Review: The End of Time Part 2
Rating: 9 out of 10
Six word summary: It's got more endings than LOTR!!
Last week The End of Time Pt 1 had the distinct feeling of holding itself back, the action-bunny flailing pointlessly as we were overrun with exposition and backstory and characters and a general lack of very much actually happening, which is a singularly weird experience for a show like Doctor Who. This week, however, suffers from no such trauma. In fact, it deserves every inch of it's capslocked subtitle:
DAVID TENNANT DIES!!!!
Which, of course, is the whole point of the thing. EoT2 gets off to a thunderous start and doesn't stop for breath for the next sixty minutes. It's an all-stops-pulled-Doctor-Who-epic-extravaganza-finale and yeah: I love it.
Gosh, I love it. :)
From the off this feels like a DW ep of old (well, new-old). It's not safe, but far less unsettling than last week's, with many of the stalwart elements of the series normal restored as a solid grounding for the biggest jaw-dropper DW can ever throw at it's audience-- the regeneration of the Doctor. Here's just a few:
No contest, this is his finest performance as the Doctor. He is mesmerisingly honest in every scene: never does it feel as though he's playing a Best Bits record, even in those moments we've seen a hundred times-- his smartass quipping; the requisite misuse of 'allonzy'; his horrendously self-righteous pacifism-- DT here is the Doctor turbo-charged, upping his game to the glorious maximum. Applause for RTD however, for not being scared to make his best-loved character do a complete personality U-turn in his very last episode. Who thought for a minute there, as the Doctor's finger trembled on the trigger, that the Master was going to end up with a bullet in his head? Or Rassilon? Honestly, I didn't breathe for that entire scene. I was on a freakin' ventilator.
Of course, the big fangirl moment this week was the long-anticipated return of the Time Lords-- and It doesn't disappoint. They're such a legend they really only need the cameo they're given. Timothey Dalton is gloriously majestic as the resurrected Rassilon, out-robusting everyone in sight ("I WILL NOT DIE!!!!) and his vicious, no-holes-barred performance really gives them the gravitas they need for their return.
Of course, it's a good thing every member of the cast decided to act their socks this ep, 'cos the whole thing suffers from a frankly awe-inspiring lack-of-plot. The what diamond? I can't think of another DW ep that has main characters so frequently spouting sci-fi exposition lingo in place of actual action. But I suppose, if you can get away with it anywhere, it's gonna be here. Lets be fair, we were all far too busy watching David Tennant's kicked-puppy expression to care very much about the actual story-- He's about to DIE for goodness sake!!!
(And speaking of pointless plot-lining, what about those ridiculous companion cameos at the end? It's like JK's Harry Potter epilogue: Why we ask. Just: why?)
So by the time RTD's finished milking every one of his personal creations from the last five years, we finally get around to the actual regeneration. And boy does Chris Eccleston's look tame in comparison. One word we shall use here: DRAMATIC. The plot of the first episode of the new series must be 'Doctor-moves-in-with-sexy-teenage-companion-and-mother-while-Tardis-is-declared-unsafe-under-BBC-health-and-safety-regs'. The place is a bomb-site. But that's ok. That's how my heart felt watching David Tennant morph seamlessly into that odd, odd looking wee boy, Matt Smith from Party Animals. Hmm. Though I'll give him a chance. Gotta love the: "I'm a girl!! Noooo....". I'll give him a chance as soon as he changes out of David Tennat's suit: STEP AWAY FROM THE PINSTRIPES. At the moment, for me, the grief is still too near :(.
So there we go. The End of Time is the end of an era (see what I did there?). Watching it, I think it's a near-perfect slice of DW, although there's still the sense from last week of a thinning plot being held gamely aloft by a spectacular cast. But above all things, this is David Tennat's finale, and as that it would be near impossible to surpass. He carries this episode every inch of the way, playing his Doctor with heart-breaking emotion and conviction, his love of the role the perfect reflection of our love for him in it. A spot-on send-off.
Matt Smith must be shaking in his stolen Converse.
Quote of the week:
"I don't wanna go!"
-- The Doctor
xxx
Six word summary: It's got more endings than LOTR!!
