Doctor Who: The End of Time

I couldn't let the week pass without a review or at least a passing comment with regard to David Tennant's swan song as the 10th Doctor (but who's betting he'll be back for a multi doctor adventure in the future... even if it's just for Children in Need).

Before I go any further I have to claim bragging rights on Wilf's involvement (albeit inadvertent) in the 10th Doctor's demise... I totally called it back in November!

In terms of plot mechanics, a lot of RTD's usual problems were there (too many plot threads coming from nowhere and leading to nothing); I happen to think this is a bad habit that has come from his pathological need to pull the wool over the eyes of the fans - he leaves too many red herrings that get in the way of the story.

That aside, I found the plot very moving (particularly the last half). I was very excited at the prospect of seeing the Time lords again and equally sad to see them return to their doom. I was hoping for a sort of reset, where the Doctor becomes a renegade on the run from his race again... it certainly looked like it was going that way. I have heard speculation that the questions left by reintroducing Rassilon (albeit temporarily), the identity of the unknown Time Lady... and what happened to The Master, may actually be a set up for future Moffat stories.

Whatever you think of the plot, Tennant and Cribbins completely stole every scene they were in together.... particularly this scene in part one:

and.... well I shall come to that in a bit.

I know that Andrew and Alastair both have reservations with regard to what they perceived as an over sentimental last 20 minutes. However, I for one am a bit of a sentimentalist myself... and due to my empathic nature, I was hooked.

During The Doctor's farewells (claiming his reward... I more than think just a little that this was RTD using artistic licence to claim his own reward by saying his own fond farewells to characters he had enjoyed writing for), I was particularly touched by the farewell to Mickey and Martha and Sarah-Jane. You could see the mark of doom and what was coming written all over The Doctor's face... kudos to Tennant there. Of course, only we as the audience... and Sarah-Jane truly perceive what the Doctor's expression is saying.

Then we had the big moment... the regeneration scene. Some say it was overdone - the TARDIS exploding and catching fire might seem wrong from a purely in universe perspective... however I think it works. I believe it's bending the fourth wall without breaking it. It's an "in universe" acknowledgement of Tennant's massive contribution and importance to the revival of Doctor Who as a franchise. Yes it became popular again with Ecclestone... but Tennant magnified and consolidated that popularity and became so well established as the Doctor in the public consciousness, that he displaced even Tom Baker as the nation's favourite Doctor.

The Doctor betrayed a slither of deep anxiety and sorrow... just enough to tug on the heart strings and let us consummate the emotional response...

"I don't want to go!"

And we didn't want you to go either...

Cue the dramatic music and the special effects and the TARDIS grieved with us as flames and explosions rocked through the console room.

 

I have to say that when I first saw Matt Smith appear, I wasn't too thrilled... but seeing that scene again and again does kind of warm you to his interpretation a little. When I look at him I do see a few of the other Doctor's in him... which stands him in good stead.

and here is a sneak preview of things to come:

 

I just wanted to finish by commenting on the scene just prior to the Doctor's farewells. Apart from the cafe scene and Tennant's last words, it's the part which had the biggest emotional impact for me:

I saw this entire scene as The Doctor's equivalent of Gethsemane. Like Jesus, he had an opportunity to escape his fate and do so much more. The Doctor was under no obligation to save Wilf... he had strayed into that booth of his own accord and yes... he was an old man. past his years.  The Doctor could have achieved countless more wonders and amazing tales in  his current incarnation. There was no rational reason why the Doctor should have elected to make the supreme sacrifice.

And yet there was the perfect reason... LOVE.

The Doctor lay down his life for Wilf because he loved the person of wilf. He saw beyond the  mere circumstances... what mattered most to him was that here was a man whose well-being meant something to The Doctor.

So The Doctor literally substituted himself for Wilfred Mott.

In the same way, Jesus Christ literally substituted himself for us.  Jesus did not have to die. He could have called legions of angels down and ruled us as a god amongst men... leaving  the countless generations of the human race to be born after him , to wilt and die in our brokenness.  Being in very nature God, he could have done whatever he wanted. We didn't deserve the sacrifice he made... and if we saw him we might tell him so, just as Wilfred pleaded with the Doctor.

