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The Sound of Drums

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191b - The Sound of Drums
Cast
Production
Directed byColin Teague
Written byRussell T. Davies
Produced byPhil Collinson
Executive producer(s)Russell T. Davies
Julie Gardner
Production code3.12
SeriesSeries 3
Running time2 of 3 episodes, 45 mins.
First broadcast23 June 2007
Chronology
← Preceded by
"Utopia" 		Followed by →
"Last of the Time Lords"

"The Sound of Drums" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 23 June 2007,[1] and is the twelfth episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. It is the second in a three-part story.

Synopsis

The Master arrives in the 21st Century — as Harold Saxon, Prime Minister — and the world enters a period of terror when contact with an unknown alien race the Master calls the Toclafane is announced.

Plot

File:The Sound of Drums.jpg
The sky rips open above the Valiant.

The Doctor, Martha, and Jack materialize in a London alleyway, having used Jack's Vortex Manipulator, repaired by the Doctor, to escape the Futurekind in the year 100 trillion. Seeing "Vote Saxon" posters everywhere, and Saxon himself on a giant TV screen, the Doctor and Martha realize that the new Prime Minister, the mysterious "Mr Saxon", is the Master.

In 10 Downing Street, the Master speaks briefly with Tish Jones, who is unsure of her duties in her new job there. Next he enters the newly rebuilt cabinet room. After calling the cabinet members traitors, because they abandoned their parties to join his electoral bandwagon, he puts on a gas mask and activates jets of poisonous gas. As the cabinet collapses, the Master beats his hand on the table, drumming out a four-beat rhythm.

Journalist Vivien Rook obtains an interview with Master's wife, Lucy Saxon, as a pretext to warn Lucy that "Saxon" did not exist eighteen months ago — his entire life before that is a fabrication. Mrs Saxon turns to the Master, who is now standing by the door. He confirms that Saxon doesn't exist, and then introduces his "friends", four floating, metallic spheres, which materialize and kill Vivien. The Master promises his wife that "everything will end tomorrow".

Meanwhile, the Doctor, Martha and Jack have gone to Martha's flat to find out more about the Master's "Saxon" persona. Part of his apparently varied history is the Archangel network, a mobile phone network which Saxon was in charge of launching. The Master then makes a televised announcement about the Toclafane, the spheres seen earlier, saying that first contact will take place the following morning. The Doctor is surprised; the name Toclafane is that of a Gallifreyan fairytale villain, not a real alien race. As the Master makes his speech, he references various jobs, ending with specific emphasis on "medical student". The Doctor quickly turns to Martha and then back to the TV, which has a bomb attached to the back. They make it outside just as her flat explodes.

Martha rings up her mum to check on her; Francine asks Martha to come to her house, claiming that she plans to get back together with Clive. She passes the phone to Clive, who tries to warn Martha away; however, the "sinister woman" is listening and orders police to arrest the entire Jones family. Martha hurriedly drives to the scene with the Doctor and Jack. On the way she phones Tish in Downing Street, just as Tish is dragged away by guards. Martha arrives at Francine's house, but the police open fire on her car and she is forced to drive away.

As the Doctor, Jack, and Martha abandon the car, Martha phones Leo to warn him, and is relieved to learn that he is in Brighton. Saxon interrupts the conversation and the Doctor takes the phone. He tells the Master about the Time War and how it ended. The Master reveals that he was resurrected by the Time Lords in order to fight in the war, but ran away in fear. He then informs the Doctor that they are now Britain's most wanted terrorists and tells them to run, noting that Jack's friends have been sent on a wild-goose chase in the Himalayas.

One of the Toclafane appears before the Master, asking if the "machine" is ready. The Master confirms it will reach critical mass at 8:02 AM, two minutes after first contact. The Toclafane warns of an impending "terrible darkness" and suggests that they flee, but the Master merely reminds it of its deadline.

