What happened?
A year of The Master reigning over the planet, things are in a miserable condition. The Doctor, still in an elderly form, has been reduced to The Master’s pet, Jack remains a prisoner and Martha’s family are nothing more than servants. Only Martha has carried the torch of hope, having been walking across the planet spreading word of The Doctor amongst the population.
And so the time arrives when The Doctor, thanks to Martha, is able to use The Master’s own subconscious control system against him when the entire planet thinks of The Doctor and restores him to full vigour. Unwilling to see the last of his people killed, The Doctor vows to keep The Master with him in the TARDIS but The Master is shot dead by his bitter wife.
Martha elects to discontinue travelling with The Doctor, unable to stand being around him due to her feelings for him that are not returned. And so The Doctor returns to the TARDIS alone, and instantly crashes into the Titanic. . .
Thoughts
The one very refreshing thing this episode brought in to the fold was having a year have passed since the end of the previous one. It really gave a lot more gravitas to Martha’s declaration that she would return that felt somewhat melodramatic previously. Shifting the focus to Martha, and her extraordinary (unbelievable?) feat of endurance and perseverance in travelling the planet and spreading the word about The Doctor was impressive, and fitting. She has been a terrific companion, resourceful and brave and reliable, and it felt right that she would be the real saviour here, despite The Doctor leaping in at the end to take all the credit!
Beyond the jarring state of the world and Martha’s heroic efforts, there wasn’t really very much else I liked about this episode. I didn’t like the longterm plan The Doctor had set in motion (was that really the best thing he could come up with?) and I thought the undoing of The Master and the resolution to things was awfully twee. I know Doctor Who often strains credulity but this felt like a reach too far.
I also felt elevating The Doctor to this mythical saviour in the eyes of all humanity across the planet felt disingenuous in comparison to the sometimes egotistically dangerous character he represents (he is, basically, an unstoppable force that determines the fate of the entire universe!). Fundamentally it just felt weak.
It’s a shame The Doctor was reduced to a CGI wench throughout the majority of this episode, because seeing the sparks fly between him and The Master felt worthwhile of a series finale – the last of the Timelords locked in opposition. There was a better, grandstanding event more deserving of such an occasion, and I don’t think we got it here.
I suppose the episode wasn’t all bad. I did like the nice surprise at the end that heavily suggested that The Face of Boe was none other than Jack! That was really good, and if we never see or hear from Jack again in Doctor Who (I know he crossed over as a main character of Torchwood, which I’ve never seen any of) then it’s a cute, quirky sign off.
Aside from Martha and that, however, the rest of it was overblown and lacked drama.
What was the best part?
The best part was seeing The Master cavort around near the beginning of the episode, to music, lording it over everyone and revealing The Doctor had been forced to remain on all fours and live in a kennel. For some reason such behaviour kind of made The Master seem like a nastier villain than the usual foes that are simply out to destroy and kill – enslavement, torture and humiliation are far more inhumane than genocide!
What do I think will happen next?
End of a series, and farewell to another companion. Since this episode ended with the Titanic abruptly crashing through the TARDIS (I thought that thing was impregnable and indestructible!?) the next episode, a Christmas special, will feature the aforementioned vessel. (I do happen to recall watching this when it was first aired so I know it’s not the actual Titanic as it may first appear here!)
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