Well, I woke up today and the world was a restless place...

[use_theforce_em]

MASSIVE SPOILERS. Obviously. (also, it's the most tl;dr thing that ever killed a teal deer. you have been warned. seriously.)

There we have it. The first time I have experienced a Doctor's regeneration along with the rest of the world. The episode was downloaded on Friday on the computer, and even as I started it needing to know how it all ended,

Comments

[hangingfire]

I firmly believe that Donna is going to take her lottery money and do FUCKING AMAZING THINGS WITH IT. Like found a brilliant philanthropic organisation. Or something like that. Because she's Donna. I'm a little o_O about Martha and Mickey, but darn it, I hope those kids are happy together, because they deserve it. And it was good to see Jack in the cantina, considering what a horrible place he was in at the end of "Children of Earth".

Also: totally lost it at the sight of Sarah Jane's face. She knew. Oh lord.

When they named Rassilon, I almost jumped over the back of the sofa in sheer shock. What. The. Hell. It took me a while to sort it out, but yeah ... obviously, the Time Lords are the crowd who figured giving the Master a new body was the right thing to do for the War, so why not the founder of the society? Sure! Dubious track record notwithstanding! I did have fun explaining to my friends with whom I was watching the show the whole thing about how Rassilon has one of everything, and Omega is pissed because he didn't get any cool toys.

Of course, the thing about the Time Lords being in the lock is that we now know that they're out there somewhere, and can come back anytime. This is a good thing. Especially if it means even the vaguest truth to the rumour that the Rani or the Monk will be back.

(Who was the other dissenting Time Lady? Romana? I was actually convinced that Claire Bloom was Romana.)

My only big concern about the Master retcon is: it kind of brings him full circle, which is cool for him, but what does that mean for him coming back in the future? He's almost ... sorted. Can he still be a fitting adversary now that he knows why he is the way he is? (I say all this because I love the character AND WANT HIM BACK, thanks; I still believe in the comics readers maxim-paraphrased from Dune-of "Do not count a character dead until you've seen the body. And even then you can make a mistake.") All that being said, I love, love, LOVE the fact that this took the classic trope of "the Master's Big Plan goes pear-shaped and he and the Doctor have to work together to unfuck things up". Let it be noted, by the way, that the Rani in my head was feeling seriously left out. And I've written 1700 words already on the fic I mentioned last time.

"Legs! I've got legs!" "Nose: had worse. Chin: blimey." "I'm a girl! Oh, no, no, not a girl." "Still not ginger!" I like the boy already. XD But I really am going to miss Ten.

...I was going to write something about how this is actually my first regeneration, but that's not true, of course: I saw the TV movie back when it aired in 1996. Heh. But this was certainly the first one for me where I'd spent so much time getting to know one of the Doctors, enough to respond to his "I don't want to go" with "I don't WANT YOU TO DAMN IT." But it'll be okay. It generally is, with this show, and I think Eleven's going to be brilliant.

ETA: Murray Gold news that will make you happy. ^_^ (Personally, I hope by "new version of the theme" they mean "a somewhat more minimal version", but YMMV.)

[use_theforce_em]

I'm sure Donna will do amazing thing with that money. And everything. She's just sort of destined to be incredible. She has the means, we all know she does. Now she has the support as well. Mickey and Martha definitely confused me at first, but when I finally thought about it for a second it made me unreasonably happy. Because they certainly look happy, and they're also pretty darn kickass. Sarah Jane was one of so many places where I lost it. More the second time I watched than the first time, because the first time I was too shocked and distracted by every scene. But it's so right that it was her who knew more than anyone. She knows how this goes, and she's been in his life longer than any of them.

It was sort of funny in the end, though I was completely gobsmacked when the Doctor said his name. In some ways it's so obvious that that's where the Time Lords would go next. But still, not their brightest move. I'm just having fun talking about the Gauntlet of Rassilon and how it must be able to cure the common cold. XD

(I hope the other was Romana. My initial thought was that Claire Bloom was Romana, even possibly Susan. But Julie Gardner called her the Doctor's Mother in the episode commentary, apparently. Which is not what I was expecting, but I still really like the idea of RTD bringing in a Time Lady who we haven't seen, who is so important in a way that has never been addressed.)

I had a brief moment where I thought the same thing about the Master. And then I sort of smacked myself. Because he's almost worse than Voldemort in his fear of death. And it would be no problem at all for them to say that he had some horcruxes of his own. Which would mean that he could get restored with a memory from before the Time War had ever happened. Conversely, the drums will never stop. He's still going to be nuts from that for the rest of his life. And after throwing himself back into the Time War, who knows what effect that could have on him. It might make him more crazy. Either for the fact that the war is so bad there, or for the fact that he's just killed Rassilon and who knows how the Time Lords will react to that. And not only did I love that trope, but I almost felt like RTD fulfilled that original final plot for Delgado!Master, that never got done due to Delgado's death. It was lovely. For what it's worth, the Master is sure that none of this would have gotten quite so fucked up if she had been around.

It was the "I'm a girl!" that got me. Priceless. That and, as others have pointed out, we've got a "posh" Doctor back for the first time in the new series. It's endearing in a way I didn't expect. XD

I don't know that you could count the movie, though. They spent so little time on that regeneration. Then again, that's true of a lot of classic regenerations, I suppose. (although "Caves of Androzani" is a definite exception. I loved that serial). I'm taking my time in getting over it, but I'm still so excited for Eleven. I can't wait to be surprised by a new Doctor.

omg YAYMurrayGold. Thank god. Moffat knows not to screw with a good thing. (I'm realizing now that I don't care how the theme is different, as long as it's new. I want him to do something I've never heard before. I think that's the thing I'm beginning to want from the New Series).