Due to my own superhuman time-traveling ways, I just watched the season 4 finale of Doctor Who, titled “Journey’s End:” I have quite a few opinions about it, since I’m a major fanboy.
What follows are my thoughts. Obviously, we’re talking MAJOR SPOILERS here. Don’t read any more if you want to remain unsullied.
I’ll even give you an extra sentence here to give you a chance to skip to the next blog you read. Go on. Off with you.
OK, have all the others left? Good. Here we go.
I loved the season finale. But I also hated it. And as much as I love what Russell Davies has done as showrunner,
I find myself thinking that it’s best for the show that he’s leaving. Whovians owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for bringing the series back, we really do. Just knowing there’s more Doctor Who out there makes me happy. It really does.
But episodes like Voyage of the Damned and the season 3 finale arc make me wonder what the cost is. Like the Doctor himself, I think Davies needs someone to hold him back sometimes. He has a tendency to go over the top in the finales and Christmas specials, and this last one went pretty far above the rim.
Journey’s End suffered this same fate. For example, it was chock full to bursting with technobabble. The regeneration? The meta crisis? The DNA Davros Dalek Discombobulator? The Warp Star? The Reality Bomb?
Even though most of the tech proved to be useless or unnecessary — the Osterhagen key and that Warp Star weren’t used, the DNA thingy never got used, and so on. But all that silliness was still there, and we didn’t know they’d be useless for quite some time. So they were still distracting and poorly executed.
And look. I still love Sarah Jane; she was my first companion. And Rose, and Martha… and Gwen. Oh my yes, Gwen. But having them, plus Mickey, plus Jackie (and I love her to bits too) and Jack and Ianto and frackin’ K-9 fer Pete’s sake … it was too much. Way way too much. And so they all got short shrift, with no one standing out. Rose needed a lot more time on air, but was relegated to being a sort of segue. At least Martha didn’t fall into a puddle and start screaming.
In fact, part of the problem was that the characters don’t fit together. Torchwood is supposed to be an adult show, and the Sarah Jane Adventures for kids. Trying to combine them is probably a doomed effort, and in fact I don’t think it fit. The computer Sarah Jane has — Mr. Smith — is just corny, as is her sonic lipstick; these gimmics were designed for kids. It just left the impression that things were added just to add them.
Really, everything seemed jammed together at the last minute. Even the music reflected that; I’ve become quite a fan of Murray Gold’s work, and this whole episode had moments of his lovely themes that somehow suddenly turned left, stitched together with more jarring music with no real segue or flow. It was still fantastic music, probably the best I have ever heard from a TV series, but it didn’t have the feel it usually does.
Everything in this episode seemed rushed.
Except for the last few minutes, which were amazing. I hate what happened to Donna — I mean, as someone engaged in the story I hated what happened to her. But from a story perspective I think it was a very bold move, since this really dropped the mood of the ending. I still wish it had been done a little differently… at the very least the Doctor could have told her family that her potential to be such a brilliant person was still there. The Doctor could have told Sylvia that maybe she could help bring that out of Donna. But that was unsaid. Still and all, what a horrible ending for Donna, and worse, she won’t even know how horrible it is. She’ll even be happy. Seriously, that’s scary. She lost everything, and she’ll never know.Let’s hope Steven Moffat decides to bring her back in one of the 2009 specials, and let her grow into her fate.
What I loved, loved, loved about this episode was the torturing of the Doctor by Davros. I sometimes think about the Doctor as a tortured man, someone who cannot connect to anything because he is not only separate from everything, he is removed from time itself. What does a human really mean to him? Some mean so much, others so little.
He befriends some, but they always leave, or die. They find lives, something he can never do. And in the end he always moves on, always travels to the next place, the next time. And now, in the new series, his mantle is even heavier; he is the last of the Time Lords, and helped destroy his own race. How lonely can he be?
So Davros needling him about his companions was beautiful, and tied in really well with the very last minute of the show, which was very moving. The Doctor, alone again. As always, even when he has people with him.
I applaud Davies for that last minute, and for lots of other minutes in the last three episodes (and for Midnight, which was brilliantly done, and shows Davies still has a lot of ideas in him for the good Doctor). But I think it won’t be too sad to goodbye to the overwrought ending, the screaming supervillain, and the nonsensical plot devices added in to fill time. Moffat’s scripts have historically been much leaner, much tighter, and I hope that as show runner he’ll make sure things go well. And also I hope he explores more of the Doctor’s darkness. It seems to bring out the best of David Tennant, and that’s very good indeed.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Trying to combine them is probably a doomed effort,
That’s what they said when Squaresoft got together with Disney, but the Kingdom Heart games utterly rocked, and there is great anticipation for KH3 on the PS3.
I’ve only just watched Season 1 thanks to Netflix streaming, so I can read no further. I’ve seen all of Torchwood, though, so it was great when Capt Jack showed up in Doctor Who. Now I know where he came from.
David Tennant was interviewed on Top Gear (and raced the “reasonably priced car” around the track), and he said as a kid he always wanted to be Doctor Who.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Nice summary Phil.
I felt that this was the happiest, and the saddest, season finale I have ever seen on any show.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am
“Over the top” was EXACTLY the phrase I used!
If they’d taken out all the bogus tech that never got used, they could have focused more time on the characters, which is where it really mattered.
Still, there were many, many wonderful things, and I’m still a fan of RTD and his work and I love him for bringing Doctor Who back.
