Doctor Who:
Utopia
By Russell T.
Davies
“I… Am…The
Master.”
The Doctor,
Martha and Jack travel so far in the future that they literally have ended up
towards the end of the universe. They
have gone so far that Time Lords never ventured there when they were still in
existence. The last humans are trying
to get to Utopia with the help of a rocket ship that Professor Yana is trying
to make lift off.
The Doctor
offers his services and with the help with some power from the TARDIS the ship
is ready to launch towards Utopia. The
Future Kind do not want the humans to leave for Utopia because then there would
not be any humans for them to eat anymore and they are hungry. So they have an agent that is trying to
sabotage the launch. The Doctor and
Jack fix that problem but have encountered another when Martha informs The
Doctor that Yana has a watch just like he does and she suspects he is another
Time Lord. She is correct in her guess
but unfortunately for them that Time Lord happens to be The Master who is now
reborn to wreak havoc on the universe once again.
What a great
way to bring back The Master. By using
the same techniques that was introduced in Human Nature with the pocket watch
and incorporate it with The Master was brilliant. Then having him get shot by Chant Tho and
making him regenerate into John Simm was superb and really exciting at the time
it was broadcast. The last 10 minutes of
Utopia when The Doctor realizes that Professor Yana is really a Time Lord but
in fact one of the most dangerous Time Lords was really intense and exciting.
You had an inkling that something was going to happen with Professor Yana as he
kept hearing, in his head, the beating of drums. Plus to spice things up Yana is the
abbreviation for “You Are Not Alone” the final message that the Face of Boe
gave the Doctor back on New Earth in the story Gridlock.
Utopia also
sees the return of Captain Jack to Doctor Who.
Last seen in The Parting of the Ways and Series One of Torchwood we see
Captain Jack hitch a ride on the TARDIS and travel all the way back to the end
of the universe. That scene was pretty cool and would have been even cooler if
they put Jack on the TARDIS during the opening credits. That would have been so
cool to see that with Jack on the TARDIS with all the names and titles flashing
on the screen and seeing Jack hanging on for dear life.
Derek Jacobi
was excellent in his dual role in Utopia.
First he played Professor Yana.
Professor Yana is a scientist trying to get the last remnants of the
human race to Utopia in a huge rocket ship.
This was the identity that we learned he made for himself to escape the
Time War. The best part of his portrayal
was when he started to remember certain things that were triggered by The
Doctor and the TARDIS. Yana becoming
all confused and when Martha gives him the idea of opening the watch and he
does and hears all the past Master voices his performance excelled and he
became really evil. You actually
believed he was the Master and it was too bad we didn’t get to see Derek Jacobi
as The Master for longer than 5 minutes as his performance was really good and
he would have made a really good Master.
The story was
pretty good also and is seen as a sort of prequel for the two part series three
finale. Unlike the last two story
elevens in series one and two the Utopia breaks that mold as it was a pretty
entertaining story. You had the rocket
trying to take off, the future kind trying to get into the base to keep their
food source on the planet and the whole back story of the return of The Master. Russell T. Davies gave us a good blend of
comedic and dramatic intervals to keep this story pretty strong and
interesting. Utopia was pretty good and
one I like to watch from time to time because the interaction between The
Doctor and Jack and the explanation for why he left him back at the end of The
Parting of the Ways. Plus it was
directed by Graham Harper and there is always a good mix of action when he is
directing a story. Utopia is a fun story
that sets up everything nicely for the finale.
Grade B
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