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Russell T Davies on Last of the Time Lords - Radio Times, July 2007 |
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Doctor Who's chief writer talked to Nick Griffiths about reinventing The Master, and giving viewers a glimpse of the Time Lords' doomed planet.
On the series finale
"The fate of the world is in Martha Jones's
hands. The final episode is a massive quest, it's very
stirring, and there are some very dark moments
in amongst the fun. It's Martha's time to pay back
everything that the Doctor has done for her, to live
up to his faith in, and expectations of, her."
On the Master
"John Simm's incarnation of
the Doctor's nemesis is thoroughly
contemporary. Previous Masters
seemed to appear on a whim, merely
to thwart the Doctor with a throaty
cackle. This one's plans have been far
more carefully thought through. He's
installed himself as prime minister,
for a start."
"Once I'd thought of him as
the prime minister, the
story really clicked. We built up a
small mythology about Britain's PM
by having Penelope Wilton as Harriet
Jones. We've seen people come and
go, we've killed a few prime ministers
already, and the moment I thought of
having an evil PM, I thought, 'That's
the key to it!' How much fun would
the Master have in that role?!"
On depicting Gallifrey
"Every time Hollywood introduces
a villain, you get the origin story,
as with Dr Octopus, or Sandman
in the latest Spider-Man film. So in
episode 12 we had a small origin
story. And a look at Gallifrey [the
Time Lords' home planet]. Oh my
God - you get to see Gallifrey!"
"More special-effects
people slaved over that shot than you
can imagine. It's absolutely beautiful:
the citadel and the mountains and it's
snowing and everything. So we had
that small, contained origin story,
explaining why [The Master is] so mad, so driven."
On suggestions of political satire
"There's an
element of it. As ever
with Doctor Who, when we get
to politics it's not satire, it's having
a laugh. I'm not sure we're ever
genuinely satirical; it's just taking
modern stuff, using it in the
common language and giving
people a chuckle at the same time."
**
Now take a look at our full Doctor Who guide.
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