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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Utopia (''Doctor Who'')}}
{{Doctorwhobox
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
| serial_name = 191a - Utopia
{{Infobox Doctor Who episode
| doctor = ] (])
| companion = ] (]) | number = 187a
| serial_name = Utopia
| companion2 = ] (])
| writer = ] | show = DW
| type = episode
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| doctor = ] – ]
| companions =
* ] – ]
* ] – ]
| guests =
* ] – ]
* ] – Chantho
* ] – Padra
* ] – Lieutenant Atillo
* ]{{refn|group=N|Credited as Paul Marc Davies}} – ]
* Robert Forknall – Guard
* ] – Creet
* Deborah Maclaren – Kistane
* Abigail Canton – Wiry Woman
* ] – ]
| director = ] | director = ]
| executive_producer = ]<br /> ] | writer = ]
| script_editor = ]
| producer = ]
| executive_producer = ]<br>]
| composer = ]
| production_code = 3.11 | production_code = 3.11
| date = ] ] | series = ]
| length = 1st of 3-part story, 45 minutes
| date = {{Start date|2007|6|16|df=y}}
| preceding = "]" | preceding = "]"
| following = "]" | following = "]"
| imdb_id = 1000259
| series = ]
}} }}
"'''Utopia'''" is the eleventh episode of the ] of the revived British ] series '']''. It was broadcast on ] on 16 June 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Doctor Who UK airdate announced |work=News |publisher=] |date=27 February 2007 |url=http://www.dwscifi.com/articles/show/227 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312164215/http://www.dwscifi.com/articles/show/227 |archive-date=12 March 2007}}</ref> It is the first of three episodes that form a linked narrative, followed by "]" and "]". The episode serves to re-introduce ] (]), a ] villain of the show's original run who last appeared in the 1996 television movie '']''.
"'''Utopia'''" is an ] of the ] ] series '']''. It was broadcast on ] on ] ]<ref>{{cite news
| title = Doctor Who UK airdate announced
| work = News
| publisher = ]
| date = ], ]
| url = http://www.dwscifi.com/articles/show/227
}}</ref> and is the eleventh episode of ] of the revived ''Doctor Who'' series. This episode, the first of a three-part story,{{Fact|date=June 2007}} sees the return of ] and ], the latter portrayed by both ] and ].<ref name="Utopia"/>


Set close to the ] 100 trillion years in the future, the episode involves Professor Yana (]) attempting to send the last of humanity in a rocket to a place called "Utopia".
== Synopsis ==
As ] reappears in the Doctor's life, the ] is thrown out of control to the end of the universe — where a lonely Professor is working on a means to save the remnants of humanity. But will the vicious Futurekind thwart his plans?
<!--Please don't remove the last sentence AGAIN, just ask on the talkpage.-->


==Plot== ==Plot==
The ]'s former ] ] is stranded on Earth and has based himself in 21st-century Cardiff to wait for the Doctor, knowing the Doctor would eventually land there to refuel with the ].{{refn|group=N|The Ninth Doctor did this before in the 2005 episode "]".}} He uses the severed hand of the ] as a Doctor detector.{{refn|group=N|The Doctor's hand is cut off, and immediately grows back, in the 2005 episode "]".}} After landing the ] in Cardiff to refuel, the Tenth Doctor sees Jack racing towards the TARDIS and departs.{{refn|group=N|Jack prepares to leave 21st-century Cardiff shortly before "something" takes him away in the 2007 '']'' episode "]".}} Jack grabs onto the outer shell, causing the TARDIS to fly to the end of the universe trying to shake him off. Jack dies on the journey but revives seconds later as he cannot stay dead. As they explore the planet Malcassairo, the Doctor, Jack, and the Doctor's companion ] encounter Padra, a lone human running for his life from cannibalistic humanoids called the Futurekind.
]
The ] lands in Cardiff to refuel from ]. Due to ], refuelling should take less time than the ]. ] chases towards the TARDIS, grabbing onto it during dematerialisation and causing the TARDIS to hurtle out of control to ].