Still Steven Moffat FTW!!!
July 8th, 2008 at 8:49 am
You might want to talk to someone about that spam filter…
The one thing that struck me about this episode (I missed a lot of it) was just how devastatingly final the ending was. Rose is gone for good, Donna is gone for good (as a companion anyway), all the other supporting characters have their own roles to play in their own shows (and Torchwood is restaffed already). No companions are left to follow the doctor.
In Doomsday, you had a similar massive ending with Rose leaving, that suddenly was broken by Donna appearing. Then in Last of the Time Lords you had Donna abandon the doctor and him being alone, only for the Titanic to come through the wall. There was always a link to the next adventure and something to keep the doctor moving regardless of what he had just lost.
But in this one, it ended with him just alone, with a huge stretch of time before the next episode and no idea what might unfold or who might be involved. It is leaving Moffat absolute freedom, and the fans absolute speculation hell for the next few months.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I think the idea was to bring EVERYONE together for a last goodbye and to leave a clean slate for Moffat. I laughed (DR/Donna “doing” each other and Jackie’s parting shot) gasped and cried (Roses goodbye) I agree with a lot you have said (especially about Donna’s end) But all praise to the BRILLIANT Bernard Cribbins for those last five minutes! I am not ashamed to say he had me in tears. And the Dr goes forth….alone. (sniff)
July 8th, 2008 at 9:18 am
I was thrilled to see the return of Davros. Daleks aren’t Daleks without Davros. But, yeah, he was looking like an Episode 3 Vader at the end.
The one I feel the most for was Donna’s Grandfather.
I mean YEA! Rose ended up with The Doctor. BOO! The Doctor had to say goodbye to her forever… again. BOO! Donna has to say goodbye, but at least she won’t remember him. Double BOO! The Doctor has to live with saying goodbye and hurting her even if she doesn’t recall it. BOO! The Doctor is all along again.
But the Grandfather… out there every night with his telescope. He wants nothing more than to go off into space. But he can’t even ask for a quick spin since he’s too old for whatever he’ll meet out there. But his granddaughter got to go. He got to live through her. He was so happy to see that bit of himself go off and explore the galaxy. Instead of a temp she was becoming something more. And now she’s lost all that. And he can’t even talk with her about what she saw. The other companions became something greater for their time and experiences with him. Donna doesn’t even get that. She’s back to being loud and abrasive and another office grunt. All the dreams he was going to fulfill through her are lost.
As The Doctor walked back into his TARDIS the Grandfather wanted nothing more than to go with him. Instead he had to stand and watch him walk away.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am
One thing I really didn’t “get” in this episode: why did Davros want to destroy absolutely everything? No dominion, nothing for the Daleks to be supreme over, nothing to conquer and subjugate? Why?
July 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I confess I have never, ever seen Dr. Who, and have no idea what it’s like. I’m working my way through season three of Lost right now – never watched that either, and I’m hooked.
What’s the deal with Dr. Who?
July 8th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Gary,
The Doctor is the Secular Messiah. No more need be said.
I also loved the finale. And I loved the creation of the “DoctorDonna”, and how wonderful an actor Catherine Tate was. It was incredible seeing her display some very Tennant-esque qualities in her performance. Brilliant.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Awww, see I’m a sucker for having all the companions in the Tardis, I thought that was lovely.
Now, maaaybe I could see Martha on Torchwood, but Mickey? Mickey the idiot? Without Owen’s broody nastiness and Tosh’s quiet solitude, it’ll be weird. I guess maybe Mickey will be the broody one…
I didn’t cry nearly as much as I had for the finales of season 2 and 3. I guess you could see Rose being left with the new Doctor from a mile away, and that made me happy. But yeah, all the anticipation of having her back, and she was kind of in the background.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:00 am
I haven’t seen the season finally yet, but I didn’t really see all that many spoilers in the summery.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Sean,
Having just watched “Genesis of the Daleks” from the 4th doctor era (Davros’s first story), I think I can say that that’s just Davros’s thing. The 4th Doctor asked him if he could create a virus that would destroy every living thing in the universe, would he do it. Davros thought it was an interesting idea.
Phil,
Great review!
July 8th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I felt that this was the happiest, and the saddest, season finale I have ever seen on any show.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Excellent post BA – my thoughts exactly. Russell Davies is not the genius many make out (but thanks anyway for bringing the Doctor back) & Steven Moffat has done the best episodes. It was like watching Star Trek TNG with all the techno-babble and the warp star & reality bomb were *so* crowbarred into the story.
Griping over.
Great series, great televisual event, great character and tremendous fun to watch.
Alright, one more gripe; Christopher Eccleston was a better Doctor & actor.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Oh, I almost forgot: isn’t this a site about astronomy? Why the talk of etc. etc. etc.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:07 am
For everyone’s worries about what type of companion Donna would turn out to be, she really ended up doing a great job. I was really glad to see Catherine Tate become the doctor in final episode and it really showed her range. Those last scenes were worth all of the running around and nonsense with all the other characters.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Well, you pretty much summed up all my feelings about the whole thing… Although I think the over-the-top technobabble may have had an element of lampshade hanging. But yeah, the bit with Davros pointing out that while the Doctor never carries a gun, but “take[s] ordinary people and fashion[s] them into weapons” was absolutely spot on. Good to get a decent dose of moral ambiguity in a season finale for once.
Thanks for bringing the Doctor back, Russell. Now go away and leave it to somebody else.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Hmm, needs some music.
