Ten's End

[sdelmonte]

Sadly, this not so grand finale was about what I expected from Rusty. A Master so far removed from the original version he might as well have been given another name; a plot that made no kind of sense whatsoever; serious disrespect for Donna Noble; good performances from Tennant and cast (even, for a few moments, John Simm in a thankless part) despite the mediocrity of the script; and a general mawkishness that only got worse as things went along. Add in the near total ruination of the Time Lords as a viable concept, and a prolonged death that was a bit sweet but ran way too long, and you have 132 minutes of Doctor Who that only make me glad that Rusty is done.

I am pretty sure I am not alone in feeling this way.

I am also sure that I am not alone in not wanting Tennant to leave. He was almost always great, even when handed weak scripts as he was in all five 2008-9 specials. He made the part his own. Matt Smith has huge shoes to fill. I wish him luck, and have some faith that Stephen Moffatt will be a good showrunner, but Tennant has moved alongside Tom Baker and Peter Davison in my list of the truly great Doctors.

A few thoughts:

- Rassilon? Really?

- The Woman...Romana? Susan? The Doctor's wife (aka Susan's grandmother)? Seriously, Rsuty, why didn't you actually tell us who she was?

- Kick Ass Mickey was cool.

- First nickname for the overly young, Crispin Glover-ish looking Matt Smith: George McWho.

- Who would have ever thought that a green cactus-headed woman would be so cute? I liked her and her sidekick, even though they weren't exactly good guys.

- Still mad about Donna. Gonna be mad for a long time.

- Best Doctor death? Still when Tom Baker died. This one ranks near the bottom of the pack, but still light years ahead of Six's death (where Colin Baker had been fired months earlier and we see Sylvester McCoy from behind in a curly blonde wig).

Comments

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

Who would have ever thought that a green cactus-headed woman would be so cute?

Well, there's this Jewish werewolf in Bristol....

[the_croupier]

Yup. Every word.

Here's hoping Moffat lives up to our hopes.

...That Crispin Glover reference is going to haunt me now, though.

[mmexlibris]

- Actually, a little bird tells me it was the Doctor's mother. (according to the Confidential.)

- Headvoice River Song was eyerolling So Hard at the emo dying but NOT UNTIL WE'VE SAID GOODBYE TO EVERYONE regen. Oh pretty boy, you really milked that one.

- Also, as a mun, I was completely stunned that they didn't revisit River. Wait, we get Verity whatsherface whose grandmother fell in love with a man named John Smith -- but not the woman who knew his @#$%^&* name? Really. ~head desk~

- (YAY NEW RIVER SONG CANON NEXT SEASON! \o/ )

- I want to see the Martha and Mickey show. Srsly, BBC get right on that, will you?

- I'm with you on being mad about Donna. That's a whole world of wtf.

- I did enjoy Timothy Dalton and suspect/fear that's not the last we'll see of the time-locked Time Lords. Who was that crazy chick at the end of the table? The Whovian answer to Sybil Trelawney? I want to know more about her.

[sdelmonte]

- The Doctor's mother offers no kind of emotional resonance at all for any fans, though. It's random. And trite.

- I think that not revisiting River was entirely because she's coming back. The goodbyes were meant to be just that, I think. We won't see Eleven interact with any of these people. Maybe.

- If they can do Torchwood, Sarah Jane and K9, there is room for at least a few Mickey and Martha specials. Or would it be Smith and Jones?

- As little as I liked the Time Lords here, I have no argument with Timothy Dalton. And I liked having James Bond play a Time Lord since: 1) James Bond has regenerated a few times; and 2) since Ten's leap through the skylight meant he was playing James Bond.

[mmexlibris]

re: not visiting River: Oooo good point. I hadn't thought of it that way.

But then -- how did she recognise him? If he knew her as Eleven, not Ten? ~ponders this~

[sdelmonte]

I suppose that Moffatt has an idea or two.

Though I suspect that he is busy rewriting the script that he was hoping to use in a full 13 week season with Ten. And I will add that I would have much rather seen the other half of the River Song story instead of The Planet of the Dead (and Alex Kingston instead of Michelle Ryan).