The Doctor, Jack, and Martha help Padra reach a missile silo where a rocket intends to transport the last of the human race to "Utopia". While there they meet the elderly Professor Yana and his insectoid assistant Chantho. The Professor asks the Doctor to look at their rocket engine to determine why it will not launch, and the Doctor helps him repair it and give it power. During the repairs, the Professor repeatedly hears a rhythmic drumbeat he has heard his entire life. When the rocket is ready to launch, the refugees board it. One of the Futurekind shorts the system out, filling the room with the rocket couplings with deadly radiation. Jack is enlisted to fix the couplings.
After landing in the year 100 trillion, on the planet Malcassairo, the Doctor, Jack, and Martha are surprised to find life - in the form of the ], mutated ]istic humans, hunting a human, who is aiming for a silo to travel to "]" - the last home of the human race.


While Jack is inside working, the Doctor admits he abandoned Jack purposely because of the immortality ] granted to Jack.{{refn|group=N|Though not mentioned at the time as granting him immortality, the 2005 episode "]" depicts Rose bringing Jack back to life.}} Jack readies the rocket for launch. Martha unintentionally draws attention to the Professor's fob watch, similar to the one which changed the Doctor from a ] into a human.{{refn|group=N|As depicted in the 2007 episodes "]" and "]".}} She rushes to tell the Doctor about the watch as the Professor hears voices coming from it.
The Utopia project is headed by Professor Yana and his ]oid assistant Chantho, who are desperate for help as the rocket destined for Utopia is unable to take off. These problems are worsened by a Futurekind stowing away in the silo, who vandalises the controls to prevent take off. The Doctor and Jack volunteer to help - the Doctor helps Yana in his control room while Jack makes final preparations in a heavily irradiated room. While Jack is doing this, the Doctor talks to him about Jack's immortality, and why he ]. Finally, the rocket is able to take off, and does so to Utopia, leaving the Doctor, Yana, Chantho, Martha, and Jack on the planet's surface.


The Doctor initiates the launch sequence of the rocket at the same time that the Professor opens the fob watch. A frantic Doctor runs back to the control room, but the Professor lets the Futurekind inside the silo. Chantho confronts the Professor. He responds that his name is ]. Chantho and the Master both fatally injure each other. The Master leaves in the TARDIS, with the hand inside, and ] into a younger form. The Doctor, Jack, and Martha are stranded.
A subplot includes Yana hearing a constant ] inside his head - a ] he has had since birth, with the drums getting louder recently. Words such as "]" and "TARDIS" only exacerbate the problem. This is noticed by Martha, along with a watch of the exact same design as John Smith's watch in "]" and "]". She inquires about it - he had had it ever since he can remember. Subsequently, she immediately goes to inform the Doctor, which leaves Yana alone with the watch.


===Continuity===
When the Doctor hears about this, he realises that the name "Yana" is an ] of "You are not alone", the final words of the ]. At the same time, Yana opens the watch, releasing the Time Lord configuration. Suddenly angered and horrified, the Doctor races towards Yana's office, but is hindered by Yana closing the doors and allowing the Futurekind into the silo. Alone, Yana then fatally wounds Chantho, but not before he tells her that he is the ].
The episode marks the return of the Master, who last appeared during the 1996 television movie '']''.


Derek Jacobi plays the fifth version of the Master whom the Doctor has encountered on screen, and John Simm is the sixth.<ref name="Utopia">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/facts/fact_311.shtml |title=Doctor Who - Fact File - "Utopia" |access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref> At least one television pundit speculated whether "Mister Saxon" was an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or was perhaps "a big ]".<ref name="master_anagram">{{Cite web|title=Of a Thursday|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a44695/of-a-thursday.html |work=] |date=1 April 2007|access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref> However, when asked, Russell T Davies stated that it was not deliberate.<ref>''Radio Times'' 30 June–6 July 2007: ''Doctor Who'' Watch</ref><ref>''Doctor Who Magazine'' issue 384: ''Return of the Master''</ref>
The Doctor arrives in Yana's office, but not before the Master enters the Doctor's TARDIS with the severed hand. Mortally wounded by Chantho, the Master regenerates into a younger body - whose voice Martha recognises. He then locks the TARDIS, preventing the Doctor from opening it, and after berating the Doctor, leaves in the TARDIS, stranding the Doctor, Martha and Jack in the distant future trapped by the Futurekind.


