#saxon davis

[reubeningall]

INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996) Reuben Ingall and Marlene Claudine Radice will play a live soundtrack to the film’s action-packed final act to ring in the Fourth of July. Reuben’s 100+ VHS copies will witness the ritual. “the glowing ghost of America's lost Global leadership” - Evan Dossey “couldn't they think of anything more interesting than octopus men?” - Roger Ebert

[dandelionjack]

clara preventing the ‘doctor of war’ from raining nuclear hellfire on his home planet, gallifrey = ruby preventing the ‘minister of war’ (ref. before the flood) from raining nuclear hellfire on his home planet, earth

roger ‘mad jack’ ap gwilliam ‘britain’s most dangerous prime minister�� intentionally gets paralleled to the simm master (a pointedly ‘mad politician’), marti bridges = his lucy saxon

gwilliam seems like this doctorless timeline’s parallel to both the doctor and the master. a symbolic merging of the doctor and master’s identities, far from the first time this season (fifteen hiding inside a drum and saxon’s theme getting played to him in TDC; fifteen saying he could “write a diary in drums” in boom; the moon and the president’s wife). kate stewart flashing her red red nails like the hand that picked up the tooth. i wonder

[aristidetwain]

Ring-Master

In 2007′s Last of the Time Lords, Russell T. Davies drew our attention to the Master’s distinctive signet ring, inset with silver Gallifreyan writing, which was plucked from his funeral pyre by the hand of a mysterious woman who, in 2009′s The End of Time, would turn out to be one of the ‘Disciples of Saxon’, a cult formed by the Master in expectation of his death with the aim of enacting a ritual to resurrect him, still in the same incarnation at that.

This was a pleasant twist, and a fun tip of the hat to the method of Count Dracula’s resurrection in multiple Hammer Dracula films. (This is only fitting: as per The Book of the War, the Time Lords adapted their powers of regeneration from the Yssgaroth’s…)

However, I think there are two startling facts about this plot point which have been just-as-startlingly under-discussed in canon-welding spaces. 

Follow me after the cut to find out the truth about the Rings of the Time Lords — or should I say the Time Lords of the Rings? (This was terrible and I do not apologise.)

Fact #1: This pays off a Chekhov’s gun going all the way back to An Unearthly Child.

Much as it is sometimes entertaining to ponder the days when Dr Who might have been a lone human scientist, there is also a distinctive corpus of early implications about The Doctor��s Mysterious People as a distinct and mysterious civilisation with dominion over space and time. It started with the Doctor himself, but was followed through with other characters implied to hail from that same civilisation: I speak of course of the Meddling Monk and the Toymaker (who, I note in passing, is not actually meant to be Celestial with a capital C).

What did the Monk have in common with the Doctor, besides a TARDIS?

A conspicuous ring.

As you can glimpse in the top left photograph, the Doctor’s ring was, to be exact, a sapphire ring. 

The Toymaker did not wear a ring in the TV story as broadcast — but he did use one in the novelisation, which brought back many elements that had to be cut from the TV version due to rushed production. There, he used it to manipulate the environment of his suspiciously TARDIS-like “Celestial Toyroom”. 

Not coincidentally, in The Web Planet, the Doctor’s ring was revealed to have the ability to interface with the Ship, with the Doctor gleefully declaring that “this is not merely a decorative object”, without elaboration.

The concept seems to have persisted past The War Games. Sure, the Time Lords seen therein lacked the ring — including Edward Brayshaw’s Renegade. And Roger Delgado’s subsequent regeneration of the character also lacked the ring when we first saw him in Terror of the Autons. And it’s rare that we get the chance to check thereafter, owing to the Master’s predilection for gloves. But by The Time Monster…

…he is wearing the very flat, green, gleaming ring to which RTD attached such significance in Last of the Time Lords and The End of Time.

The idea experienced a last, potentially-coincidental gasp with Kate O’Mara’s Rani, though she was similarly prone to glove-wearing.

But the point is: throughout the first half of Classics, all the interesting Time Lords had Large Conspicuous Rings. These Rings clearly did some things, but the full extent of their power and cultural significance was kept artfully obscured.

