Doctor Who: The End of Time (You have been Warned)

[Galahad]

Part one....

THAT was AWESOME!

 

[admiraldave]

I thought it was a little ridiculous. I mean, I liked several parts of it, but others had me wondering if RTD's main plan was a whole episode to set up for a dumb pun.

That said, one thing RTD does really well is great conversations. Several of the scenes between the Doctor and Wilf, and the Doctor and the Master were really well done. I particularly loved the scene in the cafe. Lovely.

But the Ood were kinda wasted in their short cameo, the "Fools" were horribly underdeveloped, seeing the Master jump around and shooting lightning bolts brought back horrible memories of "Heroes".

I'll wait for Part 2 to pass judgement on the "End of Time" as a whole, but for now ... it's a disappointment after "Waters of Mars", the best of the Who Specials.

 

[Galahad]

I'll wait for Part 2 to pass judgement on the "End of Time" as a whole, but for now ... it's a disappointment after "Waters of Mars", the best of the Who Specials.

Can't say how much I totally disagree with that. The last 15 minutes of TWoM was spectacular and sure the water creatures were the scariest things I've seen for a while.... but there was WAY too much padding for the first 3/4's.

The pathos and touching scenes with Wilf and the return of the you know who were the best part.

The bits I didn't like were the usual things that occur with RTD stories... he performs spectacular and brilliant big gestures in terms of plot development... but he rarely gives a satisfactory explanation or dramatic flow as to how those gestures are possible.

So the Master is everywhere... it's a very dramatic and great cliffhanger but like the Toclafane... how did we really get there?

So the you know who are back and look royally pee'd off... we guessed that was coming and yes it's a great dramatic twist... but how did that become possible (yes, I'm sure it was to do with the planet healing device... but it needs a little more extrapolation as to how it happened).

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I dug it. It had a good beat, and it was easy to dance to...

 

[Kara Baxter]

hey i don't know what you are talking about...

can you give us a brief summary of those who aren't in the KNOW...

 

[Galahad]

Spoiler for Plot Synopsis For The End of Time:

The people of Earth begin to experience bad dreams according to an offscreen Narrator, at the time we are not aware of what these dreams are but it later becomes apparent that it is the collecive subconscious memory of The Master.

Wilfred Mott is seen in a church looking at a stained glass window with a very small subtle image of a TARDIS in it. A mysterious lady (some have speculated she may be the White Guardian) unsettles Wilfred by talking to him about sacrifice and how a Saintly Physician once saved the people in the window.

The Master's disciples come to a prison to bust out Lucy Saxon. They do so in order to get the Master's DNA imprint from her lips.

The Doctor finally shows up on the Ood planet and shares in their collective vision (it's the same vision the people of Earth are having), shocked and troubled, he heads for Earth.

While this is happening, an elaborate ceremony takes place to resurrect the Master... but it turns out Lucy is not on her late husband's side anymore and she interrupts the resurrection process with a cocktail of her own. there is a huge explosion that destroys the prison... but the Master is not dead... but changed. He proceeds to a junkyard where he consumes a burger and then a burger van's staff, followed by two more lurkers.

The Doctor shows up and hears the Master banging an oil drum with a metal pipe. (The Master is aware of the Doctor's presence and just wants to have it out). The Doctor gives chase but is found by Wilfred and his gang before he can get to him.

The Doctor has a heart to heart with Wilfred over his recent misadventures and what he knows of the prophecy concerning his death. Then he muses over why he keeps getting drawn back to Wilfred.

Eventually the Doc goes after the Master again but the Master overcomes him withsuperspeed, bounding and lightning bolts from his hands. The Doctor didn't fight he just kept walking. till he was knocked down with burns on the centre of his clothing.

They talk, the Doctor tells the Master that he is burning up and he needs to be fixed or he will die.

The Master refuses to be helped and tries to get away... but then a light emerges from the sky and a black ops helicopter kidnaps the Master. The Doctor is shot at and then knocked unconscious.

The mysterious woman appears to Wilf again via tv link. She hurts him a little by reminding him that he never saw action in the war because his drafting came too late. Wilf protests that she is saying that it is a bad thing that he never killed a man. She informs him that there will be a time for him to take up arms... and that the Doctor's life may still be saved. Wilf runs up to his box of trinkets from the War and pulls out his field revolver.