But Jesus loves each one of us so much that he saw it as an honour to lay down his life for us.

Too often we think of sin in the vilest terms and perhaps when we think of it's universal consequence, that's appropriate. However Wilfred Mott was not vile... he was a good man. He just ended up in a very bad situation... the wrong place, in the wrong time. Like a sheep he merely went astray.

Most of us probably don't consider ourselves vile...

... but we are broken and we have all strayed in to a very bad place by virtue of our broken nature.

Like Wilf we find ourselves encased inside a radioactive time bomb which we can do nothing about. We don't have The Doctor to come and rescue us from our fate...

but we do have Jesus:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:6-8

Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars (Spoilers and Speculation)

Having watched "The Waters of Mars" on Sunday, it's been an interesting couple of days catching up with various people's opinions, theories and tweets about the special Doctor Who episode.

So what did I make of it?

Frankly, I spent the first 20 minutes freaked out by the image of the"water possessed" crew members. I was transported back to the old days of Doctor Who... the days as a child when you spent a great deal of time watching the show from behind a sofa. I must confess that I was quite literally watching those freaky people through my fingers... until I'd "adjusted".

I'm quite a sensitive soul really... when Obi Wan Kenobi died in Star Wars, I was so freaked out I couldn't watch it... I think that must have been the case until I was er... 12.

The story was set on the 21st November 2059... an auspicious date in the calendar for me (God willing, I shall be celebrating my 85th birthday).

It was good to see that Shane from 1980's Neighbours found himself a new job some time in the distant future. Is Doctor Who becoming a refuge for Aussie soap stars in the same way that The Bill has become one for ex British soap stars?

I did feel that the pacing in the first half was off... and it seemed to drag a little. However in the last 20 minutes as the episode reached it's climax, it more than made up for this... it was literally as if a switch had been flipped and the script was running on a burst of nitrous oxide.

It was a very intriguing end and it has left my friends a little divided. Half of them feel that they didn't like it because of the dark way The Doctor was being portrayed. The rest of them (and I am in this camp), thought that it was fantastic.

I think it is important to realise that the Doctor is not a black and white character... he is flawed, just like everybody else. He has a streak of darkness that runs subtly through his valour and nobility. I think some times people are a bit too idealistic and like to sweep that under the carpet.

In his tenth incarnation alone we've seen some pretty intense moments of anger. He nearly blew the head off his daughter's killer... OK so he held fast and described himself as "a man who never would", but you really got the impression from the way David Tennant played that scene (particularly in his eyes), that there was only a thin veil between that pledge and the alternative.

Then lets not forget the way that he dealt with The Family of Blood. He ran away as an act of kindness... but then when cornered he unleashed the fury of a Timelord by forcing his enemies to eternally endure their own personalized Hell. If you look at the way he dealt with them... it's not unlike the way the Greek gods dealt with their enemies.

And that is where the Doctor has ended up at the end of The Waters of Mars... playing the part of God. The concluding scene doesn't show quite the full intensity of the Doctor's emotions (as seen in the few minutes prior to it), but it drives the point home well enough I think:

The Timelord victorious is a created being claiming mastery of the created order. Adelaide Brooke was right in her assertion... it's not right.

It's nor right, not so much for the things that one in that position might do (even a good character like the Doctor), but more for what you'd inevitably become in the process of doing those things.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

There's a moment when the Doctor realises he's pushed the boat out too far. As he turns, he hears Adelaide's suicidal gunshot (an odd decision for a character to make - was it driven by her sense of needing to restore what she perceived as the natural order of events... or out of spite at the Doctor's arrogance in trying to change them? Or perhaps it was both). He turns once more and senses the presence of Ood Sigma. It is then that he has a sudden flash of remorse for his rash action... even the TARDIS picks up on it as it mournfully tolls the Cloister Bell.

