Doctor Who: The Sound of Drums

Suddenly Russell T Davies can do no wrong! In The Sound Of Drums, the second part of this year's epic Doctor Who finale, no line is wasted, no scene too long or too short. This is spot-on, all-action Doctor Who and is taking this third season to new heights of excellence.

The Doctor, Martha and Jack 'bounce' back from the End of The Universe (using Jack's wrist device, as I foresaw) to find that the regenerated Master returned 18 months before them and has set himself up as politician Harold Saxon ... and just got himself elected Prime Minister. The moment Saxon steps into the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street, his true insanity is revealed as he wipes out the entire Cabinet and then welcomes his alien colleagues, the Toclafane, in to kill off a nosey journalist.

While the worst kept secret in the Whoniverse, John Simm's arrival on the scene as The Master is still welcome. Simm, already a favourite actor of mine from Life on Mars, is simply incredible as the totally barking mad antithesis of The Doctor, memorably stealing every scene he is in.

A cross between a conspiracy thriller and a Nick Fury comic, this episode has so much more going on than just The Master and his mysterious wife (I suspect she may be Kamelion, the robot, but if not, I'm sure she has her own secrets); there's the Valiant, the UNIT flying ship (a cross between Marvel Comic's SHIELD hovership and Captain Scarlet's Cloudbase); the inclusion (and explanation) of Torchwood; the use of news broadcasts to move the story along; a direct tie-in to The Lazarus Experiment episode, and mentions of other action from previous episodes; and best of all: flashbacks to life on Gallifrey.

The stunning Gallifrey sequences were breathtaking - and genuinely surprising; beautifully acknowledging the show's past, but reintroducing it to a new audience with sheer poetry.

Another incredible episode that left me wanting next Saturday to roll round as soon as possible.