Doctor Who 3.12: The Sound of Drums

[sir_guinglain]

So: Gallifrey is a reconciliation of disparate old series costume design concepts, and the Academy has been reinvented as a sort of Hogwarts rather than Oxbridge.

Some uncertainty of tone, particularly early on - how 'real' is Doctor Who's contemporary Earth meant to be? This is a question the programme has been struggling to answer since Aliens of London.

When I was ten and eleven I co-wrote a rambling Doctor Who story with a friend, inspired by said friend's copy of Queen's Flash Gordon album. Said friend insisted that the revamped UNIT had to have a starship, and so it came to pass despite my finding the whole set-up incompatible with the cosy UNIT of Sergeant Benton, cups of tea and the Priory headquarters I wanted. I thought of that starship as soon as I saw the Valiant.

A little too much of the Master's Greatest Hits here - 'Peoples of the Earth please attend carefully...'; watching Teletubbies as an echo of Clangers (though Ragdoll Productions are light years away from Smallfilms). John Simm was often better than the material, I thought; and certainly better than many of the cast, though they had little to do other than be stereotypes.

Much potential canonising of slash throughout, building on the presentation of the Doctor/Jack relationship through language which could be read as that of a dysfunctional love affair last week; the Master even wonders if the Doctor is asking him out on a date. I don't think RTD hates online fans at all, you know.