And this is what Davies is coming back to with Simm’s all-important ring. The Doctor recognises it on sight as “the Master’s Ring”, and knows what it does. He fascinatingly describes it as “part of him”, setting all kinds of biodata-related alarm bells ringing. Given that the Rings are also related to the bond between pilot and TARDIS, could they be some kind of locus of the Rassilon Imprimatur? The thrill is of course in the asking…

Fact #2: This may not be the first time it’s happened.

A shorter but equally interesting observation: 

the Master has possessed this same green ring at least since his Delgado days.

the Doctor instantly jumps from “his Ring survived” to “his disciples must be arranging a ritual to resurrect him in the same incarnation”. This is something he knows Rings do and is relatively casual about.

at many points during Classic Who the Master was seemingly killed off for good, only to show up intact because “I’m indestructible… the whole Universe knows that”. (Or, as Missy later put it, “death is for other people”.)

Am I the only one who thinks that somewhere in Davies’s brain, he may have conceived of this as the secret way the Master had survived at least some of those past exterminations? Sure, the Disciples of Saxon were something set up by ol’Harold (the clue’s in the name), but it would be child’s play for a Time Lord with a working TARDIS to set up convenient cults for himself on a dozen worlds, just to be on the safe side. 

I’mt thinking, particularly, of the Tremas Master’s annihilation on Sarn in my beloved Planet of Fire, which seems particularly conclusive. We see him burn away on-screen; it’s not as simple as saying he teleported to safety in the nick of time. Either time was rewritten, or he was resurrected by… means unknown.

And here’s the thing, despite his panic, the Master does seem to assume he’ll survive. What does he say to express it? 

Oh yes… “I’LL PLAGUE YOU TO THE END OF TIME FOR THIS!”

Full circle, eh what? (Yes, that’s a cheap one, but fun nonetheless.)

And on that note, look at the imagery! Of course, having gone down in a column of flame, he would be reconstituted in the same way. 

“I had people who were clever enough… to calculate the opposite.”

[nerds-yearbook]

After 5 seasons of 82 episodes, the last episode of the Incredible Hulk aired on May 12, 1982. The series, based on the format of The Fugitive (1963 - 1967), continued on in a series of TV movies that were each failed back door pilots (The Incredible Hulk Returns - 1988, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk - 1989, and The Death of the Incredible Hulk - 1990). ("A Minor Problem", The Incredible Hulk, TV Event)

[teenagedirtstache]

i-D April 2001 photos Kevin Davies styling Marcus Ross

[besidesitstoowarm]

i'm almost done with the davies era and it's really been amazing so far but real talk a lot of people on here let him get away with some stuff that would've been crucified if moffat had written it. i know davies always regretted it and thankfully rectified it this year for the 60th but if ten violating donna's autonomy as she screamed for him to stop had been eleven instead, we'd never have heard the end of it. same w martha's treatment by the narrative

[denimbex1986]

'Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon... now "The One Who Waits" appears to be joining the ranks of Doctor Who story arcs teased by writer/showrunner Russell T Davies.

The Giggle – the third and last of the show's 60th anniversary specials – saw the Doctor (David Tennant) once again face off with old foe The Toymaker (now played by Neil Patrick Harris).

The events of previous episode Wild Blue Yonder saw the Doctor unwittingly allow the Toymaker – an elemental force who exists beyond the rules of the universe – entry into our universe.

In The Giggle, the cruel Toymaker was able to provoke the Doctor into challenging him to a game – as the two prepared to match wits, the villain taunted the Time Lord with tales of his accomplishments.

"I came to this universe with such delight," he said. "I played them all, Doctor – I toyed with supernovas, turned galaxies into spinning tops, I gambled with God and made him a jack-in-the-box."

We even discover that The Master – last played by Sacha Dhawan in last year's The Power of the Doctor – fell foul of the Toymaker, losing a game to the villain and ending up trapped, apparently for all eternity.

But then, the Toymaker makes a confession: "There's only one player I didn't dare face – The One Who Waits.

"I saw it, hiding, and I ran."

The Doctor attempts to question the Toymaker further, but he shrugs off his earlier comments, telling his nemesis: "That's someone else's game."

So who is The One Who Waits?

The Toymaker is established as having power almost without limit, able to manipulate the atoms of the universe and conjure up his own magical domain – in The Giggle, we saw a shaken Doctor uncertain if he'll be able to best his enemy once again.

The fact then that, whoever or whatever they are, The One Who Waits is capable of striking fear into the heart of the Toymaker is pretty terrifying. Could an even more powerful being exist in the Whoniverse?

