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Still a crime that Jacobi only got 4 Minutes as the Master

Utopia is one of the most underrated episodes ever. The build up to the cliffhanger is so intense the last 20 minutes are pure gold

On Martha. There is one line here that her detractors always bring up. "She was blonde, oh what a surprise!" This line gets used as evidence that she is needy and ungrateful. What some people don’t realise is that this is a call back to her very first episode "smith and jones". This is a reminder of the fact that her parents are separated, her father having run off with a younger, prettier woman. A woman who is blonde. This line is a call back to that part of her backstory. She has seen her mother get discarded in favour of a pretty blonde and here she is expressing her fear that the same will happen to her. So of course she is frustrated. She is seeing history repeating itself, only this time it’s not her mother being discarded. It is her. It’s not a general exclamation against pretty blondes. It’s a personal expression of dismay against her own father and her stepmother.

Best and mostly unnoticed part of this episode is that for once, they made the clothes baggy on the Master when he regenerated. This always used to frustrate me when the new incarnation would fit perfectly into the last one’s clothes despite being a different size. However when the Master regenerates you can see that Simm is smaller than Jacobi and his clothes are baggy and hang loosely on him. It’s such a small detail but I’m glad they finally got it right.

i do wish the opening credits had Captain Jack hanging off the side. I think Russel T Davies has said he regretted not doing so because it would of been quite funny. There is a video which has been made by somebody who has done just that

It's almost jarring to think how immediately absent Jack is from the viewers' minds in The Christmas Invasion

Russell really struggled with the idea that Jack just so happens to be in the TARDIS when it goes to the end of the universe. Too big a coincidence. Took him months to realise the TARDIS goes to the end of the universe _because_ of Jack. It's the simple plot beats you take for granted.

I love the fear in David Tennant's face when he hears the reveal from Martha and realizes what the "YANA" name meant. Because he knows who it is. He knows the one Time Lord that even the hell of the Time Lord couldn't kill. He knows it wouldn't be anyone else but his oldest friend at the end of the universe waiting for him ...

It's a tragedy that Derek Jacobi never got to return on screen as the master. A more classic take would have been nice seeing as all the new who masters seems somewhat similar and he's so good and imposing on the audios. Also Jack should have been hanging on the outside of the tardis during the intro sequence. Any who, it's a great episode, a-s tier for sure

Russel t Davies: I’m not gonna bring the master back Russel t Davies turning to the camera: now, I’m about to pull what is called a Pro Gamer Move

I _adored_ Utopia, The Sound of Drums, and The Last of the Time Lords so much. I really, really miss the continuity heavy episodes with such smart storytelling with the visual cues, verbal cues, even musical cues you mentioned!

I love john Simm's portrayal of the master. I love how when making a mad man do good things seem fun. But when a mad man does bad things he looks like a psychopath

Remember when doctor who was on track to have a tv universe prior to the MCU. Look what we got instead, sarah jane is tragically had to end, torchwood kept killing off good characters and no spin off show has had that much success since. Even later seasons have completely ignored previous companions/ story arcs. We will never get another Journey's End ever again.

My favorite thing about the Russel T. Davies era is the continuity between the seasons. It makes it feel like everything is taking place in the same universe where all the characters live. While I enjoyed the Moffat era, it was never quite as much because the whole thing had a weaker through thread, almost like you could skip a whole season and not have any issue coming back - that's good in some regards, but not my personal favorite thing.

I'm surprised you interpreted the Doctor's unwillingness to believe Yana has a fob watch as him not wanting (and even dreading) the return of another Time Lord. I never saw it that way. At that stage, he has no reason to fear Yana, so I don't think alarm bells would be ringing for him. I always read that scene as the opposite - that another surviving Time Lord is something Ten wants so badly he can't even let himself hope for it. He does say "depends which one", yes, but I don't think that fear is foremost in his mind. It seems more like a throwaway remark. To me that scene is more about a terrible hope than a terrible fear. It's laying the groundwork for The Last Of The Time Lords, when we see that Ten would rather have the Master regenerate and have to keep an eye on him forever than go back to being the last of his people. The hope he hardly let himself feel in this moment is fully and horribly dashed when he's cradling the Master's body, begging him to just regenerate. That scene and the fact that he's been waiting all this time just to FORGIVE the Master . . . it all made it so clear to me. The Doctor isn't afraid of the Master. He's afraid of being alone again. It's so well done. I just plain love Utopia.

