Doctor Who: The Sound of Drums

[vilakins]

I'm probably missing a lot by never having seen that particular character before (though I have several good recs for serials to watch now) but that was quite fun.

Well, they got out of jail the end of time very easily. The drumming was creepy (and why did Yana hear it before all this?) but I thought the Archangel part of the plot too reminiscent of the Rise of the Cybermen's Cybus Industries. The airborne aircraft carrier was extremely cool though, like those in Sky Captain: The World of Tomorrow. Sort of steam-punkish, but probably only by association.

Yes, Simm is playing this manic, but he was funny with it if a little OTT. More disturbing is the ex-Roedean Essex bimbo who is the woman behind the PM, taking it all in her stride. A member of the ruling class, don't you know.

I don't get how the Doctor aged 100 years though. Surely a mere century wouldn't have any effect on him at all.

Oh and 10 points for using 'decimate' correctly! [pedantic applause]

Now I can go and read what other people said, then take myself to bed because LJ is being painfully slow for me.

Comments

[kerravonsen]

I'm probably missing a lot by never having seen the Master before

John Simms' Master is completely different in character from earlier versions of the Master. It's like the difference between... the Tenth Doctor and the First Doctor. Still the same person, completely different personality. Classic Master is more like Derek Jacobi played him; with menace, gravitas and arrogance.

John Simms' Master is scary in a completely different way, because he's totally insane.

The drumming was creepy (and why did Yana hear it before all this?)
I think Yana heard it because it was leaking through.

I don't get how the Doctor aged 100 years though. Surely a mere century wouldn't have any effect on him at all.

Well, there's canonical precedent for rapid aging -- it happened to the 4th Doctor in "The Leisure Hive". Maybe he wouldn't age like that normally in 100 years, but this was artificially induced, so all bets are off anyway.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Do you mean the Master always heard it? Even before being Yana?

Derek Jacobi was wonderful, even if I didn't get all the nuances of his mannerisms which were apparently based on previous Doctors.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Well, it's actually Simm who's doing the interesting Doctor impressions, though. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

The only one I got was the jelly babies. I am so out of my depth here. I should stop posting about DW eps.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

You most certainly should not! I'm actually very, very interested to see what people who aren't especially familiar with Old School Who make of this one, personally. Because, yeah, it is chock-full of callbacks and references and allusions to various bits of backstory, but it seems to me that it's also rather cleverly designed to give new viewers a good introduction to this character (who's not only being re-introduced, but reinvented). It's impossible for me to tell whether that's really the case or not, though, because it's impossible for me to be objective. These characters are simply too firmly entrenched in my head. But I'd love to hear your first-meeting opinions of the the Master as a character and what impressions you've managed to gather of his history.

(I tend to assume that this sort of curiosity goes both ways and that people who are relatively new to the series might appreciate knowing what the tie-ins are to previous stuff. It sounds like maybe you're getting a bit annoyed by it instead, though. If that's the case, tell me and I'll shut up.)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

No, not annoyed, just realising I'm missing a lot of what other people are enjoying, and thinking that any comments I make are only scratching the surface. I'd love a list of the Doctor references besides the jelly babies.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Actually, the jelly babies are the big thing. Most of what I, at least, see as the Master being explicitly written as an echo of the Doctor involve the fact that Simm really does seem to be doing something of an Evil Tennant impression. And there's stuff like his "Ooh! New voice!" echoing Ten's "New teeth!" That sort of thing. His red-lined cloak does call the Third Doctor's dress sense to mind, though.

Mostly, IMHO, it's that his mannerisms are just much more Doctor-ish, in general. For instance,the Master's always had a sense of humor, but it's generally been rather... drier. Those crazy/funny verbal outpourings are much more Doctorish, as is all that manic energy and flamboyant eccentricity. (I've seen someone suggest, though, that that's mostly the Master putting on a persona and playing a part... Which is entirely believable, really, as it's very much the sort of thing he does. Jacobi!Master's line about having used a disguise so good it fooled himself is significant because the Master's always adopted disguises and played roles as part of his plans.)