Interestingly, in a social media post made in October, the official Doctor Who account appeared to refer to the Toymaker himself as "the one who waits" – but it's made clear in The Giggle that he's referring not to himself but to some other figure.

Of course, the Toymaker isn't the only all-powerful, ever-living being to exist in the worlds of Doctor Who...

Making their debut in the 1983 story Enlightenment, the Eternals are a race of elemental beings of immense power, capable of manipulating matter and creating objects out of thin air.

These amoral creatures act purely for their own amusement, manipulating "Ephemerals" (read: mortal beings) for fun.

Then there are the Guardians, who first appeared in Doctor Who's 16th season in 1978, a series of interlinked stories which saw the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) on a quest to find the legendary Key to Time.

Transcendental beings who embodied aspects of the universe, immortal and indestructible, we met the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham) – who represented light, order and structure – and his eternal opponent the Black Guardian (Valentine Dyall) – the personification of darkness, entropy and chaos.

Most recently, 2020 episode Can You Hear Me? saw the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and friends lured into a trap by Zellin (Ian Gelder), an immortal "god" who was haunting the dreams of humans, all to feed his beloved Rakaya (Clare-Hope Ashitey).

Could one of these creatures, or something like them, be "The One Who Waits"?

It's also possible, of course, that Russell T Davies has invented an entirely new menace. In the episode The Star Beast, The Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes) revealed itself to be in the employ of a figure it referred to as "the boss".

David Tennant later admitted that he remains oblivious to the identity of "the boss", which suggested that this reveal would be held back until Ncuti Gatwa's time in the TARDIS.

The Meep's admission and the Toymaker's confession in The Giggle could be the start of something much larger and entirely unexpected...'

[jor-elthatendswell]

OK, inspired by there being a seemingly Beatles influenced episode in next year's Doctor Who, I've just spent over 3 hours thinking up Who/ Beatles puns. I don't see why I should be the only one to suffer so here ya go: (please add more)

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Dalek

When I'm Galaxy Four

Graske Onion

You Never Give Me Your Rani

Yas-terday

I've Just Seen a Face of Boe

Peladon Rigby

I Don't Want to Spoil The Star Beast

Brigadier Prudence

Maxil's Silver Hammer

Maxwell's Silver Nemesis

I Me Son of Mine

Lady Madonna Noble

Being for the Benefit of Mr Copper

Baby You're a Rutan

I Shada Known Better

Racnoss the Universe

Do You Want to Know Ashildr? (do dah do)

Do You Want to Know Dodo Chaplet? (do wah do)

Norwegian Torchwood (this Bird has Flown)

It's Count Scarlioni Love

I am the Davros

Skaro Submarine

Tim Shaw-berry Fields Forever

Scorby Fields Forever

Kroll Over Beethoven

Sexy Swampie

Dig a Rory

Long, Long, Ponds

Wilfred Mott Goes On

Lovely Reaper

Helter Shalka

Azal I've Got To Do

The Inner Lytton

The Flood on the Hill

A Hard Days Carrionite

Drive My Carrionite

Human Nature's Son

Blue Grace Holloway

Fixing Nardole

Cry Baby Cryon

One After K909

She's Leaving Novice Hame

You're Going to Lose Fandahl

Ticket to Ribos

Dr Roberts of Death

The Long and Winding Ood

Why Don't We Do It in the Ood

Old Mother Should Know

Piggy in The Giggle

(Ok, that last one is The Rutles. Or is it the Rutans?)

[lazer-screwdriver]

Liz successfully seduces Lucy by offering to lock the Master in the TARDIS cellar so she doesn’t have to talk to him, and then forcibly hefting him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes when she takes her up on it, making her laugh for the first time in ages.

[casasupernovas]

everytime i watch 'the sound of drums' and see lucy saxon dancing i wanna trip her up so bad.

[cherryblossomshadow]

Image description under the cut:

[Image ID: screenshot of text reading:

I value the fact that English has two parallel vocabularies - the Germanic vocabulary and the Latinate vocabulary. For example, we have the word undersa, and then we have submarine. Or underground and subterranean, all-powerful and omnipotent. So we can shift registers. We can say something in a very plain, blunt, Anglo-Saxon way, like "I will not do that" - all Anglo-Saxon monosyllables. Or we can say it in a fancier, more distance, abstract, Latinate way, like "I prefer not to permit myself to approach such a notion." Or, in a passage of plain Anglo-Saxon, you can throw in one Latinate word, unexpected, to great effect.