I’m pointing you at this link not because Vixy and Tony are friends of mine, not because they are selling a CD and songs, but because the song is just apropos
check out http://tonyandvixy.com/music.html and click play next to ‘Companion’
Jeffrey
July 8th, 2008 at 10:45 am
First of all, I would like to say that I was very wrong about Catherine Tate, a year or so ago. I now think she was a brilliant companion, and probably the best actress of the three.
As for your summary, I think you are being too harsh, Phil. The Osterhagen key was introduced as a doomsday device without telling what it did, which is when it was at its best. The only dissappointment there was to find out it was 25 nukes (rather unimaginative). It would have been much better (and potentially funnier) to leave us in the dark about it.
The reality bomb was always the big threat that had to be neutralized, and therefore indispensible (BTW, I thought it was a rather fun idea, and exactly the thing Davros would create). The warp bomb probably should have gone off but without achieving its goal. The point of these additions was to get all the companions in the Tardis, which was a stroke of brilliance! If they hadn’t been there, the Doctor’s loneliness at the end would not have been as clear, and the ending not nearly as powerful.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Oh, and what was with all the saluting? I know you yanks like it
but it is really un-Doctor-like.
July 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I enjoyed the finale — especially the last 10 minutes. There was a lot of technobabble and it was a little overwrought at times, but I don’t think there was much, if anything, that was really outside of long-standing Doctor Who tradition. Yes, Dr. Who has had plenty of technobabble in the past. Perhaps because standards in general are so much higher today, but part of the charm of the new Dr. Who is its continuation of many of those old traditions.
We could probably have done without Torchwood (keeping Capt. Jack only) since they didn’t really add anything, but I believe SJ’s sonic lipstick didn’t actually appear “in person” so most of its cheesiness was avoided. I actually had no problem with the “Reality Bomb” — remembering how megalomaniacal Davros and the Daleks are, it would seem to them to be a logical solution to “conquering the Universe”.
Still, we could have done with more Davros and more Rose, and even more Donna, but over all I thought it was a fitting end to the season.
So, overall, bravo — and especially bravo to Catherine Tate who overcame all the doubts about her being cast as the Doctor’s companion. I remember groaning when I first heard she was the one, even though I liked her in her own show, but thankfully she possessed the acting chops to pull it off. The next companion will have plenty to live up to.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Donna has definitely been my favorite companion of the new Who. I am sorry she won’t be in the next series, but I also thought her ultimate fate was a bit anti-climactic. Although what happened to her was tragic, with so much foreshadowing about it, such as people saying “I’m sorry”, I was expecting something bigger.
All in all, I think series 4 has been my favorite in David Tennant’s run as the Doctor.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I think what some of us americans are missing is the Doctor Who is largely considered to be a children’s show in the UK. (Torchwood being the “adult version”). Some of the “over the top” nonsense that occurs, especially in season finales and christmas specials are meant specifically to appeal to kids – not so much adults.
C’mon? A flying tardis in Runaway Bride? Over the top for adults, yes, but spot on for 10-year-olds.
Having said that, I think Russel T Davis does suffer from what I call the “fast wrap-up syndrome.” He spends most of the episode building up to something big, but then has to wrap up all the lose story lines in 5 minutes or less. SF TV (maybe TV in general) has been suffering from this for ages. The resolution just occurs so fast and so cheaply that it’s totally unsatisfying when compared to the rest of the story. The final for season 3 was the worst offender. The whole Bad Wold thing in season 1 wasn’t that good either. RTD did it again in season 4: He whipped out a whole lot of fantastic story arcs in episode 12, but then cleaned them up in a quick and unsatisfying way in episode 13.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Centre justify…turn it off…..turn it off…..
July 8th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Darn it, why couldn’t the threefold man be 8th, 9th and 10th Doctors?
(I don’t care if a multi-doctor episode is cheesy, use ‘em while you got ‘em!)
July 8th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
paul, especially the Christmas episodes of Dr Who are made for the whole family (hence Kylie), and not just the kids.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Hi Phil
We’re having a discussion about the physics in this show. Could I ask for your opinion on the physics of the earth / tardis interaction. Would the Earth move around like they showed it? My take is is wouldn’t but others said it would shake around and be even worse than they showed it…
PS Good to meet you in London when you were over.
Thanks
Paul “Parky” Parkinson
July 8th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I liked the finale but there are some aspects that I don’t like as the absurd technobable, the exagerated endings like what happened in season 3. In such scifi series involving time travel the physical rules are already too complicated as it is, each time the director wants to break them it creates some confusion. Like the fact that they where 1 sec offsync with the rest of the universe as if that makes sense!
In some cases for plot reasons it becomes a fantasy instead of scifi series! like in the witches episode.
Its too bad cause in such series misunderstandings and complications can be made very easily just by the fact that you traveled in time as well in space! you don’t need to invent too much technobable to do that.
What I liked thought is David Tennant (the Doctor) and Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) I found them really good actor. I liked Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) as well but not Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)
July 8th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I’d say the TARDIS has all kinds of great technology. It has artificial gravity, it uses dimensional relativism to be bigger on the inside than the outside, it functions on so many dimensions that it moves through time as easy as it moves through space, and it can vanish from the three dimensions we perceive completely. It reinforces the sofa in such a way that it protects 6 year olds from Daleks.