The Master has been captured by a man who wants to harness the power in an alien machine to grant his daughter perpetual youth. He gives the Master a Christmas turkey for a meal and the Master devours the whole turkey in seconds/minutes.

The Master naturally betrays this man but we do not see this yet.

The Doctor and Wilf smuggle themselves into the home of the man who kidnapped the Master. The doctor sets his TARDIS out of synch with reality in order to protect it from the Master, should he get opportunity to steal it.

There are two aliens (like the red alien from Voyage of the Damned only green, taller and a different race), they know of the alien device's real capabilities but cannot fully restore it. Once the Doctor learns of this he runs to stop the Master (the device can heal whole planets). The Master sets the machine in operation and the Doctor is too late. People start experiencing visions of the Master. The Doctor throws himself and Wilf into a radiation protection room and tries to shut the device down. He deliberately shields Wilf from the effects of the machine, as it turns out the Master has configured it in such a way that he can recode the human race's dna so that it is identical to his. He breaks free of his guards and walks into the portal.

Every human being except Wilf starts shaking their heads from side to side faster than frame rate (even Barak Obama who is about to give a keynote speech on Economic recovery plans).

One by one every human on Earth with the exception of wilf, becomes The Master ( a nod to Agent Smith surely).

Cheesy but funny pun from The Master "There is no human race there is only the Master Race"

The narrator concludes that this is how the human race was wiped out but that even the Master could not have foreseen the full effects of his actions and that greater things were taking place... and so we pull away from shots of Masters everywhere on Earth, from the Earth itself... across the galaxy to a great opera house like hall, where Timothy Dalton (in full Timelord regalia) announces with great spit and slightly menacingly, that the Timelords have returned to reclaim their rightful place.

The last shot pulls away from him and we see timelords filling the hall and chanting back to him. they mean business.

And that I think is everything you need to know so far...

 

[Chilli]

I didn't enjoy it at all, but that didn't come as a surprise to me. The more RTD goes for "grand", the worse his scripts get for me - the S1 finale was not very good, the S2 finale was bad, and the S3 finale was just terrible - and with each one, he was trying to outdo the last one. It's not much of a surprise that two specials titled "The End of Time", that incidentially are both RTD's and DT's last stories, are grand, grander than anything we've seen before. All of my favourite RTD scripts are standalone episodes, driven by characters and possibly a monster-of-the-week.

Other things that sucked:
* Too much "the master is craaaaazy". Yeah. Got it.
* Building too much on past episodes that sucked - in particular the "The Last of the Timelords".
* The Doctor suddenly having a "special connection" with Wilf.
* Bringing back Gallifrey with no explanation. The more the Doctor has been talking about Gallifrey being gone for good, the more I was convinced it would eventually be back. Like the Daleks. And the Cyberman.
* The "he will knock four times" thing is growing old.

I'm hoping the finale will be better, but I doubt it. At least there will be evil Timothy Dalton, which is always a plus.

 

[admiraldave]

Can't say how much I totally disagree with that. The last 15 minutes of TWoM was spectacular and sure the water creatures were the scariest things I've seen for a while.... but there was WAY too much padding for the first 3/4's.

To be specific, I'm strictly discussing the specials since "Journey's End", and it's not the best sampling. I loved "The Next Doctor", but the ending was rushed and the villian wasn't given quite enough weight. I loved the first half, though, and Morrissey was brilliant. "Planet of the Dead" ... well, let's put it this way ... I have watched every episode of New Who at least twice, if not many times. There are two exceptions, "Fear Her" and "Planet of the Dead".

 

[Kara Baxter]

thanks g.

but is this on dvd, the theaters, or tv?

 

[Galahad]

I loved "The Next Doctor", but the ending was rushed and the villian wasn't given quite enough weight. I loved the first half, though, and Morrissey was brilliant.

Imteresting, i thought the Morrissey/Tennant chemistry was the only saving point of that special. I hated the steampunk cyberman giant. You are right about the villain and i think Dervla Kirwan may have been miscast.

