Maybe not the worst possible send off of the best Doctor we very likely are ever going to have

Sometimes I wonder what is on scriptwriters' minds  while writing an episode. Maybe RTD had a check-list with topics which a good episode should include and ticked them off as he was including them. That may be the reason why the whole story seems a bit overloaded. Nevertheless, yes, we had our promised regeneration, yes, there were scenes which were good, deep and dramatic, and maybe RTD asks us to forget about the rest. Actually I would really love to forget about "the rest" and each of "Part 1"'s 75 minutes as well. But I have to admit, "Part 2" could have been worse; a lot worse.
Still, I can't help being a bit disappointed. It was David Tennant's last episode and I expected more, not from him, he and Bernhard Cribbins did an amazing job, actually it's them saving this episode from being torn into pieces by review writers; but from  Davies.  At least it was also RTD's last attempt to do his best.

I mean, on the one hand we had a few "overdone" scenes, come on RTD, you can't expect us taking you seriously after we saw the Doctor crashing through that giant glass dome from that height. And the "prophet" of the Time Lords was rather a spoof of something with which I haven't come across yet, not to mention that very "playstation-like" situation when those missiles hunt the alien space craft.

But to be fair, on the other hand it wasn't bad enough to deserve the adjective "bad". And to be even fairer no matter how good this last episode would have possibly been it wouldn't have been good enough to be the "swan song" of the 1oth Doctor.  And noone can deny that there were very "Doctor"-ish moments one has to fell in love with: The Doctor correcting Wilf's grammar followed by the "worst rescue ever!" scene put a smile on my face.* For me the most emotional scenes were Wilf and the Doctor having that chat in the space craft and when the Doctor explains to the Master the big privilege of SEEING that universe out there. I think these were the moments fans loved the most, mainly due to some great acting performance. And these were also the scenes missing in "Part 1".

So, I'm not saying it's RTD's worst script, it surely isn't, but it's also not his best one and that's because it might be impossible to write a really bad regeneration scene. Well, 1oth last line "I don't want to go." wasn't such a great idea. He is a Time Lord knowing he is just about to regenerate so it doesn't really make a lot of sense...

Then again, 11th's first line wasn't better. "I have legs!" Wow. Who can we blame for that one, was that Moffat's or RTD's line?** I have to admit, the last time we had "new teeth, that's weird." - it's hard to top that and I'm serious for a change. Talking about Matt Smith. If (some) of those explosions taking place in the TARDIS were real, and they really looked like that, then this was very likely Matt Smith most difficult shot of his entirely "Doctor Who" career. But apartf rom this I think we don't know enough about his Doctor's character or Matt's acting abilities to say something substantive about number 11 but for his first appearance this wasn't bad.

Anyway, back to the episode. There were also a few nice twists, especially when we realised that after all the Doctor will have to sacrifice his life to save Wilfed. I didn't have tears in my eyes, but when Wilf started tapping, I bet it wasn't just me who thought "Wilf, just stop it!". This was maybe one of the best done moments in DW's history ever.

Plus, I understand why RTD wanted the Doctor visiting his more or less companions. It wasn't really my taste, although "The Journal of Impossible Things" scene was an extraordinary idea. It was a bit sad, even sadder than RTD's "1o minute before the end" scene. At least she got her happy life, while he, well... we know. Then, Rose was a bit pointless. I understand why she was there, and I have no idea how it could have been done better, still, I can't help thinking it wasn't a necessary scene. Oh, and Martha and Mickey are married? Nice for them.

So, all in all it was nice and sad, there are certainly explanations missing*** but I have to say finally it wasn't the "worst possible send off" of the best Doctor we very likely are ever going to have. And that's one of the biggest compliments RTD has ever got from me.

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* I'm ignoring the fact that that escape scene had to be filmed as well. I'm curious to see the confidential explaining how they actually did that stuff with those stairs....

**It's Moffat's. Well...

*** like was that woman really the Doctor's mother? Was she a Time Lady in the first place? Becuase, if yes, then how could she scape the timelock? She spoke to Wilf a few times and if she were really from Gallifrey she couldn't have done that. Maybe we'll never find out about it but review writers who can't write TARDIS properly or refer to the Doctor as "Doctor Who" shouldn't be speculating about such things. Then, what about the Oods? I hope Moffat has an idea for them. Oh, and what happened really to the Master?

Much ado about nothing...

...so far

What can one say after watching "End of Time" (part 1) except for "I hope there is going to be a better part 2.", or maybe "come on Davies, you can do much better than that!" or something else less polite? Fact is that "End of Time" Part 1 (am I the only one who wants individual titles?) was highly disappointing so far. And after reading a few reviews I'm glad I'm not the only one having this opinion. You can read Mr. Mile's one here* and the good old Guardian-blog review here. Don't miss the comments, I think that's the best about it.

Maybe the reason why the whoniverse quite agrees about the "quality" of this episode is that our expectations were too high. However, even then "End of Time" isn't really a good one. Sometimes it remembered me of "Journey's End" and when it didn't do so it was because of the far too long scenes in which the Master demonstrates his craziness. Oh, and I missed he reason WHY he has those superpowers in the first place. Until know they are quite pointless. Talking about pointlessness. I know the "Master-race" is a sci-fi novelty and the idea behind it is certainly scary, but somehow those scenes manage to be involuntarily comical.

