Doctor Who 3x12 - "The Sound of Drums"
 

Plot Summary - Written by Russell T Davies
Harry Saxon is about to become the UK's new Prime Minister. But his plans for the future involve domination of the entire world...

I love John Simm.

cracking episode, sad in parts and scaty in others, nice way to get the 3 heros home soon too ;)

Absolutely loved it. I had to watch it on tape because I was doing the last night of the show when it aired. Saw the first 5 minutes on a monitor, Phil Collinson's name came up at the start and Kevin shouted "oh that's my boss that is" then various other things about the cast.

John Simm is excellent, because he's FUNNY! A funny master is just what we needed. 10/10

I must say I enjoyed this episode. I'm going to predict that Danny either loathes this episode because the Master wasn't played seriously, or love it because he's now all the more threatening and effectively using the 4th Doctor's tactics of being silly to throw everyone off guard....

Absolutely loved it! The serious fan in me adored the fantastic storyline and acting, and the hormonal fangirl in me wet herself over so much John Simm

8/10

As your know, In nuWho we generally only get few, short examples of continuity between the classic and new series not to alienate new fans, so the backstory of the Master and the scenes on Gallifrey were a treat to see.

Simm as the Master was a bit dissapointing for me, in Utopia he was superb, but this week, the eccentricity and humor over-powered the sheer evilness of the character. I would love to have seen him as the mirror of David Tennant's character, as ruthless and twisted as Delgado or Ainley.

Excellent episode this week -- a strong 9/10 from me.

Indeed. He's a great Master -- my concerns after last week have been laid to rest.

Home? I hope you're not suggesting that the Doctor's home is Earth...

I agree. I quite like John Simm and his portrayal (and the writing) of the Master this week.

I'm not really polarized to one side or the other. However I will say that I had my concerns about John Simm as the Master, but they are no more. I'd say Russell T Davies is writing the Master just right, and Simm is certainly the man for the job. I liked a lot of this Master's behavior and lines, so I'd say he's doing well so far!

Agreed -- the Gallifrey scenes (especially seeing properly dressed Time Lords) were a thing of beauty!

Heh, it's funny -- I didn't like Simm in Utopia, but he's turned things around for The Sound of Drums, at least for me. I quite like this version of the Master. He's almost psychopathically mad, but has a boyish sort of quality to him as well. Pete compared him to the Fourth Doctor above, and I can see that. Overall, I think it's the right quality for a 2007 Master.

I agree about the gallifrey scenes, loved them. Even caught a glimpse of the seal of rassilon! But yeah, the timelord dress was excellent.

It was quite good, though the whole "end of the world" plotline seemed a bit uninspiring to me for some reason. John Simm played the Master well, I liked his performance, and his choice of companions. :P

Also, im afraid I have to point out that those weapons would've shreaded Martha's car, not just bounce off or break the back window lol. But meh.

And what to make of next week's episode... was that a considerably older Captain Jack?

Those are GB36S's. And they were just extraordinarily bad shots, as most Doctor Who military types are.

Oh this was a great, FANTASTIC episode, it's already looking like the best season finale ever...not just Doctor Who, but for every show in existence. John Simm's Master was hilarious, but at the same time had a "very real" sense of madness and evilness (so, does this mean he's had that drumming all of his lifes, even in his Roger Delgado incarnation?). I loved how unbelievably uncaring he was towards anything that got in his way. And the way he used the Tardis, horrible...WHICH WAS BRILLIANT!!!:D
HE EVEN HAD JELLY BABIES!!!! Again,:D. I was so shocked when I saw him age the Doctor 130 years, my only problem with that is that the 4th Doctor was aged in a similar way in "The Leasure Hive", and he looked like a similar age as the "aged" 10th Doctor, yet the 4th was apparently aged by around 450 years.
So far, this is looking set to be the best ever Doctor Who serial, and I'm even counting the classic series. Here's hoping that next weeks gripping finale is exactly that, gripping.

Sorry, typo Danny, I guess because The Doctors spends a lot of time at Earth. There was that period in the 70's where he was exiled to Earth, and the original run did start with The Doctor in exile on Earth. So technically speaking he could consider earth a home, or a second home :) But I see your point.

What I really loved was those flashbacks of Galifrey and the Temple of the Time Lords (I think that was it's name). I brought back some memories of some recorded episodes I saw :) and I thought the costumes were quite true to lore.

trivia for you: This episode marked the first time that we have seen a black time Lord on screen :)

In Logopolis, the 4th Doctor states Earth as his "home away from home".

