Journey's End
And as much as I hate those critical little bastards who jump onto their grease spotted keyboards and stomp out their own personal nit-picky prejudices and likes the second the show is over, here I am, mere minutes after the season four finale has concluded, sharing my thoughts with you lunatics.
First, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I was mega-pissed with Russell T Davies for farting around with the regeneration schtick. This concept has been central to the show's success and longevity and never before in the history of the series, classic or new, has anyone 'faked' it like RTD just did in the finale two parter just shown. And I think it was a massive cop-out, unnecessary and bloody annoying to any of us long-time fans. You either use it to regenerate the Doctor or you leave it alone; to whip it out like a party trick does nothing but cheapen it and lessen the excitement and impact.
Okay, with that out of the way, I enjoyed the hell out of the episode (and indeed, the first part as well) even though, or perhaps because of, the fact that it had the best and the worst of Russell T Davies' work on Dr.Who since he relaunched it and put his own particular brand of writing and style on the post-classic episodes. Myself and my good friend Lian have differing takes on some of the new Who (which is healthy as we agree on a lot of other stuff and two people thinking like her or I is a kinda scary thought) but I was definitely nodding in agreement watching these last two and thinking of her criticisms of Russell's habit of deifying the Doctor (or rather, his Doctor David Tennant) and his penchant for huge and slightly lazy Deus Ex Machina type endings.
RTD with 'The Stolen Earth' and 'Journey's End' set himself an admirably difficult and tricky task, to wit, deciding to throw everything he had achieved over the last four years into the pot with a cast stuffed full of companiony goodness (even adding in a quick CGI clip of K-9) , the (re) return of the ultimate Dr.Who villain with the Daleks, a brilliantly creepy updating of Davros and the 'death' (hem, hem, cheeky) . So all of this plus Russell's farewell to his 'family' of Rose Tyler and co. and typically, at least two teary scenes (the button pushing bastard) .
Having put all of that in the pot and setting it to simmer all season, did it work?
Yes and no. Yes, it worked in terms of sheer enjoyment and I applaud the BBC for supporting the show and helping it to achieve and maintain it's current level of success with the general tv viewing public. I thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes, with my annoyance at the gimmicky usage of regeneration aside, and there was no doubt that it was very exciting and suspense filled with Russell's trademark humour thrown in and lightening the overall dark tones very well. The usage of a slate of companions, including Torchwood, Sarah-Jane Smith and Rose, Donna, Martha, Mickey, Jackie could have easily led to 'Buffet' Syndrome with a whole lot of nothing and not much of anything, but Russell managed to make it work well overall, giving everyone something to Ddo and the ensemble scenes were great to watch, with everyone having a good time.
For me, once again, Bernard Cribbons was a stand-out and obviously I'm not the only fan of the coolest man on television as Bernie got some fantastic dialogue and wonderfully heartfelt scenes at the end of the episode. The rooting of the show in the humanity of the companions and their immediate families has always been Russell's strength since he re-launched the show and this really shone through in this story. The return of Rose & co. and the closure offered by the story's events and ending worked as it allowed us to come full circle with the characters and move on to what the future of Dr.Who has to offer us.
Where the show didn't work for me was the ridiculous plot. Yes, it was entertaining; yes, it was thrilling and yes, it was fun. But. It was very sloppy and very broad in it's scope of us having to suspend disbelief. The Earth being stolen is one thing. The Earth being moved along with 26 other planets is another thing. Davros rebuilding the entire Dalek race out of his own DNA is something else. The Supreme Dalek still being in charge despite Davros building the Daleks back up to strength yet another story.
Add to this, the regenerative nonsense involving the hand of the Doctor (hanging around since 'The Christmas Invasion' like a bloody plot device waiting to happen) , the Donna-Doctor mish-mash, the ability of Donna to control all the Daleks except for the Supreme Dalek, the Daleks ability to suddenly strip the TARDIS of all defences and then the really really dodgy Deus Ex device with the Torchwood last stand and you realize just how hit and miss RTD has been playing with the plotting and writing. Yes, the overall effect is one of a great thrill ride and it rounds off a generally excellent season with an exciting, enjoyable and emotional ending, but is it really too much to ask for to have the plot-holes filled in a bit better and a slightly less nonsensical scene than having the TARDIS drag the Earth back home whilst swelling music warms our hearts and makes us all go 'Aww, bless' like the earthlings rejoicing that their planet is back in place (eh? ).
Yes, I'm being a big fan here and nit-picking, analysing (emphasis on 'anal' this time around, I know) and moaning. It was a really fun and exciting show, and one that I will definitely be watching a few more times. To Russell, I will say, if we didn't love what you've done with the show overall since you re-started it, we wouldn't be taking the time to examine it and critique it. I thank you, from the bottom of my long-time fan's heart for restoring the show to it's proper pre-eminent place as a pinnacle of modern British culture and hope you have enjoyed creating and working on the series as much as we have gotten so much joy from watching it (except for 'Midnight' which was just godawful shit and should be forgotten).
