As I begin this review, I've not yet seen either of the specials. I'd managed to hold out over Christmas and wait for the second episode to air, before sitting down to watch them both in a row. Given that it's confirmed that both David Tennant as the Dr., and Russel T Davies as lead producer and writer are both leaving the show, I'm collecting a couple of thoughts before I begin.
The experience of saying goodbye to a Dr. is a traumatic one. The transition is never an easy one, a process not dissimilar to that of dealing with grief.
First we deny the inevitable; WHAT?! There's simply no way that he can leave us!
Next comes anger; But I love this Dr.! How dare he leave!
Then Bargaining; I can do something about this! If I write enough fanmail maybe he wont leave.
Followed by Depression: Dr. Who will suck now! It's never going to be the same again.
Finally comes Acceptance: Ok, new series starting, lets give him a chance.
Now the first true Dr. for me was Christopher Eccleston (aka head bad guy no. 53 on the action movie casting database). Sure I saw the occasional episode and re-run with older doctors in my earlier years, but for me the first time I sat down and actively watched the series was with the modern reboot at the hands of Russel T. Davies, with Eccleston as the leading man. And he did great! Watching him leave after the initial and highly enjoyable (not to mention massively successful) first series was difficult. I went through every step I just mentioned above, and then came David Tennant. With an absolutely masterful interpretation of his character. Looking back now, I wonder how it was even possible I was wary about losing Eccleston and having Tennant take over. It just doesn't get any better than blink or the library. So, with my old favorite replaced, I find myself in the same position as I sit down to watch the end of time. Doubly so, in fact, given that Russel T Davies is also stepping down as lead writer and producer. It's sad, but exciting. Bring it!
<AFK for 2 hours. Que the elevator music>
What. The. Shit. That... that SUCKED. Give me my money back!
What a disappointment it turned out to be. It had EVERY element needed to create the ultimate Dr. Who story: The master, back with a vengeance. The Timelords, back to kick ass, take names and chew bubblegum. The GUARANTEED death of the Dr. On that premise alone you have the formula for one of the greatest episodes possibly imaginable. And yet all we find is poor execution, sloppy implementation, lame special effects, useless aliens, an 80 year old companion, and the pathetic, whimpering end of a truly spectacular combination of Dr. Who cast and crew. We were cheated, folks. And the worse part is, they haven't got the chance to make up for it with a later episode. This is how we are forced to remember the end of Tennant and Davies. Not with a bang, but with a sigh, and a check of the watch. It wasn't just bad. It was boring.
When I sat down to begin writing, I had every intention of it being a review. Now, I simply lack the energy. Lets just make a list, shall we, of why the end of time sucked, catagorised by character:
The Dr.
1)Flat performance. Granted, he wasn't given much to work with given the script, but still...
2)Too much running.
3)No eureka moment, when the tide turns and the Dr. fixes everything with a flourish of the sonic screwdriver and that trademarked grin so central to Tennant's character.
4)Gay for the Master.
5)Why the 'hatin on the limelords?! Best thing in the episode was the sonic pimp hand!
6)Yet ANOTHER ?lets get all the old crew back together? moment, with the doctor visiting all the old companions one last time. Apparently the effects of a heavy dose of radiation leave one last hurrah for the Dr. to go and save everyone. It was to neat, to convenient. There was no shining moment of glory as the doctor saved the world through a great sacrifice. Only a lonely and pointless plot device (read: excuse) for an actor weary of his role to move on.
The Master:
1) Oh look I can see the cavities! Open wider!
2)Character was a rambling shadow of the figure of terror first (re)introduced in Utopia, series 3.
3)Oh noes! All humans replaced by the Master! So scary...
4)IMMA FIRIN' MA LAZOR!
5)Ghost rider.
6)Gay for the Dr.
Donna:
1)Why is she still in this show? I understood the need to introduce a non love interest companion after Rose Tyler, but still?
Donna's Grandpa:
1)Lets share old war stories and tales about how crap it is to be old. Self pity, YAY!
2)An 80 year old companion is a bad idea.
3)Blatant rip off of the Star Wars episode IV scene in which Han and Luke shoot down tie fighters in the turrents of the Mellenium falcon. Anyone else want to shout ?Don't get cocky, kid? when Grandpa shot down a missile?
4)Quick grandpa, hide from the evil master radiation that turns you into him inside this impenatrable glass box. But for some reason, you can still get a phone signal from Donna in there!
Cactus Aliens:
1)A serious misstep of scriptwriting. The ONLY purpose they served was to have a handy spaceship (the tardis would have done) and to be the butt of the ?shimmer? joke.
2)Useless characters should be immediately killed off by local fauna, aka the big scary badguy monster of the episode. Why didn't they get killed off?!
I'll concede there were some fleeting moments to be enjoyed. But there was no sense of awe, no buildup of a terrible foe, no fantastic realization as to the doctors nature, no last hurrah, no glorious demise. It was all just.... a fizzle. And not only are we robbed of Tennant and Davies, but of the grandeur performance we were promised in the place of a full series. The greatest irony, the real kick in the guts, is we are forced to remember Tennant and Davies just as the Dr. chooses to remember the Timelords: Not as they were at the end, when death was near and desperation took over, but instead as they were in those shining, glorious, but ever fleeting moments, the ones we quite often took for granted.
Man, I just can't believe Tennant is leaving. And after such a mediocre send off? We deserve better! If I sware to god I'll be good for the rest of time, maybe the BBC will declare the end of time a mistake and get Tennant and Davies back for another stab at it. Not that It'll ever happen. Its over. Oh well, new Dr. starting soon, maybe I should give him a chance to redeem the show. /endgriefprocess
And so we grieve yet another doctor's passing. I wonder if I just hated the episode because it's to hard to say goodbye, or if it really was just rubbish.
