Doctor Who, 4x13 - "Journey's End" thoughts

[arabian]

Okay, so I don't know how coherent this will be, but I'll try. Sadly, I did not like this one as much as I did the last three. It was really good, and it was certainly better than the conclusion of season three, but it was no "The Parting of the Ways" or "Doomsday," and just not the strongest finish to the one-two punch of "Turn Left" and "The

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[nina_ds]

I don't know that I have anything to add, but I just have to repeat these two paragraphs:

To be completely honest, the main reason I don't think that I'll ever look forward to Doctor Who again to this anxious, joyful degree isn't because, essentially, the Rose/Doctor story has been told, but because so has Donna Noble's. I love Donna. Unlike some, I actually loved her from about five minutes in from her first appearance in The RuMnaway Bride when she was rash, brash, rude and a tad dim. And my love for her just grew over this season. Partly how she was written, yes, but I think, mostly, because Catherine Tate is just brilliant. I've never seen her before, never even heard of her before, but my GOD! can this woman act. I don't think she's capable of a wrong note. I really don't.

Every moment with her on screen has been a joy to watch. And this episode was full, blinding truth of that. We got every kind of Donna tonight. We got the brash, rash, rude, dim Donna. We got glittering, gleaming, sparkling, bright Donna. We got a horny Donna; a possessive Donna; a happy one and a sad one. We got a brilliant Donna, and a vulnerable one. We got every layer and shading possible and Catherine Tate delivered every single note pitch-perfect. I believe that she and Christopher Eccleston are by FAR the best actors they have ever had on this show (new version, haven't watch old Who) ... so, of course, we only get them for one season. Sigh.

I was actually done with DW after Last of the Time Lords; I couldn't take it any more. And then they announced the return of Donna, and I had to watch despite myself. Unlike some, I think this has been a pretty weak series in terms of storytelling on the whole, but Donna has been consistently wonderful.

My hope for the future isn't actually directly Who-related. I want RTD to go back to writing relationship drama, which he's really best at, and write a mature, complex love triangle for Christopher Eccleston, Catherine Tate, and Lesley Sharp. They really are the actors who can put across his wild plotting with believable emotional impact.

[arabian]

Oh, I agree that this wasn't the best series, but Donna is just so fabulous. Don't know nor care about Lesley Sharp, but to see Eccleston and Tate on screen together, penned by RTD? Oh, what bliss, what heaven that would be.