The Sound of Drums

The waters are still rather muddy with regards last weeks "Utopia" status - it wasn't gifted a reprise here (at least, not a conventional one) further loosening its claim to be Part 1 of the story of which "The Sound Of Drums" purports to be 'Part 2'(according to the production team). And talking of the start of episodes, "The Sound Of Drums" gets off to a shocking start. One gets the impression it was some sort of postmodernism to initially not bother to resolve last weeks cliff-hanger at all, and then to reveal our heroes simply 'beamed' out of trouble. And yet at the same time, it is a bit of a cheat.

That gets us off to a shaky start, but onto the rest of the episode. Although not to the taste of some, John Simm's Master probably was the best thing about the episode; his grinning, gurning and insane refusal to take anything seriously tapped in to the very essence of the character. His first conversation with the Doctor was slightly squandered though, and having it held over a mobile phone just felt silly; as if the writer was poking fun at a point where perhaps he should have been being serious. But Simm was largely okay, at his best when sending up the President of America and then ushering in a new invasion of Earth.

The problem with "The Sound of Drums" was one of originality. It felt curiously lacking for a penultimate episode, the slot last year held by "Army of Ghosts". That story culminated with celebrity cameos, flashes of BBC News Reports and the skies over London filled with swarming aliens. Here, we got exactly the same except with slightly less exciting aliens. Worse, the Doctor seemed to tee up some form of shock cliff-hanger a few minutes from the end with his teasing "They aren't called the Toclafane... who are they?". But the question remained oddly unanswered even as the credits rolled.

Most would agree this was a great normal episode, but a disappointing start to the final story of the season. The thrilling glimpse of Gallifrey confirmed that there are alien worlds out there, yet we were stuck at home with yet another alien horde arriving to be dispatched by the Doctor.

Somehow the presence of the Master only compounds this feeling of things being a bit stale. The third "big monster" to be dragged back, he always had a bit of a reputation for being a dull villain anyway. "The Sound of Drums" had only a disappointing car chase and a weak gas explosion to mark out a distinct retread of Season 2 glories.