The Sound of Drums (TV story)

The Sound of Drums is the 12th episode of Series 3 of Doctor Who, and aired on the 23rd June 2007.

Synopsis
The Doctor, Martha and Jack return to the 21st Century after The Master stole the Tardis. A New Prime Minister has been elected and his name is Mr Saxon. What are the Toclafane and what's at the Heart of the Valiant.

Plot
The Story continues after the events of Utopia where they were trapped by the Futurekind. The Doctor uses Captain Jack's Vortex Manipulator to get to 21st Century Earth. When they arrive they discover Vote Saxon Posters every where and Martha tells The Doctor that he is a politition on planet Earth and he must of won the election.

Meanwhile Mr Saxon is on the News with his wife Lucy Saxon. He has just won the election and is the new Prime Minister of Britain. Mr Saxon then walks to a cabnet Meeting. He meets Tish Jones (who previously worked for Richard Lazarus two days ago and now works in 10 Downing Street). After he spoke to Tish, he walked into the cabnet where he meets his first government. He then gassed them because they left their political parties when Mr Saxon's political status rose.

Martha returns home with Jack and the Doctor and switches on the News and tells them that Mr Saxon was a party leader and that she recognized his voice When The Master regenerated and she thinks that The Master is Mr Saxon.

At Downing street Lucy Saxon is speaking to Tish when a woman called Vivien Rook arrives from the Daily Star saying she is here to interview Lucy about being the Prime Ministers wife and asks Tish to leave. After Tish leaves she tells Lucy that she is from the Torchwood Institute and that she knows the truth about Mr Saxon. She says he only appeared since the fall of Harriet Jones and that he made his past life up. Lucy says that it is not true but Mr Saxon walks in and he produces Three Robotic balls, the size of footballs come out they are robotic beings he asks one to kill Vivien. He and Lucy walk out and they hear a loud scream, with Mr Saxon looking into the room over and over again.

Meanwhile at Martha's flat they watch a political broad cast by Mr Saxon about first contract with an alien race called the Toclafane and that he and his wife would be meeting them. The Doctor then sees the Archangel Network which Mr Saxon launched himself. Mr Saxon then makes a little reference to bombs on the back of televisions. The Doctor looks behind the television and sees a bomb. The three all run out on to the street and the flat exploseds. Martha, The Doctor and Jack get into a car and phone her Mum while driving. Francine asks her to come to her house claiming she has plans of getting back together with Clive. Francine hands the phone to Clive, saying to her that Clive will tell her the truth. Clive holds his breathe for a second and tells Martha to run. However Miss Dexter is listening to her phone conversation and tells the police to arrest the entire Jones family and take them in for questioning. Martha hurrys and she phones Tish at Downing Street, just as Tish is dragged away by guards. Martha, The Doctor, and Jack arrive at Francine's house but is forced to drive away as the police start firing at her car.

As the three of them abandon the car, Martha phones Leo when he is with his girlfriend Shonara and his daughter Keisha. She tells him to hide, but luckily he is in Brighton. Mr Saxon interrupts the phone call and asks for The Doctor. The Doctor takes the phone and tells The Master how the Time War ended and The Master says the Time Lords Resusrected him in order to fight in the war but the Master ran away in fear. He informs the Doctor that he Martha and Jack are now classed as terrorists and that Jack's friends have been sent on a wild goose-chase in the Himalayas.

One of the Toclafane appears before the master asking if the critical mass of the "Machine" is Ready. The Master informs them that it will reach a critical mass at 8:02 AM. Two minutes after the first contact. The Toclafane warns him of "impending darkness" and suggest that he flee but he mearly reminds them of their Deadline.

As they hide in an abandoned warehouse, the doctor gives Martha and Jack somne insight on The Masters origins explaining that the Time Lords at the age of eight, when they look into the vortex, that some are inspired some run away and some are driven mad. The Doctor ran and never stopped, but believes the latter happened to The Master. After Jack receives a message from Vivien Rook to Torchwood about the Archangel Network. The Doctor discovers that The Master has been hypnotizing people to vote for him, which also kept the doctor from detecting the Master. The Doctor produces three Keys allowing the three of them not to be detected, but still visible, if they put them on.

The American President arrives with Air Force One in England. He tells The Master (Under the guise of Mr Saxon) that UNIT has Control over the Operation. Citing a United Nations protocol. Winters insists on moving first contact to the neutral ground of the UNIT aircraft carrier the Valiant, and conducting meeting the Toclafane for himself. The Master brings along Francine, Tish and Clive, and the Doctor and friends follow using Jack's Vortex Manipulator. On board They find the Tardis, it's Cloister Bell ringing, and the interior glowing an ominuos red. It had been changed by The Master in to a Paradox Machine, set to go off at 8:02 AM. The trio head for the room that the First Contact is being held. The Doctor has a plan: if he manages to put the Tradis key round the Master's Neck then every one will see the Master for who he is.

