Last of the Time Lords

[altariel]

OMG Professor Traitor was a Newnham girl! *is shamed* mraltariel mutters darkly: You can trust 'em...

Nothing sadder than being desperate enough to plead with your enemy not to die. Mrs Saxon truly was fantastic this episode and last. I need to see it again, but on first viewing it feels true. So much better than last year's finale, anyway, and it reminded me a lot of 'Day of the Daleks', which was my favourite target novelization when I was. a time tot. I wish Martha wasn't going, though, but I think it's probably the best decision for her. I hope she pulls the cute revolutionary doctor.

I listened to that Scissor Sisters track repeatedly on the flight over the other week, I did laugh at that.

Comments

[furius.livejournal.com]

I wish we know more about Mrs. Saxon....

I think it's probably healthier for Martha if she just sees the Doctor occasionally.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

With Mrs Saxon, there's a lot of clues in the physical performance as to what her year with Saxon must have been like :-( I wonder what happens to her next, because she can still remember everything too.

[furius.livejournal.com]

Everything about her makes sense unless it's her who picks up the ring because I really though her saying "Doctor" means she's broken out of the mind-control...

[furius.livejournal.com]

Do you happen to know why the Doctor said "Theta" to the Master? Surely that cannot be his name..

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I missed that - when did he say it?

[kerravonsen]

I don't want Martha to leave, even though, as you say, it was probably the best decision for her.

Last of the Time Lords

[(Anonymous)]

The Master's wife was great - their relationship was one of the really effective ways of demonstrating what a nasty psychopath he was. When I noticed in one scene that he'd clearly been hitting her, it occurred to me suddenly that in fact his whole character could be seen as that of a wife-beater written up to planetary scale - all smiles and enforcing-cheeriness on the surface but *really* nasty and manipulative underneath.

John Simm was absolutely brilliant throughout his episodes I thought; according to last night's Confidential, RTD knew he'd accepted the part before he wrote it, which partly accounts for his being such a brilliant fit for the script, but it was a barnstorming performance (which he looked like he was enjoying immensely...)

And the scene when he comes dancing in to Scissor Sisters was quite brilliant in its Clockwork-Orange-like creepy nastiness. Am still dancing round the kitchen humming "I can't decide/Whether you should live or die..." but with images of the Master tormenting everyone in my head, which is quite disturbing.

Had it not been for the Master/Mrs S, and the very effective way the Master and the Doctor's weirdly co-dependent relationship was brought off, that would have been a rather run-of-the-mill-saving-the-universe series finale, I felt, but as it was it'll do nicely.

And Christmas on the Titanic, how, erm, jolly...

Cheers,
Azalais

Re: Last of the Time Lords

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The Master's wife was great - their relationship was one of the really effective ways of demonstrating what a nasty psychopath he was. When I noticed in one scene that he'd clearly been hitting her

That was so sad, when she is touching that bruise, and when she has her arms wrapped around her. Also the attention that she dances on him, picking up his jacket and putting in him. The difference between last week's performance and this week's: last week she was getting off on the violence, this week she flinches when he physically assaults the Doctor. Brilliant, brilliant performance.


it occurred to me suddenly that in fact his whole character could be seen as that of a wife-beater written up to planetary scale - all smiles and enforcing-cheeriness on the surface but *really* nasty and manipulative underneath.

Absolutely: he tyrannizes those immediately around him, and everyone else within his sphere of influence, be that public or private sphere.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I don't want Martha to go, even though I think she made the right decision for the character. The implication is that she'll be back occasionally.

There were bits of the that episode that I thought were meh, and bits I absolutely loved (like the flowers for Professor Traitor, who I thought was great), and I still haven't made up my mind about it as a whole.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I was impressed by Lucy Saxon doing so much with so little. (She also reminded me a bit of Mrs Santos, although I'm not sure if it's just superficial thing because of them both being blondes with upswept do's.) I also thought they were playing up the Mitford connection with her red dress, which looked a bit thirties-ish to me.

Oh yes, and I think Martha and Tom will meet. Martha knows her own mind on this, and I think I knew when asked if there was a Mrs Milligan that she'd moved on enough to be leaving, probably, by the end.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

My reaction was much the same as yours. Even by Who standards, the episode was very uneven.

One thought that occurred to me was: how could Martha be sure that the professor would betray her? If she hadn't, then the Plan would have failed.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I'm falling on the side of liking it at the moment, because the things I liked vastly outweighed the things I didn't so when I look back at it, I'm focussed on the good, for me, rather than the bad..

I suppose Martha couldn't be sure, but for me, part of Doctor Who is that the Doctor often takes a risk that people will do the right thing, as commented on by the Master when Martha gives herself up rather than let everyone in the houses be shot? So Martha was taking a risk that, in this case, someone would do the wrong thing.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

I think that, on balance, I too come down on the side of liking it, though I could easily change my mind.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I like it more and more after a second viewing today.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Good!

I've seen a lot of hatred around about it - it's good to have another view.

[greylin.livejournal.com]

Am v sad that Martha's leaving - I'd hoped she'd stick around for longer, mainly because Freema Agyeman knocks spots off Billie Piper. Was heartened by the handover of the mobile phone, however.

Captain Jack = Face of Bo (Boe, Beau, Bou, sp?) = sheer delight! Much cheering from the sofa!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I loved Freema to bits. I wonder if she'll turn up in Torchwood, which would hopefully make Torchwood a lot better.

I'd guessed the Jack-Boe twist (one of those things where you wake up in the middle of the night, cry out to the sleeping world, "But Jack is the Face of Boe!" then fall asleep again), but that still didn't make it any less joyful, particularly the explanation of the name.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Lots of things to like, specially Bo-faced Jack - which I didn't see coming - and the Scissors Sisters routine (even the name fits with the Toclafane!). And the whole Master/Doctor rel'p was great - especially the prospect of them settling down together somewhere on the Hove seafront.

But... RTD has a really unfortunate tendency to think that giving someone a numinous glow is justification for any kind of deus ex machina. We've seen it before, with Rose and the Vortex, but this time the naff-quotient was somehow higher. Partly it was the stock "people gathered in the major cities of the world" shots, but - well, did anyone else wonder whether RTD was channelling Peter Pan? All around the world, people are shouting "I believe in doctors!" and clapping their hands? You wish, Mr D...

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

LOL!

The Master certainly has something in common with Captain Hook, with the drumbeat standing in for the crocodile and its alarm clock.

[(Anonymous)]

But... RTD has a really unfortunate tendency to think that giving someone a numinous glow is justification for any kind of deus ex machina. We've seen it before, with Rose and the Vortex, but this time the naff-quotient was somehow higher. Partly it was the stock "people gathered in the major cities of the world" shots,

There were various elements of Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords which I felt were lazily retreading the ends of the previous two series - both of those you've pointed out, plus the Doctor sending the assistant away to safety from which she Pluckily Returns to Save the World...

well, did anyone else wonder whether RTD was channelling Peter Pan? All around the world, people are shouting "I believe in doctors!" and clapping their hands?

And then the Doctor turns into Tinkerbell and learns to fly... yes, my thoughts exactly. I'm afraid I was sniggering at that point, when I really would have wanted to be cheering.

Azalais

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think the Doctor does Martha the compliment of asking her to go into extreme danger. Quite the opposite of what he does to Rose. Martha spends the next year on the run in a destroyed Earth, with only a perception filter to keep her going. And faith in the Doctor's plan ;-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I loved that Scissor Sisters bit!

But I don't think it's about believing in Doctors. It's about people believing in something, what power that belief has, and whether that belief can be used for good or evil. Belief in Saxon's stories is used by the Master for evil. Belief in Martha's stories is used by the Doctor for good.

Anyway, I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!

[solanpolarn.livejournal.com]

I liked the idea of Martha: a smart, strong, resourceful young woman and I thought this was done very well in Smith and Jones. However, as the season progressed I thought she was underused and turned into a silly, love-struck girl with her unrequited crush on the Doctor as her defining characteristic. I found this very disappointing. The Martha we got in Last of the Time Lords was living up to her potential, traveling the world, using her intellect and determination to fight evil and stay alive and free. I am sorry to see her go, but with the path the writers/producers took her on during this season, it is the only decision that makes sense and allows her to be true to herself. I think the Martha we saw in the scene in Blink when Sally finally meets the Doctor, was more like this, in charge and not making puppy-eyes at the Doctor. It makes me wonder if that story takes place post-Last of the Time Lords in Martha and the Doctors time-line; maybe Martha called the Doctor to help with the "four things and a lizard"?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I was also disappointed with how Martha seemed sidelined mid-season, and then lost in Jack's reappearance. So much of her story takes place off-screen, in a way - not just in 'Last of the Time Lords', but her months in 1913 before 'Human Nature'. I'm glad the crush didn't become her defining feature, and I hope Torchwood improves with her.

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't Newnham be an irresistible location for a Who episode? It has the longest corridor in Europe!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Also, the gardens are gorgeous. Oh, and how a good director could make all that redbrick look really looming and scary! There is a story set in Cambridge, 'Shada' by Douglas Adams, although it was never completed and transmitted, and he rejigged it for a Dirk Gently book.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

SHADA! (sorry, felt someone had to say that, back to my box now)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Quite right too! (Saying SHADA that is, not going back in your box...)

[brendan-moody.livejournal.com]

I think I loved this episode. I'm not feeling the appreciation viscerally, as I do with Steven Moffat episodes and did with "Utopia," but I quite admire the ability to write an episode that can do all the various things this episode did without falling apart.

Random thoughts follow.

I was never quite satisfied with Martha, for reasons that were the writers' fault, but I admired Agyeman's performance and am interested to see what the character's promised future is.

At first I was indifferent to the Master's death scene- I was too busy wondering if they were really going to try playing it for emotion- but when he asked if the drumming would stop, I, um, cried a bit. Didn't cry for Rose, but the Master did it. Rusty is a brilliant madman.

Alexandra Moen did amazing work with Lucy Saxon, a rather smaller character than the impression she leaves would suggest. I almost want the Mysterious Woman to be her, though I don't think it's actually likely.

And the Titanic. The "not something weird appearing in the TARDIS again!" effect is somehow damped by the fact that it's the Titanic.

I think I loved it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Rusty is a brilliant madman.

:-) Yes, I was very moved by that death scene. The Doctor is so distraught. And the way they have fallen, so awkwardly, with the Master's hands in cuffs, very real.

I don't think the mysterious woman will turn out to be Lucy Saxon, although I wonder what happened to her. Did Jack look after her? She was in a bad way after what I assume was a year's violence from the Master (that bruise under her eye made me shiver).

I think I loved it.

I thought while watching: "I know I'm loving this, I'll work out why later."