As they hide in an abandoned building, the Doctor gives Martha and Jack some insight into the Master's background, explaining that Time Lords on Gallifrey stare into the time vortex at the age of eight: some are inspired, some run away, and some are driven mad. The Doctor ran and never stopped, but he believes the latter happened to the Master. After Jack receives a posthumously-sent message from Vivien Rook to Torchwood about the Archangel network, the Doctor discovers that the Master is transmitting a mysterious four-beat rhythm that subliminally persuaded people to vote for him, which also kept the Doctor from previously detecting the Master. The Doctor then adds a perception filter to the TARDIS keys, allowing the trio to move about unnoticed. When he explains the perception filter to Martha and Jack, Martha is confused at first, but then the Doctor describes it as "...like when you fancy someone, and they don't even know you exist." As Martha stares incredulously at him, Jack asks her, "You too...?"

While the TARDIS crew look on, US President Arthur Winters arrives in Air Force One. He tells the Master that UNIT now controls the operation. Citing a 1968 United Nations protocol, Winters insists on moving first contact to the neutral ground of the UNIT aircraft carrier Valiant and conducting the meeting himself. The Master brings Martha's family along, and the Doctor and friends follow using Jack's Vortex Manipulator. Onboard the Valiant, they find the TARDIS, its Cloister bell ringing and the interior glowing an ominous red. It has been "cannibalized" by the Master into a Paradox Machine, set to go off at 8:02 AM. The trio head for the room where first contact is being made. The Doctor has a plan: if he can get his TARDIS key around the Master's neck, everyone will see him for what he really is.

When first contact begins, the Toclafane complain that the President is not the Master. The Master reveals himself and has his friends kill the President. The Doctor is captured by guards, and the Master temporarily "kills" Jack with his laser screwdriver, which is also equipped with LazLabs genetic manipulation technology. Coupled with biological data from the Doctor's severed hand, stolen in the previous episode, it allows the Master to artificially age the Doctor by 100 years. Jack gives Martha the Vortex Manipulator and tells her to escape. The Master then brings in Martha's family to witness his triumph. He refuses to reveal the Toclafane's true identity to the aged Doctor, saying that the revelation would break the Doctor's hearts.

With the paradox machine ready, the Master tells the people of Earth that it's "the end of the world" and plays "Voodoo Child".[2] The machine activates, creating a massive rift above the Valiant from which six billion Toclafane emerge. He orders them to kill one tenth of the Earth's population. Whilst the Master is distracted, Martha glances mournfully at the Doctor, Jack, and her family, then teleports to Earth using the Manipulator, promising to return as she watches the Toclafane descend. The Master and his wife look down on "his new dominion", with the aged Doctor between them, forced to confront his failure to stop the Master.

Cast

Cast notes

Continuity

Gallifrey

The Time Lord homeworld, Gallifrey, appears in this episode in a flashback sequence. This is the first televised depiction of Gallifrey since The Five Doctors and shows the Time Lord citadel, a conglomeration of buildings protected within a vast transparent dome. The planet's orange skies are consistent with descriptions going back to the sixties era and last seen in The Invasion of Time. The citadel and surrounding landscape also match the Doctor's description of them in "Gridlock".

The first televised black Time Lord appears during this Gallifrey flashback, although a black Time Lord appeared in the spin-off novel The Shadows of Avalon by Paul Cornell, and Time Lord founder Rassilon was portrayed in several audio plays by black actor Don Warrington.

Whilst the boy Master wears a black-and-white outfit like those worn by the first Time Lords seen on screen, in The War Games in 1969,[3] the adult Time Lords are depicted dressed in the ceremonial robes first seen in The Deadly Assassin in 1976. Created by then BBC staff designer James Acheson prior to his film career, the huge stiff collars of these outfits remained the distinctive look for officials of the Doctor's race. The collars used were the originals, on loan from the Doctor Who Exhibition in Blackpool.[4]

The seal of Rassilon — the equally well-established Gallifreyan symbol employed by Acheson (originally in the non-Time Lord-related Revenge of the Cybermen) — appears here for the first time since its prominent use in the television movie.

