![]() Take the Visionary for starters, who seemed to be stepping in for Dalek Caan in Journey’s End, only this time in the guise of a hybrid of every old psychic hag that television has thrust in our direction. It seems churlish to criticise a piece of television I enjoyed so much, but in the spirit of completeness, there were a couple of niggles. It wasn’t an episode for villains, to be fair, but Dalton was doing perfectly well – even getting over how quickly he reversed a plan that had taken The Master an episode to put together – until he was rushed to his demise.Īnd this does hint at the flaws in the episode. Then there was Timothy Dalton’s Darth Vader-a-like Lord President of the Time Lords also thrown into the mix (was it the Hand Of Omega he was zapping everyone with, I wonder?). “The universe will sing you to your sleep”, they said. Credit too for the introduction of the Ood to sing the Doctor out. The Doctor was torn apart long before the regeneration started, and the broken Time Lord that we first got to see properly in The Waters Of Mars (although he was hinted at many times beforehand) was fully exposed here. This was a character being taken apart bit-by-bit over the course of the episode, and Tennant’s eyes alone told the story. None of the running around like a loon of old. Tennant was always at his best in these more sombre episodes – inevitably The End Of Time Part Two was darker Who – and he was magnetically brilliant here. When Wilf realised his part in the Doctor’s demise, it was haunting simply because it was so brilliantly underplayed.īut this was David Tennant’s show, and a near-80 minute exercise in just how much he’s going to be missed. He was still and steady where other actors may have been content to ham it up, and his performance here was simply wonderful. ![]() I’d argue he’s the best assistant that Tennant got to travel with, as when Cribbins’ eyes crease and the tears start to roll, it takes some resolve not to well up yourself (admission: I failed). ![]() He was the star of Part One of The End Of Time, and he was outstanding again here. And It also allowed two superb actors to step into the limelight.įirstly, there was Bernard Cribbins. And what a moment: just at the moment the Doctor thought he’d survived, that’s when Wilf knocked, and that’s when Tennant’s Doctor knew he was going to die. Granted, it was a bit of an odd contrivance that saw Wilf running into said chamber in the first place.īut it was all so wonderfully small and poignant. I loved the fact that the knocking four times we were waiting for all along was something as simple as Bernard Cribbins trapped in a chamber, tapping the door wanting to come out. Here, an outgoing Doctor got to face the ramifications of what was about to happen, and it was explored exceptionally well.Īnd how brilliantly the bell tolled. Usually, the emotions are dealt with afterwards, as the new Doctor gets used to his new body. This was the first outright emotional regeneration, and it deepened the process immensely. He called all this his reward, but really, it was ours. And we also got a point where he visited Rose before he met her. Or, in the case of Captain Jack, giving him a name of a potential date, in the form of Midshipman Frame (in a scene that looked like it was straight out of Star Wars’ Cantina Bar, not the only nod to George Lucas’ masterpiece that we picked up). Here though, we got Tennant visiting his former assistants, saving them one more time. ![]() We’ve never had this: 20 minutes or so for a Doctor to deal with his impending demise, with no threat to see off to get in the way. For instead of getting a rushed regeneration at the end of an adventure, he made the space to wrap up the tenth Doctor’s journeys properly. I’ve criticised Russell T Davies in the past for scampering to his finales after superb build up work, but here he very much made the right choice in getting matters wrapped up fairly swiftly. That the threat that had built up on Christmas Day dissolved so easily, and so early on in the episode. What I loved about the episode is, I suspect, what one or two traditionalists will dislike. For while I liked The End Of Time Part One, it was still littered with problems and annoyances. There had been promises that there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house by the time The End Of Time ended, and after an epic, sometimes-breathtaking hour and a quarter, they’d pretty much delivered on that promise. Well, if you hadn’t guessed it was the end of an era beforehand, Russell T Davies and his team left you in no doubt by the time the credits rolled this time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |