Utopia

The Master... reborn!

Utopia is an excellent episode that starts a little off but improves greatly as it progresses. I don't know if I would think of it as the be all and end all that some fans give it, but it's still very, very good.

Plot Summary

The Doctor and Martha land in Cardiff to refuel on the energy rift. Just as they are about to take-off again, Captain Jack throws himself on the TARDIS. In an attempt to throw him off, the TARDIS launches forward 100 Trillion years to the end of the universe. They land on a small planet where the remnants of humanity are gathering in an attempt to find a way to escape the heat death of the universe. Chased by mutants called the Futurekind, the group escapes to the base and are met by the chief scientist called Professor Yana. The Doctor assists the Professor and gets the rocket power source to work. However while preparing for take-off, a Futurekind that had snuck into the base sabotages the power source.

The Doctor and Jack head down to the radiation soaked reaction chamber. Jack, as a result of Rose bringing him back to life in The Parting of the Ways, cannot die and is able to work in the room without being damaged by the radiation. Meanwhile, Professor Yana is affected by all the talk of time travel and pulls out a fob watch to articulate his feelings about time. Martha recognizes it as the same type of fob watch that the Doctor used to become human in Human Nature/The Family of Blood. Martha runs down to tell the Doctor and as the rocket takes off, Professor Yana, illuminated by Martha's interest, opens the watch.

With the essence of the Master restored, Professor Yana shuts down the defenses of the base allowing the Futurekind in. He locks out the Doctor and mortally wounds his assistant Chantho. Before she dies, Chantho shoots the Master. He locks himself in the Doctor's TARDIS and regenerates into a younger form. With the Futurekind attempting to break in through the door, the Master disappears with the TARDIS, abandoning the Doctor and his companions in the far future.

Analysis

The episode begins on a bit of a sour note as the Futurekind look like a cheap Mad Max rip off. The chase of the Doctor and his companions (and one other human) is nothing special and it doesn't draw you in very much. However, once they are in the base and Derek Jacobi is given full sway, the whole tone of the episode changes. The characters become deeper and more interesting and that drives the story far more than the very simple plot.

The two best moments are when Jack and the Doctor are talking while Jack operates in the radiation soaked room and while Professor Yana loses himself in his embedded memories, trying to recall who he really is. Despite the tension being high in trying to get the rocket to launch, the Doctor and Jack have an interesting discussion about what happened to Jack, why the Doctor abandoned him, and how he realized what happened to him as he waited one hundred fifty years for the Doctor to arrive. It's a quiet moment where the Doctor and Jack just talk with no subterfuge or garbage between them. It's just an honest heart to heart talk that draws you in as you enjoy both of these characters.

Professor Yana's scene is just about the power of Derek Jacobi as an actor. Events build throughout the episode as little bits of Time Lord lore and phrasing are dropped but when the concept of traveling through time and space in the TARDIS is revealed, you can see the internal struggle going through Professor Yana. The slow burn of this development, including the reveal of the fob watch are done well and allow Jacobi to express everything through his face and hands. When he does speak, it only emphasizes what he is already expressing visually. The culmination where Professor Yana becomes the Master again is interwoven beautifully with the actions of the Doctor both to finish the launching of the rocket and then fashbacks to the Face of Boe's prediction that the Doctor is not alone. It holds you tightly and keeps you fully engaged the whole time.

The episode does sag a little bit after such a good build up and the Master in both his Professor Yana and Harold Saxon forms go a bit over the top. It's not bad, but it's a stark contrast that it can be a bit jolting and overuse would become grating. But it works well enough in this instance.

Overall, this is a very good episode. If I were more picky I'd dock it for the opening, but I can't justify that given how good the episode is after they are in the base. This is an easy one to go back to and watch again with just as much enjoyment as the first time you saw it.

Overall personal score: 5 out of 5