More thoughts on "The Sound of Drums"

[kerravonsen]

Watched it again last night (when it aired on Auntie ABC), and a few more things struck me.

I'd wondered, on re-watching "Project Lazarus", why Mr. Saxon was a backer of the research, but this time I paid a little more attention and noticed that the Master said that he'd miniaturized the technology and put it into his laser-screwdriver(*) -- it was THIS technology (in reverse) that he used to age the Doctor.

Does that mean that the whole Project Lazarus thing was because the Master wanted revenge on the Doctor? Well, stranger things have happened. I wouldn't be surprised if the Master decided it was a more efficient use of his time to "subcontract" the research, and gave Lazarus "hints" about how to do it.
Note also that "Project Lazarus" is when Saxon's people first made contact with Francine Jones. But the Master had had his eye on Tish earlier, since he'd probably gotten her the job there.

Mr. Saxon says "Downing Street rebuilt" -- how long is this after "World War Three" and "The Christmas Invasion"?
Mr. Saxon also calls his cabinet "traitors" because they abandoned their own parties when they saw how the polls were going. That begs the question -- what party was Mr. Saxon? Or did he form his own party? What was his original position in the Ministry of Defence anyway?

I get the impression that the Master murdered his cabiniet just because he could, and because he considered it easier to just kill them rather than placate or mislead them. Mind you, from the number of bodies that the Master has left in his wake in the past (remember the old "tissue compression analyser"?) he seems to think that killing is the best policy (after hypnotism).

Bad, Mad, and Dangerous To Know.

The constructing the SEPs (Somebody Else's Problem field) scene, two things:
* the Doctor actually confirmed that the TARDIS has a "perception filter" to make it not noticed (something I deduced by things which had been said by Nine, but here it was stated clearer). Whether the TARDIS has always had a SEP I'm not certain. One could argue that (a) the TARDIS gradually grew one when it realized the chameleon circuit was never going to be fixed, or (b) during the period when the chameleon circuit was fixed (some point in Six's era, if I recall correctly), it was fully fixed, and the fully-working chameleon circuit included a SEP, and when the Doctor turned off the chameleon circuit (I can't remember whether he turned it off or canibalised it or it broke again) the SEP part of it continued to work.
* I realized I was distracted by the handwaving technobabble: how come the "perception filter" turns on when one puts the string around one's neck, but isn't on when one is holding the key in front of one?

(*) laser screwdriver? I bet it can't drive screws, just melt them.

Comments

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I think something is said, if not in the episode then in the offical Saxon website, about his not belonging to any party. Which for me only heightens the absurdity of his success, but there it is.

[kerravonsen]

His success was meant to be absurd -- the fact that nobody questioned it was absurd. Mind-control, baby!

[jinxed-wood.livejournal.com]

But if he doesn't belong to a party, he can't be elected Prime Minister, as the PM is the leader of the majority party and can't be elected 'Presidential Style' ...and I'm taking this way too seriously, aren't I? Lets put it down to more hand wavy stuff...

...or the possiblity that RTD has never voted, and has no concept of how representational democracy works...

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I presumed that Saxon started his own party, which people do from time to time when they fall out with the big parties and announce that the people want something fresh and untainted by the past. He encourages heavyweight defectors, who announce that they've had enough of old, corrupt politics, puts up candidates in all constituencies, and wins a landslide. The person with the best chance of standing up to him - Harriet Jones - has been pushed out already.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I also got the impression from the posters we saw that it was the Saxon party, IOW his own. I'm therefore not sure who his cabinet were - people who were also in his party and stood in electorates, or an existing or composite one - but I think you're right: he killed them just because he could.

[neuralclone.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm.... if the Master had stuck to murdering politicians, would we see him as such a bad guy? *EG*

Seriously... the Lazarus technology. Has anyone else noticed its similarity to regeneration? I was wondering whether it wasn't an attempt to develop a mechanical substitute for regeneration so a) it would be available to the Master if he ever got into a tight spot where he couldn't regenerate naturally, and b) as an attempt to build a new 'time lord' race?

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Well, I would. I have a lot of friends in politics.

Maybe he also picked up something on delayed regeneration, which was of no interest to Lazarus but he could develop as his own emergency escape route?

[neuralclone.livejournal.com]

Well, I would. I have a lot of friends in politics.

Well hopefully not of the "slimey traitor" variety. %-} (And incidentally, the Master's reasons for killing his cabinet were interesting. To say the least. It shows a twisted ethics.)

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

That begs the question -- what party was Mr. Saxon? Or did he form his own party?

In addition to what others have said, RTD couldn't have specified that Saxon was a member of any of the existing UK parties, because it could be seen as breaking the rule that the BBC is supposed to be politically neutral. The party that he was supposed to be a member of would have kicked up a big fuss.

[kerravonsen]

Good point.