The experience of saying goodbye to a Dr. is a traumatic one. The transition is never an easy one, a process not dissimilar to that of dealing with grief.
First we deny the inevitable; WHAT?! There's simply no way that he can leave us!
Next comes anger; But I love this Dr.! How dare he leave!
Then Bargaining; I can do something about this! If I write enough fanmail maybe he wont leave.
Followed by Depression: Dr. Who will suck now! It's never going to be the same again.
Finally comes Acceptance: Ok, new series starting, lets give him a chance.
Now the first true Dr. for me was Christopher Eccleston (aka head bad guy no. 53 on the action movie casting database). Sure I saw the occasional episode and re-run with older doctors in my earlier years, but for me the first time I sat down and actively watched the series was with the modern reboot at the hands of Russel T. Davies, with Eccleston as the leading man. And he did great! Watching him leave after the initial and highly enjoyable (not to mention massively successful) first series was difficult. I went through every step I just mentioned above, and then came David Tennant. With an absolutely masterful interpretation of his character. Looking back now, I wonder how it was even possible I was wary about losing Eccleston and having Tennant take over. It just doesn't get any better than blink or the library. So, with my old favorite replaced, I find myself in the same position as I sit down to watch the end of time. Doubly so, in fact, given that Russel T Davies is also stepping down as lead writer and producer. It's sad, but exciting. Bring it!
<AFK for 2 hours. Que the elevator music>
What. The. Shit. That... that SUCKED. Give me my money back!
What a disappointment it turned out to be. It had EVERY element needed to create the ultimate Dr. Who story: The master, back with a vengeance. The Timelords, back to kick ass, take names and chew bubblegum. The GUARANTEED death of the Dr. On that premise alone you have the formula for one of the greatest episodes possibly imaginable. And yet all we find is poor execution, sloppy implementation, lame special effects, useless aliens, an 80 year old companion, and the pathetic, whimpering end of a truly spectacular combination of Dr. Who cast and crew. We were cheated, folks. And the worse part is, they haven't got the chance to make up for it with a later episode. This is how we are forced to remember the end of Tennant and Davies. Not with a bang, but with a sigh, and a check of the watch. It wasn't just bad. It was boring.
When I sat down to begin writing, I had every intention of it being a review. Now, I simply lack the energy. Lets just make a list, shall we, of why the end of time sucked, catagorised by character:
The Dr.
1)Flat performance. Granted, he wasn't given much to work with given the script, but still...
2)Too much running.
3)No eureka moment, when the tide turns and the Dr. fixes everything with a flourish of the sonic screwdriver and that trademarked grin so central to Tennant's character.
4)Gay for the Master.
5)Why the 'hatin on the limelords?! Best thing in the episode was the sonic pimp hand!
6)Yet ANOTHER ?lets get all the old crew back together? moment, with the doctor visiting all the old companions one last time. Apparently the effects of a heavy dose of radiation leave one last hurrah for the Dr. to go and save everyone. It was to neat, to convenient. There was no shining moment of glory as the doctor saved the world through a great sacrifice. Only a lonely and pointless plot device (read: excuse) for an actor weary of his role to move on.
The Master:
1) Oh look I can see the cavities! Open wider!
2)Character was a rambling shadow of the figure of terror first (re)introduced in Utopia, series 3.
3)Oh noes! All humans replaced by the Master! So scary...
4)IMMA FIRIN' MA LAZOR!
5)Ghost rider.
6)Gay for the Dr.
Donna:
1)Why is she still in this show? I understood the need to introduce a non love interest companion after Rose Tyler, but still?
Donna's Grandpa:
1)Lets share old war stories and tales about how crap it is to be old. Self pity, YAY!
2)An 80 year old companion is a bad idea.
3)Blatant rip off of the Star Wars episode IV scene in which Han and Luke shoot down tie fighters in the turrents of the Mellenium falcon. Anyone else want to shout ?Don't get cocky, kid? when Grandpa shot down a missile?
4)Quick grandpa, hide from the evil master radiation that turns you into him inside this impenatrable glass box. But for some reason, you can still get a phone signal from Donna in there!
Cactus Aliens:
1)A serious misstep of scriptwriting. The ONLY purpose they served was to have a handy spaceship (the tardis would have done) and to be the butt of the ?shimmer? joke.
2)Useless characters should be immediately killed off by local fauna, aka the big scary badguy monster of the episode. Why didn't they get killed off?!
I'll concede there were some fleeting moments to be enjoyed. But there was no sense of awe, no buildup of a terrible foe, no fantastic realization as to the doctors nature, no last hurrah, no glorious demise. It was all just.... a fizzle. And not only are we robbed of Tennant and Davies, but of the grandeur performance we were promised in the place of a full series. The greatest irony, the real kick in the guts, is we are forced to remember Tennant and Davies just as the Dr. chooses to remember the Timelords: Not as they were at the end, when death was near and desperation took over, but instead as they were in those shining, glorious, but ever fleeting moments, the ones we quite often took for granted.
Man, I just can't believe Tennant is leaving. And after such a mediocre send off? We deserve better! If I sware to god I'll be good for the rest of time, maybe the BBC will declare the end of time a mistake and get Tennant and Davies back for another stab at it. Not that It'll ever happen. Its over. Oh well, new Dr. starting soon, maybe I should give him a chance to redeem the show. /endgriefprocess
And so we grieve yet another doctor's passing. I wonder if I just hated the episode because it's to hard to say goodbye, or if it really was just rubbish.
