If Russell T Davies has pulled off one thing with the resurrection of Doctor Who, it’s the tight interplay throughout each episode. There’s always some relevant detail in each show that ties in to a climactic series finale. Remember Bad Wolf?

Tonight’s episode, Utopia managed to pull in a detail from David Tennant’s first Doctor Who Christmas Special. The Special (which I missed), featured The Doctor having his hand sliced off by an alien he was having a swordfight with. Though the hand fell to Earth, it wasn’t lost forever. Somehow it fell into the hands of the mysterious Professor Yana, who we meet for the first time in Utopia.

Utopia is the third-last episode in this third series of Doctor Who, and it’s an action-packed set piece for many reasons:

1. It marks the return of Captain Jack Harkness (yay!)
2. It marks the return of The Doctor’s formidable enemy, The Master.
3. It’s set at the End Of The Universe no less!
4. We get to see another Timelord regeneration, possibly the best thing about Doctor Who!

Captain Jack returns when he chases down the TARDIS and clings to it during a desperate journey to the End Of The Universe. We discover the source of Jack’s seeming immortality, granted to him when Rose defeated the Daleks at the end of series 1. There’s an excellent bit of friction between him and The Doctor, and it’s just great to see the campest man in Sci Fi return to our screens!

The Master returns, fulfilling the Face of Boe’s final prophecy about The Doctor not being the only remaining Timelord. Better still, The Master has employed the Timelord trick from the Human Nature episode (becoming human and storing his Timelord identity in a pocket watch). He takes on the identity of Professor Yana - an acronym for “You Are Not Alone” - and thanks to Martha’s bumbling, he reactivates the watch and regains his evil identity. Derek Jacobi is brilliant as the increasingly sinister Master, but following one excellent regeneration sequence later, John Simms (from Life On Mars) looks set to be a charismatic and wicked adversary to rival The Doctor.

All in all, you could almost totally overlook the sub-plot of Utopia because of the higher-level events. The Futurekind were a forgettable enough enemy. However, with all these elements drawing together - indestructible Captain Jack, the return of The Master and oh, did I mention The Master has made off with the TARDIS, stranding the time travellers at the End Of The Universe?

Oh yes, the stage looks set for a massive series finale. Russell T Davies - you dog - you kept the best til last!