/end ID]

lydia davis

[bugeater77]

Why I think rogue is the master

expecting trouble ?.... looking for a quick escape.... he has knowledge the others dont

His outfit extremely reminiscent of the eighth doctor in a different color, and we know the master HAS been in the doctor's wardrobe

apparently theres a plot twist, but the rogue being against the doctor clearly isn't it, as it's in the trailer

i believe his identity is his true plot twist and he has been seen camping out in previous times multiple times in the series, disguises are like his whole thing

This is probably a stretch but in the trailer the doctor yells "YOU CAD!" at him, cad meaning someone who mistreats women (i'm not british correct me if im wrong)

and who is famous for mistreating women???

harold "it's always the women" saxon

another reference to saxon, his iconic song "voodoo child" that he plays is by the band ROGUE TRADERS

the final clue is in this instagram post from russel T davies, with the caption "here he comes" with emojis of two hearts and a blue square

sacha dhawan's instagram post hinting at his arrival had something similar,

and most importantly THE TWO HEARTS. The pink heart differentiating him from the doctor, saying this is not our usual two hearted individual.

finally, the rogue itself means unpredictable and mischievous which is literally the definition of the master's character

look at the similar as well, "villain" really sticks out to me as well as the words under the first definition, because that is exactly how the master is treated.

he does unforgivable things but there is always something bringing him and the doctor together (hence best enemies)

[rubysundaymondaytuesday]

@mirrorleaf convinced me to post my theory from Sunday on Tumblr, so strap in fam, because I have some Thoughts™️ about the “twist at the end”.

At the end of ‘Last of the Time Lords’, when Ten held a funeral for the Master, a hand with red nails picked up Harold Saxon’s signet ring. This was later used to resurrect the Master during ‘The End of Time’.

And the end of ‘The Giggle’, a hand with red nails picks up the Toymaker’s red tooth, which we were told contains none other than the Master.

Who did we see in ‘The Devil’s Chord’ who had painted nails? Maestro, someone with a direct connection to the Toymaker. And what does Henry Arbinger call this godly being? “Daddy.”

Henry Arbinger is being taught about music. Specially, the devil’s chord, a tritone. This was used by a lot of musicians, one of whom was notably Metallica. While I can’t be entirely certain of this next point — ie. if this particular song includes the chord — one of their most famous songs is called ‘Master of Puppets’.

Russel T Davies has never been one to mince his clues, and I am pretty convinced that the “twist at the end” is that Henry Arbinger is the Master.

First, the comparison of the ring and the tooth, both highlighted by the narrative when we’ve been told “the Master is dead” and it’s turned out to be only temporary.

Second, the Master has a precedent for regenerating into/hiding as a kid. During the Time War, there is a comic arc where he goes by the name ‘the Boy’…

But if we look at less obscure sources/show canon, when the Master used the chameleon arch to be Professor Yana he was found as a “naked child” on the coast of the Silver Devastation.

Thirdly, the Fifteenth Doctor is really playing up the “I’m adopted” card this season. While yes, this could just be him relating to Ruby and coming to grips with the Timeless Child situation, he also specially says “the species that took me in” when he refers to the Time Lords.

The show has always used the Doctor and the Master as foils of each other; so what if Maestro adopted the Master? (EDIT: If he was, I wonder if he’d be at the head of these “legions” we keep being told about…)

Fourth, a Maestro can be defined as “a master of an art, especially of music.” (EDIT: this episode also talks about the music of the spheres, which was not audible but could be “heard by the soul”, and I couldn’t help but think of the toclafane, as the last souls of humanity. More an observation here, than thoughts on the twist m.)

Fifth and final, when the Master was playing at Prime Minister, he used the name Harold Saxon. We know this was part of an anagram for the Master, but the last Saxon King of England was Harold II.

After Harold, we have William the Conqueror. And then we have William the II. And then we have, you guessed it — Henry the First. How many Masters have there been since Harold Saxon? Two. Missy is William the Conqueror, Dhawan is William II, and by my theory, Henry Arbinger is Henry I.

This last note isn’t evidence, I just think that it’s something to think about. Wouldn’t it be interesting if, while Susan and the First Doctor are right there in London in 1963, while Susan can pass for a schoolchild, the Master was also there, passing as a schoolchild…?