The Master

In "Utopia", Professor Yana refers to a lifelong "sound of drums", which only he can hear. In this episode, the Master tells the Doctor that he is still distressed by the never-ending sound. The narrative in the trailer for the concluding part of this story, "Last of the Time Lords", suggests that the Master has heard the sound calling him to war ever since he first looked into the Time Vortex as a young child on Gallifrey.

As previously in the Jon Pertwee era, the Doctor admits that he and the Master were initially friends, and their attendance of the Time Lord Academy is referenced — young Gallifreyans, it is explained, are inducted at the age of eight. It is also strongly implied that this initiation, which involves looking into the Vortex, drove the Master insane.

The Master reveals that the Time Lords "resurrected" him to fight for them in the Time War — in his last televised appearance (in the Doctor Who television movie), he was sucked into the Eye of Harmony. Instead of standing and fighting in the Time War, however, the Master admits that he fled in terror before the conclusion of the war, after the "Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform". He hid himself at the heat death of the universe (where no Time Lord had ever ventured) in human form. He learns of the destruction of Gallifrey and the Daleks from the Doctor and wishes to know how the Doctor felt, personally destroying two ancient civilisations.

When talking to the world's press cameras towards the end of the episode, the Master begins his speech "Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully." This paraphrases part of a speech he gave in episode four of Logopolis (1981), which began "Peoples of the Universe, please attend carefully."[3]

The Master refers to his wife, Lucy Saxon, as his "companion", a title regularly assumed by the travelling partners of the Doctor. This "companion" relationship, however, seems to be a fully romantic one, unlike those of the Doctor. The Master was previously seen to seduce a woman for his own ends in The Time Monster.

The Master is shown enjoying an episode of Teletubbies, continuing a fascination with children's television first seen in The Sea Devils, when he was shown watching The Clangers. He wryly analyses both series' characters, remarking how amazing it would be if they were real.[5]

Martha jokes that the Master might have been revealed as the Doctor's "secret brother or something". The Master's final line in Planet of Fire, before his apparent immolation, is "Would you show no mercy to your own...?" followed by a final scream, originally intended to imply the connection. The Doctor replies, "You've been watching too much TV!"

Saxon is not a member of any political party, although he became Minister of Defence in the administration following the downfall of Harriet Jones. The Harold Saxon site states that "leaders of all three major parties — and even some Scottish Nationalists — defected to his banner of unity".

Torchwood

Jack and the Master refer to Jack's colleagues at Torchwood in Cardiff. The Master says he has sent them on a "wild goose chase" to the Himalayas, thus preventing Jack from contacting or requesting help from them. The Doctor and Jack talk about the events at the Battle of Canary Wharf as seen in "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday". The Doctor is still extremely wary of Torchwood; Jack insists that under his leadership it was rebuilt in honour of the Doctor rather than opposing him. (The Doctor remains sceptical, commenting on Jack's very Torchwood-like suggestion that they break the Master's neck.) Music cues composed for Torchwood are used when Jack reveals to the Doctor that he works for them.

