Story: The End of Time, Part 2
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 75 Minutes
Year: 2009
The second part is leaps and bounds better than the first, and the first was only slightly underwhelming…but this is probably among the best Doctor Who ever produced. The Pacing issues are gone, which is odd for a episode that is 75 minutes long. Suddenly when it has slow moments they feel right, when they have fast moments the whiz by in pure excitement. Everything is rock solid.
The Master is more subdued in this installment, and Simm gives a fantastic performance, while Tennant and Cribbons maintain the same level of performance they seem to always give. Timothy Dalton is awesome as the baddie of the returning Time Lords, who we learn near the end, is in actuality Rassilon. We are getting stellar performances all over the map.
The missile chase is excellent, and the final showdown between the Doctor, Master, and the Time Lords is all well executed. I especially loved the mirrored moments of the Doctor and Master telling each other to get out of the way as they shoot…and save each other’s lives. It felt to me like it was the closest realization we may ever get to the original planned finale of Jon Pertwee with Roger Delgado. The Master seemingly sacrifices himself to save the Doctor’s life. Wonderful.
So in the end the Time Lords and the Master are yet again gone for good, with the Doctor yet again left as the Last of the Time Lords. But for those who hope that all will return, have no fear…its fantasy/sci-fi…anything is always possible.
But the Doctor lives. No regeneration? Is this just false hope? Its this moment where you kind of wonder how the hell its supposed to end in regeneration with the plot all wrapped up. And then Wilf, trapped inside a glass barrier, about to be flooded with radiation…knocks four times. The Doctor just hears the knock and knows damn well what is about to happen. He is going to sacrifice his own life to save Wilfred Mott. It’s a great dramatic moment from Tennant, as he curses what he knows he has to do. For those lost in my description of the episode, do yourself a favor…and watch it. It is wonderful.
So the Doctor does his thing. He saves Wilf by taking his place and absorbing all the radiation. But he still lives…it is going to be a slow painful death for the Tenth Doctor. He has to slowly die, not going out with a bang like the Ninth Doctor. So he decides to use that little bit of time wisely. He visits each companion he has had, and gives them some kind of goodbye.
Martha and Mickey are fighting off aliens together, as they are now married, my only contention with the episode. The Doctor knocks out the sontaran they are chasing for them. He then saves Luke Smith from getting hit by a car, and waves goodbye to him and Sarah Jane. Then he heads to Donna’s wedding, where he watches from afar, says goodbye to Wilf, and gives them a present to pass on to Donna, a lottery ticket. And of course, the Tenth Doctor heads to 2005, to see Rose, before she meets him, and he tells her she is going to have a great year.
The Ood appear once again, to help sing the Doctor back to his TARDIS. He begins to regenerate, and he takes off. The Doctor then utters his final sentence in this incarnation, “I don’t want to go.”
Then he goes nuclear. He bursts into full on regeneration, and destroys the TARDIS console room in the process…before he explodes into the body of Matt Smith. We get more time with Smith then I expected…a good minute I think, and it’s a nice little surprise…because I like him already. It’s going to be a fantastic ride.
NEXT TIME: Specials Recap
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 75 Minutes
Year: 2009
The second part is leaps and bounds better than the first, and the first was only slightly underwhelming…but this is probably among the best Doctor Who ever produced. The Pacing issues are gone, which is odd for a episode that is 75 minutes long. Suddenly when it has slow moments they feel right, when they have fast moments the whiz by in pure excitement. Everything is rock solid.
The missile chase is excellent, and the final showdown between the Doctor, Master, and the Time Lords is all well executed. I especially loved the mirrored moments of the Doctor and Master telling each other to get out of the way as they shoot…and save each other’s lives. It felt to me like it was the closest realization we may ever get to the original planned finale of Jon Pertwee with Roger Delgado. The Master seemingly sacrifices himself to save the Doctor’s life. Wonderful.
So in the end the Time Lords and the Master are yet again gone for good, with the Doctor yet again left as the Last of the Time Lords. But for those who hope that all will return, have no fear…its fantasy/sci-fi…anything is always possible.
But the Doctor lives. No regeneration? Is this just false hope? Its this moment where you kind of wonder how the hell its supposed to end in regeneration with the plot all wrapped up. And then Wilf, trapped inside a glass barrier, about to be flooded with radiation…knocks four times. The Doctor just hears the knock and knows damn well what is about to happen. He is going to sacrifice his own life to save Wilfred Mott. It’s a great dramatic moment from Tennant, as he curses what he knows he has to do. For those lost in my description of the episode, do yourself a favor…and watch it. It is wonderful.
So the Doctor does his thing. He saves Wilf by taking his place and absorbing all the radiation. But he still lives…it is going to be a slow painful death for the Tenth Doctor. He has to slowly die, not going out with a bang like the Ninth Doctor. So he decides to use that little bit of time wisely. He visits each companion he has had, and gives them some kind of goodbye.
Martha and Mickey are fighting off aliens together, as they are now married, my only contention with the episode. The Doctor knocks out the sontaran they are chasing for them. He then saves Luke Smith from getting hit by a car, and waves goodbye to him and Sarah Jane. Then he heads to Donna’s wedding, where he watches from afar, says goodbye to Wilf, and gives them a present to pass on to Donna, a lottery ticket. And of course, the Tenth Doctor heads to 2005, to see Rose, before she meets him, and he tells her she is going to have a great year.
The Ood appear once again, to help sing the Doctor back to his TARDIS. He begins to regenerate, and he takes off. The Doctor then utters his final sentence in this incarnation, “I don’t want to go.”
Then he goes nuclear. He bursts into full on regeneration, and destroys the TARDIS console room in the process…before he explodes into the body of Matt Smith. We get more time with Smith then I expected…a good minute I think, and it’s a nice little surprise…because I like him already. It’s going to be a fantastic ride.
NEXT TIME: Specials Recap
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