doctor and against her new, hopefully temporary, operator?

And speaking of...

I am so glad that I came to this episode completely unspoiled. Seriously, I had no idea. It meant that I got to slowly work out who Yana was along with Martha and the Doctor. It's always much more fun to have these huge, stonkingly massive twists happen without warning. Yup, I'd been hearing people speculate that it was the Master that RTD was bringing back but I'd been dismissing that idea. I mean, he counts the TV movie as canon so how could he manage it?

Can't wait to see whether (and how) he explains it over the next two episodes :-)

When Yana was having his little drums moments, my thoughts had been that he was actually starting evolve (or de-evolve?) into the Futurekind. I'm not sure why now, but it seemed like a logical assumption. After all, if the Futurekind are possibly what humans are going to become then why shouldn't the smartest human become one? On reflection, the fact that he was so damned brilliant should have made me think but I didn't. I had no idea that this would be a two-parter, either, so I was assuming that whatever our big bad was going to be would be revealed in next week's show.

Huh. How wrong I can sometimes be :-)

It was only when he showed Martha the pocket watch that I started to realise he was another Time Lord, disguised as human. My first thought was that possible he was a future incarnation of the Doctor and for some reason he'd needed to hide, but didn't have a companion like Martha by that stage. It wouldn't be the first time we've seen a possible future incarnation - I still remember the Valeyard very well.

It was when he was staring at the watch, with the voices surrounding him, and I heard that familiar chuckle that I sort of went, "Oh no. Oh crap."

I loved that they put in that quiet, subtle chuckle that is so iconically the Master. Beautiful shout-out to us old fans and it still gives me shivers. I wonder whether new fans, who haven't seen the Master before, picked up on that? I wonder what they thought of that? Would they have known what that meant?

After that, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Yana opened the pocket-watch. He wasn't an evil character, but he was curious. Possibly the reason that I didn't suspect Yana until he produced the watch is because he seemed so innocent and eager to help his people. The Master would never have sacrificed himself to give someone else the chance to live. John Smith was a very different character from the Doctor, yet at the same time he had a lot of the core of the Doctor. The core of the Master is selfish and evil. I wonder why his human self was essentially a good man?

Is Yana lurking in the back of the Master's mind, screaming at the knowledge of what he's become?

Watching the Doctor work out what the pocket watch was and who it might be was fascinating. I'm not entirely sure that the Yana = "You Are Not Alone" thing works for me, but I'm willing to let it slide.

The final really huge surprise for me was the regeneration. Did the chameleon arch re-set the Master's ability to regenerate? Is that going to be the explanation for why there will probably be more than thirteen Doctors?

Or was it because the Master had taken the hand? Is there potential regenerative energy in the hand that allowed it to happen?

Um, and why is the lovely John Simm playing the ultimate in evil Time Lords? I'm not saying that he won't be good. In fact, that's the problem. John Simm is probably going to be stunningly good as the Master. But...but...damn, one of my favourite actors is playing one of the most evil characters that Doctor Who has ever produced *pout* I'd heard that he was guest-starring, but assumed it would be one of those roles where he was some kind of good guy.

Oh, well. I'm very glad that I got to see that regeneration with no preparation :-)

The atmosphere of the episode was very dark and disturbing. I can still feel it now. Although some elements of the background plot felt a bit clunky, it more than paid off in terms of what the episode was really for. RTD has suddenly changed the focused of the season and did it with some pretty nimble footwork. The look on the Doctor's face as he realised what was happening was amazing. David Tennant did a fantastic job with this episode.

And we're left on an unexpected (for me) cliffhanger with dozens of questions still to be answered. Is it next week yet?


As a warning, I've deliberately not watched the trailers for next week's episode or the Confidential. I'm determined to get to the final two episodes spoiler-free. Help me out, guys, by not spoiling in comments except if it's your own speculation in answer to some of the questions I raised. Thank you :-)

Comments

[selenay]

I think I'm gonna love to hate this guy

John Simm is a seriously good actor and I have this feeling that he's going to be brilliant as the Master. Both megalomaniac and evil, without chewing scenery too much. And dastardly. Can't forget the dastardly.

Is it next week yet?

Had the Master already run through all his incarnations?

When the first actor, Roger Delgado, played him the Master was already on his last regeneration. Later on, he started body snatching to sustain himself - that's how he became Anthony Ainley. He took over the body of Tremas, the father of Nyssa who was one of the Doctor's companions. He seemed to keep that body going pretty well for a long time (it helped that Anthony Ainley avoided dying in any car crashes), but when the TV movie came he'd been caught, reduced to icky goo and his remains were going back to Gallifrey. Except the goo escaped and took over a new body. There were, I think, a couple of episodes between the Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley eras, in which other actors played a degraded and deformed version of the Master, before AA arrived and they wrote the Tremas-Master plot.

One of the speculations is that the Master could be the Doctor's final regeneration, turned mad and evil in his desperation to escape death. Another speculation has been that the Doctor and the Master are brothers. It's rather an interesting question that :-)