However, it is a Rubicon moment. The Doctor has resolved to cross the line (from the character exposition it seems clear he is quite literally Hell bent on bringing Gallifrey back from the abyss); having stepped into the waters... he knows full well that the die is cast...

... or to borrow a line from another science fiction franchise "the avalanche has already started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote".

Whenever someone rises up to assume the part of God... be that in fiction or fact, they inevitably find that there is a price to pay... and quite often that price is very high indeed.

Here is a brief trailer for the final Tennant double-bill, Doctor Who: The End of Time:

It seems way too obvious that The Master is the would be assassin who will knock four times. Look at who the Doctor is talking to the most in that clip. I think the tenth Doctor's killer is going to come out of left field. I think that Wilfred Mott is going to be put in a terrible position. I think the Doctor is going to go momentarily off the rails (some people have speculated on the influence of the Valeyard) and inadvertently do something that endangers the existence of Earth. I'm hedging my bets that this might have something to do with an attempt to recover Gallifrey (principally because we have Timothy Dalton making an appearance playing yet another Timelord). It does seem as if Russell T Davies is restoring a status quo so that his successor, Stephen Moffat has a clear run to do what he wants with the Whoniverse.

I think the Master is a big bluff. I think that Wilfred Mott with heavy heart and deep regret, his eyes full of tears... is going to be the one to pull the trigger (or whatever the fatal mechanism may be).

Whatever happens, I think that it's going to be epic.

Tune in to BBC 1's Children in Need on Friday to see a further clip of Doctor Who: The End of Time.

Doctor Who: The Stolen Earth (SPOILERS)

So we near Journey's End:

If you missed the episode... what do you think you are doing reading this article???? Follow this link if you need to see the episode, or want a recap. Sorry folks I think the BBC iPlayer will only work in the UK.

I really loved the way we were thrown straight into tonight's episode.... and with a relentless pace that just carried right on through to the dying moments.

I also loved the welcome return of so many old faces. You get the impression from all that went on, that we only have half the pieces to the puzzle... that there's a lot going on we don't even know about yet.

I get the impression that next week's finale is either going to be very very good... or very very poor. It obviously looks like there is going to be a regeneration... but as Mark Twain said: "Never make predictions... especially about the future". The ending interrupted the regeneration process, which left us in the annoying position of having a triple cliffhanger.

Rumours are rife... not least because David Tennant is reportedly staying on for at least four specials. Some have speculated that the regeneration will be botched or different. One outlandish theory has suggested that the energy from regeneration hits the Doctor's severed hand (kept in a jar by the TARDIS console), and causes it to grow a new 10th Doctor along with whoever emerges from the proper regeneration. You can see the start of the regeneration sequence in the clip below:

My suspicion is that whatever happens, the device that Martha holds... the Osterhagen key, will be some kind of Deus Ex Machina... something that will alter the events that lead to this regeneration being altered. However, I hope in some ways that I am wrong... because that would make it all too similar to last years conclusion... and Doctor Who is not Dallas. It shouldn't rely on everything always being... just a dream. By the way "Osterhagen" is an anagram of among other things, the phrase "Earth's Gone".

For an atheist, Russell T Davies seems to explore the idea of sacrifice and resurrection quite a lot... he's done it a lot in Doctor Who, as you can probably tell from other episodes I've blogged about. Let's see where next week takes us.

So the big questions then:

1. What is going to happen with this regeneration?
   
   
2. Will Sarah Jane, Ianto and/or Gwen survive?
   
   
3. Just who or what is inside the Supreme Dalek?
   
   
4. What other effects has Caan's trip to the timelocked "Time War" had?
   
   
5. What is the Osterhagen Key and what will happen if it is used?
   
   
6. Is someone going to make a supreme sacrifice (certainly seems possible given the title)?
   
   and...
   
   
7. Most importantly all... did anyone try and contact the Doctor using 07700 900461?
   

*UPDATE* as of Sunday 29th May

Well, here's the trailer for the final specially lengthened episode... but it doesn't really give much away:

If you think you know what is going to happen,I'd love to hear your comments.