Doctor Who Season 3 Volume 4 DVD review
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 08.22.2007
"I...am...the...MASTER"
As the final disc of the latest Who is distributed to the eager punters, it’s time to reflect on the third season, which at times has seen the quality veer from one extreme (Ardal O’Hanlon dressed as a cat) to the other (allegedly the best episode ever - check out my review of Volume 3). Although missing that wonderful dynamic relationship between the Doctor and his previous companion Rose that characterised season two, 2007’s Who has provided one of the most consistently entertaining runs of the show since, arguably, the mid-70s and Tom Baker’s first two seasons at the helm of the Tardis. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the epic three-part climax that Volume 4 provides - I should note that although I try to keep spoilers out of reviews in general, the nature of these episodes means that I’m probably going to have to let a fair few details slip. You have been warned!
The first, and slightly more loosely-connected, of the three episodes here is ‘Utopia’, a rather dark (literally and metaphorically) episode, which features a trip to the very end of the universe. Sadly for the Doctor and his companions Martha and Captain Jack, there’s no restaurant to be found, but instead the last vestiges of humanity, marooned on an outpost on a desolate planet at the furthest ends of time and space. There they come across the reclusive scientist Dr Yana (played by legendary thesp Derek Jacobi), who’s working on a spaceship intended to fly the last humans to a promised utopia somewhere in the sky. This episode really is all about setup and exposition for the upcoming climax of the season, and suffers on its own terms because of that. There’s not really too much of a story per se, and what there is suffers from a fair few inconsistencies (not least of which is that if the human race did still exist a trillion years in the future, would it still be speaking English and using 21st century automatic weapons?). However, the final 10-15 minutes more than make up for it, as the suspense grows exponentially with the realisation of Dr Yana’s real story and an explosive final few moments. Bonus points also for the hot female blue-skinned alien Chantho.
The final two episodes, ‘The Sound of Drums’ and ‘Last of the Timelords’, strive to one-up even the Daleks versus Cybermen world-ending clash of the previous season. The Doctor and co. find a way to make it back to Earth after being stranded at the end of the universe (don’t worry, it takes them all of about two minutes) and discover that the newly-regenerated Master has used his insidious Satellite of Love Evil to brainwash the people of England into voting him their new Prime Minister. As the new PM “Mister Saxon” (a cunning anagram of “Master No. Six” - oh how we chuckled), the Master dissolves his ministerial cabinet and makes contact with an alien race, the Toclafane. Of course, while this is broadcast to the world as a new step in human / flying ball from space relations, there are more sinister happenings afoot. As the Doctor and his companions attempt to stop the dastardly Master-plan, they are eventually captured and forced to watch helplessly as the Toclafane take over the planet.
John Simm as the Master was the real news here, and while he doesn’t have the facial hair or hammy menace of past Masters Roger Delgado or Anthony Ainley, he’s still a great foil for Tennant and certainly possesses the charisma to pull off one of the best arch-nemesis roles on television. Sadly, there are a fair few other flaws which threaten to derail the whole ‘epic’ feel. How would the Doctor have known about the countdown? Why does Russell T. Davies keep casting children’s TV presenters in his season finales? Why, when the Doctor is aged 900 years by the Master, does he turn into the illegitimate lovechild of Gollum and the Great Gazoo? Why is the invasion of the billions of Toclafane soundtracked by a cheesy house music number? Who thought ‘Toclafane’ would be a good name for an alien, and was it the same person who stole the production design from Captain Scarlet? Why on earth was *that* final twist from Captain Jack necessary? Actually, I can probably live with that last one now that I think about it. Don’t let all these criticisms put you off though - it’s still an enjoyable 100 minutes or thereabouts, mainly because the Master is the fucking man and has an absolute belter of an evil scheme (just wait until the Toclafane’s secret is revealed) that requires him to build a machine that reworks the laws of nature and logic. Which, naturally, he does. To paraphrase Hitchcock (the real-life Master), it makes for great refrigerator television.
And so, Doctor Who once more draws to an end. It’s been a wild ride, and things look to be shaking up for the coming year, with rumours that Freema Agyeman will take only a minor role in the next season (she’ll be majoring over at Who spinoff Torchwood), and the gob-faced Catherine Tate being brought in to fill a more permanent role. There’s also been an annoying rumour or two that Irish actor James Nesbitt will be next in line to fill the Timelord’s shoes. Whatever the future may hold for the Doctor, though, Tennant will take it in his stride as he climbs ever closer to the top of the “best Doctor ever” list. And with a ‘titanic’ Christmas special (zing!) in the works, there’s not long to wait.
DVD info
As with the last three releases of this season’s episodes, the DVD reviewed is the region two vanilla edition, and is unlikely to be released in region one - those guys will just have to wait for the finish of the season and the inevitable boxset . The feature running time is two hours and 20 minutes. Video transfer is 1.78:1 and is very good quality; the BBC is obviously increasing the show’s budget and production resources with every new iteration. Audio is pretty good too, although the only language track is English.
Extras
El zilcho, as per usual. A shame in this case as it would have been nice to see a Tennant / Simm double interview. Maybe one for the boxset, eh BBC?
The 411: A satisfying close to the season. The score should really be taken in the context of the whole season, though, as a lot of these three episodes rely on what has come before to make sense. As a standalone release, it’s probably worthy of a rental, but as the final chapter in one of Doctor Who’s best runs yet, it’s well worth forking out the cash for, and gives off a nice “top this!” attitude. Thumbs up.
