Video Blogs
TV Shows:
Find Articles On:
Who's onlineThere are currently 30 members and 1105 guests online.
|
Doctor Who Finale Part 3 Recap: “Journey’s End”The Noble House. The Doctor shows up on their doorstep with an unconscious Donna in his arms. Gramps helps him. Donna’s mind couldn’t handle all that Time Lord consciousness — it was killing her. To save her, he had to wipe out all her memories and return her mind to before they ever met.
He impresses upon them how important it is for them never to mention what’s gone on. If she starts remembering the Time Lord stuff again, it would literally blow her mind. They wonder how they’ll explain the missing planets that are all over the news. The Doctor says it will just be another of Donna’s stories of something she missed out on. The Doctor: I just want you to know that there are worlds out there, safe in the sky, because of her. There are people … singing songs of Donna Noble, a thousand million light-years away. They will never forget her … That for one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe. As a speech, it’s sort of half Camelot, half Tale of Two Cities. But it’s beautifully written and acted, and it gets me sufficiently verklempt. Just then, Donna comes in, talking on the phone to a friend. They introduce her to the Doctor as “John Smith” but she barely acknowledges him. I know we’re supposed to think it’s sad that she’s back to being a total airhead. But honestly, she seems happy, gossiping with her friend and laughing and cracking jokes. I doubt this Donna could save the universe or anything. But she’d be a heck of a lot more fun to go out for drinks with. Just saying.
The Doctor tells her he’s leaving, and she’s all, “Yeah, so?” before going back to her call. Outside, Wilfred asks him where all his other companions are. Way to rub it in, Gramps. The Doctor acknowledges that they’ve all got someone, but says he’s fine with that. Gramps says he’ll look at the stars each night, and think about the Doctor. The Doctor thanks him and leaves. Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor is all alone again, and seems terribly, terribly sad. I’d say it’s time to order him up a new companion. Quick, somebody get Hasselhoff back on the line.
That’s all folks. The Doctor is now out. See you all again when Torchwood returns. Submitted by on Sun, 2008-08-03 21:38. |
 Recent Comments
Recent blog posts
|
Welcome to AfterElton.com!
- Login
- Join Now!
News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
What the Who?
Great job recapping Steven! Can't be easy cranking out so many pages worth of wit in the space of one weekend.
I have to say that this was a fun episode, despite gaping plot holes you could move all those planets though.
Now, I appreciate that the Torchwood scenes were probably shot entirely during the same filming schedule that they did the last Torchwood episodes in. But honestly, couldn't they have used at least Ianto (yeah, yeah and Gwen too) on the Dalek Death Star? Also, the whole time bubble thing was a bit lame to me. Putting aside the absurdity of Torchwood having such a capability (even as smart, if not smartly-dressed, as Tosh was), the Daleks fought a war against the Time Lords! We're honestly supposed to believe that a little thing like a time bubble would confound them? As weak rationales for cutting down on extra cast members in the Crucible scenes go this was pretty lame.
Also, other than vindictive reasons, what difference would it have made to the Daleks if Martha really had blown up Earth? Couldn't they steal another equal mass planet from somewhere/somewhen? Given that the Daleks were already planning to wipe out humanity, and then the entire universe, the dramatic gravitas of Martha threatening global suicude falls rather flat.
So did the Daleks kidnapping people to test the weapon on. Other than showcasing how evilly Nazi-esque they are why go to the trouble? Just use your kitchen rubbish you stupid flying pepper pots! No wonder your plots never work out. It's like in a James Bond movie. You never can just push the button on your doomsday weapon because you're too busy gloating about how you're about to push the button on your doomsday weapon!
Also, we didn't get any gay satisfaction this episode. We didn't see nearly enough of David Tennant's naked body. Jack never made out with Ianto nor professed his love for his loyal Bottom (or vice versa). Plus Mickey must have opted not to pick up where Ricky left off with pretty twink Jake in the alternate reality.
Three strikes and you're out RTD!
Actually, in truth I liked the whole thing more or less. Just wasn't everything I could have wished for from a gayboy perspective, even if it was everything I did wish for as a fanboy.
A time lock is not an
A time lock is not an unreasonable use of technology (I assume Tosh *scavenged* it rather than inventing it though). I agree that it was fairly naff story telling, and a cheap resolution, but not unreasonable within the DW universe.
The Daleks have never been masters of time or time travel. I think that's part of the reason it was so amazing that Dalek Caan could break the time lock to get back to the Time War when the Doctor couldn't. Alternately, the Doctor respects the laws of time -- and Caan totally doesn't -- and has hence never even dreamed of trying.
In a wider Who context though, the Daleks themselves have always had very limited control of time travel tech, and what they do have they've stolen, not invented. Back in Old Skool they had what was called a Time Tunnel, which was a direct physical link from one place and time to one other, and had to be left switched on while matter was in transit. No hopping back and forth and place to place, Tardis style. My understanding is the Time War was a war of attrition, and they were a genuine threat to the Time Lords only because they massively outnumbered them -- as expected of a race where individuals live for thousands of years (and all stay on Gallifrey, not travelling or colonising the galaxy) Time Lords have a very low birth rate.
