The Sound of Drums (TV story)

"What this country really needs...right now...is a Doctor"

- The Master

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's theft of the TARDIS. A new Prime Minister has been elected: Harold Saxon. What are the Toclafane and what's at the heart of the Valiant?

Plot
The Story continues after the events of Utopia where the Doctor, Martha, and Jack were trapped by the Futurekind. The Doctor uses Jack's vortex manipulator to get to 21st Century Earth. When they arrive they discover Vote Saxon posters everywhere. Martha tells The Doctor that Harold Saxon is a politician on planet Earth and he must have won the election.

Meanwhile, Mr Saxon is on the news with his wife Lucy. He has, in fact, just won the election and is the new Prime Minister of Britain. Mr Saxon then walks to a cabinet meeting. He meets Tish Jones (who previously worked for Richard Lazarus two days previously and now works at 10 Downing Street). After speaking to Tish, he walks into the cabnet where he meets his first cabinet. He then gasses the room after accusing them of deserting their political parties after Saxon's popularity rose.

Martha returns home with Jack and the Doctor and switches on the news. She tells them that Saxon was a party leader and that she recognized his voice when The Master regenerated. The group realizes that Saxon is the Master.

At Downing street Lucy Saxon is speaking to Tish when a woman named Vivien Rook arrives from the Daily Star saying she is here to interview Lucy about being the Prime Minister's wife and asks Tish to leave. After Tish leaves, Rook tells Lucy that she is from the Torchwood Institute and that she knows the truth about Saxon. She says he only appeared since the fall of Harriet Jones and that he made his past life up. Lucy refuses to believe this as Saxon walks in and he produces three robotic balls the size of footballs. He tells one to kill Vivien as he and Lucy leave.

Meanwhile, at Martha's flat, the TARDIS crew watch a political broadcast by Saxon about first contract with an alien race called the Toclafane and that he and his wife will be meeting them. He claims that "we wil take our place in the universe. Every man, woman, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. I don't know--every medical student." The Doctor looks behind the television and finds a bomb. The gang runs out on to the street just in time to see the flat explode. Martha, the Doctor and Jack get into a car and phone Martha's mum. Francine asks her to come to her house, claiming she has plans of getting back together with Clive. Francine hands the phone to Clive. He hesitates his breath for a moment and tells Martha to run. However, Miss Dexter, a government official loyal to Saxon, is listening to the conversation and tells the police to arrest the entire Jones family. Martha phones Tish at Downing Street, just as Tish is dragged away by guards. Martha, the Doctor, and Jack arrive at Francine's house but are forced to drive away as the police start firing at her car.

As the three of them abandon the car, Martha phones Leo, who luckily is in Brighton. As martha warns her brother to hide, Saxon interrupts the phone call. The Doctor takes the phone and tells the Master how the Time War ended. The Master says that the Time Lords resurrected him in order to fight but he ran away in fear, explaining that he used a Chameleon Arch to turn him into a human, as the Doctor did in Human Nature. He informs the Doctor that he, Martha, and Jack have now been deemed 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 machine" is ready. The Master informs it 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 merely reminds them of their deadline.

As the TARDIS crew hide in an abandoned warehouse, the Doctor gives Martha and Jack some insight on the Master's origins, explaining that at the age of eight, the Time Lords, look into the time vortex. 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. Jack receives a posthumous 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 him. The Doctor produces three keys equiped with perception filters allowing himself, Martha, and Jack to be seen, but not detected, if they put them on.

