[saturn5]

Ok,

1. Not keen on the Ood, obviously one of Russell's favourites though. Brian Cox's voice is excellent though, always gives the gravitas to whatever he does.

2. We never see what the Dr does to good Queen Bess but we finally have confirmation that he married Alex Kingston's character from the Library episode.

3. Tim Dalton is EXCELLENT, for such a small role he really does it brilliantly, can't wait to see more of him at New Year.

4. Like the idea that the Master's wife has been plotting to destroy him all this time, you think she's a helpless victim but then she shows her steel. Hope she survived the fire.

5. Wilfred is great. He never killed a man, stating that the war was over by the time he was a paratrooper and presumably joining the Maroon machine at a time that avoided the various post-colonial conflicts (Malaya, Borneo, Aden etc). Wonderful that 40 years after appearing in The Dalek Invasion of Earth he's still starring in the show.

6. Not keen on the whole ravenous Master thing, seems to have been inspired by the Angel ep The Price. Pretty disgusting and I'm not sure I want implied cannabilism on Christmas Day.

7. Love the scene where the Master and Dr face off, it's almost as though the Master wants the Dr to help him but just can't bring himself to admit it. Great expression from the Dr when he realises that the drums in the Master's head are real and that he wasn't just mad (at least not totally) all along.

So what is the significance of The Drums? My theory is that actually the Master was the Time Lords instrument all along, that whilst they had the Dr do their dirty work they had the Master do their REALLY dirty work. And now he's their version of the Genisis ark, the Time Lords have preserved their essences (just as the Dr did in Family of Blood) and now the Master has transformed humanity into a planet full of Timelord bodies, just waiting for their consciousnesses to be implanted into them.