==Cast== ==Production==
This episode was announced as the first of a three-part story in '']'', broadcast the day before. Prior to this, only the following two instalments had been linked. Later reference material, including '']'''s season poll, treated the three episodes as a single three-part story. Russell T Davies has said that he regards "Utopia" as a separate story, but notes that the determination is arbitrary.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Davies |first=Russell T |author-link=Russell T Davies |date=4 March 2009|title=Production Notes |magazine=] |issue=406 |page=4 |publisher=]|location=], ] |quote=And I certainly feel the Series Three climax was two stories, no matter what the '''DWM''' season poll says. I'm sorry! I just do! I could rattle off the reasons, but we're into the mystical land of canon here, where the baseline of the argument simply comes down to "because I think so!"}}</ref>
* ] — ]<ref name="Utopia">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/facts/fact_311.shtml|title=Doctor Who - Fact File - "Utopia"|accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref>
* ] — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* ] — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Professor Yana/] — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* ] — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Padra — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Lieutenant Atillo — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Chieftain — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Guard — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Creet — John Bell<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Kistane — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* Wiry Woman — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>
* ] — ]<ref name="Utopia"/>


This is the first episode in the revived series to credit three principal cast members within the ], with the addition of ], who plays Captain Jack Harkness.
===Cast notes===
*This is ]'s third involvement in ''Doctor Who'' and second time playing the Doctor's nemesis. The first was in the September ] audio drama '']'',<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.bigfinish.com/drwho_unbound/dwu05_deadline.shtml
|title= A New Doctor, A New Dimension?
|accessdate=2007-06-11
|format= HTML
}}</ref> where he played a screenwriter who believes himself to be the Doctor. The second was several months later, in the webcast '']'', where he played an ] version of the Master.<ref>{{cite news
| title = Jacobi confirmed for Dr Who role
| work = ]
| publisher = ]
| date = ], ]
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6297661.stm
}}</ref> David Tennant also had a minor, uncredited role in ''Scream of the Shalka''.
*John Bell is a nine-year-old who won a '']'' competition to appear in this episode.<ref name="JohnnyB">{{cite news|title = Future Boy|work = News|publisher = ]|date = ], ]|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/06/07/45505.shtml}}</ref>


==Continuity== ===Casting===
This is Derek Jacobi's third involvement in ''Doctor Who''. The first was in the September 2003 audio drama '']'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bigfinish.com/drwho_unbound/dwu05_deadline.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526235207/http://www.bigfinish.com/drwho_unbound/dwu05_deadline.shtml|archive-date=26 May 2005|publisher=]|title=A New Doctor, A New Dimension? |access-date=11 June 2007}}</ref> where he played a screenwriter who believes himself to be the Doctor. The second was several months later, in the webcast '']'', where he played an ] version of the Master.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Jacobi confirmed for Dr Who role |work=] |publisher=] |date=25 January 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6297661.stm}}</ref> In 2017, Jacobi reprised his role from "Utopia" in the audio drama series '']''.
*Prior to this episode, Captain Jack was last seen at the end of the '']'' episode "]" looking off-screen while the familiar sound of the ] is heard in the background. The Torchwood team find Jack gone, and the place in a mess. The Doctor notes that the Rift has been active recently, which was due to ] escaping through the Rift in "End of Days".<ref name="EndOfDays">{{cite episode
| title =]
| series = Torchwood
| serieslink = Torchwood
| airdate =2007-01-01
| season =1
| number =13 }}</ref>
*Martha enquires about the earthquake in ] a couple of years ago, and the Doctor claims "a bit of trouble with the ]", referring to the events of the 2005 episode "]" He also states how he was "a different man back then" referring to the fact this happened when he was the ].
*Jack says that he used a Vortex Manipulator to travel back from the year 200,100. Vortex Manipulator technology was also used by the ] in "]" to track the Doctor through time.
*Instead of landing in the 21st century, Jack found himself in 1869. This is the same year that the Rift is opened in Cardiff, as seen in "]".
*One of the items in Jack's backpack was the ] of the Doctor. This was first seen in "]", when the hand was cut off by the ] leader, and was a recurring item of the ] set. This Episode is the first confirmation that the Hand was in fact the Doctor's.
*This episode contains clips from "]", "The Christmas Invasion", "Human Nature" and "]". It also features dialogue from '']'' spoken by ], the first actor to play the Master, and the trademark chuckle of ], who portrayed the character during the 1980s.<ref name="Utopia"/>
*The Doctor previously claimed to be a "Doctor of Everything" in '']'' and described the human race as "indomitable" in '']''.
*The last time the Master appeared on screen, he was in possession of a human host. How he survived being sucked into the TARDIS's ] at the end of the ] or how he reacquired Time Lord physiology is not explained in this episode.
*Derek Jacobi plays the fifth incarnation of the Master whom the Doctor has come across on screen, and John Simm is the sixth.<ref name="Utopia" /> At least one source had speculated whether "]" was an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or was perhaps "a big ]".<ref name="master_anagram">{{cite web|title=Of a Thursday|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a44695/of-a-thursday.html |work=] |date=] |accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref> The Master often showed a penchant for disguise in the classic series, such as the name "Mr. Magister" in '']''; the Professor's name 'Yana' is likely to have had to do with the fact that he was found on "The Shores of the Silver Devastation", the home of the Face of Boe, whose last words to the Doctor were the acronym Y.A.N.A., 'You Are Not Alone'.


