The Official Doctor Who

[atszyman]

My bets are on him repairing and using Jacks Vortex Manipulator... But we shall see... Lets hope they don't end up in the 1800's!!

A co-worker raised this point this morning, and it could be the key to their escape.

Where is the Master's TARDIS?

Loved the episode, although a goatee-less Master just doesn't quite feel right.

A bit of an offshoot question since Jack's back (for the time being). Is Torchwood ongoing or has it been axed? I'm thinking of "acquiring" the episodes but if it's still ongoing I might take a pass and see how long it goes. Too many time sinks right now as it is.

 

[~Shard~]

Alright, since we appear to be done with the white text....

You beat me to it! I was thinking the same thing after watching the episode - technically the Master had to get there somehow, so his TARDIS must be there. The issues are:

- what state is it in? Just as the Doctor could sense other Timelords (or the lack thereof) would the TARDIS itself (or at least equipment onboard the TARDIS) not be able to sense other TARDISes as well, being that they are technically living entities? How come the Doctor wasn't made aware of it in this case? So, is it dead, badly damaged, or just lying dormant?

- even if it is there somewhere, how do they find it? Assuming the Master's TARDIS's chameleon circuit is actually functioning as it should, they aren't exactly going to be looking for another blue police box!

And yes, there's always Jack's device as well... I guess we'll see...

The other thing I thought of is that the Master rgenerated inside the TARDIS without the Doctor seeing him. Perhaps the Doctor realized he regenerated, yes, however he no longer know what he looks like. So, even if they do track him down (which obviously they do!) the Doctor will not know what the Master looks like and that he is indeed Mr. Saxon! Sure, he can sense that the Master is alive now, but I doubt his senses are good enough to discern exactly who and when he is... So, this will be another hurdle for the Doctor - as if escaping from the end of the universe isn't enough already!

 

[atszyman]

Alright, since we appear to be done with the white text....

I've seen the Master mentioned enough outside of the white text I figured it was fair game... and with the prior post to mine mentioning fixing the Vortex Manipulator, I figured escape was also fair geme.

So, this will be another hurdle for the Doctor - as if escaping from the end of the universe isn't enough already!

Which brings up my next question. Will the next episode be another "Doctor light" episode? I didn't see The Doctor in the preview at all...

 

[Queso]

A co-worker raised this point this morning, and it could be the key to their escape.

Where is the Master's TARDIS?

The Vortex Manipulator has to be the way out. They made too much point about it being broken for it not to be the solution. Part of me thinks that they'll only go back to before the rocket takes off, then jump aboard just as their counterparts are making sure it takes off.

Which brings us to the Master's TARDIS. What is the only possible way the human race could survive the end of the Universe? How about sending them all back in time? The signal from Utopia was the Master's TARDIS calling him home, only the Professor misread the signal and thought it applied to everyone.

 

[~Shard~]

Oh yeah...

A bit of an offshoot question since Jack's back (for the time being). Is Torchwood ongoing or has it been axed? I'm thinking of "acquiring" the episodes but if it's still ongoing I might take a pass and see how long it goes. Too many time sinks right now as it is.

As far as I know Torchwood has indeed been approved for a second season so you can expect it to return. I hope the next season is better than the first...

 

[atszyman]

Oh yeah...



As far as I know Torchwood has indeed been approved for a second season so you can expect it to return. I hope the next season is better than the first...

Ok, then I'll pass on it until we can either get caught up on a massive backlogged movie list and/or the old Who episodes.

At the rate we're going I might be watching Torchwood in about 5 years...

 

[~Shard~]

I've seen the Master mentioned enough outside of the white text I figured it was fair game... and with the prior post to mine mentioning fixing the Vortex Manipulator, I figured escape was also fair geme.

Oh no worries at all, I didn't mean it as a complaint, I was just explaining why I wasn't about to be using white text anymore myself, which is for the same reasons as you.

Which brings up my next question. Will the next episode be another "Doctor light" episode? I didn't see The Doctor in the preview at all...

Yeah, it might take him a while to get out of this one!

The Vortex Manipulator has to be the way out. They made too much point about it being broken for it not to be the solution. Part of me thinks that they'll only go back to before the rocket takes off, then jump aboard just as their counterparts are making sure it takes off.