Is it just me? Or are the "drums" that are driving the Master insane actually the back beat of the Dr. Who theme?

Overall series 3 is very underrated. People really don't like this series but apart from literally 2 episodes this is a solid series. It's got great writing and acting in it and everything is just sleek and polished. I really enjoy series 3 whenever i do a rewatch i genuinely look forward to this series. I think because Rose was so beloved and because of that they didn't warm to Martha is the reason why this series gets a lot of hate. But i actually prefer Martha over Rose and i always found series 2 to be kind of weaker in terms of stories and writing. Like it's not terrible but it''s not great. So yeah and this episode is brilliant and i mean if you have a legend like Sir Derek Jacobi you know he is gonna be acting his goddamn socks off. And i just love Captain Jack. He is a whole mood i am always down for and sometimes has the best lines.

My favorite moment in this episode is Yana's "I was found with it" line. The continuing buildup, the delivery, and the soundtrack just work so well together there for me, and it establishes so many things at once that it always feels overwhelming to hear. Martha's just asked where he got the watch, seemingly in an attempt to find another explanation (reminding me of Lovecraftian tales where the protagonists desperately try to come up with an alternate explanation to deny what they're seeing), but Yana's response is the final nail in the coffin that tells the audience "no, there is no other explanation, this is happening and there's no going back". At the same time, I can never help but feel so sorry for Yana as a character in this moment -- much like Mr. Smith, his life is tragic, starting as an orphan left in the street. The soundtrack's (for lack of a better word) disregard for the line as it continues to ramp up the dread of the Master highlights how little the Master cares about Yana, how this character's whole tragic life is just a lie. On top of all this, Jacobi's performance marks this as the point when Yana is finally catching on, seeing past the perception filter, making the audience just as scared as Martha as we realize he's about to open the watch himself.

I always feel so bad for the professor. At the end of the day, he was a good person who ended up tricked and viciously murdered by the Master. But will anyone cry for "the decoy"?

The SFX of the Tardis doors being deadlocked is just great. It’d be fantastic to have that as a ring tone or something.

This episode was my introduction to the Master, and it was one of the most thrilling things I'd ever witnessed.

The only thing that would make Utopia even better, would be an intro with jack on the outside of the tardis.

Jacobi! Master is so underrated. The way he portrayed the character especially with the subtle cues and gestures really made the twist reveal amazing. Without his amazing performance the twist wouldn't have worked half as well.

I love how you synced up you and Martha saying "time and space" at 14:55. Brilliant editing mate

Jacobi is my favourite Master by far. I haven't experienced all his stories but they're meant to be amazing

I think the "You Are Not Alone" phrase was a mnemonic device employed by the Face of Boe to remember that key information he had to give to the Doctor.

The level of analysis in these videos... takes me back to GCSE English, only it's material that I would've loved to look at, rather than bloody Of Mice and Men and that weird one with the faceless soldier

This is why I loved RTD stories. At first watching, every episode felt like it was a stand-alone. But they are all tight together.

I wish we saw Chantho's species again at some point! she was pretty interesting

Despite the Master not being in Day of the Doctor, we could have had the War Doctor face the Jacobi's master during the time war for one minute. Did I hear Welsh quarry? I thought Classic Who did Quarries for planets- the next time a quarry is filmed for a planet, the Doctor should say, "why do all planets look like quarries?" Shame Anthony Ainley died in 2004 before the new series started, he would have loved and more of a shame for Roger Delgado since he never saw the future of his character; they would have loved this twist and the Master becoming Prime Minister in the next episode. Edit: It would be a cliche for the Master and the Doctor to be brothers- no wonder the tenth doctor looked at Martha and said, "you've been watching too much tv."

As someone who never saw classic who, I still knew the master was bad news the moment the Doctor charged at Martha, practically screaming in her face. The way she shrank back and the way it caught Jack’s attention really drove it home that This Was Serious.