Have to disagree. Was a
Have to disagree. Was a terrible ep.
Mikey and Jackie showing up was a bit much for me (and if the Daleks were going to kill Sarah Jane in the car, then why did they accept surrenders later - and even more ridiculous, why did they even need to kidnap people to test the reality bomb when a crate would have done the same thing).
The regeneration pass was awful and ridiculous and I hated it. It goes against the past canon of the show. It made the cliffhanger ending of pt. 2 cheap. And while Donna with some of the Doctor's mind made sense, I noticed that the Tardis recovered from all the fire and damage pretty conveniently. And then, all the switch flicking and technobabble was dreadful... if the Daleks were so easy to destroy why did so many Time Lords die?
No logic. I felt they went for 'companion' overload and it was just too much crammed into a weak plotline. Yeah, best part was Donna pushing aside Sarah for Jack and Davros recognizing Sarah. But even she wasn't used that well (I was tired of her chanting about her 14 yr old son).
Now Steve's New & Improved with Andre Norton Award Nominee power!
www.steveberman.com
That really was great
From where?
I get that universal history may be less well-policed with the Time Lords gone, but exactly how many races have adequate time manipulation technology that Tosh could "scavenge", much less comprehend within a reasonable timeframe?
The Dalek's level of time technology has always been open to debate. Remember that they are a time travelling race as well and any given Daleks we've encountered in the past may be from very distant future dates and more advanced than other groups. Back in the First Doctor's time there was an episode where a group of Dalek's had actually built a TARDIS of their own! The (now sadly lost) season long serial The Dalek's Master Plan had them building a Time Destructor super weapon.
Also note that in this more recent RTD series we have seen a Dalek use "Emergency Temporal Shifts" without the need for a time tunnel. They were also capable of disabling the TARDIS with a chronon ring. They were able to steal a planet through time. Finally, they were also able to time displace their whole operation, planets and all, to conceal it from detection.
Superior numbers alone should not have availed them against the Time Lords who have demonstrated the ability to effect massive manipulations of time, including locking whole planets into permanent time loops. Presumably the Daleks would have needed to meet a certain minimum level of time technology in order to overcome whatever the Time Lords threw at them (which doubtless would have included time stop effects like the one used here).
Therefore one can assume that the Daleks that started the Time War were distant future Daleks who had developed/scavenged/stolen sufficient time technology to successfully make a push against the Time Lords. Thus Tosh's time lock is not really a plausible obstacle to them. It just looks like a rationale to keep Ianto and Gwen in the Hub.
My God we're geeking out here!
We are, we really
We are, we really are.
But I'm at work, and it is *dull*.
First off, I agree with you that the level of time manipulation technology the Daleks have *now* is massive. Most of it acquired at the height of the war, I've no doubt. Capture a few Tardises, hell, capture a few *Time Lords*...
This is personal interpretation of what canon crumbs we have, but my understanding of how they get such a leg up on the Time Lords is based on the way the Time Lords behave. "Peaceful to the point of indolence" Brother Lassa calls them in School Reunion. There's a tonne of other evidence to support a construction of them as non-interventionist, even isolationist. I would argue that they were just way, way too slow to react to the coming Dalek threat. And numbers *would* make the difference, once the war comes to Gallifrey, say, as opposed to the initial skirmishes. Get some kind of lock on the planet so Tardises and transmats won't work, besiege it...
As for who else has time travel tech... Well, at the very least, and within TW continuity, the Time Agency, whoever the Hell they are. Though if Jack only needed two oscillating digits to fix his wrist strap I have to wonder WTF he was doing all those years. Thanks for that, RTD.
With regard to a time lock, though, what exactly is it? Is this one an "inferior" one, that superior tech can easily break, or is a lock just a lock, ie absolute. There's been some commentary on these pages on the Doctor's use of the word "impossible", and my query is, when he says something can't be done, does he mean it's actually, objectively, physically impossible, or does he just still fear the consequences of various Laws? Because clearly certain things he's declared impossible (crossing parallel worlds, re-entering the Time War) *are* possible, they just carry massive consequences (or at least the threat thereof) that he's not prepared to risk.
See, now it's *this* sort of conversation, rather than the actual clumsy execution of finales, that *really* makes Doctor Who great for me, and has kept me watching for twenty-six years. :-D
Nothing is absolute
Not even the time lock keeping the Time War segregated from the rest of history apparently.
So I find it especially weird that Tosh would be able to come up with a temporal defense that the Dalek's couldn't breach when apparently the Time Lords themselves were unable to do so. It's also apparently highly selective too. For example, it didn't react when Jack's crazy brother Grey rifted directly into the Hub in the Torchwood finale.