True, but it also could have simply been part of the whole rivalry and one-upping that the Doctor and Jack always seem to do. "Mine's better than yours!"

Which brings us to the Master's TARDIS. What is the only possible way the human race could survive the end of the Universe? How about sending them all back in time? The signal from Utopia was the Master's TARDIS calling him home, only the Professor misread the signal and thought it applied to everyone.

Good thinking, that is quite logical! The thing is, all the people on the spaceship are not going to know what the heck a TARDIS is and how to operate it! Hmm, enter the Doctor to once again save the day...

My only question though if Utopia is indeed the Master's TARDIS, is how did it get way out there and how did the Master get to the planet itself? I still wouldn't be surprised if the Master's TARDIS is somewhere on the planet. That being said, what exactly is Utopia then, what is its significance and how will they explain it and develop it in the next episode? They can't just leave it after all, it was the name of the episode! There has to be some significance to it...

 

[atszyman]

My only question though if Utopia is indeed the Master's TARDIS, is how did it get way out there and how did the Master get to the planet itself? I still wouldn't be surprised if the Master's TARDIS is somewhere on the planet. That being said, what exactly is Utopia then, what is its significance and how will they explain it and develop it in the next episode? They can't just leave it after all, it was the name of the episode! There has to be some significance to it...

What if Utopia is not the TARDIS but instead the TARDIS is integrated into the rocket?

What if in his conversion the Master retained just enough residual memory to integrate his TARDIS into the rocket but not enough of his malicious personality to prevent him from doing so? It's possible that the signal they are receiving from Utopia is not just across space but across time as well and detected through the Master's TARDIS by some means.

The Vortex Manipulator has to be the way out. They made too much point about it being broken for it not to be the solution. Part of me thinks that they'll only go back to before the rocket takes off, then jump aboard just as their counterparts are making sure it takes off.

Since Jack was stranded on a space station and used the manipulator to go back to Earth, why would they need to go back in time to get on the rocket? Couldn't they just manage to get onto the rocket? Or maybe the Vortex Manipulator is the key to fixing the Master's TARDIS if it's not on/part of the rocket/Utopia.

 

[Queso]

Good thinking, that is quite logical! The thing is, all the people on the spaceship are not going to know what the heck a TARDIS is and how to operate it! Hmm, enter the Doctor to once again save the day...

My only question though if Utopia is indeed the Master's TARDIS, is how did it get way out there and how did the Master get to the planet itself? I still wouldn't be surprised if the Master's TARDIS is somewhere on the planet. That being said, what exactly is Utopia then, what is its significance and how will they explain it and develop it in the next episode? They can't just leave it after all, it was the name of the episode! There has to be some significance to it...

The Master may not have become The Professor on that planet. The planet he originally landed on may now be gone, leaving just the indestructible TARDIS floating around sending out Utopia calls and the sound of drums

Makes you wonder what it's going to try and look like though. How would a Chameleon Circuit work in a void with no background to work with? Are we going to see what a TARDIS really looks like?

 

[atszyman]

The Master may not have become The Professor on that planet. The planet he originally landed on may now be gone, leaving just the indestructible TARDIS floating around sending out Utopia calls and the sound of drums

Of course this does not fit with the Professor willingly staying behind as the rocket speeds towards Utopia.

My guess is he drained the mercury from a fluid coupling* that the Doctor will find and use to track down his TARDIS.

Or another thought, the Vortex Manipulator is modified/fixed to detect the Master's TARDIS.

*reference to a "way back" episode... more will follow I'm sure as my wife and I plod though the original Doctor Who... at an amazingly slow pace....

 

[Queso]

Or another thought, the Vortex Manipulator is modified/fixed to detect the Master's TARDIS.

Now that's a good point. I think you're on to something there

 

[~Shard~]

Makes you wonder what it's going to try and look like though. How would a Chameleon Circuit work in a void with no background to work with? Are we going to see what a TARDIS really looks like?

Haha, I love it! yes, that would be cool to see...

Yeah, lots of good theories here, I guess we'll have to see. The ultimate question is, "What is Utopia?" Answer this and the other answers fall into place. Is it the Master's TARDIS? If not, what is it and where is the Master's TARDIS? And how will our trio escape then?

