After the incredible revelation and cliff-hanger at the end of Utopia, fans will be desperate to know what happens next.
The Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack manage to escape back to earth (no surprises there) and are soon on the track of The Master. But to their horror he's become one of the most powerful people in the country. And he's not alone, he's working with a mysterious race of aliens called The Toclafane who say they come in peace. But The Doctor has his doubts. And he suspects that the whole earth is heading for disaster.
This episode is powered along by a brilliant performance from John Simm as The Master. He's a fantastic villain because he's like The Doctor in so many ways - he's hyper-intelligent, and bounds around the screen with just as much energy as his Time Lord rival.
And what makes him so scary as an enemy is that he's the first person we've met who you can really imagine being able to defeat The Doctor, because he's easily the Time Lord's equal.
Celebrity cameos
The story provides lots of answers that have come up throughout the series - how The Master ended up trillions of years in the future, the origins of Mr Saxon, even what The Doctor's home planet actually looks like. But it also ends up asking even more questions - what does the mysterious drumming mean, and what's The Master really up to?
The Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack manage to escape back to earth (no surprises there) and are soon on the track of The Master. But to their horror he's become one of the most powerful people in the country. And he's not alone, he's working with a mysterious race of aliens called The Toclafane who say they come in peace. But The Doctor has his doubts. And he suspects that the whole earth is heading for disaster.
This episode is powered along by a brilliant performance from John Simm as The Master. He's a fantastic villain because he's like The Doctor in so many ways - he's hyper-intelligent, and bounds around the screen with just as much energy as his Time Lord rival.
And what makes him so scary as an enemy is that he's the first person we've met who you can really imagine being able to defeat The Doctor, because he's easily the Time Lord's equal.
Celebrity cameos
The story provides lots of answers that have come up throughout the series - how The Master ended up trillions of years in the future, the origins of Mr Saxon, even what The Doctor's home planet actually looks like. But it also ends up asking even more questions - what does the mysterious drumming mean, and what's The Master really up to?
All of this means it feels rather less exciting than Utopia, it's because it's setting up things for the climax in the last episode of the series. But there's still more than enough going on to keep fans happy, with the tension really increasing as the story unfolds.
It's not all wall-to-wall action though, there's lots of humour. Much of it provided by The Master who's having a wonderful time being an evil super villain. Along with some great celebrity cameos.
Worthy companion
What The Sound of Drums does beautifully is to draw together so many unexpected threads from earlier in the series. And it shows how cleverly chief writer Russell T. Davies has woven together the different strands to reward viewers who've followed the series faithfully.
Also one of the best things about the last 12 episodes has been watching Martha developing from a wide eyed newcomer to the wonders of time and space, into a worthy companion for The Doctor. And we truly get to appreciate this change as she's forced to make some difficult choices.
To keep what happens secret, hardly anyone will be allowed to see the final story - Episode 13 Last of the Time Lords - before it appears on TV. So it looks like this will be the last review of Doctor Who Series 3. But if this episode is anything to go by, the climax of the series will be well worth the wait.
It's not all wall-to-wall action though, there's lots of humour. Much of it provided by The Master who's having a wonderful time being an evil super villain. Along with some great celebrity cameos.
Worthy companion
What The Sound of Drums does beautifully is to draw together so many unexpected threads from earlier in the series. And it shows how cleverly chief writer Russell T. Davies has woven together the different strands to reward viewers who've followed the series faithfully.
Also one of the best things about the last 12 episodes has been watching Martha developing from a wide eyed newcomer to the wonders of time and space, into a worthy companion for The Doctor. And we truly get to appreciate this change as she's forced to make some difficult choices.
To keep what happens secret, hardly anyone will be allowed to see the final story - Episode 13 Last of the Time Lords - before it appears on TV. So it looks like this will be the last review of Doctor Who Series 3. But if this episode is anything to go by, the climax of the series will be well worth the wait.
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