And so I finally get to writing my review of The End of Time and the last adventure for the 10th Doctor (not counting future appearances in charity or anniversary specials obviously 
).
In true RTD form, for the 10th Doctor’s finale we were treated to a huge epic spectacle, with returning Time Lords, a super-powered Master, Laser Turret-toting Wilf and a high-diving Doctor. However where this 2-parter truely shined was in the smaller moments, and I suspect they’ll what’ll be remembered in years to come more than the big, epic stuff.
I’ll be honest. On first watching part 1, my immediate reaction was “oh dear”. The Master’s resurrection just seemed far too magical for Doctor Who, and his subsequent super-jumping around I didn’t like (even if I did get the explanation for it). The head-shaking effect didn’t really work for me either (funnily enough most of these complaints I can link to Last of the Time Lords. I similarly didn’t like the sped up Doctor effects for his hyper-aging or the flying, super-powered Doctor from that story’s conclusion). The Vinvocci seemed out of place as silly comedy aliens, and the Obama stuff also seemed a drawn out joke purely for the punchline of the Master being President of the US.
But where I think all of this stuff fell down was that it was purely setup. None of these things were meant to be taken in the context of that single episode. And once part 2 was on air, everything clicked into place. The Vinvocci’s importance to the story clicked in and the Master’s plan provided part of the mechanism for tracking the drumbeat and the return of the Time Lords. Part 2 was a superb episode and I loved it to bits. In context of the whole story, part 1′s sole failing really was that it was a setup episode, moving everyone into place for the bigger events of the second part. Perhaps part 1′s running length could’ve been trimmed a bit, however taking the End of Time as one whole story, it all comes together.
However as much as I disliked some of the bigger elements of part 1, the one scene I hear people referring to time and again is the cafe scene between the Doctor and Wilf. Where The End of Time really, really shines is the scenes between these two characters, as both actors really take all the great character pieces they’re given and raise them to even greater heights. The way the Doctor is so close to breaking down when he’s telling Wilf of the mistakes he made is powerful stuff. We’ve never really seen the Doctor this defeated before, and his reaction to his upcoming death is powerful. I liked how he’d interpreted the prophecy as his actual death, not regeneration (which, of course, we the audience knew it would be). But even then he explains how regeneration will still be like death for him, knowing he’ll change so much that he’ll be a new man and cease to exist as he is.
This theme of Wilf and the Doctor playing off each other is the story’s true strength, and continued into part 2, be it Wilf trying to convince the Doctor to take up arms against the Master, or the final revelation when Wilf is revealed as the source of the four knocks.
David Tennant is at his most powerful in these scenes as well. From his breakdown in the cafe, to the wonderful change in his expression when he thinks he’s survived, only to hear the four knocks, it was hard not to be affected by his performance. Its truely heartbreaking when the Doctor realises that the moment has come, and even though he rails against the injustice of it, there’s never a moment’s doubt that he’s going to jump into the booth to save Wilf. Tennant really makes the most of the material he’s given in his last episode, and for one last time reminds us of just how good an actor we’ve had playing the Doctor these last four years. His final line of “I don’t want to go” was not only powerful, but I suspect reflected the feelings of most of the audience at that point as well.
Of course, the Time Lords came back, and that’s worth mentioning. Many had speculated that it was going to happen, with the Time Lords being reinstated for Steven Moffat’s era and Matt Smith’s Doctor. However what we got instead ended up emphasising that they shouldn’t come back (well, at least not just now). The return of the Time Lords served to draw a line under the Time War as we discover that the Doctor’s been sugar-coating his memories of them ever-so-slightly.
Of course, those fans who’ve watched the old episodes were already aware that he was looking at the Time Lords through rose-tinted glasses, although the degree to which he was doing it, and the fact it was deliberate, came as a shock.
It turns out that the Master wasn’t the only Time Lord resurrected during the Time War, as its revealed that the mysterious narrator throughout part 1 isn’t only President of the Time Lords, but is also Rassilon (the assumption being that it’s THE Rassilon). Sadly, it also quick becomes apparent that the rumours the 2nd Doctor referred to in the Five Doctors were true and he’s a bit mad. Ever since Eccleston’s run, its been established that at the end of the Time War, the Doctor pulled the trigger on both the Daleks and the Time Lords. I’ve always assumed that the loss of the Time Lords was an unavoidable side effect of getting rid of the Daleks, something the Doctor had no choice to do, in order to rid the universe of a great evil. Now we know that that’s not the case. When the Doctor got rid of the Time Lords, it was to stop them specifically, as they’d been hideously corrupted by their great power and the war, and were planning the destruction of all reality. So while the Master is overjoyed to have brought the Time Lords back (granted, for his own purposes), he doesn’t understand why the Doctor is truely terrified by their reappearance.
It was interesting on more than one level. The Doctor’s reaction to the Time Lords coming back reminded me very much of the 2nd Doctor’s reaction to them back in the War Games. There, same as here, there was a real fear of these all-powerful beings (although the Time Lords back then weren’t nearly as blood-thirsty). Seeing the Doctor terrified like that is a nice way of underlying just how powerful the Time Lords truely are, as its not often you see The Doctor that afraid. Its also interesting, that for a storyline most thought would see the Time Lords restored, it in fact accomplishes the opposite, with the Doctor once again having to come to terms with his decision to end his race, and for the fans showing that, for now, the Time Lords are something that are gone, and should remain that way, hopefully ending the speculation as to when they’ll return.
(Of course, eventually a show-runner will have a killer idea involving non, or at least not-as, evil Time Lords and they’ll be back again, but for now its a done deal.)
So Steven Moffat’s first series will actually start with the Doctor in much the same Last of the Time Lords situation as he has been since the show returned, albeit I hope that this story will put a lid on the Time War and its impact on the Doctor, allowing Steven Moffat to explore the character in whole new ways.
Talking of which, it wouldn’t be fair to close out this post without mentioning Matt Smith’s first short scene as the Doctor, which I thought was brilliant. It was nice how it called back to David Tennant’s first scene in the Children In Need short, as well as The Christmas Invasion with the comment about wanting to be ginger (after all, we know that he becomes a red-haired Merlin one day). While very short, I was still impressed, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Matt Smith brings to the role. Watching Confidential it really gives you an impression of how he was thrown in at the deep end as well.
All in all, I was extremely happy with the End of Time. RTD gave us a great conclusion not only to the 10th Doctor, but also to his era as a whole. And for his finale, David Tennant gave us some of his most powerful acting, and found himself surrounded by superb actors, only further proving what a big name Doctor Who has become, and what a television event this finale was.