Oh yeah, I also liked how the Master in human form actually was a good person. The change was so drastic, it was very well done. Great character work there.

Also, I liked the Professor's line to the Doctor, "No rest for the wicked." Brilliant.

What a great episode - I think I'll watch it again... at least the last 15 minutes or so. The dialogue between the Doctor and Jack in the radiation room was great as well.

 

[Sky Blue]

What a great episode - I think I'll watch it again... at least the last 15 minutes or so. The dialogue between the Doctor and Jack in the radiation room was great as well.

Yeah, that was a good scene. The part about jack watching Rose grow up was a bit....creepy

 

[~Shard~]

Yeah, that was a good scene. The part about jack watching Rose grow up was a bit....creepy

Yeah, yet strangely very Captain Jack-like for some reason...

And the more I think about it, the more I think I do like John Simm so far. Yes, it was only briefly and yes, he was a bit over the top as I mentioned in my initial comments which caused me concern, but I'll chock it up to him being fresh off a regeneration, and I have confidence he'll being a new element to the role while hopefully keeping the same "core" of the Master which we all know and love.

But as for the character himself so far, what more could you ask for? Not 1 minute after he changes he practically undoes all the good he has been doing for years! He kills his assistant, ruins the lab, allows the Futurekind in and steals the TARDIS. Not too bad for a couple minutes worth of work!

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The Vortex Manipulator has to be the way out. They made too much point about it being broken for it not to be the solution.

That was my feeling too. Another possibility could be the Doctor messing about with his sonic screwdriver as the Tardis was dematerialising – we've seen before that he can use it almost as a remote control for his time machine, so maybe he's activated some kind of homing device? Once the Master jumps ship, the Tardis might wing its way back to the Doctor. But my money is on Jack's fancy Rolex.

A few other points that have cropped up over the past few posts – the Tardis crew don't know what the Master looks like now, but Martha recognised his voice (obviously she watches the news), so they have a clue there that the Master and Saxon are one and the same.

As for the Master's Tardis, there's no evidence to suggest that it has survived. He told us that he was found as an orphan on the Silver Desolation (homeworld of the Face of Boe, of course) with only his fob watch. It makes sense then that even if his Tardis has survived, it's nowhere near where the Doctor now finds himself.

And I've wondered too what a Tardis with a functioning chameleon circuit would look like in the vortex – my guess is that it would still retain the form it took on its previous landing, only changing when it arrives at its new destination. Either that or it just reverts to its natural, undisguised configuration – I can imagine some shiny black obelisk type thing, a bit 2001esque.

 

[Queso]

The Professor said he was found as an orphan in the Silver Desolation, but then John Smith thought he'd grown up in Nottingham. You don't know whether those memories are real.

Here's a thought: Do you think a "natural" TARDIS would look like the Genesis Ark?

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The Professor said he was found as an orphan in the Silver Desolation, but then John Smith thought he'd grown up in Nottingham. You don't know whether those memories are real.

True enough. Mind, having lived in Nottingham for a spell I'm not convinced that the East Midlands and a place called Desolation are that different.

I'd guess that a 'default' Tardis wouldn't look like the Genesis Ark, though – otherwise the Doctor would no doubt have recognised it as Time Lord technology. He didn't know its origins until Mickey told him.

 

[jimN]

Wouldn't get too caught up on the significance of Utopia. Didn't the master eject the disk with the co-ordinates/map towards the end of the episode and say something along the lines of "Utopia, pah!" It gave me the impression that he had just dispatched the last of the human race off to their deaths.

I never understood the whole Rose thing. I thought she was a so-so sidekick at best and thoroughly unappealing. Listen to them all bleat on about her as though she were the second coming was a real low point of the episode.

 

[0098386]

Which brings us to the Master's TARDIS. What is the only possible way the human race could survive the end of the Universe? How about sending them all back in time? The signal from Utopia was the Master's TARDIS calling him home, only the Professor misread the signal and thought it applied to everyone.

I've been thinking that. The only way to escape Heat Death? Go back in time! Has to be really. With no more energy left in the universe there would be nothing left to live for, unless the Doctor gave a speech.