Last week The End of Time Pt 1 had the distinct feeling of holding itself back, the action-bunny flailing pointlessly as we were overrun with exposition and backstory and characters and a general lack of very much actually happening, which is a singularly weird experience for a show like Doctor Who. This week, however, suffers from no such trauma. In fact, it deserves every inch of it's capslocked subtitle:
DAVID TENNANT DIES!!!!
Which, of course, is the whole point of the thing. EoT2 gets off to a thunderous start and doesn't stop for breath for the next sixty minutes. It's an all-stops-pulled-Doctor-Who-epic-extravaganza-finale and yeah: I love it.
Gosh, I love it. :)
From the off this feels like a DW ep of old (well, new-old). It's not safe, but far less unsettling than last week's, with many of the stalwart elements of the series normal restored as a solid grounding for the biggest jaw-dropper DW can ever throw at it's audience-- the regeneration of the Doctor. Here's just a few:
- The funny aliens
- The creaky old spacecraft
- The HUMOUR!!! (how we missed you)
- All the companions
- The Master, back on King-of-the-Universe form
- An EPIC STANDOFF (Oh yes it is :))
No contest, this is his finest performance as the Doctor. He is mesmerisingly honest in every scene: never does it feel as though he's playing a Best Bits record, even in those moments we've seen a hundred times-- his smartass quipping; the requisite misuse of 'allonzy'; his horrendously self-righteous pacifism-- DT here is the Doctor turbo-charged, upping his game to the glorious maximum. Applause for RTD however, for not being scared to make his best-loved character do a complete personality U-turn in his very last episode. Who thought for a minute there, as the Doctor's finger trembled on the trigger, that the Master was going to end up with a bullet in his head? Or Rassilon? Honestly, I didn't breathe for that entire scene. I was on a freakin' ventilator.
Of course, the big fangirl moment this week was the long-anticipated return of the Time Lords-- and It doesn't disappoint. They're such a legend they really only need the cameo they're given. Timothey Dalton is gloriously majestic as the resurrected Rassilon, out-robusting everyone in sight ("I WILL NOT DIE!!!!) and his vicious, no-holes-barred performance really gives them the gravitas they need for their return.
Of course, it's a good thing every member of the cast decided to act their socks this ep, 'cos the whole thing suffers from a frankly awe-inspiring lack-of-plot. The what diamond? I can't think of another DW ep that has main characters so frequently spouting sci-fi exposition lingo in place of actual action. But I suppose, if you can get away with it anywhere, it's gonna be here. Lets be fair, we were all far too busy watching David Tennant's kicked-puppy expression to care very much about the actual story-- He's about to DIE for goodness sake!!!
(And speaking of pointless plot-lining, what about those ridiculous companion cameos at the end? It's like JK's Harry Potter epilogue: Why we ask. Just: why?)
So by the time RTD's finished milking every one of his personal creations from the last five years, we finally get around to the actual regeneration. And boy does Chris Eccleston's look tame in comparison. One word we shall use here: DRAMATIC. The plot of the first episode of the new series must be 'Doctor-moves-in-with-sexy-teenage-companion-and-mother-while-Tardis-is-declared-unsafe-under-BBC-health-and-safety-regs'. The place is a bomb-site. But that's ok. That's how my heart felt watching David Tennant morph seamlessly into that odd, odd looking wee boy, Matt Smith from Party Animals. Hmm. Though I'll give him a chance. Gotta love the: "I'm a girl!! Noooo....". I'll give him a chance as soon as he changes out of David Tennat's suit: STEP AWAY FROM THE PINSTRIPES. At the moment, for me, the grief is still too near :(.
So there we go. The End of Time is the end of an era (see what I did there?). Watching it, I think it's a near-perfect slice of DW, although there's still the sense from last week of a thinning plot being held gamely aloft by a spectacular cast. But above all things, this is David Tennat's finale, and as that it would be near impossible to surpass. He carries this episode every inch of the way, playing his Doctor with heart-breaking emotion and conviction, his love of the role the perfect reflection of our love for him in it. A spot-on send-off.
Matt Smith must be shaking in his stolen Converse.
Quote of the week:
"I don't wanna go!"
-- The Doctor
xxx