"Planet of the Dead" ... well, let's put it this way ... I have watched every episode of New Who at least twice, if not many times. There are two exceptions, "Fear Her" and "Planet of the Dead".

I found PotD more watchable than The Next Doctor.

I think we can all agree on one thing though... Moffatt is by far the best and most consistently good writer on modern Who.

My personal fantasising over Carey Mulligan aside... Blink is brilliant. The plot strongly adheres to temporal theory and when you consider that this was a "Doctorlite" episode... it's holds together magnificently...

and Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan) is unbelievably cute.

A lot of people are saying they will walk out when Tennant leaves the show. They need to give Moffatt a chance as producer... he is more of a fanboy than RTD and he understands Who on a much deeper level. For pities sake he even turned down a major spielberg project to secure the gig as Head Writer/Producer of Doctor Who.

Some people over at Twitter have noted that they are willing to sacrifice 10 if it means losing RTD.

 

[Galahad]

thanks g.

but is this on dvd, the theaters, or tv?

TV... this is David Tennant's last adventure (barring future multiple Doctor stories), as the tenth Doctor.

The last part is this New Year's Day here in the UK... I'm guessing it'll be stateside on Saturday.

 

[Galahad]

Other things that sucked:
* Too much "the master is craaaaazy". Yeah. Got it.

Yeah... crazy is best and more menacing when done subtly with the odd vivid flash.

* Building too much on past episodes that sucked - in particular the "The Last of the Timelords".

Done for thicker members of the audience who have the attention span of a hypnotised beagle.

* The Doctor suddenly having a "special connection" with Wilf.

Well perhaps he mistakenly attributed that connection with Donna (but then it kind of makes what happened to Donna less meaningful/believable if the link was with Wilf and not her).

But he's underlining that because I think there's a strong chance that Wilf's going to be the one who does the Doctor in... why else pump so much effort into strengthening the relationship between Wilf and the Doctor... if you are not going to have the lovely old man do something heartbreaking to the Doctor, himself and to us?

* Bringing back Gallifrey with no explanation. The more the Doctor has been talking about Gallifrey being gone for good, the more I was convinced it would eventually be back. Like the Daleks. And the Cyberman.

RTD has a VERY annoying and bad habit of explaining these things away in a throwawy line after the event. I'm waiting for the explanation but probably best not to be massively hopeful.

* The "he will knock four times" thing is growing old.

That's because RTD is so convinced that it's going to be so amazing that he's reinforcing it. I think it either means Wilf is going to be the knocker... or that it's a metaphor and the person who kills the Doctor will not knock on a door... but will kill four people/companions before offing the Doctor.

I've been thinking a lot about the White Guardian... just in general. Is it possible the old lady who spoke to Wilf actually is the WG?

 

[Republibot 3.0]

Man oh man was I disappointed, too disappointed to re-type or encapsulate my thoughts, since they're over on my site anyway. You can check 'em out here http://www.republibot.com/content/observations-doctor-who-end-time-part-1-season-31-episode-4
curiously, R2, who co-runs my site, loved it. His review is here http://www.republibot.com/content/episode-review-doctor-who-end-time-part-one

It's strange that everything he loved about it - with the exception of the conversation with Wilf - was stuff that I really disliked about it. He loved The Master, for instance, but I just found him goofy beyond believing. I really liked him a couple seasons ago, thouth.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

thanks g.

but is this on dvd, the theaters, or tv?

It is shown in the US on the cable channel BBC America. If you are interested, and get BBC America, there will be a Doctor Who marathon, starting at midnight Thursday, aka Friday am, and running for two days. The EPs under discussion here will run toward the end of that.

For US viewers, I just found something very disturbing.I don't know if it affects UK viewers. I recorded Waters of Mars when it was first shown on BBC America. The credits at the end were missing, so I also recorded a later showing. With all of the commercials carefully edited out of those two showings, the original showing was over three minutes longer! It ran almost 63 minutes, even without the end credits. I haven't been able to do a complete comparison yet, but I have so far discovered that in the second half of the first segment, the second showing has about 2 minutes cut out. At least some of that was dialog between the Dr. and Captain Brooke. A later section is one minute longer than the rebroadcast. I don't know if The End of Time is similarly affected.