[roxannepolice]

Getting stuff out of my system so maybe I can sleep. So obviously I loved The Giggle and loved the Toymaker, but as a Thoschei shipper I can't express how important it is to me how impersonal the Toymaker was about the whole thing and while my dreams of old men making out have not been realied, the ghost of the Master hanging over the episode really emphasised that. Like, welcome home cheater jokes are great and I was getting lowkey irritated by how both the fans and the writers were making ALL of the Master's actions about the Doctor.

But I was also worried that with a campy game loving villain that would also have a love hate obsession with and resentment for the Doctor, RTD would basically say behold the Master only +++ this obviously had nothing to do with CC giving the Doctor a literal speech about being better than the Master introducing a Dia de los Muertos villain that has soooo much history with the Doctor but is also soooo very powerful and then reiterating that the Master hates themself and only wants to be the Doctor but can't because of essentialism posing as existentialism. nothing whatsoever.

But no. Again, I am a bit tired of the Master being presented mainly as not-Doctor and I do think that if Ten didn't timelock the Tardis, they wouldn't have chosen their pet planet specifically, but compare Saxon's No. This is my turn. Revenge. Best. Served. Hot. to the Toymaker's cold Best of three. Compare the Master drawing pleasure from playing Satan the accuser about humans-turned-toclafane to the Doctor specifically because it's their pet species to the Toymaker being himself attracted to humans because of their nature sth sth Johan Huizinga sth sth homo ludens and play as the foundation of culture sth sth 2001: SO with bone and ball sth sth murder as kickstarter of culture and play as kickstarter of culture. Look at Ten's addendum of If that's what you want to the offer he makes the Master in s3, emphasising that he wants to understand what is it that the latter is after, and at Fourteen's certainty that the Toymaker really is only after games.

Don't get me wrong, I'm far from throwing monogamy at either the Doctor or the Master and they probably both made out with the Toymaker, both individually and menage a trois. But if after literal weeks of holding my breath for an actual cameo I leave the episode fully sated after a gold tooth and laughing sounds and people from outside my Davy Jones' Locker stuck ghost ship notice it too, then I'd say RTD did some really good job hanging the Master's ghost over the story. And that was not just to fan serve. It also made a point about the differences between those relationships.

[asoulwithadream]

(beware, beware, spoilers are here, you will find out one day, the legend of ruby sunday)

Alright I've edited my opinion because I think I overexaggerated a teensy weensy bit (TL:DR I found Sutekh confusing)

I understand now why Sutekh was introduced, I firstly found his appearance just a bit disorienting when the episode was leading up to something completely different. I think my opinion was formed on the lack of Egyptian-like clues to warn of his coming, other than that one time he was mentioned as 'the one who waits'. Sutekh just seems so out of place with the context and build-up to the ending, at least to me.

But to be fair RTD was a bit iconic by leading everybody on (except a few avid theorists who actually ended up being right)

I am a bit salty that they spent the ENTIRE episode on Ruby's mother and Susan and it was all just a TRAP? Additionally, when Death as a character is introduced into a media, I usually prefer him being someone who understands the laws of life and following his purpose to close up the universe behind him when it's TIME, but it's not time yet, it's very clear that it isn't. But that's just my personal preference.

I had to remember that this is a two-parter with a very evil cliffhanger and that in the next episode Russel T Davies better tie up all the loose ends because or else I'm drastically changing my opinion again.

Some of my silly commentary once again:

I'm Harriet (Insue Harriet Jones flashbacks)

SUSAN TWIST RECOGNITION YES…

I'm too stunned to comment on the S Triad Technology—I'm genuinely befuddled and blind I don't know what's going to happen.

"Except the obvious." "Eh, we'll get him." Are they talking about the Doctor or something else we don't know?

Susan T. reminds me of Harold Saxon not gonna lie

HE WHO WAITS. PANTHEON DADDY

"Do you have a Time Window?" "Ten floors down." I love Kate

WHAT JUST HAPPENED I HAVE NO WORDS AT ALL.

The TARDIS groaning is absolutely ball-shitting levels of terrifying

"THE GODS BRING HARBINGERS TO WARN US OF THEIR COMING"

Excuse me what.

Thanks for everyone who gave me some extra information on Sutekh!