Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Tegan]

So, where has the forum been?

Still deciding on my vote.

[Tegan]

I'm going to put my thoughts down in some sort of order and try to make up my mind that way.

Who is The Master's wife really? I feel she has to play a large part in "The Last Time Lord" otherwise the character is superfluous.

A Laser Screwdriver. Actually, the TCE was scarier. A laser will just kill you, but the TCE can do awful things to one's Aunt Vanessa.

Jelly babies. Is he having a laugh? Or is it just a nod to the old time fans?

The Doctor aged 100 years. Will he still be around for Xmas? Is there another regeneration due?

The Toclofane. That bit about Gallifrean children going mad sends a chill down my spine. Could they be insane Time Kiddies? I'm sure that was the Seal of Rassilon the young Master was standing on.

Gallifrey! At long last a look at the planet! It did look a lot like a snow dome though.

A few "lighter" moments. The Master opening and closing the door on the reporter's death! Talking down to the US President. Very Austin Powers. Although if it was G. W. Bush, he'd have been talking at his level.

And Martha. Freema is just getting so much better in her role, and the character is growing so much every week. At this rate I'm going to need a new Avatar. Maybe. Let me think about it for a while.

Jack had very little to do this episode other than die (again), he must come into his own next week.

I'd love to give this one five out of five, but there were a couple of grating things in it.

I suppose the Master could have finally gone totally loopy, but I was under the impression that his manic actions were due to the regeneration. It's been 18 months that he's been on earth. Why is he still pulling silly faces?

The escape from the Futurekind was handled rather off handedly. Bang, they're home. Reminded me of a Goodies episode where they ascape a bomb and ask "Do we tell them?", answer "No, they'd never believe us!"

The Doctor couldn't sense the Master because of satellites blanking him out, but the Master could see through the perception filter, because he is a Time Lord.

Hmmm. Not quite up to "Utopia". Four and a half out of Five. Close but no cigar.

[dave]

This was simply excellent. Simm is brilliant as the Master, and seems to be having a lot of fun in the role. I love the way he's such a smart aleck, and yet so sinister when he wants to be.

I liked the use of jelly babies by the Master, and wonder if this is an oblique reference to the fact that Tom Baker suggested he should play the Master.

I'm still hoping the Toclafane will turn out to be Sontarans, but they sounded a lot like the Gelth from The Unquiet Dead. The globes are kinda reminiscent of Sontaran ships to me.

As usual, I can't wait for next week's episode!

[Greg]

Bit disappointing, given that the story appears to be cobbled together from elements from all over the shop.

We have the Master, who seems to be determined to act largely like the Joker (Batman).

We have an enormous sky-ship like either Cloudbase (Captain Scarlet) or the SHIELD helicarrier (Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD).

We have aliens that look like interrogation droids (Star Wars).

We have a technology inserted into common technology used to enable the invasion plan (Doctor Who - The Invasion).

Then we have a huge army of aliens arriving out of nowhere to take over the world (lots of places, but most recently in Doctor Who in Bad Wolf, Army of Ghosts and Doomsday).

Being packed with so many familiar elements, this episode didn't work so well for me as it might.

However, on the plus side, when the Master wasn't acting like a deranged homicidal maniac on speed, he at least appears to be operating to a plan that is designed to achieve something (though I expect we'll see twists next week, so I'm reserving judgment on that for the moment) and where he's actually shown as having done the work to set the plan in place.

This is especially true when the various Saxon references from earlier episodes are shown to fit into the overall plan, which beats both the Bad Wolf and Torchwood references of the previous years hands-down.

I also enjoyed the Gallifrey scene - like the jelly babies, it contained visual continuity references for the fans that wouldn't interfere with the story flow, like the young Master wearing the Time Lord outfit from The War Games. Nice!

However, being the first half of a two-parter (personally, I don't count this as a three-parter because the previous episode told a compete story with a massive dangling plot thread left over), so it's hard to judge how well all the elements will come together in the end.

Looking forward hopefully for the series finale being more up to the standard of the previous four episodes than this one - although this episode was still quite good.

