What a corker!

I read various comments about ‘Utopia‘ over the weekend, and the camps seem split between good and bad. The good appreciate the excellent climax to the episode and even have a soft spot for the background plotline of humans, monsters and quarries. The bad viewed the whole thing as dull and poorly handled, average for Russell T, too average for the spoiled ending to save it (The Sun ran an article mid-March about the return of The Master and the fact John Simm had secured the role).

Me? I appreciate a slice of vintage Who – and struggles in a quarry fall squarely within that description. ‘Utopia‘ represented a fan boy high point, tying up a bunch of loose ends from throughout the series so far and turning them into a spine-tingling finale. Derek Jacobi played the roles of Professor Yana and The Master with panache, a roller coaster ride from bumbling and good natured into cold and malign with breath-taking ease. From a fan boy perspective, having The Master portrayed by someone who had played the character before made it an even greater delight (Jacobi played an android version of The Master in ‘Scream of the Shalka‘).

To me it looks like the next episode will centre on The Master as Saxon, a moment for Doctor-lite leading up to the season finale. I certainly would have no objection to that – and it makes perfect sense to go for a three-parter for that reason. I sincerely hope The Master will get out of this with the potential for repeated return like the Daleks… would be a shame to pull a Batman on him and kill the big villain off at the end!

How can The Doctor escape his current predicament? Well, I have theories. He could use Jack’s Vortex Manipulator, either to go back in time himself or send Jack back to locate the TARDIS and return for a rescue. They could discover that Malcassairo provided a home for more than just a long dead insectoid race… with the insectoid city built on the blasted remains of Gallifrey. Or, Utopia might well be the remains of Gallifrey. Finally (and someone else suggested this), Professor Yana’s lab contained a old-style tape-driven computer bank… a disguise The Master used for his own TARDIS in the Pertwee-era The Time Monster.

I watched ‘Dalek‘ last night, and found the whole experience as exhilerating as the first time. I admit to finding Adam more irritating than originally – someone who could have beaten Adric or Melanie for sheer annoyance factor. Mind you, only a few episodes in Rose seemed oddly annoying too and I didn’t feel her performance amounted to much.

However, overall the episode entertained and enthralled with all that shouting, running and Dalek action. The enhancements to the Dalek proved logical and breath-taking to view – and I can’t help giggle with glee when the multi-directional central portion of the ‘pepperpot’ kicks into action. Christopher Eccleston turns in an excellent performance, spittle and all – a desperate and lonely man faced with his mortal enemy and the haunting fact that the situation he stands in comes down to his own actions in the first place.

If you didn’t know (and I guess this appeared somewhere direct from the big ‘T’), the Time War started because the Daleks got wind of the events recounted in ‘Genesis of the Daleks‘, where the Timelords sent the Doctor to nip the plans of Davros in the bud and preventing the Daleks from ever existing. The Fourth Doctor’s conscience got the better of him when he realised without the Daleks a lot of great events would never have happened – alliances and advances across the Universe bought about by a common enemy. Discovering the underhanded tactics of the Timelords and in possession of their own time travelling devices, the Daleks and their Emperor set about putting an end to the threats of Gallifrey.

So – an episode well worth returning to, with more ups than downs come the end of 45 minutes.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the seasons ‘Doctor Lite’ episode ‘Blink‘ proves you utterly wrong. Steven Moffat created an incredible story from a very basic premise and left a lasting after-image to haunt little kiddies for some time to come. Not since the Nimon has anything really frightened me in Who, but even I will treat statues with a little more caution from now on.

Like earlier episodes, ‘Blink’ provided knowing nods to other sources, like ‘Back to the Future: Part II’ in this instance. The dark coated messenger turning up with a message from the past echoed the final scenes of the film, including the flinch from the heroine as the messenger pulls the letter from the inside of his coat.

I didn’t stop to think for a moment during the episode, didn’t care to wonder whether any inconsistencies might exist in the storyline. Having so much timey-wimey stuff involved makes it easy enough to sidestep any problems anyway… and the episode worked, so why pick. I shall be going back to my 2005 Doctor Who annual to re-read the short story by Moffat that trickled into the writing of this episode. Didn’t even occur to me until I read about it afterwards.