Other actors returning to the franchise in this episode are ] had previously played Tom Braudy in the ] audio drama '']''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bigfinish.com/88-Doctor-Who-Memory-Lane|title=Doctor Who - Memory Lane|publisher=]}}</ref> and Robert Forknall, who plays ] in the Eighth Doctor audio drama '']''.
==Production and pre-broadcast publicity==

*This is the first episode of the series to feature ]'s name in the ], and the first time 3 people have been in the opening credits in the revived series.
], who played Chantho, would later go on to play the Fortuneteller in "]". ], who played the Futurekind chieftain, also returned to the ''Doctor Who'' universe, going on to play the role of ] in '']'' stories '']'', '']'' and '']''. He also had a small role in '']'' story '']'' and played the lead villain Corakinus in '']''.
*Music cues originally composed for ''Torchwood'' are heard in the background of this episode, notably a variation of the ''Torchwood'' theme tune played when Jack runs torwards the TARDIS and a motif played when Jack lies dead having ridden on the TARDIS through the Vortex.

*This episode was not announced to be part of a three-parter until the '']'' episode the day before.
] was a nine-year-old who won a '']'' competition to appear in this episode.<ref name="JohnnyB">{{Cite news|title=Future Boy |work=BBC Doctor Who website|publisher=BBC|date=7 June 2007|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/06/07/45505.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819032701/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/06/07/45505.shtml|archive-date=19 August 2007|access-date=10 July 2013}}</ref>

] reprised his role as the Master in the ]'s final story ] and reprised the role again in ] and "]", the finale of ], the final series to feature ] as the ] and ] as ]. Simm reprised the role once again in the audio drama ''Masterful'' by ].

===Music===
Music originally composed for ''Torchwood'' can be heard in the background of this episode: a variation of the ''Torchwood'' ] plays when Jack runs towards the TARDIS and a ] plays when Jack lies dead, having ridden on the TARDIS through the Vortex. The ]ming motif is suggestive of the fifth and subsequent bars of the ] as composed by ] and realised by ].<ref>{{cite podcast|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/doctorwho/ram/312_commentary?size=au&bgc=CC0000&nbram=1&bbram=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1|title=The Sound of Drums commentary|website=]'s Doctor Who microsite|author1=Freema Agyeman|author1-link=Freema Agyeman|author2=Trevor Laird|author2-link=Trevor Laird|author3=Gugu Mbatha-Raw|author3-link=Gugu Mbatha-Raw|access-date=25 June 2007}}</ref>

==Broadcast and reception==
"Utopia" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on ] on 16 June 2007. Overnight rating showed that it was watched by 7.3 million viewers, which rose to 7.84 million when time-shifted viewers were taken into account.<ref name="Utopia"/> This made it the fourth most-watched programme on BBC One for the week.<ref name="BARB">{{cite web|url=http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing/weekly-top-30?|title=Weekly Top 30 Programmes|publisher=]|access-date=4 June 2012}}</ref> It received an ] of 87.<ref name="Utopia"/>