One thing I'm not sure if you noticed in this episode. If you look at Yana's lab, if you want to call it that. It looks very subtly like an interior to a TARDIS. Several gadgets that we don't really know what they do surround a center area that helps make things run, with the door to the TARDIS off to the side in the background. It literally is Jacobi's TARDIS!

I love this story, I love jack and the Torchwood connections, the ending is amazing aswell

25:38 yessss. Regardless of its shock value, Utopia is just a genuinely great story which perfectly finalises Series 3, as well as setting up the final chapter of the story.

13 years later, and I still haven't managed to work 'indomitable' in a sentence. Yet I have somehow use the word 'defenestrate' in a sentence (it means to throw someone out of a window)

This was a three part story. Utopia the sound of drums and last of the time lords

Part one of my favourite doctor who story of all time. I have watched this episode so many times, and it is good to see that you like it so much as well. I did not think I would be able to appreciate it even more than I already did, but it was a joy to watch this one pointing out all the little details of which I even missed some before like how they set up the power cord. Great work as always!

Can't remember where I heard this but someone said a good twist should become suspense on a re-watch, like originally it came out of nowhere and surprised you but if you watch again it becomes a ticking timebomb you're waiting to go off.

That blond kid was a Blue Peter Competition Winner 'The Skies are made of Diamonds'...yikes I like the Martha and Chantho parallel, of course the next two episodes have a Rose and Lucy parallel. Blonde, 'requited' in a way she's his wife, he took her to the end of the universe, look at her hair when she's in the red dress, look at Rose's hair in the Empty Child.

I did see this twist coming with “Saxon” being someone who knew about the Doctor as well as the Face of Boe prophecy. But this was done so well.

I always love it when people use the old writer's thing of "Chekov's Vortex Manipulator"

This perfection of a 3 parter could have easily been avoided if Martha would have said, "Could I have a look at that Watch real quick"

I havent watched this episode in at least 6 years, but damn if I cant VIVIDLY hear Captain Jack saying "Regeneration, regeneration, regeneration..." echoing in the masters head lmao

Jacobi with no beard looks weird after 5 boxsets with a beard

Jacobi is to the master what Paul McGann is to The Doctor, criminally underrated, robbed of screentime and brought to life by big finish

I think what also works well about this cliffhanger (on first viewing) is that a pattern had been established over Series 1 and 2 of a two-parter series finale with more lowkey single-part episode before that (Boom Town and Fear Her). The viewer goes into Utopia thinking it won't have much relevance to the finale making the big twist and cliffhanger all the more powerful.

I was a classic Who fan coming into this, and can say for definite that the Master reveal gave me goosebumps 100% at the time. What a moment! Loved it. I still look back incredibly fondly, and I love Jacobi in the role.

The reveal of the Master was awesome, as was the reveal of who the Toglaphane were. I think the only thing that tops it for me, is at the end of Turn Left when Donna mentions Bad Wolf, and we then see Bad Wolf written everywhere.

In a lot of ways, the twist makes rewatching even better. You sit there, in constant tension, watching it, seeing every detail, trying to see the moment each character understood

I like that Jack mentioning the new face at the beginning and the doctor explaining the hand later let's new viewers know about regeneration. Otherwise the master's own would have been suuuuper confusing

This episode is amazing especially with Jack finally getting to understand why he doesn't die was a really good pay off for people who watched Torchwood have been looking forward to this review for a long time Harbo

I wanted to watch this whole thing but the fact you end every sentence with the same cadence just drove me crazy

I like to think The Master was the one who sent out the distress signal to begin with so he could show up as the humans “saviour” and turn them into the toclafae

Derek Jacobi's performance was absolutely incredible in this. He's truly a Master of his craft.

This is the beauty of this entire finale. Everything gets seeded in in such a way that you are under the impression that this was the plan all along (as far back as the Christmas Invasion) and not a new idea for this season. And that takes great skill.

This entire season, culminating in the fantastic final three episodes, is one of the greatest seasons of television I've ever seen. The way RTD seeded the thing throughout the season was absolutely brilliant, and the payoff was magnificent.