When the First Contact begins The Toclafane complain that the President is not The Master. The Master reveals himself to the entire world and asks the Toclafane if they could kill the President. So the President is zapped and all that remains is tiny pieces of dust. The Doctor is captured by the guards and The Master temporarily kills Jack with his Laser Screwdriver. Which is also equipped with LazLab's Genetic Manipulation technlogy. With DNA from the Doctor's hand (stolen from Utopia) It allows the Master to artificially age the doctor by 100 years. The Master Brings in The Jones Family to witness this attack.

With The Paradox Machine ready, The Master tells the people of Earth to witness the end of the world and plays the song 'Voodoo Child'. The Paradox Machine, activates creating a massive Rift above the Valiant from which six million Toclafane desend from. He orders them to kill one tenth of the earth's population. When aksed, he refuses to reveal the true identity of the Toclafane saying it would break The Doctor's two hearts. Whilst the Master is distracted, Martha Glances at The Doctor, Jack and her Family. Then she teleports to earth using the Manipulator, given to her by Jack, promising to return as she watches the Toclafane descend. The Master and his wife look down on the planet and calls it "his new Dominion", With the aged doctor between them, forced to confront his failure to stop The Master.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
 * The Master/Harold Saxon - John Simm
 * Francine Jones - Adjoa Andoh
 * Tish Jones - Gugu Mbatha-raw
 * Leo Jones - Reggie yates
 * Clive Jones - Trevor Laird
 * Miss Dexter - Elize du Toit
 * Lucy Saxon - Alexandra Moen
 * President Winters - Colin Stinton
 * Vivien Rook - Nichola Mcauliffe
 * Albert Dumfries - Nicholas Gecks
 * BBC Newsreader - Olivia Hill
 * US Newsreader - Lachele Carl
 * Chinese Newsreader - Daniel Ming
 * Mcfly - Themselves
 * Ann Widdecombe - Herself
 * Sharon Osbourne - Herself

Crew
to be added

Story Notes

 * The Rogue Traders song Voodoo Child plays as the Master launches the attack on Earth, it contains the lyrics "So here it comes, the sound of drums. Here come the drums, here come the drums!".
 * This is the first 3 part story since Survival, which incidentally was the last of the ongoing series to feature the Master.
 * Sharon Osbourne, McFly and Ann Widdecombe appear (as themselves) endorsing Harold Saxon.
 * The 'sound of drums' heard throughout the episode is the rhythm of a few versions of the Doctor Who theme.
 * The Cloister Bell is heard inside the Tardis for the first time since the Classic Series
 * Martha asks whether the Master is the Doctor's secret brother, to which the Doctor replies that she's been watching too much TV. It was originally rumoured that the Master would be revealed as the Doctor's brother in a story at the end of Season 10; however, this storyline was pre-empted by the unexpected death of Roger Delgado.

Ratings

 * 6.9 million viewers - Overnight ratings
 * 1.09 million viewers - BBC3 Sunday repeat ratings
 * 7.51 million viewers - Final ratings

Myths & Rumours

 * In the episode Utopia the rumour that John Simms' character, Mr. Saxon, is actually the Master in disguise was verified, with the regeneration of Professor Yana/The Master.

Location Filming
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * When the Master first puts on his gas mask, it is upside-down. However when he puts it back on it has turned right-side up. The Master didn't turn it back round, so how did it do so?

Continuity

 * The Master watches the Teletubbies (in a similar fashion as he did) in The Sea Devils.
 * This is the first appearance of Gallifrey on screen since The Five Doctors.
 * The Time Lords seen in this episode are wearing the ceremonial dress first seen in The Deadly Assassin (and last seen in The Ultimate Foe).
 * The outfit the Young Master wears in similar to that which the Time Lords wear in The War Games.
 * There is footage shown here from Aliens of London, Army of Ghosts and The Runaway Bride (and the events of The Christmas Invasion are mentioned).
 * The Master states that he was resurrected, which neatly absolves any continuity problems caused by Doctor Who: The TV Movie.
 * The Master states that Downing Street has been rebuilt, it was destroyed in World War Three.
 * Harriet Jones last appeared in The Christmas Invasion.
 * Professor Lazarus (and his machine) appeared in The Lazarus Experiment.
 * The Master still has the Doctor's hand which he lost in The Christmas Invasion, Jack had with him while in charge of Torchwood (Everything Changes et al), took with him when he met up with the Doctor (Utopia) which is also when the Master obtained the Doctor's hand and his TARDIS.
 * The Master (Mr Saxon) wears variations of various outfits from different stories; A black single breasted suit, white shirt and black tie (from Planet of Fire, albeit without the black leather gloves worn in the original costume). He also wears a black overcoat with red satin lining, and black leather gloves during his airport meeting with President Winters.
 * The Seal of Rassilon is visible for the first time since Doctor Who: The TV Movie.
 * The Doctor has been artificially aged many years on a previous occasion; on Argolis in The Leisure Hive.

DVD and Other Releases
to be added