Looking forward to where we all go from here with the show.
First, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I was mega-pissed with Russell T Davies for farting around with the regeneration schtick. This concept has been central to the show's success and longevity and never before in the history of the series, classic or new, has anyone 'faked' it like RTD just did in the finale two parter just shown. And I think it was a massive cop-out, unnecessary and bloody annoying to any of us long-time fans. You either use it to regenerate the Doctor or you leave it alone; to whip it out like a party trick does nothing but cheapen it and lessen the excitement and impact.
Okay, with that out of the way, I enjoyed the hell out of the episode (and indeed, the first part as well) even though, or perhaps because of, the fact that it had the best and the worst of Russell T Davies' work on Dr.Who since he relaunched it and put his own particular brand of writing and style on the post-classic episodes. Myself and my good friend Lian have differing takes on some of the new Who (which is healthy as we agree on a lot of other stuff and two people thinking like her or I is a kinda scary thought) but I was definitely nodding in agreement watching these last two and thinking of her criticisms of Russell's habit of deifying the Doctor (or rather, his Doctor David Tennant) and his penchant for huge and slightly lazy Deus Ex Machina type endings.
RTD with 'The Stolen Earth' and 'Journey's End' set himself an admirably difficult and tricky task, to wit, deciding to throw everything he had achieved over the last four years into the pot with a cast stuffed full of companiony goodness (even adding in a quick CGI clip of K-9) , the (re) return of the ultimate Dr.Who villain with the Daleks, a brilliantly creepy updating of Davros and the 'death' (hem, hem, cheeky) . So all of this plus Russell's farewell to his 'family' of Rose Tyler and co. and typically, at least two teary scenes (the button pushing bastard) .
Having put all of that in the pot and setting it to simmer all season, did it work?
Yes and no. Yes, it worked in terms of sheer enjoyment and I applaud the BBC for supporting the show and helping it to achieve and maintain it's current level of success with the general tv viewing public. I thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes, with my annoyance at the gimmicky usage of regeneration aside, and there was no doubt that it was very exciting and suspense filled with Russell's trademark humour thrown in and lightening the overall dark tones very well. The usage of a slate of companions, including Torchwood, Sarah-Jane Smith and Rose, Donna, Martha, Mickey, Jackie could have easily led to 'Buffet' Syndrome with a whole lot of nothing and not much of anything, but Russell managed to make it work well overall, giving everyone something to Ddo and the ensemble scenes were great to watch, with everyone having a good time.
For me, once again, Bernard Cribbons was a stand-out and obviously I'm not the only fan of the coolest man on television as Bernie got some fantastic dialogue and wonderfully heartfelt scenes at the end of the episode. The rooting of the show in the humanity of the companions and their immediate families has always been Russell's strength since he re-launched the show and this really shone through in this story. The return of Rose & co. and the closure offered by the story's events and ending worked as it allowed us to come full circle with the characters and move on to what the future of Dr.Who has to offer us.
Where the show didn't work for me was the ridiculous plot. Yes, it was entertaining; yes, it was thrilling and yes, it was fun. But. It was very sloppy and very broad in it's scope of us having to suspend disbelief. The Earth being stolen is one thing. The Earth being moved along with 26 other planets is another thing. Davros rebuilding the entire Dalek race out of his own DNA is something else. The Supreme Dalek still being in charge despite Davros building the Daleks back up to strength yet another story.
Add to this, the regenerative nonsense involving the hand of the Doctor (hanging around since 'The Christmas Invasion' like a bloody plot device waiting to happen) , the Donna-Doctor mish-mash, the ability of Donna to control all the Daleks except for the Supreme Dalek, the Daleks ability to suddenly strip the TARDIS of all defences and then the really really dodgy Deus Ex device with the Torchwood last stand and you realize just how hit and miss RTD has been playing with the plotting and writing. Yes, the overall effect is one of a great thrill ride and it rounds off a generally excellent season with an exciting, enjoyable and emotional ending, but is it really too much to ask for to have the plot-holes filled in a bit better and a slightly less nonsensical scene than having the TARDIS drag the Earth back home whilst swelling music warms our hearts and makes us all go 'Aww, bless' like the earthlings rejoicing that their planet is back in place (eh? ).
Yes, I'm being a big fan here and nit-picking, analysing (emphasis on 'anal' this time around, I know) and moaning. It was a really fun and exciting show, and one that I will definitely be watching a few more times. To Russell, I will say, if we didn't love what you've done with the show overall since you re-started it, we wouldn't be taking the time to examine it and critique it. I thank you, from the bottom of my long-time fan's heart for restoring the show to it's proper pre-eminent place as a pinnacle of modern British culture and hope you have enjoyed creating and working on the series as much as we have gotten so much joy from watching it (except for 'Midnight' which was just godawful shit and should be forgotten).
Looking forward to where we all go from here with the show.