Doctor Who: 14 Most Paused Moments Of The Last Decade

13. The Master Reigns Supreme (The Sound Of Drums)

Russell T Davies' series finales got progressively bigger, better and generally more barbaric as his years at the show's helm went on, culminating in the Series 4 epic The Stolen Earth/Journey's End which pretty much defied the realms of time and space itself. Before that, though, there was Series 3's The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords which pushed the boundaries as far as the Master's historic attempts at world domination are concerned. Yes, the Doctor's arch nemesis was back (and it was about time, too!) in all his malevolent glory and this time he really was the king of his own little world after hypnotising the population of Britain into electing him as their new Prime Minister before unleashing a trove of terror which added a whole new meaning to the concept of 'political agenda'. In the climactic closing moments of The Sound of Drums, the President of the United States was assassinated, Martha's family had been captured, the human race were being mercilessly slaughtered by an army of Toclafane, Captain Jack Harkness was being repeatedly killed at the Master's leisure, the Tenth Doctor had been aged and reduced to a wheelchair and Martha Jones was... well, nobody really knew what she was up to, but the Doctor had just whispered something into her ear which gave the rest of us hope that our heroes actually did have some sort of Earth saving plan after all. It was a rollercoaster to say the very least. As the Master looked down from the heavens on his new dominion, that final shot of the Tenth Doctor as a withered old man was enough to get any Whovian heart(s) palpitating (and then some) and you probably paused it when the screen went black purely to get your head around what the hell had even just happened. Luckily, fans had a week to recover. And it was the longest week of their lives so far...