The Sound of Drums

"Oh, look! It's the freak & the girly, though I'm not sure which one's which." - Russell T Davies made John Simm's Master SO iconic & quotable.

To be quite honest, "The Sound of Drums" somehow feels like a trial run for Torchwood: Children of Earth; a political thriller with a dark sci-fi twist.

Not exactly subtle either but momentous fun all the same.

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.

Review: Episodes of The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Timelords

This follows on from the brilliant Utopia in which we had the great Derek Jacobi as the Master and he was truly magnificent. Thanks to Big Finish audio adventures we get to enjoy Jacobi more but it would have been amazing to get him on screen as the Master for a bit longer.

Simm, whilst very different and shockingly bonkers is suitably menacing, fun and impressive in the role and this two parter gives him plenty of chance to treat us to a mixture of zany humour and dark threatening drama.

Both these last two episodes are very funny in the comedic dialogue and very exciting in the dramatic plot development. The story is thrilling, interesting, dark and thoroughly enjoyable. As well as Simm's fine performance we get Tennant on superb peak form, Freema Agyeman again demonstrating what a great companion Martha is and John Barrowman enjoyable as ever as Captain Jack Harkness.

The threat to Earth in the first part is wonderfully well evoked and leads to a thrilling cliffhanger.

The Last of the Timelords is harshly judged by some for being over the top and for its resolution where bad events on Earth are conveniently wiped from ever happening. I think that is very exaggerated as a criticism.

Yes the events on Earth are undone which feels a bit convenient but the whole story features the Master using a Paradox Machine and the destruction of that logically means that events that took place after the paradox began cease to exist. It makes sense (unlike quite a few stories in Moffatt and Chibnall eras). I still feel all the horrifying events shown retain most of their strength and impact despite the fact they get wiped from ever happening.

They were never going to continue with a decimated Earth for all future stories so to have a story featuring a paradox machine allowing a logical reset was, I think, a clever way to deal with it. It is pretty well executed although the way the Doctor defeats the Master is slightly hyped up for my taste.

My main complaint in this story is the way they depict the Doctor being aged into a small withered figure with out of proportion head and eyes. I would happily do a George Lucas and superimpose a better version with modern graphics over the top of the original effects haha.

My Ratings: Utopia - 10/10 The Sound of Drums - 10/10 The Last of the Timelords - 8.5/10 Overall 3-part story - 9.5/10.

Watching this episode is like someone giving you all your favourite food . Salmon , steak , pasta , , curry , blancmange and apple crumble all on the same plate . Seeing as the chef is Russell T Davies he'll also give you everything you don't like such as rabbit , marmite and appropriately tripe on the same plate as your faves .

The Sound Of Drums gets off to a bad start with a quite terrible resolution to the previous week's cliffhanger . What is with episodes dovetailing in to one another ? The writers can't seem to make an effort at all with The Doctor Dances and Age of Steel both suffering from ridiculous resolutions and this episode is no different . The story continues with aspects that left me thinking I was watching a children's programme . We see a bunch of red sticks with the word " Dynamite " written on them which is kind of like seeing a cannonball with a burning fuse , and we're treated ( RTD's words not mine ) to umpteen ridiculous examples plot contrivance like " perception filters " , what a load of nonsense

There are good aspects too such as John Simms take on a Tony Blair type of character and the use of The Rogue Traders rave track Voodoo Child which shows Nu-Who in a radical light . Imagine away back in 1973 we had Roger Delgado's Master as a prime minister who was in to sailing and conducting orchestras battling against Jon Pertwee against a Slade soundtrack . You'd never be able to conceive that would you ? All this helps The Sound Of Drums but it's far from being a classic episode

The story is continuous, no slow build up, there is always something happening. Really enjoyed the music that was use throughout the entire episode, then here come the drums later was also use brilliantly. Was good to hear the Cloister Bell being used, a a trip down memory lane to the Doctor Who of old (might have been a good idea to explain it again for the younger viewers who never saw original classic Who but i suppose their plates were already full). Finally of course we have The Masters final words at the end of the episode, icing on the cake