So it would depend on exactly which of those technologies The Doctor used to move the planet. Did he increase the external gravity of the ship so that Earth just follow a moving gravitational well? The TARDIS did a loop of the planet first. Maybe he was forming a bubble of normal space around it so he could warp the space and cause the bubble to shift without the planet suffering the full inertial effects of leaping to a speed that would cause it to cross from the Medusa Cascade to here in the time it takes to air a Coke commercial. Maybe the increased rotational speed was necessary to spread the radiation exposure from plowing a mass that big that fast through interstellar space over a greater area. Maybe you should say to yourself that “it’s just a show. I should really just relax.”
July 8th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I think drawing together pretty much everyone involved in Dr. Who and its spinoffs for the last two episodes was an awesome idea.
The key, the warp star, etc. It was a joke – they ended up meaning nothing, since the damn Daleks teleported them all directly.
And finally, how can I be the only one to point out how hilarious it was to see a Dalek screeching in German? Exterminieren!
July 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Hey Phil
in the end I gathered that the Osterhagen Key, the Davros DNA gun, and the Warp Star were plot devices in the same vein as the Anti-Timelord Gun from series 3. That gun turned out to be a plot device by which to get Martha aboard the Valiant. It was the same for those 3 gadgets, they were just a means to getting all the companions together.
I saw this series as a wrap up of Davies himself, Rose got her happy ending, Mickey and Martha joining Jack at Torchwood, Sara Jane busy living her own life now.
“I’m so sorry” though seems hardly sufficient for Donna in what has got to be a fate worse than death. It was good to see the Doctor snap at Sylvia that she should be more positive with her but it was still a major loss.
Wilf has got to be the most sympathetic character in the series, not a mean bone in his body and always thinking of others, I hope to see him again also.
just based on the emotions that this episode evoked, I’d have to say it was the best of the entire Davies run.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Was anyone else thrown off by the “phantom heartbeat” from the as-yet nonexistent second doctor, and the frequent close-ups on Donna’s ring?
For a minute there I would have sworn that the Master’s consciousness was in Donna’s ring and she was hearing the sound of drums.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I notice that Doctor Who isn’t subject to Bad Astronomy…
No mention of the planets somehow orbiting nothing and managing to keep from attracting each other gravitationally (although that’s probably explained by some weird force-field type thing). No mention of the lack of a drop in temperature when the Earth suddenly gets transported away from the sun. No mention of the presumably devastating effect removing the Earth from the solar system would have on the rest of the system – particularly the moon which would no longer have anything to orbit (other than the sun, that is). No mention of the sheer number of serious injuries and deaths that would have resulted in the TARDIS tugging the Earth back – in fact, the ones on the nearside of the earth would have been squashed to the surface, the ones on the far side would have been thrown quite a distance into the air, and the ones at the side would have been thrown sideways by a considerable amount. No mention that the earth seemed to have been put back VERY close to the moon!!!
You’re slipping, Phil… ;o)
I quite enjoyed the last few episodes of the series, but agree that it was probably a bit OTT bringing everyone into the last episode.
I must admit that I was also quite pleasantly surprised by Catherine Tate. I *hated* the idea of her as the doc’s companion when I first heard, but she wasn’t bad at all.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Actually the stable temperature on Earth was explained – there was a membrane surrounding the Earth keeping the atmosphere heated and intact.
“Whoever they are, they want us alive.”
The planets not careening into each other was explained by saying that they were placed in such a way as to create a stable orbital mechanic.
I totally agree about the devastating effects of moving the Earth that you mentioned though; not to mention the effects of removing and then replacing the tidal force of the Moon.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I must have missed those explanations!
D
But the computer graphic of the planets in the first episode didn’t look like a particularly stable system to me. Just a hunch though…
Aaaaaaaaaaanyway, my post was tongue-in-cheek, really. Shows like Doc Who and Star Trek aren’t really *meant* to be analysed in a realistic way!
D
July 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Tyler, yes I do remember thinking of the master when I saw one of the ring close-ups. I also remembering looking forward to commenting on this blog when I saw the German Daleks! D’oh!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Although they didn’t mention it, I guess the magic shield that kept the heat in (but didn’t need to do anything for the air, since that’s not going anywhere due to gravity) also kept the satellites in correct orbit so that all that technology could still work.
So, an alternate version of the Doctor. Anyone else thinking Valeyard?
July 8th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
i have to say i enjoyed it. like many others have said, i am excited to see what moffatt has to offer, and feel that it was probably time for russell to go. i thought this episode, while a bit unfocused at times, was a great curtain call for rtd’s time on the show, and it was loads better than last year’s finale (which i hated).
and it had german daleks. and two david tennants (to quote jack, “i can’t tell you what i’m thinking right now.”)
July 8th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I have to admit that based on the previous episode my expectations for this one weren’t that high. Perhaps that’s why I loved it a lot more than I expected.
I have to hand it to RTD in that he thinks far ahead and tries to wrap the thread of the season endings throughout the entire season. That’s probably why I admired the ending more than expected: I was just in awe of the manner in which all of these seemingly disparate threads came together.
Unfortunately, I agree in that he nonetheless tried to cram too much in. I’ve posted here before my opinion that RTD absolutely needs someone like Moffat to tone him down. Moffat has the incredible ability to put loads of detail into a story without it seeming overstuffed. RTD should have had Moffat on hand to reign him in a bit.
Ah well, still utlimately satisfying.
