Most of this episode is the story of the Doctor being thrown into the far, far future, to the end of the universe and he helps a kind professor to create a rocket to take the few remaining humans away to a vague sanctuary called Utopia. The production design for the end of the universe is a little underwhelming. I don’t know what I was expecting it to look like, but I was expecting more than some pointy teethed people running around what appears to be a quarry at night, and some good guys  driving around in jeeps, before we see some grubby corridors and a lab. But honestly this isn’t an especially big problem. The end of time is such an unthinkable, almost abstract idea that there’s likely no way to adequately convey this, certainly not on a BBC budget.

What I consider a bigger problem regarding this storyline is the fact that it is completely dropped and ignored as soon as the Professor reveals his pocket watch/chameleon arch. This is understandable, because the reveal of a new Time Lord instantly overshadows everything else and the series does resolve the Utopia storyline in a couple of episodes time. So even if the main plotline of this episode ends in an unsatisfying way, who cares? The return of the Master is more than satisfying enough to make up for that.

The main storyline here may be compelling, but flawed. But if you’re going to have a flawed story, a great way to make sure nobody feels cheated by the episode is to cast Derek Jacobi as the Professor/Master. He’s unbelievable in this episode; in fact he has a great case for being the best guest actor in the history of at least NuWho.

In his human form as the Professor he’s such a warm and pleasant presence. He has his own little companion the adorable Chantho, and his paternal bond with her, as well as his affable genius makes him such a likeable man. Then he pulls out his pocket watch. Martha (and those of us who’ve seen Human Nature/Family of Blood) know immediately what this means. The Professor has a chameleon arch, meaning he is actually a Time Lord disguised as a human. Jacobi’s performance shifts here with Martha’s questioning him over the watch, as well as him overhearing the Doctor and Jack talking about Time Lords and time travel etc... His entire demeanour shifts, into an almost melancholic state of confusion. Then once he opens the watch and becomes the Master once again, Derek Jacobi makes this character the scariest person in the entire universe.

It’s honestly such incredible work from Jacobi, as his entire posture, body language, as well as his eyes and voice change when he’s the Master once again. There’s not much else to say, it’s simply masterful (pun intended) acting. Unfortunately we don’t get too much of it, as he’s pretty quickly shot and has to regenerate into John Sims. I have thoughts on Sims as the Master, but I’ll save them for reviews of later episodes.

The third major plot point in this episode after the end of the universe/Utopia stuff and the reintroduction of the Master, is of course the return of one Captain Jack Harkness. John Barrowman slots back into the main Doctor Who series with such ease. I love his chemistry with Martha, there’s a hint of flirtation (it’s Jack, there’s always at least a hint of flirtation), but despite the script never explicitly stating it, you feel that they form a bond over their shared love for a Time Lord, even though they realise they’ll never truly be able to know him, or be loved the same way in return.

The highlight of this episode for Jack though is obviously the scene with the Stet radiation. Jack confronting the Doctor about why he was left behind is dynamite. The scene could just feel like an information dump of backstory and foreshadowing. It definitely is this to be clear, but the script and the performances make sure to keep the character dynamics at the forefront of this exchange. It’s actually really quite underplayed, almost quiet in its execution. But it does a fine job of revealing some of the Doctor’s character, and as Jack points out, even his prejudices.

So despite the Utopia plotline itself, ultimately not amounting to much of anything (yet), the returns of both Captain Jack and especially the Master make for a thrilling episode of Doctor Who. The last 15 minutes or so, with the character interplays and some game changing revelations, all set to Murray Gold’s exceptionally exciting score make this one of the best episodes  RTD has written for the show, and an incredible setup for the rest of the series.