With "The Sound of Drums", Russell T. Davies shows that despite a smörgåsbord of treats throughout the season, there's still a lot more surprises in his TARDIS-like bag.
A dark, tense and highly original episode, "The Sound of Drums" is so good it's difficult to know where to begin. Davies' teases fans with references to The Doctor's brother (a few seconds pause seemed like an eternity in this scene), jelly babies and so on, while giving long-term viewers the best Gallifrey treat they could ever wish for in this episode. The short, beautifully shot clip of The Master's back-history is informative and manages to honour the memories of anybody who has grown up with "The Deadly Assassin" and the various subsequent Time Lord tales. This is epic stuff - there's a legendary feel to "The Sound of Drums" and the show appears bigger in scale than a television programme, having an almost movie-like feel to the proceedings. After watching this series of "Doctor Who" other science fiction offerings are going to feel tired and drawn-out compared to this lean and mean, multi-faced beast. We have seen a diverse number of stories this year but the quality has remained constant throughout.
John Simm steals the show as the psychopathic Master. He has all the best lines and eats the part up like the world's most scrumptious meal. Simm is the very picture of a maniacal genius and it's hard to imagine anybody delivering a better performance in this role. His scenes with the cabinet and the President of the USA will be difficult to forget.
The Jones family are proving more entertaining and likable than the Tylers - Trevor Laird and Adjoa Andoh are excellent as Martha's parents and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is wonderful as younger sister, Tish.
The episode finishes on the ultimate cliffhanger. This is black as night "Doctor Who" and it's an absolute delight.
10 out of 10. Again, thank you Russel T. Davies and Phil Collinson for delivering such a treat to fans everywhere, young and old. This is more than anybody could have ever expected and as each season progresses, the creative envelope is pushed ever further. Genuinely jaw-dropping entertainment.
A dark, tense and highly original episode, "The Sound of Drums" is so good it's difficult to know where to begin. Davies' teases fans with references to The Doctor's brother (a few seconds pause seemed like an eternity in this scene), jelly babies and so on, while giving long-term viewers the best Gallifrey treat they could ever wish for in this episode. The short, beautifully shot clip of The Master's back-history is informative and manages to honour the memories of anybody who has grown up with "The Deadly Assassin" and the various subsequent Time Lord tales. This is epic stuff - there's a legendary feel to "The Sound of Drums" and the show appears bigger in scale than a television programme, having an almost movie-like feel to the proceedings. After watching this series of "Doctor Who" other science fiction offerings are going to feel tired and drawn-out compared to this lean and mean, multi-faced beast. We have seen a diverse number of stories this year but the quality has remained constant throughout.
John Simm steals the show as the psychopathic Master. He has all the best lines and eats the part up like the world's most scrumptious meal. Simm is the very picture of a maniacal genius and it's hard to imagine anybody delivering a better performance in this role. His scenes with the cabinet and the President of the USA will be difficult to forget.
The Jones family are proving more entertaining and likable than the Tylers - Trevor Laird and Adjoa Andoh are excellent as Martha's parents and Gugu Mbatha-Raw is wonderful as younger sister, Tish.
The episode finishes on the ultimate cliffhanger. This is black as night "Doctor Who" and it's an absolute delight.
10 out of 10. Again, thank you Russel T. Davies and Phil Collinson for delivering such a treat to fans everywhere, young and old. This is more than anybody could have ever expected and as each season progresses, the creative envelope is pushed ever further. Genuinely jaw-dropping entertainment.