Now all Moffat has to do is hit the reset button, un-deify the Doctor, and it’ll all be good.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
The thing you’re missing, Phil, is that this isn’t actually a Doctor Who series, so you don’t need to worry about it being overwrought or exaggerated. See, RTD never brought Doctor Who back as a TV show; that died with Sylvester McCoy, decades ago. What RTD did is something entirely different: he worked out a legally acceptable way to film new Doctor Who fan fiction! So all this stuff with K9 and Davros and Sarah Jane and the Doctor living happily ever after with a real live girl and all the kissing and nakedness and all that… that’s fanfic! Of course it is! And, as fanfic goes, it’s not been all that bad, really. There have been some good characters (Jack, Donna, Martha, Sarah Jane) along with the Mary Sues (Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane) and plenty of shout-outs. Just thank your deity-of-choice RTD never decided to get more heavily into crossover slash fiction, because there were times I really was expecting a sudden cut to a sex scene between the Doctor and Mr Spock…
July 8th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Hi,
Not posted on here before but as a regular reader and a DW fan too, just thought I’d point out that many commentors on here are incorrect in their assumptions that this is the end of the RTD era.
He’s still executive producer for the 2008 christmas special and for the four 2009 specials. He’s also credited as script writer for the first of these at least.
Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until the 2010 series until we see DW under Moffat’s full control.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I would have liked to see a closing scene, in the future, where the Doctor visits Donna on her deathbed, sees that shes lived an extraordinary life and, when it would do no harm, let her know everything all over again.
RTDs scripts do tend to go over the top science-wise. I mean, going five billion or 100 trillion years into the future and still finding human beings.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Phil – I enjoyed reading your review much more than I did io9’s. Did you notice how fast-paced the episode was? They were probably hoping we wouldn’t notice the insane logic (even by Sci-Fi standards) of the entire plotline. I’d also dispute the name “reality bomb”. The weapon breaks the bond between electrons – is that really the same as destroying reality itself?
I agree with you that the episode as a whole just didn’t hang together all that well. But there are some moments that work great (for me, at least): Davros’s confrontation with the Doctor, which I felt was very much in the tradition of past encounters. Watching Donna save the universe was fun. And seeing all the companions together was just great. Alright – so the logic behind that scene was insane (towing what?!!?), but what the heck.
And as Oscar has already pointed out, I’m afraid you’re stuck with RTD for both the 2008 Christmas special and the 3 one-off specials next year. Series 5 won’t be transmitted until 2010 – which probably means production on Series 5 won’t start until the middle of 2009.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
And just in case anyone is wondering what Steven Moffat is doing to fill in the time until he takes over:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_(film)
July 8th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
(Oops, let’s try that again)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_%28film%29
July 8th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Oh…and before I forget. I’m re-visiting Steven Moffat’s podcasts for Girl in the Fireplace and Forest of the Dead. What an intelligent, funny, sarcastic and delightfully witty man he is. It’s fascinating hearing his philosophy on Doctor Who – which is slightly different from Russell T Davies. Can’t wait to see how the series will be re imagined under his guidance.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Holy crud! Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, and Steven Moffat Ò_ó.
That’s about the only way you could ever get me to watch a movie based on Tintin.
And yeah, as 2 other people have said, we have to wait until 2010 for Moffat’s reign of Whovian terror to start:). I’m mildly worried that he won’t live up to expectations, but I’m hopeful as well. I guess we’ll find out.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Awwww:(. Motion Capture. Darn it.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Lol, i’m not really a dr who fan but i’ve seen a couple episodes and the journey’s end episode was fantastic, yeah some scenes may be over the top and “Dalek” plot was overused but the ending was phenomenal.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:37 am
I always realize, approaching these, that you have to suspend disbelief when watching any sci-fi, so I’m ready to swallow whatever they say they’re going to do.
“We’re going to use this little blue box to pull the earth back to where it needs to be!” Sure, no problem! But when they pop it back in place and the moon is RIGHT THERE it made me go “heeeeyyy…” I mean of all thing to nitpick I know it’s silly, but if the earth suddenly disappeared, would the moon not go hurtling off into space? I realize the solar system is HUUGE and it would take it awhile before it actually *got* anywhere, but the fact that they bothered to suddenly animate it right there, I couldn’t ignore it.
It kinda made me wish they used the earth to tug it back in place, but I can only imagine the gravitational/tidal disasters that might cause! Would other planets’ orbits be perturbed if the earth suddenly vanished? I imagine it would be negligible, but it would be something, yes?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:57 am
The moon is gravitationally bound to the sun, not to Earth. If you took away the Earth, the moon would pretty much keep going (more or less) in the same orbit it was in before. The big change would be where the centre of gravity of the Earth/Luna system is. Right now it is waaay outside the surface of the moon (and nearer to Earth’s centre than that of the moon of course). If you remove the Earth, then Luna is the biggest fish in the neighbourhood, so it would no longer be wobbling around the Earth.
But it really bothered me that they weren’t experiencing any major effects from the removal/readdition of the moon’s gravity. There should have been earthquakes and volcanoes blowing off all over the place, even assuming that they were moved inertialessly both times. You don’t just blink a moon’s influence away and not feel anything on the planet.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:58 am
I forgot the awesomely cool German Daleks!
July 9th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Hi. Hope you can help, I have 16 questions about this season ender and
hope you can help answer them here:
http://youwillbeforever.blogspot.com/2008/07/doctor-who-journeys-end-finale-loose.html
Thanks!