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

The drumming was creepy (and why did Yana hear it before all this?)

Because Yana is the Master. It's been in the Master's head all along.

More disturbing is the ex-Roedean Essex bimbo who is the woman behind the PM, taking it all in her stride.

It was pointed out to me that the Saxon website gives her hometown as the same town the Master visited in The Daemons...

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

It's been in the Master's head all along.

All along since when, though? Earlier versions showed no sign of it, and it was news to the Doctor. It must have started sometime, and I'm really curious as to when and why.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

It's a bit retconnish. (The walkaround is that he says it's been getting louder the closer he gets, so it's quite possible it wasn't noticeable until now, or until the Time War really triggered it... it's a bit like hearing voices, you can do that on a low level all your life, but you're not really schizophrenic until they start really intruding.)

It's also entirely possible that he was programmed when he was brought back for the Time War. That is sort of the implication, and, as was said elsewhere, a bit ironic given his own reliance on mentally conditioning people.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

It's a bit retconnish.

Could be, but I'm not really convinced of it. I'm willing to buy the walkaround, though, if a less retconnish explanation turns out not to be forthcoming.

That is sort of the implication, and, as was said elsewhere, a bit ironic given his own reliance on mentally conditioning people.

There's a lot of rather lovely irony going on here, I think. I love the whole thing about adopting a disguise so perfect he fell for it himself, too.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Since they're not really saying, and I'm not so keen on the "driven mad when he was eight" thing, I'm perfectly happy to think it was one of the downsides of being resurrected as a war weapon for the Time Lords. Resurrection generally has a price, and war weapons need to be controllable somehow. Plus, there are certain military overtones to the rhythm, and he does seem to see what the drums herald in as part of his role as a tool of war.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Since they're not really saying,

They might next ep, though, so I'm not settling on any fanon just yet.

I'm not so keen on the "driven mad when he was eight" thing

I'm not, either, though I can accept it as the first tiny crack in the wall of his sanity.

I'm perfectly happy to think it was one of the downsides of being resurrected as a war weapon for the Time Lords.

Yeah, that's a perfectly fine and believable theory, and you're quite right about the military beat. In fact, if, as I think may be likely, what he's doing right now is some sort of continuation of the war (an obscure Time Lord contingency plan?), then it all fits very, very nicely.

(On a completely different note: Your icon! Guh!)

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I'm not, either, though I can accept it as the first tiny crack in the wall of his sanity.

Yes, as can I, or even simply as a predictor of what he was predisposed to become. More than doing anything to a child, it probably exposes part of how their brain reacts to big momentous stimuli; the Doctor runs (we know), the Master stares back into the abyss.

Yeah, that's a perfectly fine and believable theory, and you're quite right about the military beat. In fact, if, as I think may be likely, what he's doing right now is some sort of continuation of the war (an obscure Time Lord contingency plan?), then it all fits very, very nicely.

I'm almost certain it is; I don't think they'd be showing us Gallifrey in such detail, were Gallifrey not about to become a plot point.

(On a completely different note: Your icon! Guh!)

See what I did there? Becoming a little cracked when he was Eight? :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I know Yana was the Master as a human, but the drumming appeared to be an artefact of the Archangel hypnotic control system. Eh, maybe it's telepathy and he passed it on, I dunno.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I think you have the cause and effect reversed there - he created Archangel, he put the sound there, because it was in his head; it wasn't in his head because of Archangel. He was remaking the entire world into something he controlled, that reflected this single drive in his brain. Archangel was simply the conduit from the Master to the rest of the world. The drumming was always in his head, even long before that.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

OK, someone else told me that he's heard it since he was 8. I missed that bit, probably distracted by seeing at Gallifrey for the first time (AFAIK).

