Blank
Generally a pretty bad episode. Worst of the season by far, though still not as bad as End Of The World. Rather silly, and predictable. I saw the ending coming, at least the bit about destroy the Paradox Machine and the history will change. But so much doesn’t make sense.
How could Martha be sure that The Master would bring her to the flying ship, instead of killing her outright?
How could she give instructions top the whole world to think of the word “Doctor” at a particular time, but be certain that the traitor lady wouldn’t find out about it.
Why does thinking about the Doctor rejuvenate him?
Apart from that, when The Doctor used his psychic powers to grab The Master’s weapon, anyone else think of Luke Skywalker invading Jabba’s fortress?
Oh, and I guessed ages ago that Jack was the face of boe.
3 out of 10
I really liked Casanova and Queer as Folk but Doctor Who is really making me question RTD’s writing ability.
He must’ve really written himself into a corner if he had to resort to “Clap your hands if you believe in the doctor/fairies”. How poor(ly explained) was that. And I still don’t know what turning him into an old man/Gollum was supposed to accomplish.
Overall the season was a bit hit and miss. On the one hand we had the wonderful Blink and The Family of Blood/Human Nature but on the other we had the convoluted mess of the last three episodes. Worst season since its revival IMHO
I guess I’m not such a great fan of Russell Davies scripts. There was just too much stuff going on. I loved the Jack reveal though, and I’m sure Martha will be back in Series 4.
I found that pretty confusing, and would watch it again to make sense of it, if I cared enough, which I don’t. All the Martha Jones as James Bond stuff was basically just for show?
I think Russell T Davies should stick to small-scale, intimate stuff like Gridlock. He’s good at that. But he keeps trying to write these huge Sci-Fi epics, and seems to believe that you solve a plot problem by throwing more plot at it.
Oh, I’ll add a prediction.
Every season has had a WORD linking the plot.
s1 - Bad Wolf
s2 - Torchwood
s3 - Saxon
The s2 and s3 words were previously said in episodes the previous season. I predict the word for next season is “burn with me” heard in “Smith And Jones” and “42,” and will turn out to be The Master seeking revenge for his cremation.
I so didn’t get the reveal about Cap’n Jack. I mean, I saw the reactions from Martha and the Doctor, but was totally wooshed. Somebody spoil me please.
As for the episode, yeah, yeah. We get it. The Doctor is alone. Stop beating os over the head with it. It’s not epic or deep or meaningful. RTD should stick to running the show (which he does great), not write it. These thre, as compared to the Moffat episodes, were to flat. Where Blink was one of the most inspired hours of television ever*, the rest of the season was just… ordinary. AS MUCH AS THEre is nostalgia for the Tom Baker years, this was on par with that.
I thought John Simm was over the top last week, but this time, it was just too much, a parody, comparable to Dr Evil.
I won’t miss Martha and wish Billie Piper would come back. Or even better - Sally Sparrow. THE Doctor needs a companion that acts, not just reacts and Martha was too keen on following the Doctor’s orders.
3/10
To clean my mind, I’ll watch Blink again, as I did last week.
The good Captain had just asked the Doctor if there was anything he could do about his immortality - which he said he couldn’t. Jack then wondered about whether he would age or not, and what he would look like in however many years time having aged slowly but not died. He admitted being vain - as a younger man he was known as the “Face of Boe” because of his handsomeness and some connection to “Boe” (didn’t quite catch it, may have been “beau”.
So basically suggesting that Jack may eventually be the Face of Boe, having lived all that time.
If I only knew what “Boe” is…
Is it that big old head in a jar?
Yup.
A complete mess and a serious disappointment. I’m not a die-hard Whovian or a serious enthusiast. I’m just one of the many millions who grew up with the show and was interested in the revival to see what they’d do with it and how they would create a ‘modern’ doctor for today’s telly audience. It all started off rather well. The BBC threw some serious money at it, the production values have been surprisingly high(-ish) for a show once famed for its shoestring budgets, and the show has benefitted from some seriously good writing. It will be a long time before I see another TV show with a script as deeply satisfying as ‘Blink’.
Unfortunately, we have to take the rough with the smooth, and this two-part ‘climax’ to the series has been dire. The plot didn’t make sense on any level, it wasn’t internally consistent and it showed no regard at all for supposedly canonical elements of the show. RTD wanted to produce an epic, and he threw all the toys in: the full-head special FX make-up to create the aged Doctor, the CGI ‘900 year old’ Doctor, the CGI nasty flying spikes, the digital re-painting of entire landscapes to create all the ‘missiles’… and so on. Every trick in the book. But without a good idea or two, a smart plot and some characterisation… well, there’s just no point. It was all stale and tired, a re-hash of plot points from Series 1 lashed together with buckets of nonsense and non-sequiturs. Anyone trying to get into the plot would have had difficulty discerning much of a plot to get into.
Sad, tedious, and an unfit farewell to a series and a show that has given us many delights. Dr who deserves better, and so do we.
Downloading the episode right now, but I’ve already read the spoilers and I know what happens. All I can say is that I hope they pull it off well, and I’m not thrown off of Who by anything I’ve read yet, and I’ll be back in an hour or so to really express my opinions re: this finale.
One thing I will say, though. John Simm was a wonderful Master. He is the best Master ever. This is possibly a new iconic Dr Who villain, one that will be long remembered. He was the one saving grace of an otherwise dire episode.
Has it been cancelled? :eek:
Russel T. Davies simply should not be allowed to write for Dr. Who. There should be a law, or something. Much love & respect to him for all his great work bringing the series back but I have yet to see a single decent episode with his name on it. I think that the problem is that he can’t get the scary/funny balance right. You can have silly episodes with a little bit of scary, and that’s OK. You can also have scary episodes with a little bit of comic relief scattered here and there. What you absolutely can’t do, and what Davies always tries to do, is have it both ways and write episodes that are equally scary and equally daft. The tension never gets a chance to build and the jokes are resented because they get in the way. He either needs to take writing lessons from Stephen Moffat or get off the writing team.
Series = Season. I think it’s just one of those UK/US differences.
Yep. Couldn’t help but notice that in the trailers, the Beeb was calling it the season finale. That seemed really odd.
As to the episode: It was bad. Really bad. Shitty writing, the Doctor being turned first into Gollum and then into Tinkerbell, just about everything.
Except Simms as the Master. I rather enjoyed his performance this week. And, of course, Tish in a maid’s outfit.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say I liked this episode and I really don’t see what everyone’s complaining about. From where I stand, the convolutions, arbitrary plot twists, deus ex machinae, and nonsense are what Doctor Who is all about, and it’s what I expect from the show when I sit down to watch it.
I’m going to spoiler this because it’s about next season, Alistair 
[spoiler]From the editor of Drwho-online
We’ve received the following intel on Freema’s future.
- She will guest star as Martha Jones in 3 episodes of Torchwood.
- She will appear as Martha Jones in the second half of Series Four.
- A new ‘mystery’ companion will be in all 13 episodes of Series Four.[/spoiler]
If Martha takes a hike, I’d like to see Tim Latimer be the next companion. That kid had some personality.