Doctor Who - Season 3 [spoilers]

That was another Timelord I think, they got absorbed into Rassilon's tomb itself IIRC.

The Master originally got more regenerations by nicking a Timelords body though. Wasn't that in the "Brain of Morbius" (thats the one where we get some idea of the Doctor's limited span)

Tonights the night... the sound of drums beating is already audible.

Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if tonight is more of a scene setter, with the Doctor not re-entering the fray until near the end.

Yes, the Doctor has to get back from the far, far future.

A more interesting question is, who is the Master's wife?
Is the moll a human companion or a Timelady?

I suspect .. the Doctor to be in 2007 within the first minute. He'll fix Jack's armband, and they'll hop away.

Question remains .. when does Martha's mother get to Martha? I think I know what the horrible thing is that Saxon's people have told her ...


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That the doctor killed Martha's cousin, Adeola, in last year's final. She was practically already dead, but that'll go beyond Martha's mum's understanding.

Well, first 20 secs actually!!! Congrats Chilli!

Not bad, but could not really add up the expectation I've had for all this.

The Master was great, his wife apparently just another human willing to go along with him!!

The effects are superb, the Valiant was a great SHIELD / SPECTRUM reference for UNIT.

Looking forward to Martha saving the day...

Oh... a his use of Decimate was totally correct, it refers to a Roman practice of punishing a whole legion by killing 1/10th of their number.

I read it on some other forum, I'm not actually clever like that...

Are we all going to be drumming our fingers now?

I'm going to have to watch it again, just to assimilate everything, but the Master was great!

0 seconds - HAH!

My second bet is still out. Will see next week if this was what Saxon told Martha's mum.

darth_librarian said:

Oh... a his use of Decimate was totally correct, it refers to a Roman practice of punishing a whole legion by killing 1/10th of their number.

I read it on some other forum, I'm not actually clever like that...

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I was thinking the very same thing. This is the first time I've actually seen "decimate" being
used correctly - Doctor Who serves the education of the planet. At the cost of one tenth of its population, but hey

I liked it in general .. it just kind of got .. "big" in the end. I'll need to sleep over it to decide if that is good or bad .. I'm glad they went from last week's wacky-John Simm to super-slime John Simm for the master this week. A definite improvement.

Oh, and killing the American President? Does RTD want to get Brittain bombed?

And I love how they're airing a "new prime minister destroys the world" story just while Brittain actually IS getting a new prime minister. Nervous yet?

Chilli said:

Oh, and killing the American President? Does RTD want to get Brittain bombed?

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Britain will simply have to bomb the USA back.

Oh, anyone else notice the third doctor homage? Not as obvious as the fourth doctor homage (jellybaby?), but definitely there, I'd think.

Airport .. Master wearing a great big cape, black on the outside, red in the inside? Coincidence? I think not.

Chilli said:

Oh, anyone else notice the third doctor homage?

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I totally squeed there. I really don't think it was a coincidence... not with the jellybaby thing coming a few minutes later, surely. (And not with the The Sea Devils homage there a little earlier!)

I can just imagine the glee all the Doctor/Master (especially Pertwee!Doctor/Delgado!Master) shippers out there would have felt by that bit... awww, the Master even picked up the Doctor's sense of fashion, so sweet!

I did love this episode. Totally over the top, sure, but that's what you get with the Master around, and in charge.

I thought the aged Doctor looked a bit like Ian Holm as Old Bilbo in Lord of the Rings.

I might just have been more aware of this because of the drum references... but I seemed to be hearing the Master's drum rhythmn in the end credits (it's the same beat anyway.... but it sounded amplified a little).

RTD tends to be very political... on the anniversary of the Iraq War the Slitheen storyline directly referenced Tony Blair's soundbytes (they spoke of Massive Weapons of Destruction that could be deployed in 40 seconds).

I saw this episode as an assault on certain factions in America's egotism and sense of destiny, as well as an attack on both Tony Blair and David Cameron, who both favour the style over substance type of politics.

In fact it was quite critical of politicians in general. I didn't shed a tear for the President or the cabinet... they made their bed.

So Toclafane... anagram of Fact: Alone. Anyone else notice that... do you think it will have something to do with next weeks resolution?

The Master said that if the Doctor knew where the Toclafane came from, it would break his hearts. Now the Master used a paradox device installed in the TARDIS to op[en a rift in time and space. I was wondering if the Toclafane were actually Timelords devoid of physical form.