Jomar
July 9th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Seriously guys, do not attempt to analyse Dr Who – that way lies madness. It’s not hard SF, and it doesn’t really have any pretensions about having a working physics model. It’s a kids show about a magic man who travels through time and space in a police box.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Very balanced review by Phil I, which I concur with completely.
Russell T has this habit of chucking everything into the pot and stirring it.
He’s better, as in ‘Midnight’, when he explores one good (and creepy) plot idea to the full.
This defnitely was NOT one of those episodes!
It was more like sitting at a crowded table in a restaurant trying to grab some of the meze before it all disappeared from the plate, leaving you both hungry and irritated.
In fact, Dalek Khan looked not unlike a Kalamari with a twinkle in its eye.
Davros had beautiful blue eye, but obviously hadn’t been keeping up on his dental insurance payments or his rejuvenating collagen cream.
Full points to the make up department anyway.
But the plotline was just a mess and some of the acting left a lot to be desired.
Billy Piper seemed to have acquired ‘foreign cockney accent syndrome’ in her alternate dimension.
Ocassionally I detected Tennant’s Scots accent breaking through the Estuary English.
Too many roles at once is the problem, I feel.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:16 am
Phil, Donna won’t be in the specials. Two of them will feature Rose, but none of the other companions. Martha is apparently joining Torchwood (hence Jack’s offer to her at the end of this DW episode).
The whole purpose of this slash-and-burn was to give Steven Moffatt a clean slate. The Doctor’s on his own, travelling in the TARDIS again.
But at least we get the Cybermen in Victorian England for Xmas!
July 9th, 2008 at 5:07 am
I loved it but thought the ‘TARDIS dragging the Earth’ part was a bit far fetched. I can see how it could be done, in a science fiction way, it’s just with the Earth rolling around like it did I would expect more than just a tremor experienced on the ground, etc, with it changing direction and moving faster than it should, and then stopping again and such. Maybe the TARDIS did it all, I don’t know, but I don’t really care enough to let it take away from an awesome story. It just seemed a bit off.
More Cybermen?
July 9th, 2008 at 5:21 am
The last two episodes of Season 4 Doctor Who were abysmal in my book, ESPECIALLY comparing them with the totally brilliant Agatha Christie story and the almost FX-less “Midnight” WHICH btw, made me think Satan, NOT Davros was coming back. Even the rip-off Christmas Special was better, especially with the performance of Mr.Copper, Clive Swift saving the day. Talking about that special, although she wasn’t terrible, I hope the inclusion of a celebrity like Kylie Minogue, to quote one of Billie Piper’s song lyrics “Because we want to”, is done with Moffat coming on board.
Bernard Crimmons and Catherine Tate made this season. Period. David Tennant, except in “Midnight” was largely distracted/waltzing thru the part (compared to his performances in Season 2). I only wished BC had had a chance to ride in the Tardis once.
While he’s with us, wouldn’t it be a hoot, if he and Donna were discovered by Clive Swift and made a real comedic, fun spinoff series together?. Dump Sarah Jane and Touchy Wood, and UP with “Mister Copper”. Eh, EH? OR, how about doing “Sally Sparrow” who finds them.
BTW, Rose/Billie Piper’s character ABSORBED the entire Time Vortex and survived with most of her memories and obviously didn’t burn-up so why would Donna becoming half-timelord mean she had to be “wiped/erased”.
Here’s the biggest problem with the entire story arc. I hope this doesn’t get bleeped, so I’ll be as tasteful as possible.. David Tennant’s Doctor charactization has become unlikable. Not just dark, but Doctor Who is an A-hole. There is an element of intrigue with this notion, but how many anti-heroes have successful shows eh?.
All I can say, that hopefully, Mr.Moffat will really take the reigns and give us more continuity, especially as Tennant leaves probably after the Season 4a (Not really a season 5) Four “specials”. I forone think the fans are getting jipped just so Tennant can keep the role. He’s the best, as someone else mentioned, doing the laughing while crying thing, BUT he is NOT the entire show.
In conclusion, he did alot of good things, but I for one am glad RTD is GONE so new blood can take Doctor Who and SFandom to the potentail everyone deserves.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Just bear in mind it is a kid’s show and all will be well. My 5, 8 and 10 year olds loved it. If you want real Sci-fi, read William Gibson.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:57 am
The biggest issue for me, going even beyond RTD trying to cram everything into the episode and then settling for a literal ‘handwave’ to solve everything, is that RTD has a favorite character in Rose, and won’t let anyone forget it. Quite honestly, Rose could have been left out of this episode and it would only have improved it. But RTD *had* to go out of his way to give his favorite character a happy ending, rather than simply leaving her story well enough alone. I could almost forgive the excess of the rest of the episode, but to me, the whole thing at Bad Wolf Bay at the end seemed to be smacking of ‘See! Rose gets the Doctor! You WILL be happy about it!’ She’s his ‘Mary Sue’ character, and has gotten far too tedius.
The idea that Rose will be in 2 of next years specials actually makes them less appealing to me. I’ve not heard anything more than rumors about it though, and I’ve heard some compelling arguements why she WON’T be in them, so I can hold out hope.
Overall, Jouney’s End didn’t follow through on the promise of The Stolen Earth. It tried to cram in too much, there were too many Deus Ex Machina moments, and it sacrificed good storytelling for a lot of rushed, ill-thought out sound and fury.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:14 am
“I hate what happened to Donna — I mean, as someone engaged in the story I hated what happened to her.”