]'s Travis Fickett gave the episode a rating of 8.4 out of 10, calling it "one hell of a way to kick off the finale episodes of the season", particularly praising how various elements planted in previous episodes came into importance. However, he was critical of the beginning of the episode, writing that Jack's entrance was "a bit silly" and "the remnants of civilization look like '']'' rejects being chased by space vampires".<ref>{{cite web|first=Travis|last=Fickett|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/822/822942p1.html|title=Doctor Who: "Utopia" Review|website=]|date=25 September 2007|access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref> Richard Edwards of '']'' gave "Utopia" four out of five stars, feeling that it was "minimally plotted" as it was part of a larger story but praising Jack's backstory and the return of the Master.<ref>{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Edwards|url=http://www.sfx.co.uk/2007/06/16/doctor_who_3_11_utopia/|title=Doctor Who 3.11 "Utopia"|work=SFX|date=16 June 2007|access-date=25 March 2012}}</ref> '']'' reviewer Mark Wright was mixed towards "Utopia", disliking the first 20 minutes on the planet but enjoying the introduction of Jacobi as Yana, particularly the reveal of his true nature. He wondered what casual fans would make of it.<ref>{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Wright|url=http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2007/06/doctor-who-311-utopia/|title=Doctor Who 3.11: Utopia|work=]|date=17 June 2007|access-date=10 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128153003/http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2007/06/doctor-who-311-utopia/|archive-date=28 January 2013}}</ref>

The episode has been noted by various reviewers and writers for its cliffhanger. It was listed among the best cliffhangers of the series by ] of ],<ref>{{cite web|first=Charlie Jane|last=Anders|url=http://io9.com/5625151/greatest-doctor-who-cliffhangers-of-all-time|title=Greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers of all time!|publisher=]|date=31 August 2010|access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref> Den of Geek's Jeff Szpirglas,<ref>{{cite web|first=Jeff|last=Szpirglas|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/television/925062/10_classic_doctor_who_cliffhangers.html|title=10 classic Doctor Who cliffhangers|publisher=Den of Geek|date=2 June 2011|access-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> and was chosen by Mark Harrison as the best cliffhanger of the Tenth Doctor's era in another Den of Geek article.<ref>{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Harrison|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/television/519071/doctor_who_10_cliffhanger_screamers.html|title=Doctor Who: 10 cliffhanger screamers|publisher=Den of Geek|date=24 June 2010|access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref> It was also chosen among the five best of the revived series by Morgan Jeffery and Chris Allen of ]; Jeffery referred to it as a "stunning accumulator cliffhanger" while Allen called it a "superb cliffhanger" that "lifts 'Utopia' from a fairly average episode into something altogether different".<ref>{{cite web|first1=Morgan|last1=Jeffery|first2=Chris|last2=Allen|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/british-tv/s7/doctor-who/tubetalk/a322771/doctor-whos-best-ever-cliffhangers-friday-fiver.html|title='Doctor Who's best ever cliffhangers: Friday Fever|website=]|date=3 June 2011|access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref> Stephen Brook of '']'' called it "perhaps the best moment of the entire series" in his review of the third series.<ref>{{cite web|first=Stephen|last=Brook|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/organgrinder/2007/jul/02/doctorwhoitsseasonfinalet|title=Doctor Who: it's season finale time!|work=]|date=2 July 2007|access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=N}}


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}}
{{wikiquote|Tenth Doctor}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
{{Master Stories}}
{{Wikiquote|Tenth Doctor}}
{{Regeneration Stories}}
*{{BBCDWnew|year=2007|id=311|title=Utopia}}
* - episode trailer
*{{IMDB episode|1000259|Utopia}}

{{Doctor Who episodes|N3}}
{{navboxes|list1=
{{Doctor Who episodes by Russell T Davies}}
{{Tenth Doctor stories|selected=Television}}
{{Captain Jack stories}}
{{Master stories|selected=Television}}
{{Regeneration stories}}
}}


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Latest revision as of 16:04, 30 September 2024

2007 Doctor Who episode
187a – "Utopia"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor
Companions
Others
Production
Directed byGraeme Harper
Written byRussell T Davies
Script editorSimon Winstone
Produced byPhil Collinson
Executive producer(s)Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
Music byMurray Gold
Production code3.11
SeriesSeries 3
Running time1st of 3-part story, 45 minutes
First broadcast16 June 2007 (2007-06-16)
Chronology
← Preceded by
"Blink" 		Followed by →
"The Sound of Drums"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"Utopia" is the eleventh episode of the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007. It is the first of three episodes that form a linked narrative, followed by "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords". The episode serves to re-introduce the Master (John Simm), a Time Lord villain of the show's original run who last appeared in the 1996 television movie Doctor Who.

Set close to the end of the universe 100 trillion years in the future, the episode involves Professor Yana (Derek Jacobi) attempting to send the last of humanity in a rocket to a place called "Utopia".

