311: Utopia

Age : 35 Joined : 19 Jun 2007 Posts : 249

311: Utopia

Quick reminder to EVERYONE that has managed to get a copy, see an original airing or found some way to watch any season 3 eps BEFORE they air on SciFi...be very careful in your comments not to spoil anything for those just seeing them.*

*Yes that included me, hard not to mix up some events, especially in the last two eps.
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I'm the Doctor. I'm a Timelord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 900 and 3 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save YOUR lives and ALL 6 billion people on the planet below......You got a problem with that? Voyage of the Damned

Age : 35 Joined : 19 Jun 2007 Posts : 249

FINALLY!! We went through an entire season of Torchwood without any answers and finally we have some. I don't know if anybody else liked the explanation for Jack's back story, the resolution of what the hand was for, or anything else Jack related, but I enjoyed it immensely.

We did have to endure another moment of Rose envy from Martha, something I thought we were getting away from, but it was Jack mainly reliving it so that made it alright in the end.

I think as far as moments of great sharing about himself and getting to see the Doctor with his guard down, this ep had one of the highlights of the season. The ending for Gridlock was nice, but the exchange between him and Jack while trying to stop the nuclear meltdown was both well written and then played out.

Enough Jack, what about one of the best reveals in a while? The moment of realization for the Doctor about how he really wasn't alone, and that only one time lord could have or would have hidden from him. The timing of his realization with the Master's release from the watch was the perfect tension builder. Derek Jacobi deserves an award for his performance, especially once he turned from Yana to the Master. Certainly wouldn't want that evil old man on my bad side. As for the new Master, I liked the continuity of his regeneration looking just like the Doctor's. And that's more than enough commentary, except to say great cliffhanger ending.
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I'm the Doctor. I'm a Timelord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 900 and 3 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save YOUR lives and ALL 6 billion people on the planet below......You got a problem with that? Voyage of the Damned

Age : 15 Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 173

It was a fanastic episode! i love Derek Jacobi as the Master and John Simm was so fanastic in the last few moments. Can't wait until TSOD!!
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Age : 35 Joined : 04 Feb 2007 Posts : 459

Is there an explanation somewhere of how The Master was released from The Eye of Harmony? Otherwise, I do want the watch, the figures, and to see it again!
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Age : 35 Joined : 19 Jun 2007 Posts : 249

Age : 35 Joined : 04 Feb 2007 Posts : 459

Joined : 05 Feb 2007 Posts : 354

I haven't seen the next ep but your right this has whetted my appetite for more. I thought this ep was dare I say masterfully executed? Things are being explained. The hand and Jack invincibilty were obvious anyhow, the fact that he had to sit around for a hundred or so years was interesting. I like the interaction between Jack and the Doctor, and how their relationship has been slightly altered due to Jack's-post rose condition. And seriously
Y--A--N--A, that was just totally frigging brilliant!
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"I reject your reality and subsitute my own"- MYTHBUSTERS

Joined : 16 Jul 2007 Posts : 291

I thought it was quite dumb that Jack had been waiting around since 1869 to meet the Doctor, especially since that's when The Unquiet Dead happens. His contacts with Torchwood and possibly UNIT could've informed him when the blue box was around. Since he was stalking Rose, he could've shagged Jackie while waiting for her to pop back in.
Why do people have guns if they're not even going to shoot to maim?
The Doctor had his motor nicked in back to back episodes!
This episode partly redeemed the Khamelionator watch plot device. (My friends and I seem to be the only people who dislike that 2-parter. It must have a perception filter.) I hope the Master explanation has some semblance of continuity.
Derek Jacobi was awesome.

Age : 37 Joined : 20 Oct 2007 Posts : 325

If you liked Utopia try picking up the book Calling the Shots with Graeme Harper...it is a surprisingly fun read. Great insights on his directing style and what makes the big monster of a show like Doctor Who tick. Loads of fun snippets about the filming of Utopia, 42, and the Series 2 cyberman trilogies.

Admin Joined : 01 Feb 2007 Posts : 999

Am I the only one who felt the whole Utopia/Master Returns trilogy was a bit of a let-down?

I thought the last few minutes in "Last of the Timelords" was good, but I felt the Master was acted so Over The Top, it just didn't seem realistic. I like the more subtle, calculating Master of the past. If you wanted to update him, make him a bit more like Lex Luthor from Smallville (except with hair, of course)...calculating, scheming, always seeming like such a nice, selfless individual on the surface, but always with alterior motives that are purely diabolical (but completely logical, and perhaps even "noble" in an Alexander the Great sort of way). This just felt a bit silly.

Oh well, my 2 cents... Smile

Keith Bradbury

Age : 39 Joined : 10 Aug 2007 Posts : 173

I thought that the last of the timelords stunk, oh well. the unlikly resolution that all seasons of Doctor Who end with was praticularly bad. the other two episodes in the trilogy were really good. oh well. the Master

Age : 35 Joined : 04 Feb 2007 Posts : 459

Sometimes we all go a little mad....
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Joined : 05 Feb 2007 Posts : 354

Based on his past I think I like the more wild Master as opposed to the superior smug and calculating. However the characterization seemed to be in too much competion with the doctor's personality which can be good and bad.

I see your 2 cents and add my own.
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"I reject your reality and subsitute my own"- MYTHBUSTERS

Age : 37 Joined : 20 Oct 2007 Posts : 325

I agree about the Last of the Time Lords... 1. Utopia and the 2. Sound of Drums...both great old time cliff hangers...3.Then the eewoks came in...sorry wrong 3 parter.

Joined : 05 Feb 2007 Posts : 354

at least they were ewoks and not jar jars!
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"I reject your reality and subsitute my own"- MYTHBUSTERS

Age : 37 Joined : 20 Oct 2007 Posts : 325

fair point Lake Erie...I pretend that Jar Jar never existed. Just like the Tinkerbell Doctor seqeunce of the Last of the Time Lords.

Joined : 16 Jul 2007 Posts : 291

If you watch the 3-parter back to back you can tell they weren't all planned out ahead of time. When Martha tells Doc "remember what the Face of Boe said" in this one, Jack has absolutely no reaction to this line. In the last part, Jack announces that he is the Face of Boe. Shouldn't he have been all "WHOA! I'm the Face of Boe! When did I tell you you weren't alone? I never said that!"

Age : 37 Joined : 20 Oct 2007 Posts : 325

that is a real good point evil- continuity miss fire

Joined : 01 Mar 2007 Posts : 109

The first two parts were excellent stories.
Sadly, as is most often the case, the finale sucked!