I loved it. If Catherine Tate ever comes back, she explodes! That was the single best thing about the finale. To be fair, it wasn’t as terrible as last season’s finale, which had me throwing things at the telly in disgust. But I only felt that way about Journey’s End because most of the stupid and annoying things were all crammed into the first ten minutes rather than the last, so I had most of the episode to recover.
“I saw this series as a wrap up of Davies himself”
This is exactly right, and it’s why Davies was (usually) so bad as an episode writer in recent years. He constantly refers to characters he’s created, even if they’re crap, and hardly ever refers to others’ creations. The whole companions-together thing was nauseating in the extreme and made the episode seem like the laziest kind of fan service, except that most die-hard fans I know hated it. Don’t even get me started on the technobabble. And please, please, let this be the last we see the Daleks for many years. Overexposure has turned them from fearsome unstoppable killing machines into a tedious joke, and each time the excuse for bringing them back from the dead becomes more and more ludicrous.
Thank the spaghetti monster for Moffat, I say.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:51 am
I’ve always thought that Davies’ stories were weird in that I would find myself thinking “this is too over the top” but then there would be these moments that were just brilliantly emotional.
In Journey’s end, I got chills when Davros tortured the Doctor, choked up when the mortal Doctor told Rose what the “real” Doctor never could, and mourned the living death of Donna.
I always end up *liking* his episodes despite the wackiness within.
As for the Torchwood vs. Sarah Jane thing, I thought it made for a very clever 4th wall moment in the previous episode (Stolen Earth) when Sarah and Jack “met” over the subspace wave doohickey thingamajig. Jack tells her he’s been “following her work” and she says “I’ve been avoiding you lot; too many guns” and nods towards her son.
All in all, though, I can’t wait to see where Moffat takes the show. I hope that it can continue to not take itself too seriously… I don’t want Doctor Who to become Battlestar Galactica, but I think it will probably become much more “interesting” under his watch. He has a knack for artistry in storytelling and experimenting with things like non-linear plots and playing with paradox.
Still… 2009 is going to be torturously long year.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Oh.. BTW…
I was just looking through the list of episodes at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials
I think maybe the “rushed” feeling could be partly blamed on the director, Graeme Harper. Looking at the episodes he directed, they all seem to have this same kind of feeling. Granted, Davies definitely tried to fit 3 episodes worth in to two, which didn’t help.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am
You’re spot on about the final arc there, but I really have to disagree about Midnight. I couldn’t stand that episode, and I thought it was one of the worst episodes of the season. There were some good ideas in it, I especially liked the people turning on the doctor, but the structure of the episode seemed haphazard and every single character in it I found supremely dislikable. It wasn’t over the top like what came after it, but it never seemed to have any momentum, so I spent the entire episode mostly being annoyed at everyone in it.
I am so ready for Moffat to be in charge.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:06 am
The one thing I really didn’t get was why the Doctor regenerated but stayed the same. They just brushed that off like it was no big deal, but is totally against what we’ve always been told. Wtf?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:51 am
pappycaligula, why did you think Tennant’s Doctor is becoming unlikable? To me, the only unlikable aspect is when he gets on his high horse about killing. Personally, the scene where Davros “tortures” the Doctor was, to me, ridiculously one-sided. Is the Doctor really that sensitive? Come on, he’s a Time Lord. He of all people should see that it’s sometimes necessary to kill in order to save.
I think the only thing that’s becoming rarer in his characterization (and this is partly RTD’s fault for over-humanizing him) is that twinkle he gets when something happens. Think of that brilliant moment in Aliens of London when the Slitheen ship crashes into Big Ben and the Doctor gets that wide, wry grin and turns to Rose and says, “Fantastic!”
That’s been missing a little lately, primarly because the melodrama is getting too overwrought.
I hope Moffat tones it all down a little.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I am a little disturbed by the “RTD, don’t let the door hit you on the way out” mentality of some posters here. Without him, there would be no new Dr. Who to enjoy at all, and just for that he deserves some respect.
And if you listen closely, you can already hear the sharpening of the knives for when Moffat throws the towel in the ring. Fans can be quite unpleasant.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
gopher65 Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 12:57 am
The moon is gravitationally bound to the sun, not to Earth
I’m *pretty* sure that since the moon revolves around the earth, it’s gravitationally bound to the earth first, and not the sun. While I agree that the sun obviously will have a major influence on it, the earth suddenly disappearing is going to have a major effect on its orbit.
Think of swinging something around by a large string or tether, and then suddenly letting go of it. Depending on which point the moon is at in the orbit, it *might* stay in a similar orbit (though without the mass of the earth to anchor it, I think that’s unlikely), and I think it’s only one particular “sweet spot” where this might happen, but most likely it’s either going to go hurtling towards the sun for a much closer orbit, or careening off into the outer system. I’m not sure if it would have enough momentum to entirely escape the sun though.
**runs off to reread the principia**
July 9th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Pieter Kok,
Actually, there probably would be a Doctor Who, but it just wouldn’t be Davies’ baby. (Unless, of course, it was Davies’ idea to resurrect the show, in which case he is to be commended.)
I don’t think anyone here really dismisses Davies lightly. It not that we don’t appreciate his work, it’s just that we recongnize that his work never seems to rise to the quality of everyone else’s. Frankly, I’d take the worst RTD Doctor Who episode over the best of…well…just about anything, actually.