Gotta say I love Season 10's twist more. Not just the fact that John Sim's master returned in the way he did but that everything that happened that episode was all for naught. That the doctor who always takes pride in being able to save everybody, couldn't save Bill. It's so sad and one of the real darker moments of the show when Bill tells the doctor in the cyber suit that she waited for him hoping to be saved eventually. That to me is my favorite twist. But yeah this one is great too

19:58 This video has been lost to hundreds of other Dr. Who reactions from NuWho fans (and I know because I've gone looking), but back in the early 2010s when I was watching this episode, I looked up "Utopia reaction" on KZfaq and found a six-minute-long video of two women watching Utopia. At around the time Jack and Martha start talking about the Timelords and how the Doctor might not be alone, one of the women went "What if it's him?! Oh _Ch**st,_ what if it's him?!" and the other woman was a bit slow to respond, but by the time the episode ramped into high gear they were both obviously excited, and when Yana delivered that line they both started screaming. It was amazing. To this day, I think that is the only Classic Who fan reaction I've ever seen...and now it's lost in here somewhere. I hope it turns up again.

I still wish the new Master were Derek Jacobi for a season or two.

I think so much of the power of this episode is fueled by the riveting performance of the great Sir Derek Jacobi, one of the finest actors the UK has ever produced. I think Davies knew that to reintroduce the iconic character of the Master into the universe of New Who, and make it clear to the audience just how dangerous and utterly terrifying he was, would require an actor of extraordinary caliber and experience. How lucky he-----and we----were that they got Jacobi to play this part! Just watch the expressions changing so subtly on his face as he ever-so-gradually undergoes the transformation from lovable eccentric professor to the evil timelord with the will to destroy everything in the universe. An amazing and compelling tour-de-force. A true Master of the craft at work (pun intended).

Remembering how good this master reveal was, even to me who had never seen a classic who episode, really puts in perspective how terrible the Chibnall master reveal was. It was so bad, especially concidering the pretty awesome Missy reveal of Moffat era

There is also a parallel between Jack and the Master in this episode, Jack resents his immortality because he gave his mortal life for a cause that he believed in only for that to backfire on him while the Master, once he regains his memories lashes out at the world around him because he spent his mortal life helping people he believed were inferior to himself.

Utopia is an episode that I can't re-watch without giving myself some time to sit and digest, go away read a book or two, and finish more seasons. I remember feeling absolutely heartbroken the first time discovering that Yana was The Master, cos I was looking forward to the Doctor gaining an equal with whom he could discuss knowledge and history and the universe with, who's a friend... S3 just kept making me think "gosh the Doc just can't catch a break." I've re-watched S4 many times, because Donna is what's needed after a darker and more emotional season like S3, but gosh S3 might be one my my favourite seasons for the fact that it hits me the most every single time and I'm grateful that it exists. I'm so glad that Utopia is being appreciated; that episode really didn't waste the Master reveal, it played it to the max (with the aid of the *entire season 3* aka multiple previous episodes that set up all the continuity and stakes - including and not limited to: the Doc and Martha being outsmarted by the villain/the Weeping Angels, Harold Saxon becoming the Prime Minister).

Growing up watching Dr Who (Troughton is my Doctor) and also watching Jacobi in numerous shows (I Claudius, Cadfael, etc.), I was surprised to see him in this episode. You don't normally get someone of his calibre in DW. But then when he turns out to be the Master, ... mind blown. How perfect is this!

The episode is wonderful, but the episode where Oswald is inside a dalek is the ultimate doctor who twist

I was just thinking I needed something good to listen to while I finally drag myself up to make breakfast! Great timing and great job!

I once got so carried away when rewatching this episode that I accidently watched it all.