The other thing I thought of is that the Master rgenerated inside the TARDIS without the Doctor seeing him. Perhaps the Doctor realized he regenerated, yes, however he no longer know what he looks like. So, even if they do track him down (which obviously they do!) the Doctor will not know what the Master looks like and that he is indeed Mr. Saxon! Sure, he can sense that the Master is alive now, but I doubt his senses are good enough to discern exactly who and when he is... So, this will be another hurdle for the Doctor - as if escaping from the end of the universe isn't enough already!

Martha recognised his voice. They'll both know his name but only Martha will know his face.

I was thinking that maybe Jack would have grabbed hold of the Tardis again. But after re-watching it... he didn't! the end.

Also. I don't get how Jack could have held onto the Tardis, when it left them 2 behind in Blink, even though they were inside. I thought the Tardis didn't like Jack

 

[Queso]

Wouldn't get too caught up on the significance of Utopia. Didn't the master eject the disk with the co-ordinates/map towards the end of the episode and say something along the lines of "Utopia, pah!" It gave me the impression that he had just dispatched the last of the human race off to their deaths.

I took that to mean Utopia wasn't now important to him, since he had a TARDIS again. But you may have a point.

 

[nickel]

Since the Doctor's TARDIS rejected Jack's existance and sent them to the end of the universe, what'll happen if they find another TARDIS? I guess they'll really axe Torchwood.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

One thought about the Master’s Tardis – I’ll white it out in case this does turn out to be a spoiler...

On one of the Who forums a few people have mentioned a rather odd looking piece of computer equipment at the back of Yana’s lab – it’s a 1970s-esque computer thingy, with reel tapes and everything. It looks quite out of place with the other equipment and apparently is reminiscent of a form the Master’s Tardis once took in the ‘classic’ series. It might be nothing, it might be a red herring, but I thought I’d mention it for your feverish little minds to consider.

 

[atszyman]

I've got a couple theories on where this could head, I'll post in white just in case any turn out to be true. Although given my track record with predictions the likelihood of either being right is about as good as my chances of winning the lottery (and if I'm going to be lucky I'd rather have the lottery than bragging rights on an internet forum any day of the year).

Theory 1:
I think we're going to end up in a series of episodes where the Sci-Fi staple "ship swap" will be taking place.

The Doctor and his companion(s) will be pursuing the Master (using the Master's TARDIS) in their effort to recover the Doctor's TARDIS.

The Master's TARDIS will prove to be even more flakey/unstable than the Doctor's, but with a somewhat functioning chameleon circuit that will provide some "interesting" disguises. My guess is that the Doctor and friend(s) will be stuck with the Master's TARDIS through a good portion of next season.

The big question that I have now is, will the Master's TARDIS be functional enough to allow for some fun adventures next season or will we be stuck in another "stuck on earth" series similar to Pertwee?

Theory 2:
A Torchwood tie-in/crossover. They catch up to the Master using the vortex manipulator or the Master's mostly broken TARDIS. In a massive Torchwood/Unit operation they track down both the Doctor and the Master. Jack, Martha, and the Doctor convince Torchwood that the Master is the Doctor and the Master is taken into custody and his TARDIS is found/recovered/impounded and studied, which leads to the ability of humans to time travel in the future like we've seen from Jack.

Of course the Master will eventually escape and recover his TARDIS in order to torment the Doctor another day but it would provide a nice story arc and tie in for when Torchwood starts back up. However since I've yet to see Torchwood I have no idea if there is already a story arc that needs to be picked up or if this would even fit.

 

[Grasbak]

Help!

Ok, havent posted for a while as have had to record each week and only just caught up before Saturdays episode, so have been avoiding in case of spoliers..... I was also away for last weekend, and my eyetv for some reason didnt record it - how can I get to watch it????? the BBC3 repeat seems to be on Sunday night straight after the Saturday...... aaarrggghhh

 

[DAC47]

Ok, havent posted for a while as have had to record each week and only just caught up before Saturdays episode, so have been avoiding in case of spoliers..... I was also away for last weekend, and my eyetv for some reason didnt record it - how can I get to watch it????? the BBC3 repeat seems to be on Sunday night straight after the Saturday...... aaarrggghhh

Ow Unlucky
no Friday BBC3 Repeat Glastonbury instead
I'm sure there are other ways of getting hold of it

cough-torrent-cough