Indeed ;) and he is quite fond of Humans too :)

An immediate 10/10 from me.

When I first saw "Castrovalva" I learned just how bad The Master really was, and this episode reinforced it. Simm's Master is incredible, he's funny and totally evil... well, either that or totally insane. :P
Our heroes are really in a pickle now. I can't wait to see the next one. But what's going to happen to The Doctor...? I thought David Tennant was going to stay on at least another year, from an article I read, but now it looks like there's nothing he can do but regenerate. :confused:

Anyway, an astounding episode. Can't wait for next week's. :)

Oh, and as for Utopia(the place, not the episode), they may explain it in the next episode or it may be shown next season.
Only problem I actually had with this episode was that I can't get that drumming noise out of my head...

I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion, but relax. Regeneration is far from the only option, and David Tennant will be back next year, and hopefully many more to come.

I prescribe a strict regimen of listening to the Doctor Who theme over and over again. As many different versions as possible (except Keff's) as frequently as possible until you have that stuck in your head instead. (Actually the drumming noise was based on the Doctor Who theme, so it might just make your problem worse.) :P

Speaking of which, I saw the trailer for "The Infinite Quest", and... I thought the version of the theme that played while it was going was a fan-made remix? I heard it on episodes of "Professor What", and I saw a DW tribute video that played it that I remember saying it was from whomix.

Nope -- that's the Orbital version of the theme. It's called "Doctor?" and was released on their album The Altogether.

And played live regularly when they were still going. :P

Imagine that, going to a festival, standing in a field, jumping up and down the to the DW theme....

I do that anyway. :P

Maybe we should make a DS.com theme. just because we could :P

I mean those shots which bounched off the side. In reality they probably would've went straight through and burrowed into the wall across the road.

I very much doubt it. Thanks to my brother, I'm somewhat knowledgeable about that type of gun and its ammunition. It really depends more on the ammunition than the firearm, and I severely doubt that since they were on duty in a residential neighborhood that they would be harmed with anything more than hollow point or full metal jacket bullets -- both of which probably would simply bounce off the car.

Your brother a bit of an army man is he?

No, not at all. He's anti-establishment but he knows his guns.

Anti-establishment? His brother is 13 years old ladies and gentlemen :P

He's 15 years old now. :P

And yes, he's very anti-establishment. :P

He would not get on well with Athna then, shes plotting to take over the world herself. I have nto asked her about the fate of these forums mind you ;)

Ha, well, no reason they can't work together. :P

Anything to get more minions/members ;) I would not be suprised if you had a gaint flaming eye somewhere in a black wasteland in the middle of the world :P But what crazy person would tihnk of that eh?

After watching this episode again, I think it's probably one of the best I've seen from any series - including the old ones.

It was also nice to see the 'Mr. Saxon' references finally brought to a head after Utopia's shocking reveal of what is quite possibly the worst-kept secret in TV history. It's quite surprising just how many people bought into the Vote Saxon campaign in reality - there were posters up all over our Uni for a start. We even had one up in our flat, though that was as a space-filler on the notice board more than anything else.
One night we had a group of my friend's workmates round, and one of them saw it, gave us a look of complete contempt and said "You do know that that's just for TV, don't you? He's not actually real."

Is he not? Well, bugger me! Thank God you told us before we hit the polling station! :rolleyes:

I wouldn't go that far. :P

Indeed so.

Sad people, telling you it's not real. :D

We're students with a hell of a lot of time on our hands. That and a printer card that needed using up - we paid for those £3 worth of credits, we're going to bloody use them! :)

Oh, no, you misunderstand me! I wholeheartedly approve of your Saxon posters! In fact I'm guilty of the same thing myself. I was calling the lowlifes who said "it's just a TV show" the sad people, not you. Don't worry -- you have my support. ;)

Ah right! I understand now. :D

Around the time of our Uni committee elections people were putting up posters in the lift and around campus in order to get people to vote for them, so naturally we stepped it up somewhat too!

Says the guy who made flyers about DW for his school. :P

Ross, I direct you to my follow-up post.

It seems editing my original post is in order...

I voted Saxon. I didn't realise it was a different one. He turned out to be a Tory....

If Saxon is a Tory then the Tochlafane can shoot me now.