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*The last time that the Master appeared on screen he had possessed a human body. How he survived being sucked into the TARDIS's ] at the end of the ] or how he reacquired Time Lord physiology is not explained in this episode.
*The last time that the Master appeared on screen he had possessed a human body. How he survived being sucked into the TARDIS's ] at the end of the ] or how he reacquired Time Lord physiology is not explained in this episode.
*Derek Jacobi plays the fifth incarnation of the Master whom the Doctor has come across on screen, and John Simm is the sixth.<ref name="Utopia" /> At least one television pundit has speculated whether "]" is an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or is perhaps "a big ]".<ref name="master_anagram">{{cite web|title=Of a Thursday|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a44695/of-a-thursday.html |work=] |date=] |accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref> The Master often shows a penchant for synonymous and anagrammical pseudonyms in the classic series, such as the name "Mr Magister" in ''The Dæmons''.
*Derek Jacobi plays the fifth incarnation of the Master whom the Doctor has come across on screen, and John Simm is the sixth.<ref name="Utopia" /> At least one television pundit has speculated whether "]" is an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or is perhaps "a big ]".<ref name="master_anagram">{{cite web|title=Of a Thursday|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a44695/of-a-thursday.html |work=] |date=] |accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref> The Master often shows a penchant for synonymous and anagrammical pseudonyms in the classic series, such as the name "Mr Magister" in ''The Dæmons''.
*Yana recalls that he was found as a child "on the coast of the Silver Devastation." The Silver Devastation was previously mentioned in the 2005 episode ], in which the steward of Platform One introduces the ] as "our friend from the Silver Devastation." The Doctor's explanation of the Chameleon Arch in "Human Nature" would indicate these memories are fake, created by the Master's TARDIS, as Professor Yana would not have existed as a child.
*This episode marks the furthest the ] has gone into the future.
*The Doctor warns Jack multiple times to stop introducing himself to strangers. In "]", the ] commented that, for Jack, even saying hello is flirting.
Captain Jack Harkness reunites with the Doctor and the TARDIS is thrown out of control to the end of the universe. They meet Professor Yana, who is working on a means to save the remnants of humanity while a race known as the "Futurekind" attempt to thwart his plans.
After landing in the year 100 trillion on the planet Malcassairo, the Doctor and Martha find Jack, and then other life: the Futurekind, mutated cannibalistic humanoids, are hunting a human, who is attempting to reach a transport to "Utopia" - the last home of the human race.
At the transport site, Professor Yana and his insectoid assistant Chantho are desperate for help. The spacecraft to Utopia is unable to take off due to problems with the experimental drive system, and Yana's research has been stalled for some time. These problems are worsened by a Futurekind infiltrator who vandalises a key system. Despite the unfamiliar technology, the Doctor manages to help with the scientific problems, and Jack makes final preparations in a heavily irradiated room only he can survive. As Jack does this, he and the Doctor discuss Jack's immortality, and why the Doctor abandoned him on Satellite Five. Finally, the rocket is able to take off for Utopia, leaving the Doctor, Yana, Chantho, Martha, and Jack on the planet's surface.
A subplot includes Yana hearing a constant drumbeat inside his head - a condition he reports having had all his life, with the drums getting louder recently. Words such as "regeneration" and "TARDIS" - elements of Time Lord lore - only exacerbate the problem, confusing and distracting him. When Martha expresses concern over the Professor's uneasiness, he reveals a long-standing problem with time, and shows Martha what he describes as a broken fob watch he has had ever since he was found as an orphaned child. Martha recognizes that this watch is identical in design to John Smith's watch in "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood". Worried about the implications, Martha rushes immediately to inform the Doctor.
When the Doctor hears about this, he realises that the name "Yana" is an acronym of "You are not alone," the final words of the Face of Boe. At the same time, Yana opens the watch, releasing the Time Lord configuration. Frantic and horrified, the Doctor races towards Yana's office, but is hindered by Yana closing the doors and allowing the Futurekind inside. Yana then fatally wounds Chantho, but not before telling her that he is the Master. Before she dies, Chantho is able to shoot the Master with a concealed weapon.
The Doctor arrives in Yana's office just as the Master enters the Doctor's TARDIS, taking the Doctor's severed hand (which Jack had recovered after the events of "The Christmas Invasion" and carried with him) with him. The wounded by Chantho's shot forces the Master to regenerate into a younger body - whose voice Martha recognises. He then locks the TARDIS, preventing the Doctor from opening it, and after berating the Doctor, leaves in the TARDIS (despite the Doctor's attempts to prevent him doing so), stranding the Doctor, Martha and Jack in the distant future trapped by the Futurekind.
This is Derek Jacobi's third involvement in Doctor Who and second time playing the Doctor's nemesis. The first was in the September 2003 audio drama Deadline, where he played a screenwriter who believes himself to be the Doctor. The second was several months later, in the webcast Scream of the Shalka, where he played an android version of the Master. David Tennant also had a minor, uncredited role in Scream of the Shalka.
John Bell is a nine-year-old who won a Blue Peter competition to appear in this episode.
Continuity
Captain Jack was last seen at the end of the Torchwood episode "End of Days" looking off-screen while the familiar sound of the TARDIS is heard in the background. The Torchwood team find Jack gone, and the place in a mess. The Doctor notes that the Rift has been active recently; this was due to Abaddon escaping through the Rift in "End of Days".
Martha inquires about the earthquake in Cardiff "a couple of years ago", and the Doctor claims "a bit of trouble with the Slitheen". This refers to the events of the 2005 episode "Boom Town" He also states that he was "a different man back then"; the episode took place during the Ninth Doctor's tenure.
Jack says that he used a Vortex Manipulator to travel back from the year 200,100. Vortex Manipulator technology was also used by the Family of Blood in "Human Nature" to track the Doctor through time.
One of the items in Jack's backpack is the severed hand of the Doctor. This was first seen in "The Christmas Invasion", when the hand was cut off by the Sycorax leader, and was a recurring background item on the Torchwood Three Hub set. This episode confirms that the hand is indeed the Doctor's.
This episode contains clips from "The Parting of the Ways", "The Christmas Invasion", "Human Nature" and "Gridlock". It also features dialogue from The Daemons spoken by Roger Delgado, the first actor to play the Master, and the trademark chuckle of Anthony Ainley, who portrayed the character during the 1980s.
The Doctor previously claimed to be a "Doctor of Everything" in Spearhead from Space and described the human race as "indomitable" in The Ark in Space.
The last time that the Master appeared on screen he had possessed a human body. How he survived being sucked into the TARDIS's Eye of Harmony at the end of the 1996 Doctor Who television movie or how he reacquired Time Lord physiology is not explained in this episode.
Derek Jacobi plays the fifth incarnation of the Master whom the Doctor has come across on screen, and John Simm is the sixth. At least one television pundit has speculated whether "Mister Saxon" is an intentional anagram of "Master No. Six" or is perhaps "a big red herring". The Master often shows a penchant for synonymous and anagrammical pseudonyms in the classic series, such as the name "Mr Magister" in The Dæmons.
Production and pre-broadcast publicity
This is the first episode of the series to feature John Barrowman's name in the opening credits, and the first time three actors have been in the opening credits in the revived series.
Music cues originally composed for Torchwood are heard in the background of this episode, notably a variation of the Torchwood theme tune played when Jack runs towards the TARDIS and a motif played when Jack lies dead having ridden on the TARDIS through the Vortex.
This episode was not announced to be part one of a three-parter until the Totally Doctor Who episode the day before.
