I have even less time than you today (well, I say that – but really, I've no idea how much time you had: so it's all speculation. But I digress)...
Anyway, I've been trying really hard to avoid any and all spoilers for Who; and was completely unprepared for what we saw here. From the outset I was expecting a filler piece (are there really only two episodes left this season? How time has flown); and the use of the gravel pit confirmed that. Everything appeared as an homage classic Doctor Who.
Before I move on, I have to mention the near-complete lack of continuity between this and the Torchwood finale. I was always concerned as to how this would work – and let's just say it didn't work well (maybe Jack detected the Doctor and high-tailed it up the stairs – or something); but the important part is that they got on with it. They didn't try and justify it, or tie it in properly. And that was just about the best thing they could have done, really.
As you say Who!Jack is noticeably different to Torchwood!Jack – but again, this is probably a good thing – Angel!Jack Torchwood!Jack wouldn't have fitted well into this (or indeed any) Doctor Who episode.
Back to Utopia. Derek Jacobi was great; and managed not to telegraph anything of the ending – despite conveying a sense of something not being right, from the outset.
The bait and switch with Jack and the reactor room, or whatever it was (did anyone else think of Star Trek II?) was clever, in that it set-up the Master's theft of the Doctor's tardis perfectly (taking them both away): but again it didn't telegraph what was going on. Right up until Martha told us about the watch, this episode had the appearance of classic Who.
Jacobi's tenure as the Master was short (sadly) – but it couldn't have been any longer (although the reference to the Master not explaining his plan in detail to the Doctor – was rather nice).
Simms' seems, as you say, like a very different Master. To a certain extent I hope they let the Master keep a little of his camp melodrama – since that was such a defining feature of his character – but the switch to someone more "normal" does make sense, in the context of the new series.
One final postscript. Am I right that this is not the first time that the Master has stolen the Doctor's tardis? (Did it happen in Logopolis? Or am I getting confused? Didn't it happen to the third Doctor too?). Presumably, the Doctor's escape route is using the Master's tardis: if he can find it. Does it still look like a Doric column?
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Anyway, I've been trying really hard to avoid any and all spoilers for Who; and was completely unprepared for what we saw here. From the outset I was expecting a filler piece (are there really only two episodes left this season? How time has flown); and the use of the gravel pit confirmed that. Everything appeared as an homage classic Doctor Who.
Before I move on, I have to mention the near-complete lack of continuity between this and the Torchwood finale. I was always concerned as to how this would work – and let's just say it didn't work well (maybe Jack detected the Doctor and high-tailed it up the stairs – or something); but the important part is that they got on with it. They didn't try and justify it, or tie it in properly. And that was just about the best thing they could have done, really.
As you say Who!Jack is noticeably different to Torchwood!Jack – but again, this is probably a good thing –
Angel!JackTorchwood!Jack wouldn't have fitted well into this (or indeed any) Doctor Who episode.Back to Utopia. Derek Jacobi was great; and managed not to telegraph anything of the ending – despite conveying a sense of something not being right, from the outset.
The bait and switch with Jack and the reactor room, or whatever it was (did anyone else think of Star Trek II?) was clever, in that it set-up the Master's theft of the Doctor's tardis perfectly (taking them both away): but again it didn't telegraph what was going on. Right up until Martha told us about the watch, this episode had the appearance of classic Who.
Jacobi's tenure as the Master was short (sadly) – but it couldn't have been any longer (although the reference to the Master not explaining his plan in detail to the Doctor – was rather nice).
Simms' seems, as you say, like a very different Master. To a certain extent I hope they let the Master keep a little of his camp melodrama – since that was such a defining feature of his character – but the switch to someone more "normal" does make sense, in the context of the new series.
One final postscript. Am I right that this is not the first time that the Master has stolen the Doctor's tardis? (Did it happen in Logopolis? Or am I getting confused? Didn't it happen to the third Doctor too?). Presumably, the Doctor's escape route is using the Master's tardis: if he can find it. Does it still look like a Doric column?