I was really pleased how they plugged some of the plot gaps. I was already frowning right at the start, at how the Doctor knew what time period to come to, but they explained it later along with a few other ones.

I'm not sure about John Simm, as a villain he tends to come over all pantomime. Having said that, some of the comic turns were really good (especially the journalist's death scream).

The Doctor is going to have to get his hands on that laser screwdriver and reverse the polarity otherwise there is another regeneration coming on.

Martha needs to find Sally Sparrow, she is the only one who can save us all now!

Galahad said:

I might just have been more aware of this because of the drum references... but I seemed to be hearing the Master's drum rhythmn in the end credits (it's the same beat anyway.... but it sounded amplified a little).

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That drum beat is very similar to the underlying rhythm of the theme tune anyway (The dang-a-dang dang-a-dang bit)

The Master said that if the Doctor knew where the Toclafane came from, it would break his hearts. Now the Master used a paradox device installed in the TARDIS to op[en a rift in time and space. I was wondering if the Toclafane were actually Timelords devoid of physical form.

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I was wondering that too.

I was really pleased how they plugged some of the plot gaps. I was already frowning right at the start, at how the Doctor knew what time period to come to, but they explained it later along with a few other ones.

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Yes. They did explain, sort of, how the Master got out of the Tardis and get more regenerations.

I'm not sure about John Simm, as a villain he tends to come over all pantomime. Having said that, some of the comic turns were really good (especially the journalist's death scream).

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I was giggling so much at this episode. Strange, considering how bad it was for our heroes.

Martha needs to find Sally Sparrow, she is the only one who can save us all now!

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Has Sally met the Doctor by this time?

I noticed all the little refences, including the red lining. Great fun.

Did I miss something major? Over the weekend I've had about 40 hits on my blog from people using the search term "Doctor Who cruciform". In the original context, I was talking about the end of "The Family of Blood", but was there something similar that I failed to spot on Saturday?

Just odd that there are that many hits in such a short space of time with the same reference, weeks after the item I was referencing is history.

This was in the phone conversation between the Dr and the Master. The master was describing his Time War experiences, saying "I was on Galifrey when the Dalek Emperor gained control of the Cruciform" or some-such.

Nick, your blog is great !

Yeah, unless the finale is a complete letdown, and the trailers have me convinced otherwise, I think this may be New Who's strongest season. It faltered a little after the Shakespeare Code, but I've loved every episode since 42.

I love how seamlessly Captain Jack fits in with the Doctor and his companion. He works incredibly well with Martha, I like their interactions.

So, the two major theories I've read on the Toclafane is that they are either some kind of Time Lords, or the Utopians from the previous episode, having escaped the turn of the universe only to be trapped outside of existance. Anyway, can't wait to find out. Is it Saturday yet?

The other one I have hear is that the Cybermen are back.

I wonder what happened to the Master's Tardis? He had to get to the future somehow.

I personally think the Utopian humans idea is a very weak storyline. Yes it is a nice twist that the Doctor ends up being responsible for their arrival in 21st century Earth... but the fact is that the Master was not aware of who he was while working to get the rocket working.

Nor can it be said is it likely there are 6 billion people on board.

The synopsis preview released to the press talks of: ****SPOILER****


















a new Time Lord empire rising from the ashes.

darth_librarian said:

This was in the phone conversation between the Dr and the Master. The master was describing his Time War experiences, saying "I was on Galifrey when the Dalek Emperor gained control of the Cruciform" or some-such.

Nick, your blog is great !

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I missed this post originally, and having seen it now I thought I ought to say thanks very much for the compliment.

Elenopa said:

That drum beat is very similar to the underlying rhythm of the theme tune anyway (The dang-a-dang dang-a-dang bit)

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I know that, that is why I made my point. I just rewatched The Sound of Drums on BBC3 last night. I am definitely convinced they enhanced the sound of the beat for the ending of the episode. It just sounds a little more pronounced.

Has Sally met the Doctor by this time?

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I suspect that depends on how tonight's episode ends (if the Doctor gets reverse aged).

I wasn't really being serious... I was just fantasizing because I think she is hot.

If she'd have transferred from London to Stratford-upon-Avon with the RSC's production of The Seagull... I could have seen her. She'd have also been united with the Doctor technically, as Sylvester McCoy is also in it... as is Sir Ian McKellen.

I saw McCoy down by the river the other week... haven't bumped into Gandalf yet!