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

It's implied, but not conclusive, that he's been hearing it that long. He's certainly speaking about it as though it's been forever, or at least as long as he remembers. It's mostly likely that he means since being resurrected by the Time Lords, which would essentially be his whole life, since we're getting into some pretty unnatural death-and-resurrection gigs, even for Time Lords.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I don't get how the Doctor aged 100 years though. Surely a mere century wouldn't have any effect on him at all.

Yeah, that's confusing to me, too, and can quickly lead into discussions full of tangled logic, involving trying to figure out how Time Lord aging works. But it is, as I think kerravonsen pointed out, something that's been done before, so it doesn't introduce a new problem, just brings an old one up again. :)

Oh and 10 points for using 'decimate' correctly! [pedantic applause]

10,000 points for it, at least, because it was a crucial piece of characterization. If he'd used it incorrectly, I would never have been able to accept him as the Master from that point on. Even the Eric Roberts version had the language pedantry down. :)

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

10,000 points for it, at least, because it was a crucial piece of characterization. If he'd used it incorrectly, I would never have been able to accept him as the Master from that point on. Even the Eric Roberts version had the language pedantry down. :)

It was a strangely appealing Masterly moment, wasn't it? :)

Eric Roberts also had the "call me Master" thing down. ;)

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

How fast do Gallifreyans age? Bear in mind this was the Masters tweaked device It was designed to make him An old man.

As for why Yana heard it too, the Master had been hearing it since he was a child and evidently, like the Doctor's dreams as a human, some vestiges of his old life remained.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think Yana said he'd heard it since he was a child, from when he was found as a human one. You think the Master has always heard it?

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

It said in the episode he heard it since that ceremony as a child when they get to gaze into the eye of time or whatever they called it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah, right, missed that. No wonder he's gone a bit nuts then.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

You didn't miss it. They didn't actually say it. All the Doctor said was that maybe the Master's sanity issues started then, really.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Didn't SAY no but there is the clip of the young Master looking into the EYE and the drumming is there.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Yep.
Admittedly with the robes I was thinking Gallifreyan Harry Potter!

[kerravonsen]

Basically it's a retcon. The drumming didn't exist in Classic Who.

I do like the theory expressed elsewhere in this thread that it wasn't actually "since he was eight", but since he "was resurrected as a weapon for the Time War".

But one could still probably reconcile the "since he was eight" theory by saying that (a) the drumming was gradually getting louder all his life and he didn't consciously notice it until he was Yana and/or (b) he simply has never mentioned it before, because he's never been as vulnerable as he was as Yana before.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks; both of those theories make sense.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

Oh and 10 points for using 'decimate' correctly!

Quite. The group of us watching had a discussion about that, and how refreshing it was to hear the word used correctly.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It so is. I thought, "Oh no, here we go again," but we didn't. :-)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I was cheering "Yes! A generation will grow up knowing the correct meaning of 'decimate'!"

[vocatus-fortis.livejournal.com]

The drumming in the Master's mind reminds me of Caligula in the TV series "I Claudius" who, at times could hear the sound of galloping hooves. It's a symptom of his madness.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So he'll vivisect the ex-deb next? Couldn't happen to a nicer person.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

She was the character who intrigued me most. She seemed to know an awful lot about what was going on, and to be integral to his plans. Did anyone else bring a spouse on to the Valiant? I didn't notice one with Winters. And her importance was flagged by the Doctor's opening remark about the Master and his wife. I hope she's going to be significant in her own right, and not just an empty-headed minion.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

The first Dr Who story I ever saw (back in the mists of time) was a Dr Who 4 vs the Master. He was menacing, but I always felt he was one step away from twirling his mustache and going, 'mwhaha!!1!'. :-p

I've seen a brief clip of Simms being the Master, and he seems to have been a good choice...

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

He was pretty good: manic OTTness interspersed with some quite serious stuff with the Doctor. He had jelly babies!

Someone just posted that she thinks old school fans would love the ep, and new ones wouldn't. I suppose I fall between, having seen some Four and Five, and though I'm not beside myself with glee, I enjoyed it. It was a very entertaining ep.