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TARDIS Guide

Overview

First aired

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Production Code

3.11

Written by

Russell T Davies

Directed by

Graeme Harper

Runtime

45 minutes

Story Type

Three-Parter

Time Travel

Present, Future

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Chameleon Arch, Vote Saxon, You Are Not Alone

Inventory (Potential Spoilers!)

TARDIS key, Sonic Screwdriver

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Cardiff, Earth, Wales

UK Viewers

7.84 million

Appreciation Index

87

Synopsis

As Captain Jack comes into the Doctor's life again, the TARDIS is thrown to the end of the universe. As the last remnants of humanity struggle to reach "Utopia", unknown to all, the Doctor's greatest enemy is about to rise again...

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2 reviews

Utopia is a great story with a mostly interesting and engaging plot, lots of cool concepts that are very well executed, and plently of good characters. It ties togethers bits from throught series 3 (and even the entire RTD era so far) to create a satisfying start to the series finale. The twist still makes me excited and I know what's coming - I can't imagine how exciting it must have been to watch as a Classic Doctor Who fan uppon release!


This review contains spoilers!

One of the Doctor Who stories in the new series that easily ranks among the most important out there. Introducing two different incarnations of the Master that would go on to have a huge influence on the character, reuniting Jack with the Doctor, the Doctor revealing a lot more details about his home and history than he ever had before in the new series, paying off the YANA plot thread, and depicting the end of the universe, Utopia does a lot and almost completely pulls it off.

I say almost completely because I do find the plot around Jack and the Doctor and TARDIS' animosity towards him a little forced but a solid reason for why we end up so far in the future. Most of the special effects are good, but for the end of reality, things don't look all that different from your average Doctor Who story, just with a bit more night shots than usual. The music, on the other hand, is unforgettable, not just the end, with our big reveal, but throughout, such as when the Doctor is talking about Gallifrey. Murray Gold does some of his best work for this episode.

While it can be debated how well all of Utopia pays off in the Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, but Utopia holds up well on its own and is a fantastic piece of entertainment all on its own. An excellent and critically important story to Doctor Who history.


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Statistics

AVG. Rating617 members
4.38 / 5

Trakt.tv

AVG. Rating1,235 votes
4.16 / 5

The Time Scales

AVG. Rating222 votes
4.35 / 5

Member Statistics

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Favourited

205

Reviewed

2

Saved

3

Skipped

0

Owned

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Quotes

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YANA: Killed by an insect. A girl. How inappropriate. Still, if the Doctor can be young and strong, then so can I. The Master reborn.

— The War Master, Utopia

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Transcript Needs checking

[TARDIS]

(The TARDIS lands in Roald Dahl Plass.)

DOCTOR: Cardiff.
MARTHA: Cardiff?
DOCTOR: Ah, but the thing about Cardiff, it's built on a rift in time and space, just like California and the San Andreas Fault, but the rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel.
MARTHA: So it's a pit stop.
DOCTOR: Exactly. Should only take twenty seconds. The rift's been active.

(A man in a great coat is running across the plaza.)

MARTHA: Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?
DOCTOR: Bit of trouble with the Slitheen.


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