Escaping
from the end of the universe and returning to Earth, the
Doctor, Martha and Jack arrive to discover that Britain
has just elected a new Prime Minister, Harold Saxon and
he has set out to radically change the country and the world
forever. Instantly realising that Saxon is in fact the Master,
the trio set out to discover his dastardly plan but just
as they start to investigate the Master announces that he
has made contact with an alien race called the Toclafane
and he will introduce them to world. As the world prepares
to greet their new alien friends, the Doctor knows that
the Master’s plan will lead to the Earth into a war
that could destroy the planet and the human race.
The
season comes to a dramatic end as the Doctor faces the only
other Time Lord in the universe, but will the Master get
the upper hand?
Since
Russell T. Davies brought Doctor Who back to television,
we have known that the Doctor was the only Time Lord left
in the universe as a result of the Time War with the Daleks.
After the Face of Boe revealed the Doctor wasn’t alone
in ‘Gridlock’,
Whovians knew something dramatic was going to happen as
the series progressed.
Early
in the season, the introduction of the Harold Saxon character,
a presence that seemed to be influencing Martha’s
time and the opinions of her mother, made you take notice
of this continuing plotline. Now we arrive at the finale
and after the Master returned at the end of ‘Utopia’
we get to see the Doctor’s nemesis and rival in full
flow.
British
actor John Simm, best known for his role in the critically
acclaimed hit TV show Life on Mars, throws himself
into the role of the evil Time Lord bent on universal domination.
In an almost pantomime-like performance in parts, he switches
from the joker of the pack to down right vindictive in a
single bound, as the Master releases the Toclafane onto
the Earth to eliminate ten percent of the planet’s
population to keep them in line. Simm plays the role with
great gusto, modernising the character but keeping the mythos
that has made the Master such a firm favourite in the Doctor
Who universe.
Martha
Jones gets the chance to step up and save the day, as she
escapes from the flying aircraft carrier HMS Valiant to
start the resistance against the Master and his army. Freema
Agyeman has grown throughout the season into the role of
the Doctor’s latest assistant, proving that she is
not just an extremely pretty face and can almost fill the
shoes left by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. John Barrowman
clearly revels in the role of Captain Jack Harkness in the
more family friendly version of the character he portrays
in Torchwood.
The
finale finally reveals more about Captain Jack’s immortality
and answers many of the questions both Whovians and Torchwood
fans have been clambering for since 'The Parting of the
Ways’. There is also good support from Alexandra Moen
as Harold Saxon’s wife Lucy, Adjoa Andoh as Martha’s
mother Francine and Tom Ellis as resistance fighter Thomas
Milligan.
However,
the finale of the season isn’t perfect. With most
of the emphasis switching to the Master and Martha, this
comes at the detriment of the star of the series, the Doctor
himself. David Tennant is reduced to a supporting character
for most of ‘Last of the Time Lords’, not even
appearing on screen for most of the episode after the Master
reduces him to an extremely old man (an excellent CGI character,
especially for television).
The
episode seems to lose something with his presence and even
the final scenes don’t make up for the shortcomings
of the show. There are also a lot of unanswered questions
that may be coming in the next season, but fans who have
waited all season for all the big reveals might be a little
disappointed.
These
shortcomings aside, the latest season of Doctor Who
concludes and shows that excellent science fiction is fantastic
for creating characters, amazing worlds and storylines that
can enthrall, mesmerise and even scare you (just watch ‘Blink’).
What will the next season bring?