Plot

The Ninth Doctor's former companion Jack is stranded on Earth and has based himself in 21st-century Cardiff to wait for the Doctor, knowing the Doctor would eventually land there to refuel with the Cardiff Rift. He uses the severed hand of the Tenth Doctor as a Doctor detector. After landing the TARDIS in Cardiff to refuel, the Tenth Doctor sees Jack racing towards the TARDIS and departs. Jack grabs onto the outer shell, causing the TARDIS to fly to the end of the universe trying to shake him off. Jack dies on the journey but revives seconds later as he cannot stay dead. As they explore the planet Malcassairo, the Doctor, Jack, and the Doctor's companion Martha encounter Padra, a lone human running for his life from cannibalistic humanoids called the Futurekind.

The Doctor, Jack, and Martha help Padra reach a missile silo where a rocket intends to transport the last of the human race to "Utopia". While there they meet the elderly Professor Yana and his insectoid assistant Chantho. The Professor asks the Doctor to look at their rocket engine to determine why it will not launch, and the Doctor helps him repair it and give it power. During the repairs, the Professor repeatedly hears a rhythmic drumbeat he has heard his entire life. When the rocket is ready to launch, the refugees board it. One of the Futurekind shorts the system out, filling the room with the rocket couplings with deadly radiation. Jack is enlisted to fix the couplings.

While Jack is inside working, the Doctor admits he abandoned Jack purposely because of the immortality Rose granted to Jack. Jack readies the rocket for launch. Martha unintentionally draws attention to the Professor's fob watch, similar to the one which changed the Doctor from a Time Lord into a human. She rushes to tell the Doctor about the watch as the Professor hears voices coming from it.

The Doctor initiates the launch sequence of the rocket at the same time that the Professor opens the fob watch. A frantic Doctor runs back to the control room, but the Professor lets the Futurekind inside the silo. Chantho confronts the Professor. He responds that his name is the Master. Chantho and the Master both fatally injure each other. The Master leaves in the TARDIS, with the hand inside, and regenerates into a younger form. The Doctor, Jack, and Martha are stranded.

Continuity

The episode marks the return of the Master, who last appeared during the 1996 television movie Doctor Who.

Derek Jacobi plays the fifth version of the Master whom the Doctor has encountered on screen, and John Simm is the sixth. At least one television pundit speculated whether "Mister Saxon" was an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or was perhaps "a big red herring". However, when asked, Russell T Davies stated that it was not deliberate.

Production

This episode was announced as the first of a three-part story in Totally Doctor Who, broadcast the day before. Prior to this, only the following two instalments had been linked. Later reference material, including Doctor Who Magazine's season poll, treated the three episodes as a single three-part story. Russell T Davies has said that he regards "Utopia" as a separate story, but notes that the determination is arbitrary.

This is the first episode in the revived series to credit three principal cast members within the title sequence, with the addition of John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack Harkness.

Casting

This is Derek Jacobi's third involvement in Doctor Who. The first was in the September 2003 audio drama Deadline, where he played a screenwriter who believes himself to be the Doctor. The second was several months later, in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where he played an android version of the Master. In 2017, Jacobi reprised his role from "Utopia" in the audio drama series The War Master.

Other actors returning to the franchise in this episode are Neil Reidman had previously played Tom Braudy in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Memory Lane and Robert Forknall, who plays Lord Byron in the Eighth Doctor audio drama The Company of Friends.

Chipo Chung, who played Chantho, would later go on to play the Fortuneteller in "Turn Left". Paul Marc Davis, who played the Futurekind chieftain, also returned to the Doctor Who universe, going on to play the role of The Trickster in The Sarah Jane Adventures stories Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane, The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. He also had a small role in Torchwood story Exit Wounds and played the lead villain Corakinus in Class.

John Bell was a nine-year-old who won a Blue Peter competition to appear in this episode.

John Simm reprised his role as the Master in the Tenth Doctor's final story "The End of Time" and reprised the role again in "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls", the finale of Series 10, the final series to feature Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Michelle Gomez as Missy. Simm reprised the role once again in the audio drama Masterful by Big Finish Productions.

Music

Music originally composed for Torchwood can be heard in the background of this episode: a variation of the Torchwood theme plays when Jack runs towards the TARDIS and a motif plays when Jack lies dead, having ridden on the TARDIS through the Vortex. The drumming motif is suggestive of the fifth and subsequent bars of the Doctor Who theme tune as composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire.