Ok, to start at the very beginning. I guess most British are familiar enough with their own history to find the first 5 minutes rather 'not amusing'. I have no idea why it was necessary to include an  Elizabeth I reference into the finale, as RTD should have known in the first place that most 'Doctor Who' fans are going to complain about that sentence...

Then there is the (now) famous Café scene. Some people say those are maybe the best minutes of the episode, but (there is always a but, isn't there) come on, the Doctor isn't supposed to care that much about himself. Fans know that! The best thing about it is Donna having a very Donna-like chat about her car and I have to admit the Doctor saying "oh, another wedding" puts a smile on every fan's face.

But this episode does have also an even bigger (well, that shouldn't be that difficult) brownie-point: Wilfred. He is the main reason why I'm almost looking forward to next week. He does a great job as the Doctor's companion. I just love the scene in which he is not satisfied with the TARDIS'# tidiness. We have always known Wilf is "special", we admired him protecting Donna from her mum we loved everything about him, especially when he defeated that Dalek with paint balls. I'm not a big fan of "Stolen Earth" but when I saw that scene I knew it was worth watching it. I really hope RTD won't go for the cheapest way of getting a dramatic effect,and kill him (or Donna) off.

Furthermore,  I know everyone is getting exited about the Time Lords coming back, but are they really good? There is a reason why the Doctor used to travel the universe in a stolen (well, 'borrowed') TARDIS when Gallifrey's suns were still shining on a happy(-slappy) planet inhabited by control-freaks.

All in all, while "End of Time" has its moments, it is inevitably getting a bit awkward. Well, then again, being awkward is one of the key recognition features of most RTD scripts.

Anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed for "Part 2", it HAS to be better, well, it could but won't be really worse simply because 10th deserves a better departure than another version of the last final. So, let's increase our tissue-inventory until next week, we may need it, and let's hope for the best.
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*It's immensely short and as the whole world say how much they disliked it his has to be for his standards pretty positive, well, he may change it, the title says "part one part one" this has to have a meaning, at least I would be highly disappointed if it hadn't one.

#Dear editors and review writers. Maybe Catherine Tate doesn't know this, and I really don't care about it as she did a dazzling good job as a companion, but you should, it's part of YOUR job: that police box is a TARDIS and not a Tardis and the name of the show is "Doctor Who", the character is called "the Doctor". How difficult is it to get these things right?

Intention: Fun and Wobbeling Around with Time

I know it's odd to give my review about the most dramatical Doctor Who episode so far (!!!) that title, but after all it's true. Finally we know WHY after more than 900 years of travelling a highly dangerous universe, the Doctor still keeps on going: for FUN. But apart from that I have to say "Waters of Mars" doesn't belong to my most favourite Doctor Who episodes. You could find it on a much higher position on my "Worst Doctor Who Episodes" list. And that's only RTD's fault, literally.

Ok, let's try to be more serious.

First there is to say, "Waters of Mars" wasn't scary. Today's children are used to Harry Potter and stuff, so "Waters of Mars" didn't give even me the creeps, and I'm not exactly the biggest Harry Potter fan existing. But those children are. The beeb should check what they so-called "target" audience is watching on a normal Sunday evening before declaring something as "scary".

Further, I really disliked the last 15 minutes of it. Yes, now we can surely do a much better character sketch of the Doctor's recent regeneration, but I can't help thinking "it just wasn't worth it".

Controversially, the first 20 - 25 minutes were great. It was quite amusing seeing the Doctor not knowing what to do, dashing between decisions like an electron being shortly before reaching the right energy level to leave an atom. But what RTD made of this was a worst-case scenario. My main problem is no-matter when or on which planet Adelaide would have died this certain "fix point in history" would have been changed anyway. Except the Doctor knew this before saving the whole crew. The effect shouldn't have taken him by surprise. So, what exactly was he hoping for?

However, another way of seeing this is that the Doctor knows he is going to die, no matter what, so maybe he wanted to change a certain point in time to open Gallifrey's "time-lock". As a result, the last thing he might do is trying to save "them", the Timelords, as on a personal level there is nothing he could lose anymore.

So, RTD's actual storyline, or rather what we know about it, is something like the Doctor changes a "fix point" in history and time and history are in flux for a short time while everything tries to re-arrange itself. Then Sigma-Ood turns up and the Doctor realises what he actually has done by being a bit "selfish" (if trying to save people (the crew) /or maybe a whole planet (Gallifrey) or both whilst knowing that in future one is going to die at the attempt of doing so, can be called selfish). Or does the Doctor at last realise that having "laws" for time wasn't such a bad idea? But RTD wouldn't be RTD if he didn't add an extra portion of adventure and drama to it. Furthermore he characterises our future fellows as rude folks who can't even utter a "thank you" after someone has saved their lives.

Anyway, all in all RTD managed to reach his goal: As WoM ended in a very awkward cliff-hanger so he can be sure about having top ratings no matter what the beeb decides to put "End of Time" against with.