Rate & Discuss 3.12: The Sound Of Drums

[Pip Madeley]

The Master's nicked the Doctor's TARDIS! The swine! Now he's got big plans, and even Martha's family are involved...



Can we make this absolutely clear - there will NO speculation or spoilers for next week's finale allowed within this thread. This INCLUDES what happened in the Next Time teaser. I know we have spoiler tags here at PS, but this is a discussion thread of episode 12, "The Sound of Drums". If you want to speculate or post spoilers about the contents of episode 13, then please, out of respect for your fellow posters who do not want to be spoilt in any way, do so in the Major Spoiler Alert thread.

[Milky Tears]

I'll mostly be spurting all over Martha's new hairdo.

[Dave Lewis]

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedoctorwhofan whiteweeagendasoundofjohnsimmbarrowmanunderwearnot canonmarthamarthamarthamarthamarthabringbackmcgann stoowideacrossthevoidofthemindgurningsqueeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[Milky Tears]

I agree with the above, but the big Welsh Dragon on the front of the Iveco lorry (as passed by Martha's car) will completely destroy the episode for me and half a million people. Enough of frikkin' Cardiff already! I blame Masha's driving skills! We're doomed!!

[Pip Madeley]

WOW.

I don't what the hell is gonna happen next, I couldn't even watch the 'Next Time' preview, cause I want it to be a complete surprise.

[Alex]

Woah!!! That was superb, it gets a 10/10 from me! Once again I've got that "Oh my god how the hell are they going to save the day now?" feeling, something Who hasn't always done for me, and the last 15 minutes was truly epic sci-fi at it's best!

I know the first half of the episode was a bit slow, but I loved it personally, it built up John Simm's take on the Master brilliantly, and of course linked in the whole time war and then...then there were those just beautiful shots of Gallifrey, something I just thought we'd never get to see!

There were so many other bits that I loved, like the journalist and her ongoing death scream, Harold killing the cabinet, the Doctor being aged, the flying aircraft basey thing, the president being killed, the rip in the sky and so much more. I just wonder what the alien roboty things will turn out to be - (oops, v. minor speculation bit now cut), but anyway, after such a build up I'm expecting something pretty amazing next week, and I'm sure we'll be given it.

I'm just really buzzing right now, I can't say how much I enjoyed that. The first half of this season was a real mixed bag for me, but these last five episodes have been bloomin' brilliant, television at it's very best, and I just can't wait for next week now!

I don't what the hell is gonna happen next, I couldn't even watch the 'Next Time' preview, cause I want it to be a complete surprise.

Me too! And I know how hard it's going to be to avoid finding some stuff out at the very least because there's loads of spoilers out there on the net apparently. I might just have to stick to the PS general forums next week, just so I don't see anything by accident.

[Larry]

just 7/10 for me - ;ploved the scenes of Gallifreym and the Time Lords, dressed in their robes and neck collers , Simm was fantastic playing The Master with an insane scence of humour and menace.

[Darren]

2 out of 10

Absolutely terrible. Sorry, but there was barely a redeeming moment for this episode. The biggest disappointment was John Simms' characterisation of the Master. He should be sadistic and frightning, but Simm has made him a juvenile, irritating little oik- Jacobi was sooo much better in his few minutes as the Master last week.
Secondly, it was mindbogglingly boring. Even though a two parter dictates a slower pace, you need at least one set piece to get the adrenaline flowing. And unless you count the intrepid trio zooming around in Martha's car, there wasn't one. And why age the Doctor 100 years-Why not just kill him? And why didn't it trigger a regeneration?

Good points were the phone conversation between the Doctor and Master, the original Time Lord robes, and Francine getting her come uppance.

A bitter disappointment after last week's sensational Utopia.

[Dave Lewis]

A lot of good bits - John Simm as the Master, the Gallifrey flashbacks, Captain Jack (of course) - but not enough swallows to make a summer, and ultimately my feeling at the end was one of disappointment.

Hopefully, this will merely prove to be the "Back To The Future Part II" of the Master trilogy and not "The Matrix Reloaded"...



I've just seen Darren's given it two out of ten. It wasn't that bad.... was it?

[Darren]

I was expecting so much more.

[Milky Tears]

President Winters has raped my whole life!




Has Trevor Laird ever been better?

-100/10

[Pip Madeley]

Did anyone notice the little Master's robes were similar to those worn by the Time Lords in 'The War Games'? Or was I just seeing something that wasn't there?

[Wayne]

I haven't decided on a score yet. I thought it was a very enjoyable episode overall, but i too have some serious reservations about John Simms's Master.
I don't neccesarily blame John Simm, because as he said in the Confidential a short while ago, He "followed the script to the letter, So blame Russell".

[Alex]

Hopefully, this will merely prove to be the "Back To The Future Part II" of the Master trilogy and not "The Matrix Reloaded"...

Eh? But BTTF2 is the best one out of that trilogy!

[Dave Lewis]

I knew somebody would say that.

... next up there'll be someone saying that the second two Matrix films aren't a load of old wank.

[Milky Tears]

Did anyone notice the little Master's robes were similar to those worn by the Time Lords in 'The War Games'? Or was I just seeing something that wasn't there?

I only knew cuz it was mentioned in da Spoilers!

