The next episode in this season-ending triptych picks up from "Utopia" without missing a beat. The tension builds as The Doctor, Martha, and Captain Jack realize that they've returned to 21st century Britain (probably in 2008 or 2009), and "Harold Saxon" -- aka The Master -- has just been elected Prime Minister. For Martha, the danger represented by The Master becomes deeply personal when he has his security forces round up her mother, father, and sister. (Her brother, Leo, avoids capture by being out of London on a holiday and is warned to stay away by Martha.)

This is, undoubtedly, the best of Russell T Davies' writing on the series. Clearly he's either improved or he's devoted more time to polishing these scripts, because he's proved himself capable of turning out real clunkers ("Aliens of London" leaps instantly to mind). Perhaps, I might wryly surmise, Paul Cornell and Stephen Moffat are offering him pointers.

Several themes that are prominent in the revival of Doctor Who recur here. First, and foremost, is that The Doctor's actions have consequences. In "World War III", The Doctor tells Rose that Harriet Jones will be a three-term PM and usher in Britain's Golden Age. Yet, only a few months (chronologically) after Harriett Jones's rise to power, the Doctor succeeds in having her removed from office in a fit of pique over the shooting down of the Sycorax space ship ("The Christmas Invasion"). The Doctor radically altered history, and in removing the once-popular Harriett Jones from office he paved the way to allow "Harold Saxon" to take control of the British government.

Gallifrey, The Doctor's home planet, returns as a topic of conversation and is visualized in the new series for the first time. The thread of discussing Gallifrey began in "The Runaway Bride" and continued in "Gridlock". We are treated to a lush CGI pan over the mountainous terrain of the home world of the Time Lords and the massive, domed Citadel that was their home. We see a couple of nameless Time Lords, as well, wearing the same costumes pioneered in the classic series. ("The Deadly Assassin", "The Five Doctors", etc.)

The most fascinating character is, of course, The Master. He's regenerated and entrenched in Earthly power. He starts his first Cabinet session by murdering the Cabinet. He takes a perverse glee in murder, more so than his previous incarnations. His reincarnation is satisfactorily if briefly explained as being a component of the Time Lord offense in the Time War against the Daleks.

And all the time, awake, asleep, in thought, in action, he hears them. The drums. The sound of drums, drumming in his head. Calling him to war. Calling him to murder. Calling him to unspeakable evil. [i]dum-dum-dum-dum, dum-dum-dum-dum, dum-dum-dum-dum...[/i]

This episode has a sincere fault: there's not nearly enough of Captain Jack, who serves more as an enabler rather than an actual character in this part of the story. I hope that this will be rectified in the next, and final, episode.

Next week: The Doctor contends for the fate of the Earth as The Master orders the murder of the entire human race. Which of them will be "The Last of the Time Lords"?