S03E11: 'Utopia'

‘Utopia’ is notable for the welcome return of two past characters from the series – Captain Jack Harkness and The Master. The episode is bookended by fantastically gripping scenes involving their respective comebacks, but sadly in between there’s very little of interest going on.

The plot about the Futurekind and humans living on the planet is fairly uninvolving and seems to serve as padding in the build up to the great unveil during the culmination of the story. Director Graeme Harper, as usual, does a sturdy job and the atmospheric tones certainly keep our eyes attentive during the sags in the narrative.

The casting of Sir Derek Jacobi is a major coup for Doctor Who and the acting icon impresses in his role as Professor Yana. He exudes a world-weary, but kind figure as Yana, but cranks up the malevolence when he changes into The Master. It’s a shame his portrayal of the Time Lord was all too brief, but on the flip side it did give the closing events some serious impact. The jury is out on John Simm, but the signs are very promising and the character seems to promise a great deal of fun, along with the mandatory booing and hissing from behind the sofas.

A major strength of ‘Utopia’ is Russell T Davies’ ability to tie in elements from other episodes into the current diegesis. Regular avid viewers are rewarded through their shock realisation of the significance of the fob watch from ‘Human Nature’, whilst The Doctor’s severed hand from ‘The Christmas Invasion’ and Torchwood gives us another wave.

Overall, ‘Utopia’ did its job in setting up the Saxoncentric finale, but the central plot about humanity in the future didn’t quite do the trick.