[Alex]

But BTTF2 is! Even though it clearly is all subjective. But even if that is the case, it still definitely is the best, so shhhhh!

(Oh and I thought the third Matrix film wasnt too bad! I mean I know the dialogue and plot were a big pile of steaming turds, but the set pieces were fun. Then again i didn't think that much of the first film, but thats probably a subject for another day).

Anyhooo, I'm still really buzzing after this episode. I can understand why folks have reservations about Simm's portrayal of the Master, but I really loved the take on it. Clearly something has driven him insane (hence the sound of drums stuff), which is why he's no longer the colder more calculating Master we've seen before, and I think this version fits perfectly in with RTD's Who. I think newcomers to the series will love it as well, there's something in his insanity that I found really chilling.

[Dirk Gently]

It was quite good. But some things were poor.
Bullets that ricochet off a Corsa!!!FFS. Dynamite with cartoon "DYNAMITE" written on them.
Loved: way the American President acted as we expect Bush to, dum dum dum dumm, Toclafane, the 'rip in the sky' effect, sky full of Toclafane, the Doctor & Jack talk about Torchwood, Aircraft carrier in the sky, the change of the TARDIS interior with the Cloister bell.

No better than 8/10.

[Pip Madeley]

Clearly something has driven him insane (hence the sound of drums stuff), which is why he's no longer the colder more calculating Master we've seen before, and I think this version fits perfectly in with RTD's Who.

It's a very good point. In the old days, Pertwee would only have to say "You sure you've thought this through?" and the Master would give up (look at Terror of the Autons). As Alex says, the sound of drums, whatever it is, has clearly driven him mad.

[Paul Clement]

I gave this one a 7/10. Unlike Season 1 & 2, where the penultimate episodes set up really good climaxes, this was was a little more pedestrian. Having said that, the previous two seasons had finale's that IMO, didn't live up to the hype, so hopefully this season will be the other way around.

Things I liked:
The Flashback to Gallifrey
The Master and the Doctor's telephone conversation
The Doctor's shock at finding out Captain Jack was in Torchwood and following conversation.
The explanation of what had happened to the Master to allow him to be in the Time War and how he survived it, which was in keeping with the Master's character.
John Simm's portrayal

Things I didn't like:
The fact it meandered along quite slowly.
The car scene, dull and largely unneccesary.
The Toclafane, hardly impressive were they?
Having the Doctor aged 100 years. It doesn't really have a point to it. He could have been captured or killed, why just age him.

[Dave Lewis]

I can understand why folks have reservations about Simm's portrayal of the Master, but I really loved the take on it.

Me too - John Simm was excellent, and his version of the Master was one of the best things about the episode. Shame about the Tocolofane (Doomsday done Terrahawks style), the aging of the Doctor (Gatiss looked bad, the Doctor looked... like an aged Mark Gatiss), the whole "take over the world and talk to the world about it like in Logopolis but on a smaller scale" plot, the crappy Jones family (except the Dad... I liked him), and lots of other things. I gave it a five out of ten but now I wish I'd gone lower!

Oh yeah, and how the Doctor has become so marginalised in his own programme. However, this may be because Tennant's acting abilties are so overshadowed by Simm and Barrowman...

[Martin Penny]

I thought that was brilliant, gave it a 10/10, probably the most I've enjoyed a story since Doomsday last year actually.

It was a tad slow to get going, but I was happy to just sit there and enjoy how everything was building up. And I must say, John Simm is my favourite actor to play The Master, just edging out Anthony Ainley, he's very fun to watch. I laughed out loud at several of his scenes, the 'gas mask' bit, the crazy thumbs up, the screaming behind the door and the 'I could make the tea?' line.

And I must say, the Gallifrey flashbacks were excellent, though I'm not sure I'm that keen on the idea of him going mad just by looking into the vortex thingy.

I thought the Toclafane were Daleks when the sky opened, and they were zooming through the skies, but thankfully they weren't, though I am stumped as to what the hell they actually are! And did anyone else smile when they shot the smarmy President?

[Alex]

Having the Doctor aged 100 years. It doesn't really have a point to it. He could have been captured or killed, why just age him.

Well, I'd say the Master wants the Doctor to see him taking control of Earth, and takes extreme pleasure from seeing the Doctor in agony over what's going on, so it does fit in with his character. And it's not just because of the age old rule where you always have to find some excuse to keep the main hero alive, no no no!

[Si Hunt]

I thought it was an above average episode, but dissapointing for the first half of a season closer. In fact I agree with everything Paul Clement said above - high points were the amazing glimpses of Gallifrey, John Simm's Master (wonderfully manic and at times funny), low points were the pace and the lack of anything really happening. Barrowman warned us yesterday to "expect lots of surprises" but there wern't any. The Doctor said "Who are they?" of the Toclafane and I was expecting them to be revealed to be the Megara or the Voord or something but they wern't. And them streaming out the sky towards the Earth was too like the Daleks in last years closer, except not as exciting.

It was a very good, above average episode, but it certainly wasn't a "Wow!". 7/10

Si.

PS Did everyone spot the Seal of Rassillon?

[Captain Tancredi]

Great fun to watch, but my one reservation would be just how far John Simm was carrying it- with a lesser actor it might have dragged. I get the distinct impression that having established its own identity, the revived series is much more comfortable showing us Gallifrey.