The American President arrives with Air Force One in England. He tells 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 the meeting with 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, its cloister bell ringing, and the interior glowing an ominuos red. It had been changed by the Master into a paradox machine, set to go off at 8:02 AM. The trio head for the room in which the first contact is being held. The Doctor has a plan: if he manages to put the TARDIS key around the Master's neck, then everyone will see the Master for who he truly 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 tell the Toclafane to kill the President. The Doctor is captured by the guards and the Master temporarily kills Jack with his laser screwdriver, equipped with LazLab's Genetic Manipulation technlogy. With DNA from the Doctor's hand (stolen during the events of Utopia), it allows the Master to artificially (and visibly) 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. The paradox machine activates, creating a massive rift above the Valiant from which six billion Toclafane descend from. He orders them to kill one tenth of the earth's population. When asked, he refuses to reveal the true identity of the Toclafane, saying it would break the Doctor's hearts. Whilst the Master is distracted, Martha glances at the Doctor, Jack and her family. 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, calling 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
 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * The Master/Harold Saxon - John Simm
 * Francine Jones - Adjoa Andoh
 * Clive Jones - Trevor Laird
 * Tish Jones - Gugu Mbatha-Raw
 * Leo Jones - Reggie Yates
 * Miss Dexter - Elize du Toit
 * Lucy Saxon - Alexandra Moen
 * Vivien Rook - Nichola Mcauliffe
 * Albert Dumfries - Nicholas Gecks
 * President Winters - Colin Stinton
 * BBC Newsreader - Olivia Hill
 * Chinese Newsreader - Daniel Ming
 * Mal Loup - Lachele Carl
 * Sharon Osbourne - Herself
 * McFly - Themselves
 * Ann Widdecombe - Herself
 * The Master (aged 8) - John Sandilands (uncredited)

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.
 * 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.
 * Assuming the American polictical system works the same in the Doctor Who universe as it does in the real world, the involvement of the American President-Elect indicates the events of this episode must take place between November 5, 2008 (the day after the US presidential election) and January 19, 2009 (the day before the inauguration of the new president).

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 Simm's 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.
 * When the Master refers to the Battle of Canary Wharf, he only mentions the Cybermen but not the Daleks hovering above London. He might have been present at the battle, as the Doctor set the TARDIS so it can only go to the last place he visited. (In this case, the trip the Doctor made to Cardiff at the start of Utopia (TV story), which presumably takes place after the Battle for Canary Wharf, given Jack's knowledge of what happened that day. The Doctor mentions that the Master may have been able to go a couple of months further back than this, presumably to before the incidents depicted in Love & Monsters, where Victor Kennedy is seen reading a paper with a headline making reference to Mr Saxon)
 * When Vivian interviews Lucy, she tells Tish to take the coats out of the room, by calling her Tish, but Tish had never introduced herself to Vivian.
 * In the real world, the US would not send its president-elect to the Valiant, but would have sent the actual president (who remains in power until the 20 January swearing in).
 * Near the start of the episode Martha says "But at the end in the TARDIS..." but she says the end, implying the end of Utopia, but isn't it their life not a TV programme episode? (She probably means "But at the end [of the universe] in the TARDIS...", not at the end of Utopia.)
 * When the Master stands up on the Valiant to announce his that he is "the Toclafane's Master", there is a shot of the Master and his reflection in the glass table. President Winters is visible in the background, only the Toclafane aren't there. In the next shot, they return, buzzing around Winters' head. This is a mistake in Post Production when adding in the Toclafane effects.
 * The Doctor fuses the TARDIS circuits with his sonic screwdriver so it can only travel to the last two locations in its memory. The Master, presumably, is unable to repair the TARDIS but the Doctor has no trouble effecting repairs despite the fact that both Time Lords have equivalent knowledge of TARDIS technology.

Continuity

 * The Master watches the Teletubbies this is in a similar fashion as he did with the Clangers 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 is similar to that which the Time Lords wear in The War Games.
 * The events of Aliens of London, The Christmas Invasion and The Runaway Bride are mentioned and footage is shown.
 * 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 (TW: 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 on screen since Doctor Who: The TV Movie (and last featured on a novel cover of EDA: The Gallifrey Chronicles).
 * The Doctor has been artificially aged many years on a previous occasion; on Argolis in The Leisure Hive.
 * The Master's line, "Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully" in this episode is similar to his call for the attention of the "peoples of the Universe" during the events of Logopolis.
 * References to Tom Baker are made in this episode: the Master's opening line in his televised introduction of the Toclafane ("Britain, Britain, Britain...") is the beginning line to the introduction each episode of the comedy series "Little Britain", which Tom Baker narrates. Also, the Master is seen offering Lucy Saxon Jelly Babies, the Fourth Doctor's favorite sweet.
 * When Jack logs onto the Torchwood system the Torchwood theme tune plays in the background

Trivia

 * In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine Russel T. Davies stated that the eponymous drumbeat was not inspired by the opening bars of Ron Grainer's original Doctor Who theme tune (as many fans believed) but by his alarm clock which plays a sound similar to the aforementioned sound of drums when it goes off.

DVD and Other Releases

 * This has been released along side Utopia and Last of the Time Lords
 * It is also part of the series 3 box set.