The End of Time

The Tenth Doctor's story is over. It's very sad, and it was a cracking episode. Not the greatest of the David Tennant era, and I still don't think the specials match up to the epic series finales Russell T. Davies has given us over the years, but it was still a good one. Instead of writing an essay that'll never be read again, here's what I did and didn't like about The End of Time.

What I liked:

• Wilf as the main companion. Made a change from having a young woman, and Wilf has always been a great character. He's a good man who'll always do the right thing, and that makes him a good companion.
• Timothy Dalton as the Timelord President. In fact, the whole idea of the Timelords being dark and not particularly good people anymore. The President was an awesome bad guy, and not what we expected when we saw the trailers with John Simm.
• The Master going crazy. Actually crazy rather than just evil supervillain crazy. And turning everyone into copies of him! Great story, and great ending (or is it?!) for the character.
• The Doctor still didn't shoot anyone. I've read one review that wasn't impressed with the shooting a machine copout, but I still love that The Doctor is the man who never would. He's not a killer.
• There are still mysteries. Who was that Timelord woman? I've heard talk of The Doctor's mother, but the way he looked at Donna was interesting. She is part Timelord afterall. Does that mean anything? I like that we don't know yet.
• Captain Jack being introduced to Alonso. Future Torchwood character maybe? Even if he's not, maybe he's some kind of salvation for Jack. Another dig at the people with a problem with gays in Doctor Who though, which is a good thing. RTD handles that kind of thing very well in Doctor Who.
• The fact that his death didn't come as some kind of epic battle situation. It was low key and personal. It was about saving the life of a friend, not the glory of a great victory. The Inquisitor man in Babylon 5 said that true heroes are the people who'd give their life for the sake of one other life, alone in the dark where there's no one to see and no glory to be gained. That was who the Tenth Doctor was.
• Matt Smith seems like a crazy person, in the way that The Doctor needs to be. This can only be a good thing.

What I didn't like so much:

• The Doctor's reluctance to accept his fate. I guess when you've lived for that long, life is hard to give up, but when it was just about regenerating rather than permanent death...that's something The Doctor has dealt with before. It's just what he does. It can be explained by the fact that usually he dies quickly and has to regenerate, whereas this time it was a slow process and he had time to think about what was going on. I still wasn't that keen, even though I do get where RTD is coming from. It truly is the end of the best Doctor there has been, so it was an occasion to mark.
• The extended goodbyes bit at the end. Even if The Doctor didn't want to regenerate and all that, I think that going to see everyone at the end was maybe a bit much, or at least a bit too long. Again I totally understand it and I get why RTD would want to do it for the sake of wrapping up his time on the show. I think I'll probably like it a lot more the next time I see it. It's just that at first viewing, it was a bit much. Still, I guess it was nice to see them all again, particularly Jack, and Martha and Micky being married.
• Donna's lack of conclusion. Well, I guess you could say that this is her conclusion, and it's certainly not a bad one as far as the story goes. I just wanted something happier. I want her to remember, even if it kills her, because she's so much more than she appears. I want her to know. I'm not knocking the story here because it's a valid way of dealing with her story, but I'd love for her to remember someday.

On the whole I thought it was really good. I didn't cry, but then I don't when I'm watching things with other people. That's not an embarrassment thing. I just don't feel compelled to when I'm not alone. Still, I don't think it would have made me cry anyway. End of an era, but not really emotional in that way for me. The Doctor isn't dead. He's just Matt Smith now.