  • The Master offers Lucy Saxon a jelly baby and enjoys one himself; the confection is associated with the Second and Fourth Doctor's.
  • Vivien Rook refers to the fall of Harriet Jones, who first appeared as an MP in "Aliens of London" before being elected Prime Minister by the time of "The Christmas Invasion". Although that episode hinted at her downfall due to the Doctor's intervention, this episode confirms it, mentioned as being the point at which Harold Saxon arrives.
  • In his first cabinet session the Master refers to the reconstruction of the Cabinet Rooms and Downing Street, which were destroyed at the climax of "World War Three".
  • Clips from "Aliens of London", "Army of Ghosts", "Doomsday", "The Runaway Bride", "The Lazarus Experiment", and "Utopia" are used throughout the episode.
  • Martha's television is branded Magpie Electricals — this company originally rented and sold televisions manufactured by other companies in the 1950s, as seen in "The Idiot's Lantern".
  • The Master reveals that he was responsible for Tish getting the job working for Professor Lazarus — whose work he was funding — in "The Lazarus Experiment", hoping to trap the Doctor and Martha. He has since incorporated the genetic manipulation technology into his new laser screwdriver.
  • The Doctor has previously been prematurely aged in The Leisure Hive[3].
  • The Doctor tells the Master that the Daleks are "more or less" dead, referring to the mass annihilation of the species, of which only Dalek Caan is known to be still alive.
  • A close-up of Martha's mobile phone in "42" shows the Archangel network logo when the Doctor upgrades it. The logo appears several times in this episode, in Vivien Rook's message to Torchwood, on Martha's laptop when Mr Saxon is about to make the announcement about the Toclafane, and on the back of the Master's laptop computer in the Cabinet room.
  • This is the first episode in which it is explicitly established that the TARDIS' anachronistic nature goes largely unnoticed in part due to its "perception filter". This was previously hinted by Torchwood episode "Everything Changes", where it was explained that this property of the TARDIS had been welded to a pavement slab. The second use of the term was in "Human Nature", where the Doctor noted that his TARDIS could place one on his fob watch.
  • US President-Elect Winter states that UNIT protocols for alien first contact were established in 1968; this was the year UNIT was introduced to the series in The Invasion.

Outside references

  • As in many previous episodes of the revived series, the Doctor is seen watching BBC News 24. However, unlike previous occasions when the channel was clearly named as BBC News 24, this time the channel is simply captioned on screen as "News 24" and the logo consists of an "N" inside the BBC News globe. This is actually the logo for the Welsh language news programme Newyddion, which is also produced by BBC Wales and whose studio is used for this segment of the episode.
  • The Master's final speech to the aged Doctor quotes phrases and words from the King James Version of the Bible (eg "thought it good" from 1 Thessalonians 3:1, Daniel 4:2, and the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus; "it came to pass" from Luke 2:1, among others), and generally parodies it by using what in modern speech would be archaisms (e.g. "dominion", "fell" and "was no more").
  • Writing in the episode's BBC Fact File, Peter Ware observes that the Master's introduction of the Jones family as having come "all the way from prison" is similar to the style used in the TV show This Is Your Life.[3]

Production and publicity

  • This episode, along with "Utopia" and "Last of the Time Lords", constitute the first three-part story in the revived series of Doctor Who.
  • This is the first instance in the revived series of a multi-episode story not starting a later episode with a montage of clips from the previous episode.
  • The episode was advertised on BBC television with a spoof party political broadcast, featuring testimonials from celebrities Sharon Osbourne, McFly and Ann Widdecombe showing their support for Mr Saxon, a version of which is seen in the episode itself.[6] Also during the broadcast, drums can be heard. There is also a different trailer that showed still shots of the Doctor, Martha Jones and Captain Jack over the top of which Mr Saxon's speech, in which he says "... what this country really needs, right now, is a doctor", can be heard and at the end there is a small clip of him showing his trademark smile.[7] The celebrity appearances in the episode itself differ from those in the trailer, most noticeably that of Ann Widdecombe, who appears alone in the trailer but alongside Mr Saxon in the episode.
  • The BBC created two fictional websites in connection with these episodes, Vote Saxon and http://www.haroldsaxon.co.uk. The latter site replicates the video and web pages seen by the characters in "The Sound of Drums".

Music

References

  1. ^ "Doctor Who UK airdate announced". News. Dreamwatch. February 27, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Vood Child"'s lyrics feature the line "Here come the drums", which is included in the Master's dialogue.
  3. ^ a b c d "Doctor Who - Fact File - "The Sound of Drums"". Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  4. ^ Doctor Who Magazine Issue #384, page 15
  5. ^ BBC Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide
  6. ^ ""Celebrity Trailer"". Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  7. ^ "Doctor Who official website".
  8. ^ Freema Agyeman, Trevor Laird, Gugu Mbatha-Raw. "The Sound of Drums commentary". BBC's Doctor Who microsite (Podcast). Retrieved 06-25. {{cite podcast}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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