Posting this on a bunch of your videos to help metrics: Thank you so much for making this series. Doctor Who was my favourite tv show as a kid, and was literally the only interest that every member of my family had in common, so it was very special to us growing up. Watching all your deep dives into each of the NuWho episodes has been a very nostalgic experience for me, so thank you thank you xx

The Last 14 minutes of this episode is my favorite part of any modern who story easily, this was more so for the classic series fan like myself, and the introduction of the fob watch idea from human nature was brilliant, amazing acting, drama and tension that is very much lacking from the modern series most of the time, just awesome, and the first proper master regeneration too

I remember when I was watching the third season, i was talking with some friends on Discord, one of whom had seen it before. When I finished Gridlocked, I asked him if the “you are not alone” secret would come back later or be forgotten, I asked him not to give me any details, just a yes or no answer. I am so glad he responded with “don’t worry, it comes up, and you’re going to love it.” To make a long story short, he was not wrong. I hadn’t even watched any classic doctor who, except the first episode, but not the first story, of John Pertwee’s Third Doctor, and despite not knowing who The Master was, I still loved Utopia

So weird! This just popped up in my recommended after I re-watched this earlier today! Re-watched the first seven seasons at the start of lockdown and now just picking my favourite episodes. The whole series with Martha/Freema Agyeman is probably my favourite one - the Saxon storyline and some of the best individual episodes ever written. The thing that stands out about Eutopia especially is the beginning and the finish. The music is fantastic and just grips you and gets your heart going. The Futurekind are probably one of the scariest creatures I've seen too. God I just love Tennant era Doctor Who

In "The Family of Blood", there is a part towards the end of the episode where Latimer states that it (the fob watch) wants to be found. For those who wanted to see more of the war master, search "Derek Jacobi" up with big finish productions.

Your videos are so good, every time I watch one I have to actively fight myself off from going and rewatching the episode in question (or the entire series)

I agree with you about Utopia. It is a classic amoung classics! If The Last of the Time Lords didn't have a disappointing ending, the three last episodes of Season 3 would be an almost unbeatable experience!

Love this video. Made me nostalgic, I can hear the 1oth theme in my head. I am off to re watch Utopia which I initially overlooked. You've got a new sub :)

This is one of the best cliffhangers in all of New Who. In my opinion Utopia is my favourite out of the three part finale, it is a perfect epilogue to the finale

On the subject of being on the nose for 18:20 I think it's really remarkable, it REALLY ties in to the whole reveal that Jack is the Face of Boe. Because NO ONE else would know that Yana was a Time Lord except for Martha and Jack. And for him to tie in the message like it's a code (after having what, 5 billion years to think about it?), I know it was likely just totally coincidental, but it really landed for me once we circled back around for when Jack made that cheeky reveal.

One of my favorite little bits about that episode - BILLIONS of years have passed, it's the end of the universe. Stars burnt out. Life as concept comes to an end. Last grains of humanity cling to a flimsy hope built of what little remains of civilization. Kalashnikov is still there to dissuade any external threats.

I also love the foreshadowing and character work. The futurekind is a foreshadowing of Toclofane reveal, the idea of the monsters humanity might become due to the end of the universe Jacobi is shot by his companion, foreshadowing not only Lucy shooting the Master and demonstrating how the Master's cruelty towards people he uses comes back to bite him (seriously after all those boxsets of him screwing people over I cheer when he gets shot) but it kinda mirrors Martha leaving the Dr. She's a faithful human companion who had a romantic interest in her timelord (reflecting Lucy) and was treated badly by her timelord, though of course to a lesser extent and her departure isn't revenge but just doing what's best for her. The whole scene at the end tells you about each character, the Doctor is pleading with the Master trying to get his old friend back and no feel like the last of his species, he doesn't care about the monsters that are about to kill them, he barely even registers that Chantho is dead. Martha immediately goes to Chantho, she is the only one focused on the damage the Master does. This dynamic of the Dr seeing the Master as a victim, Martha seeing him as a monster is carried over into the next two episodes. And Jack is holding the door closed from the monsters, he's the pragmatist, the voice of reason, his time as the leader of Torchwood has given him a focus on the problem at hand and trying to keep his non-immortal friends safe.

Definitely some of my favourite cinematography in the show (do I say that every week?), the swooping zoom as Yana opens the watch is one of favourite shots in the show.

I've always loved this episode, but I thoroughly enjoyed your analysis. It gave me a load of new perspectives on how good this episode is. Now all I've got to do is immediately go and rewatch the episode!

Been waiting for this one. Utopia is one of my absolute favorites and it's great to see so much love for it.