[Tegan]

[FredDag]

Another excellent episode. I love the master, I love how he's so mad and totally bonkers. I love how he has no respect for anyone in power including the US president. I love how he doesn't cackle every 2 minutes like 80's portrayal.

Did anyone see the explanation of how the Doctor and co got away from Utopia? Ii did and for me that's enough to answer the end of the last episode.

All night I couldn't help but feel so sorry for Doctor, he looks a broken man after being aged by the Master and seeing his favourite planet being destroyed. You could just see it in his eyes.

Those ball thingys sound so much like the Gelth but I'm starting to think maybe they are time lords, or souls of the time lords, but why would they want to destroy everyone? Have they gone bonkers too? Also what's Martha gonna do down on the planet? Did I hear her say, "Doctor I'm coming back"? I have to watch it again tonight.

[meglos]

Fantastic. I was captivated from start to finish. And I loved the jelly babies bit

[Hiruma]

Good Episode. I LOVED the scenes of Gallifrey as well as some reasoning about why the Master was the way he was. John Simms plays him damn well.. I do like how intellectually he is up there with the Doctor. He has the smiles, the laughs, the witty retorts.. its almost like having 2 doctors on the screen at the same time. I dont know if they could of penned any other type of Doctor.

Having said that, I hope Simms dosnt expect to be in every 3rd episode. He should be used if any once a season.

The wife was totally thralled, very good to watch.

Can we all see what is gonna happen though? The creatures sure LOVE the master, love him. But what about now that there are billions of them? Who else here cant see them turning on him now that his part of the process is complete? The Master is gonna be used and abused as he has been in the past.

Im still unsure what the purpose of the Tardix Paradox machine is (if it has indeed been Cannibalised... is that the end for the Tardis? He cant exactly get it serviced etc)

[Greg]

[Tegan]

[SharazJek]

[Hiruma]

I love possiblities

Could indeed be Mr Sharazjek. Could be...

However Im not sure Davies is the man to write a Gallifrey themed episode. They are very stuffy, reserved and conservative. Everything he is not. The fact that they COULD resurrect him and then give him new regenerations and he just ran away? Doh!

[Amano07]

[dean69]

The comments are from a friend.


"Yes, I am up-to-date with episodes 11 & 12. Surprise surprise, mr saxon is
the master! who saw that one coming?????

episode 11 i loved, especially derek jacobi. what a shame he couldn't be
the master full time (wasn't that change in character from the professor to
the master wonderful). a few niggling doubts about the episode. i feel as
if i have watched only half a story, and i hated the way the dr & co
escaped from the future at the start of ep 12. Bad even by RTD standards.
also, when captain jack is in the radiation room, why doesn't he die and
come back? Yes, i know he's indestructible, but we have seen other people
disintegrate before our eyes in that room. And what is Utopia??? Is this
another story arc that will be resolved next season? Compared to these,
the fact that captain jack hitches a ride on the tardis seems quite
acceptable (why didn't salamander think of that?).

episode 12 I'm still thinking about. not sure about the new master. He
seems more like the joker. And I couldn't see the master being so
lovey-dovey with someone, unless (as in Time Monster) he can get some
advantage out of it. This master seems genuinely interested in his partner
(just like a Batman villain). I liked the round balls of death. all
things considered, I will have to wait for ep 13 before I can make a valid
assessment. Ep 12 is just so... different.

BTW, I really liked Blink. When you write it all down, the story doesn't
really work, but it's well directed and fun to watch. It's ironic that the
best story of the season doesn't have the Dr in it. If only Sally Sparrow
could replace Martha as a companion!"

[meglos]

Way off topic here but I just read on Freema Agyeman.com that The Last Of The Timelords will be 51 1/2 minutes in length.
Just thought I'd share that

[Ickabod]

haven't seen it yet but love reading all these posts.....getting excited though....more....more....MOREEEE

[Tegan]

[Ickabod]

[Tegan]

[Panecea]

A compelling episode, it's a shame the ABC are going to cut it to fit the schedule.