These are all getting shown again. I will record them, and check the timings. They are currently scheduled for Jan. 10th, with TWoM scheduled for an 80 min. slot, longer than previous runs, and TEoT scheduled for a 3 hour slot. I am thinking that maybe that is both parts. Maybe these will be complete.

 

[darth_librarian]

Not very impressed, mostly for reasons explained here by other folk. Weak writing from RTD, with plot development far too reliant on exposition via narrative from the Ood, news reports and Daltons' character.

The whole Master re-birth think was frankly dire and wasted, especially the whole concept of the books of Saxon introduced and disposed of in 5 minutes. I really hate it when RTD does that. Simms was good, but the whole crazy fighting with lightning thing was a bit tragic. Humorous finale, at least.

Good stuff from Cribbins, as always.

The RTD Who bingo slip can be used here, and has been to good effect:

http://twitpic.com/v6ook

I'll have a blank copy aside for the finale, and be looking forward to the Moff in 2010.


http://redplanetblog.typepad.com/fanboygeeks/images/2008/02/05/rtdbingosmall.jpg

 

[Kara Baxter]

thanks g.

but is this on dvd, the theaters, or tv?

TV... this is David Tennant's last adventure (barring future multiple Doctor stories), as the tenth Doctor.

The last part is this New Year's Day here in the UK... I'm guessing it'll be stateside on Saturday.

his last ep? oh thats sad..of all the Dr's i like him the best.

thanks for the heads up!

 

[G Kar of the Kha Ri]

I'm not sure what I can say about The End of Time as a whole, other than I really enjoyed it. Of course, I usually just go into auto-pilot and enjoy the ride, so it's harder for me to want to be critical of anything. And the ending was hard to process for me, if only because it sort of jumped from "awwww, I feel sad" to "WOOO, time to get back to going on wild trips!" Which I quite enjoy, really.

And as per the length of Doctor Who specials on BBC America, I've also noticed such shortenings before. One thing that made me watch The Waters of Mars around 3-4ish in the morning after forgetting to watch it when it first aired earlier in the night, as I'd checked online and noticed the length difference. For some reason, they seem to cut into the specials after the initial airing. I believe I remember watching Voyage of the Damned one time, and I'd swear they cut off pretty much everything involving the Doctor and Mr. Copper at the end and just jumped to credits.

 

[jnk5y]

I really enjoyed the 2nd part, a lot more than the first. The old man really stole the show in my opinion. I think without him the whole episode would have had no heart. I like how they showed the Time Lords as gone mad with war and the explanation of the drum beats in the Master's head. Now the question of who was the lady timelord. I'm guessing it's his mom.

Now the new doctor. From the brief moment I think I like him. He delivered the comment about his nose well "I've had worse" and his youth will I think open doors for different types of companions. Maybe an older male for a change.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

If you have BBC America on "OnDemand," watch Doctor Who there, and you will see the eps uncut. Just found that out. Pt. 2 of TEoT was up just a couple of hours after the first showing. Also, you will be able to read the credits!

I liked both parts of TEoT, but was less happy with the ending of Pt.2. I thought the extended good-byes were unnecessary, and that the Tardis exploding and catching fire during transformation was just wrong. I did like Timothy Dalton as the spittle-spewing bull goose Time Lord! I don't really understand why Wilfred went into the enclosure, and pushed the big red button. As he did it, I thought it was something to help the Dr., but it just turned out to make no sense to me.

 

[admiraldave]

On first viewing, I was underwhelmed. The blatant Star Wars rip-offs, overlong ending, Martha and Mickey (WTF!?!), it felt overdone.

But, second time through, I liked it more. Got more into the character moments. Overall, it wasn't the best sent off for Tennant, but it was good enough. I did like Ten's last line. Still not sold on Matt Smith yet, but I'm content to wait and see.

I don't really understand why Wilfred went into the enclosure, and pushed the big red button. As he did it, I thought it was something to help the Dr., but it just turned out to make no sense to me.

It was explained in the first part ... that security system is set so that one door must always be locked, in order for someone to get out, someone else has to go into the other room. Wilf went in to let the other guy out. A simple moment of compassion.