Utopia is the reason I'm writing this blog, while listening to The Best of Doctor Who, cuddling my Adipose and £40 poorer for having just bought convention tickets.
And it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, I still can't escape the excitement I felt the first time. So here's my list of things I love about this episode...
1. "I was a different man then", and Martha's reaction - this episode has a lot of things going on, but one of the most important - and easiest to forget - is Martha's heartbreak. She still knows nothing about the Doc, who's spent the series shutting her out anyway; and this is exacerbated by Jack's reappearance. I'd get excited about Boomtown referencing, if I actually liked that episode.
2. The Doctor's expression when he spots Jack run up. This is the point at which this episode becomes interesting.
3. Torchwood theme! Zinged up!
4. "We should leave. We should really just...leave" - I use this quote a lot, especially when confronted with a MASSIVE shop of merch. Just like the Doctor, I always follow it up with a wild grin, and dive straight in.
5. "Not even the Timelords came this far" - naturally not. This is big hint number one.
6. Torchwood theme again! But this time, creepier. If at any point I don't mention the music, just assume I forgot to write it down, because I think the music in these three episodes is stunning.
7. "Oh, I'm sorry..." - there's a great Last of the Timelords drinking game in here somewhere - one every time the Doctor apologises to something, one for every gratuitous flashback, continuity reference or dig at Torchwood, one for running, and one for "burn", "burnt" or "burning".
8. "He's not very hundred trillion; that coat's more World War II" - the only negative thing I have to say about this episode is the sheer clunkiness of this line. To quote Harrison Ford "You can type this shit, George, but I can't say it"
9. My notes here say "I love the music". I don't remember exactly what I was referring to.
10. "Regeneration!" says the Doctor. Cut to Martha,who still has no idea what's going on. Poor Martha has the same reaction as anyone else who hadn't seen the previous two series plus Torchwood. Incidentally, I caught this episode on a long haul flight once, and felt very bemused - this is actually more continuity heavy than any other episode ever. Journeys End doesn't really require you to know who those characters are, as long as you understand who the goodies and baddies are. First time viewers, like Martha, would feel very left out.
11. "That's not time travel!" I love this conversation.
12. "Not so sure about you, Jack..."
13. "Life will find a way"
14. Music! In comes the Futurekind theme!!!
15. "Oh, I've missed this!" - so have we, Jack, so have we...
16. "Don't you dare!" - This is a terrific moment. I strongly disapprove of Torchwood, if for no other reason that I tend to judge all other TV/movie heroes by "The Doctor would never do that..."
17. "He's not my responsibility" - this suggests that the Doc also sees UNIT as his responsibility, if Sontaran Stratagem is anything to go by.
18. "He says of everything"
19. "Indomitable!"
20. Professor Yana finding the Doctor, and dragging him down the corrdor - "Good, apparently!" This is a wonderful moment, the music too is just lovely.
21. "Hand, in jar, in your bag!" "Hello again!"
22. "You're supposed to say sorry..."
23. "You're still full of suprises!" Martha is someting of a unique companion, because her faith in the Doctor is 100% even after he treats her very badly, and asks her to do some difficult things.
After Last of the Timelords and Human Nature, Martha is up there with Peri and Ace for most put upon companions. The thing about Martha, however, is her faith never cracks. Hence her inappropriately smiley reaction to this.
24. As usual when the Doctor and the Master don't recognise each other, or don't have to argue,
they think each other is TERRIFIC. i.e. the Portreve in Castrovalva, and every time they team up.
25. My notes say "music great" again...
26. "Even my title is an affectation, there hasn't been a university in years" Oooh, like, say, Doctor. Or Master. Big clue number two!
27. "If you were born in a different time, you would have been revered"
28. "some admiration would have been nice" - I think this says more about the Master's psychology than ever before.
29. "No rest for the wicked"
30. RTD said in the Series 1 or Series 2 book that he was never going to have humans firing at one another with guns. He does have to break it for the Preachers in Age of Steel, but the death of Red Herring Futurekind Lady marks the first of many instances in the Last of the Timelords trilogy of this happening.
31. "Was someone kissing me?" enter music.................!
32. 29 minutes into the episode exactly, with Jack and the Doc running off to deal with the radiation, things get too exciting to cope with.
33. I like the Doctor's reaction to immortal Jack - it reminds me of his treatment of Mawdryn. Or vice versa. This whole scene is wonderful.
34....it's also the moment I became a blog-writing, merch-buying, Doctor-worshipping fangirl.
35. "The final act of the time war was life" - ironic considering what's about to happen. The Time War isn't even remotely over...
36. "...and that's fantastic" - Ninth Doctor quotery oh yeah
37. 34 minutes into the episode exactly, Professor Yana turns the watch over, and from now the episode doesn't let up. Things just get increasingly exciting. Even the RTD-Collins commentary shuts up at this point, and decends into the occasional "ooooh".
Everything has been building here, from Human Nature to Lazarus Experiment. As such, Mr Saxon is by far the best series meme - because it's not just a word that gets repeated. The series finale is stamped over every preceding episode.
38. "...but it depends which one". To be honest, I think it's the idea of having to face up to his deeds to any other Timelord. Besides, not counting Romana and Susan - who would he be happy to see? The Rani! Borusa! Morbius! The Valeyard! Or even worse, what about Vansell or Maxil - not an evil one, just an irritating incompetant.
39.....sorry, too excited to type coherently...
40. Ainleychuckles! If only the Master's watch they sell actually had these soundclips in it...
41. I always get the impression that the moment the watch opens, he knows exactly who it is.
42. "As one door closes, another must open". Classic Mastery line. Derek Jacobi always will be the best master, combining all the best traits into a brilliant one for, oooh, the next two minutes?
43. As noted above, these three episodes are very violent.
44. "I...am..." Can it get more exciting? Of course it can!
45. In through the doors, eyes meet. Presumably, for the first time since San Fransisco. I love this bit. It's in the expressions, and you do get the impression that yes, these are the exactly same people.
46. Ah, the TARDIS theft. Again, here you see how well they know one another. Doctor goes for key, Master goes for latch. Doctor goes for screwdriver, Master goes for console control. It's perfectly in time.
47. "If the Doctor can be young and strong..." suggests that the Master has better control over his regenerations than the Doc does. He certainly should, after all the body snatching.
48. The Doctor doesn't give a good damn whether or not Chantho is alive, which says a lot and also forshadows his admittedly appaling behavior in the next few episodes.
49. "Use my name."
50. Great damn cliffhanger. People accuse the next bit of being a cop out, and I do agree to some extent - however my defence is that at the start of Sound of Drums you just want to get into the plot, not spend ages resolving the last episode.
...too too exciting for words. Might do the other two episodes some time, I love them almost as much.
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