Following the breathtaking cliffhanger of Utopia, Doctor Who catapults into its penultimate episode of Series 3 with The Sound of Drums, first broadcast on June 23, 2007. Written by Russell T Davies and directed by Colin Teague, this episode takes the thrilling reintroduction of the Master and embeds it deep into the heart of modern-day Earth, weaving political intrigue, dystopian horror, and emotional devastation into a relentless hour of television. Rewatching in 2025, The Sound of Drums remains a stunning, fast-paced descent into chaos, where the Doctor faces one of his most personal and dangerous foes.
Picking up immediately from Utopia, the Doctor, Martha, and Jack manage to escape the end of time via Jack’s vortex manipulator, arriving back in 21st-century London—only to find that the Master has already established himself as Harold Saxon, the newly elected Prime Minister of Britain. The reveal that Saxon has been lurking in the background all season, subtly manipulating events, is one of the most satisfying payoffs in Doctor Who’s modern storytelling. The retroactive connections to previous episodes, from the Archangel network influencing public opinion to Saxon’s agents monitoring Martha’s family, add an impressive sense of cohesion to the season’s overarching mystery.
John Simm’s Master is a stark contrast to Derek Jacobi’s chillingly restrained portrayal in Utopia. Where Jacobi’s Master was cold and calculated, Simm’s incarnation is manic, unpredictable, and revels in theatrical villainy. His performance is a fascinating inversion of Tennant’s Doctor—charming, charismatic, and filled with kinetic energy, yet driven by cruelty and nihilism. The moment where he addresses the nation, laughing as he announces the arrival of the mysterious Toclafane, is both darkly comedic and deeply unsettling. His casual cruelty—gassing his cabinet, taunting the Doctor with childlike glee—cements him as a truly terrifying antagonist.
The Doctor’s reaction to the Master’s return is one of quiet devastation. Unlike other foes, the Master is not simply an enemy to be defeated; he is the last of the Time Lords, the only other survivor of Gallifrey. The Doctor’s desperation to reach him, to understand him, to help him, adds an emotional depth to their conflict that is rarely seen with other villains. Tennant plays these moments beautifully, balancing sorrow with a growing sense of hopelessness as he realizes just how deep the Master’s madness runs.
Martha and Jack, meanwhile, find themselves caught in the Master’s web. Martha’s family, manipulated and used as pawns, suffer terribly, reinforcing how personal this battle has become for her. Jack, still coming to terms with his immortality and his complex relationship with the Doctor, finds himself helpless against the Master’s overwhelming power. The sequence where the Doctor, Martha, and Jack are hunted as fugitives, evoking Orwellian levels of surveillance and control, adds to the sense of dread.
One of the episode’s most haunting revelations is the truth behind the Toclafane. Initially appearing as mysterious, floating spheres, their presence alone is ominous, but their true nature is left ambiguous until the next episode. The Master’s delight in their arrival, his chilling declaration of “Tomorrow, we take the world,” sets up a finale that promises devastation on an unprecedented scale.
The final sequence of The Sound of Drums is one of the most harrowing in Doctor Who’s history. The Master captures the Doctor, using his laser screwdriver to rapidly age him into a frail, helpless husk. The visual of the once-powerful Time Lord reduced to a withered figure, forced to watch as his friends suffer, is deeply disturbing. With Jack imprisoned and Martha escaping into the ruins of a broken world, the episode ends on one of the bleakest notes the series has ever delivered.
Rewatching The Sound of Drums in 2025, it remains a masterful example of Russell T Davies’ ability to blend grand, apocalyptic spectacle with deeply personal stakes. The Doctor and the Master’s relationship, the chilling political undertones, and the overwhelming sense of impending doom make this a standout installment. With the world on the brink and the Doctor powerless, The Sound of Drums sets up Doctor Who’s most ambitious finale yet, leaving audiences with no choice but to brace for the chaos of Last of the Time Lords.
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