![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It's odd that The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords is mostly very good, but its good bits are overshadowed by a couple of missteps.
In particular Martha walking the Earth, her double bluff with the gun, and her task of inspiring humanity to one moment of collective action is all great. In fact pretty much the whole Martha plot thread in The Last of the Time Lords is excellent. Martha has become significantly more independent than Rose ever did. Of course, Rose never got anything like this opportunity to demonstrate her abilities but it seems unlikely the Doctor, protective as he was, would have allowed them to her. Martha had already had an experience of operating independently of the Doctor in a strange world and her experiences in Human Nature/The Family of Blood look like a rehearsal for this.
And then all comes crashing down in a combination of Dobby Doctor and Tinkerbell. I'm not sure exactly what you could have replaced that with, and its possible that better special effects would have sold the moment, or possibly some more thought about exactly how humanity might manipulate the Archangel network in the Doctor's favour. Once suspects RTD's tendency to become gradually more and more behind with scripts until he was scrabbling to complete the series finale may be coming into play here. Just as he ran out of time (in his own opinion) to come up with a satisfactory resolution for Rose's storyline, its possible he ran out of time to come up with a satisfactory link between humanity thinking of the Doctor and the Doctor defeating the Master.
As for the rest of the story. I dislike Simm's portrayal of the Master, though it is mostly the character he's been handed which I dislike. I prefer Delgado's calm and measured villainy to the hyper-active mood-swinging version we got here. I find it tedious and irritating, but that is probably just me.
The interactions between the Doctor, Jack and Martha are great though NLSS Child had, apparently, entirely missed the fact that Jack was basically omnisexual and had to have his reference to pining over the Doctor explained to her. This then also required a back explanation to all the times the Doctor had said "No Jack" every time he greeted someone in the previous episode. She was delighted by the Face of Boe reference though, and had to stop the DVD in order to discuss her reaction with me. Martha's departure is one of her good moments. It almost, but not quite, makes up for all the pining. The Toclafane are one of the few times RTD allows his pessimism to come to the fore (even though it is hard to see how Utopia could have possibly lived up to its promise). Their grisly backstory adds a nice gravitas to their child-like personas.
There are a few bits in these stories I really dislike, which is a shame because they have some great moments and plot threads. I suspect it is a case of mileage varying because none of the things I really dislike should really be deal-breakers but somehow they are and ultimately I was mostly glad to see the back of this.
In particular Martha walking the Earth, her double bluff with the gun, and her task of inspiring humanity to one moment of collective action is all great. In fact pretty much the whole Martha plot thread in The Last of the Time Lords is excellent. Martha has become significantly more independent than Rose ever did. Of course, Rose never got anything like this opportunity to demonstrate her abilities but it seems unlikely the Doctor, protective as he was, would have allowed them to her. Martha had already had an experience of operating independently of the Doctor in a strange world and her experiences in Human Nature/The Family of Blood look like a rehearsal for this.
And then all comes crashing down in a combination of Dobby Doctor and Tinkerbell. I'm not sure exactly what you could have replaced that with, and its possible that better special effects would have sold the moment, or possibly some more thought about exactly how humanity might manipulate the Archangel network in the Doctor's favour. Once suspects RTD's tendency to become gradually more and more behind with scripts until he was scrabbling to complete the series finale may be coming into play here. Just as he ran out of time (in his own opinion) to come up with a satisfactory resolution for Rose's storyline, its possible he ran out of time to come up with a satisfactory link between humanity thinking of the Doctor and the Doctor defeating the Master.
As for the rest of the story. I dislike Simm's portrayal of the Master, though it is mostly the character he's been handed which I dislike. I prefer Delgado's calm and measured villainy to the hyper-active mood-swinging version we got here. I find it tedious and irritating, but that is probably just me.
The interactions between the Doctor, Jack and Martha are great though NLSS Child had, apparently, entirely missed the fact that Jack was basically omnisexual and had to have his reference to pining over the Doctor explained to her. This then also required a back explanation to all the times the Doctor had said "No Jack" every time he greeted someone in the previous episode. She was delighted by the Face of Boe reference though, and had to stop the DVD in order to discuss her reaction with me. Martha's departure is one of her good moments. It almost, but not quite, makes up for all the pining. The Toclafane are one of the few times RTD allows his pessimism to come to the fore (even though it is hard to see how Utopia could have possibly lived up to its promise). Their grisly backstory adds a nice gravitas to their child-like personas.
There are a few bits in these stories I really dislike, which is a shame because they have some great moments and plot threads. I suspect it is a case of mileage varying because none of the things I really dislike should really be deal-breakers but somehow they are and ultimately I was mostly glad to see the back of this.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-15 11:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-16 09:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-18 02:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-16 12:09 pm (UTC)Not just you. All of this review, in fact, is bang on.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-17 01:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-17 07:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-17 09:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-17 09:48 pm (UTC)No Gomez spoilers, please. I'm behind.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-18 02:15 am (UTC)Not so sure - at least, not that the destruction of the balance was lasting. They made it pretty clear the Doctor realized that was the wrong path in the end, which is sort of echoed later in lines like "That's how the Master started" (although the context of that is not about remaking Time in your own image). I felt like the point there that is that drums or no drums, a Time Lord unleashed is a terrible thing. The way they become what they are means they all, or many at least, might have this potential. So the "hmm, he's been picking up tips from the Master" feeling in WoM was deliberate and meant to point out how (Potter-like, if you like) the choices we make are very important in making us what we are.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-18 12:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-15 05:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-16 09:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-16 11:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-15 06:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-02-16 09:14 am (UTC)