Can we all admit... that that scene where Jack is clinging to the TARDIS is one of the best... and cements jack's wonderful clingy girlfriend aesthetic? so clingy he just doesn't die

This is the video that got me to subscribe and I've caught up to it now on my dw rewatch... You nailed it. This episode gave me chills. The way the whole series seeds everything to build up to the twist is just - uh - masterful

I didn’t see classic who before this but I can just imagine the gasps when old fans heard Ainley’s laugh and Deldago’s voice

Only thing I don’t like is the YANA thing, meaning You Are Not Alone. It just doesn’t make sense. Still great though. The Professor’s lab being set out to look like a TARDIS is brilliant, too. One of my absolute favourites.

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I absolutely love utopia my favourite of the three parter. Derek Jacobi was amazing as the master, he had such a threatening presence about him but so calculated, he was brilliant. Plus the build up to the watch being opened is unreal.

I don’t know how intentional it was but I love that the drums in the masters head are the exact beats in the opening theme. Connecting his madness directly to the time vortex seen in the intro

Utopia is one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes. I watch it at least once a year. I'm going to rewatch it again tonight, motivated by your video. Thanks! :)

When I was little, I used to watch Doctor Who like a total time traveller, picking random episodes from random seasons and watching things completely out of order. Several years later, I started rewatching the show in the broadcast order. It was strange, as I'd occasionally have tiny bits of foreknowledge, but never the full story.

you mentioned how in the Next Time part that the main characters are only seen as blurry images in the background which is actually really cool because that image is from one of the scenes where they are wearing perception filters so that while they are not unseen they are unnoticed so it fits really well that you would have to look closely to see them as that is the only way to see through a perception filter

Derek Jacobi is my faverourite incarnation of the Master, and I love this episode.

"...they are all the same core refusal to accept a lack of existence because it's incomprehensible for the human mind to imagine not existing in some form because that's all we know, all we know is existence." This is a very interesting point, great video, you did a good job analyzing the importance of this episode!

17:03 I always saw the Doctors refusal to entertain the idea of another timelord as him being scared to even hope there was another survivor. At this point in his story he's been the last of his kind for so many decades, that he couldn't even bear to have hope, that and having to tell them how exactly (he believes) the timewar ended.

The Only NuWho Twist involving the Master that doesnt suck.

Simm is my favourite master for modern but my favourite classic master is ainley

I would love to see a Doctor Who episode where, because of some impending catastrophe, the Doctor is forced to travel to the End Of The Universe again - warning his companion that he's been there before, it's a bit rough, watch out for the Futurekind, etc - only for the TARDIS to materialise down a side-road off Streatham High Street the following Tuesday. Because it turns out that, due to an escalation caused by events later in the episode, the catastrophe which was threatening Earth has now become a universe-destroying event... which will happen not slowly over thousands of years, but will blink out the whole of existence in a single moment at 7:46pm. There wil be the comedic moment as the Doctor builds up the apocalyptic horrors they're expecting when the doors open, only to find the sound of a busy high street on an otherwise normal Tuesday. That gives us the fun bit to soften the blow, as they find a newspaper with the date and so on.. Then, have the music take a dark turn as the Doctor gradually sinks from confusion to dread as he realises that if he set the controls for the last day of the entire universe, then that can _only_ mean...! While the reaction in the instant would be, "Oh, they did a funny bit where the Doctor got the time co-ordinates wrong!", you can imagine the feeling of your stomach falling away when you realise the ramifications of next Tuesday actually _being_ the last day of all existence. It would turn a funny moment into a deep, existential horror with that realisation, and up the stakes by a million worlds when it becomes obvious that it's no longer just Earth in danger. It'd be a beautiful moment of emotional whiplash which would only serve to deepen the impact and the gravity of the coming catastrophe. Also, it would ramp up the tension, because they will have basically skipped a week or so which they could've spent planning how to avert the apocalypse - if they'd stayed where they were they might've had time to prepare and save the Earth, but now they have less than a day to save the whole Universe. Plus, instead of being close to the world-ending event, the TARDIS is now time-locked miles away in Streatham. Even if they can fly at top speed in real-space to wherever they need to be, that still takes time - which is running out, fast.

I personally think the spyfall twist still works well on rewatching, I think that's a fairly strong episode although the second part is not as good Utopia is excellent of course. Series three is so underrated!