Broadcast and reception

"Utopia" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 16 June 2007. Overnight rating showed that it was watched by 7.3 million viewers, which rose to 7.84 million when time-shifted viewers were taken into account. This made it the fourth most-watched programme on BBC One for the week. It received an Appreciation Index of 87.

IGN's Travis Fickett gave the episode a rating of 8.4 out of 10, calling it "one hell of a way to kick off the finale episodes of the season", particularly praising how various elements planted in previous episodes came into importance. However, he was critical of the beginning of the episode, writing that Jack's entrance was "a bit silly" and "the remnants of civilization look like Mad Max rejects being chased by space vampires". Richard Edwards of SFX gave "Utopia" four out of five stars, feeling that it was "minimally plotted" as it was part of a larger story but praising Jack's backstory and the return of the Master. The Stage reviewer Mark Wright was mixed towards "Utopia", disliking the first 20 minutes on the planet but enjoying the introduction of Jacobi as Yana, particularly the reveal of his true nature. He wondered what casual fans would make of it.

The episode has been noted by various reviewers and writers for its cliffhanger. It was listed among the best cliffhangers of the series by Charlie Jane Anders of io9, Den of Geek's Jeff Szpirglas, and was chosen by Mark Harrison as the best cliffhanger of the Tenth Doctor's era in another Den of Geek article. It was also chosen among the five best of the revived series by Morgan Jeffery and Chris Allen of Digital Spy; Jeffery referred to it as a "stunning accumulator cliffhanger" while Allen called it a "superb cliffhanger" that "lifts 'Utopia' from a fairly average episode into something altogether different". Stephen Brook of The Guardian called it "perhaps the best moment of the entire series" in his review of the third series.

Notes

  1. Credited as Paul Marc Davies
  2. The Ninth Doctor did this before in the 2005 episode "Boom Town".
  3. The Doctor's hand is cut off, and immediately grows back, in the 2005 episode "The Christmas Invasion".
  4. Jack prepares to leave 21st-century Cardiff shortly before "something" takes him away in the 2007 Torchwood episode "End of Days".
  5. Though not mentioned at the time as granting him immortality, the 2005 episode "The Parting of the Ways" depicts Rose bringing Jack back to life.
  6. As depicted in the 2007 episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood".

References

  1. "Doctor Who UK airdate announced". News. Dreamwatch. 27 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007.
  2. ^ "Doctor Who - Fact File - "Utopia"". Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  3. "Of a Thursday". Digital Spy. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  4. Radio Times 30 June–6 July 2007: Doctor Who Watch
  5. Doctor Who Magazine issue 384: Return of the Master
  6. Davies, Russell T (4 March 2009). "Production Notes". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 406. Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Panini Comics. p. 4. And I certainly feel the Series Three climax was two stories, no matter what the DWM season poll says. I'm sorry! I just do! I could rattle off the reasons, but we're into the mystical land of canon here, where the baseline of the argument simply comes down to "because I think so!"
  7. "A New Doctor, A New Dimension?". Big Finish Productions. Archived from the original on 26 May 2005. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  8. "Jacobi confirmed for Dr Who role". BBC News. BBC. 25 January 2007.
  9. "Doctor Who - Memory Lane". Big Finish.
  10. "Future Boy". BBC Doctor Who website. BBC. 7 June 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. Freema Agyeman; Trevor Laird; Gugu Mbatha-Raw. "The Sound of Drums commentary". BBC's Doctor Who microsite (Podcast). Retrieved 25 June 2007.
  12. "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  13. Fickett, Travis (25 September 2007). "Doctor Who: "Utopia" Review". IGN. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  14. Edwards, Richard (16 June 2007). "Doctor Who 3.11 "Utopia"". SFX. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  15. Wright, Mark (17 June 2007). "Doctor Who 3.11: Utopia". The Stage. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  16. Anders, Charlie Jane (31 August 2010). "Greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers of all time!". io9. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  17. Szpirglas, Jeff (2 June 2011). "10 classic Doctor Who cliffhangers". Den of Geek. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  18. Harrison, Mark (24 June 2010). "Doctor Who: 10 cliffhanger screamers". Den of Geek. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  19. Jeffery, Morgan; Allen, Chris (3 June 2011). "'Doctor Who's best ever cliffhangers: Friday Fever". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  20. Brook, Stephen (2 July 2007). "Doctor Who: it's season finale time!". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 July 2012.

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