We definitely appreciate what he’s done, but relatively speaking, his doesn’t stand up to the best.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
As Jack Harkness said “brillant”
July 14th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I felt like the episode was packed with excitement and for me, it is my new favorite. I do overwhelmingly agree with the OP regarding Donna. I felt bad for her, and honestly did not like the ending of the episode. Still as a whole it was a winner with me!
July 18th, 2008 at 12:11 am
[...] think Phil Plait said it best: Like the Doctor himself, I think Davies needs someone to hold him back [...]
July 21st, 2008 at 7:10 am
steven spielberg and video games
As you seem to know what your doing blogging wise, do you know what the best time of the week is to blog and have them read?
July 27th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Love the ending..Here is america we are a week behind..caught the ending on youtube.com Rose kissed a fascimile..not the true one she fell in love with. Poor Donna..should of been a better ending for her but it only makes you wonder what they have in store for here in one of the three specials next year and in 2010 in which tennant is back for all 13 episodes. still would love to see Craig come back as the doctor..he was cruel when he had to be but so was tennant in the episodes with the walking scarecrows at the military academy. Not till the end of that did you realize it was a third person telling the story..the alien who is trapped forever as a scarecrow by the doctor who dished out punishments to all three of them for infinity.
Lest not forget that though rose is home with the dr.#2…who has all the memories and is a human time lord he is still the doctor so he and rose could still meet up with doctor#1 and Rose could reconcile with doctor #1. Martha Jones..hmmm moved on sara..stay on your own network..loved the part where the former prime minister flashed her badge at the daleks and they said..”we know who you are. “funny . Would still like to see all 13 or 14 doctors from muli universe’s combine to defeat a new enemy..lets not forget the other time lord may not be dead and who took his ring. Jeff
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
It should be obvious to everyone (sry) that DW doesnt take its sceince seriously. It’s not intended to. It’s fantasy. For competent sci-fi there’s ST and SG1. BMG is a joke science fiction-wise too. But that doesnt diminish DW at all. I agree with other’s that finale tried to do too much.
It’s kind of self-indulgent as it nodds to itself in the biggest family portrait imaginable. I get that and it doesnt bother me. A couple of minor things did though. The bit about moral ribbing of Doctor#1, and demonizing
Doctor#2, well, just blather. Seems to me The Doctor, due to his intellect, would never be quite so racked with guilt over the deaths he couldnt prevent. Would he? Greif spiralling out? He’s the doctor, not GOD, and he knows it, doesn’t he? Is it intended for us to think Davros was somehow aware of the Doctor’s ‘grief problems’ in this area and so took the time to exploit it for kicks? Plausible I guess but thin. Likewise, #2 served the Daleks proper TL justice. I know The Doctor always tries to preserve life, but honestly, he’s tripping when he offers to save Davros. By any stretch, the universe would always say that saving Davros is actually perverse. In both cases, misguided, heavy handed political correctness. Like we (or kids) need the lesson that if you are heroic you are somehow inadequate if someone next to you dies. On the other hand, it’s great that kids are taught to value life, since they won’t often bump into the likes of Davros. It seemed a conflict that The Doctor in all his compassion would turn and virtually sentence Rose to exhile. Seems he would need that to be her choice not his. In all, ridiculously judgemental of #1 of #2, especially considered #2 being paradoxially described as younger #1. I guess it’s not her ending up there that bothers me as much as how and why they say she did. Don’t feel sorry for Donna, what she doesnt know won’t hurt her. The grandfather and Doctor (and us) are the ones that feel the loss, not her. Pretty heavy ending for a kid’s show. Not sure if I prefer DW to leave me pondering life so deeply. But that part was done well. Oh and one more thing- “Touchwood” lol
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 am
Correction BSG, not BMG
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Maybe I missed something, but I couldn’t understand why Rose and her mother had to go back to the alternate dimension to “make things right”, so to speak, when they weren’t originally from that dimension, and Mickey, who also spent time in that dimension taking the other Mickey’s place, got to stay and possibly even join Torchwood. That didn’t make sense to me. Can someone clarify that for me?
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 am
our recording didn’t come out and my husband and son are devestated. is there a way to get the season finale? itunes does not have it. any other site anyone knows of?
I would reimburse for a video tape/shipping if there was a kind soul out there.
help!
net@ticeonline.com
Nancy
thank you!
October 14th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
I don’t think anyone here really dismisses Davies lightly. It not that we don’t appreciate his work, it’s just that we recongnize that his work never seems to rise to the quality of everyone else’s. Frankly, I’d take the worst RTD Doctor Who episode over the best of…well…just about anything, actually. izlekop
October 26th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I felt like the episode was packed with excitement and for me, it is my new favorite. I do overwhelmingly agree with the OP regarding Donna. Thank you.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Was anyone else thrown off by the “phantom heartbeat” from the as-yet nonexistent second doctor, and the frequent close-ups on Donna’s ring?
For a minute there I would have sworn that the Master’s consciousness was in Donna’s ring and she was hearing the sound of drums.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
our recording didn’t come out and my husband and son are devestated. is there a way to get the season finale? itunes does not have it. any other site anyone knows of?
June 26th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I felt like the episode was packed with excitement and for me, it is my new favorite. I do overwhelmingly agree with the OP regarding Donna. Thank you.
July 11th, 2009 at 4:57 am
..our recording didn’t come out and my husband and son are devestated. is there a way to get. the season finale? itunes does not have it.. any other site anyone knows of?….
July 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Our recording didn’t come out and my husband and son are devestated. is there a way to get the season finale? itunes does not have it. any other site anyone knows of ?