Which, just as an aside, is a demonstration of how fast and loose RTD plays it with the technology. Jack's Vortex Manipulator is the biggest piece of hand-waving deus ex machina ever in this entire series history. We know that there was crude time technology in the 51st Century. Magnus Greel used it to escape to the 19th Century in The Talons of Weng Chiang (which also makes the first reference to Time Agents). But it was nasty stuff and hurt Greel badly.
When we first meet Jack in Doctor Who he's getting around using a Chula timeship. No funky wristband that does everything yet. It leaves me wondering how 51st Century humans managed such awesome tech, especially since it is not apparently achieved by humans even in much later eras we see. Wonder if someone else was backing the Time Agency...
Anyway, back on topic. The Time War apparently wasn't a simple siege based on the dialogue we've gotten. Statements dropped by the Doctor, the Master and others hint at a much larger war affecting many, many worlds. Gallifrey certainly came under siege at the very end, where I'm guessing the Doctor opened the Eye of Harmony to wipe out the Daleks based on his comments. But that was the conclusion of the war.
To get to that point the Daleks would have had to face off against everything the Time Lords could throw at them, which all things considered is rather a lot. Somehow I'm sure that time-stopping effects would have been right at the top of the list.
Time Lord comprehension of time exceeds virtually everyone else except the two Guardians (and where are they I wonder?). Case-in-point: in Torchwood the Cardiff Rift is something vast, mysterious and incomprehensible even to geniuses like Tosh.
But not so to the Doctor! To him it's just a tool. A combination petrol station and occasional tow line (as we just saw). He doesn't find it at all perplexing or troublesome. We're left with the impression that he could make it do anything he likes. Which does beggar the question of what good Torchwood is. Although I suppose they do get nifty toys spewing out of it, so maybe Jack wouldn't be so enthusiastic about the Doctor doing something to close or stabilize it (Gwen, however, would whine for the rest of her life if she suspected).
The point is that the Tosh's time bubble is a lot like Jack's wristband. It's a "Davies Ex Machina" (can't claim credit for that one, wish I could). Obviously it's main purpose is to eliminate the rationale for Ianto and Gwen to do something interesting. Fortunately Ianto makes great coffee.
Excellent points
Poor Donna.
Oh and I hate Rose Tyler even more now that she has her own friggen Doctor all to herself and she still didn't even seem satisfied...
Oh and poor poor Donna, that was incredibly heartbreaking. I hope they find some loophole around that I thought Donna was awesome..
Journey's End - Officially Number One
It’s official, figures released today by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board confirm that Journey’s End, the final episode of Series Four, was the UK’s most watched television programme of the week with an official rating of 10.57 million viewers.
It is the first time in Doctor Who’s 45 year history that the programme has achieved this position. Not only did the programme top the chart but it did so in style getting more than 1.5 million more than the second placed programme, the Wimbledon Mens final. Journey’s End got over 2 million more viewers than any episode of Coronation Street and 3 million more than any episode of EastEnders.
This previous highest chart position was achieved by the 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned and last weeks The Stolen Earth, both of which came second. The highest chart position the classic series achieved was 5th for the second Episode of the 1975 Tom baker story, The Ark in Space.
The high chart position, combined with the outstanding Appreciation Index scores, make the two final episodes of Series 4 undoubtedly the most successful episodes of Doctor Who ever made. With the repeats on BBC3 and the IPlayer downloads included, the final episode has been seen by nearly 13 million viewers within a week of broadcast.
http://www.gallifreyone.com/
Tate thanks 'Doctor Who' boss for gamble
Catherine Tate has thanked Russell T. Davies for casting her in Doctor Who despite the public's perception of her.
"Oh gosh, I can't thank Russell enough for just making that possible," the actress told the London Evening Standard. "For many people, I'm sure, what a gamble to take on someone like me who is known, by the vast majority of people, for wearing wigs and comedy teeth."
Tate, currently appearing in the play Under The Blue Sky in London, joked about the prominence of her character Donna Noble in the recent season four finale, "For one brief moment I was the most important woman in the whole of the universe," she said.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a110865/tate-thanks-doctor-who-boss-for-gamble.html
Probably no Martha
I`m worrying about the same thing
I heard it`s offical,and the two shows will be starting shooting around the same time,in a few weeks.Rumors are flying around that the writers are in BIG trouble and are forced to change major part of the scripts.I`m still in shock that Freema would turn her back on the show(s) that make her today.I`m REALLY hoping that Martha`s character wasn`t in S3 of Torchwood`s plan at all from the very beginning and that`s the reason why she was free to sign other shows.
Possibly spoilers next ++++++++++++++
It might be not true,but from what I heard it seems Torchwood season 3 may be only focus on the original Torchwood team(Jack,Ianto&Gwen) & Rhys,No new team members(yet).It is possible that they save Martha & Mikey for the next season.
Might not be a bad idea
The Torchwood writing staff really had a hard time juggling five person team. Ianto was barely developed in series one. Tosh was a bit more developed but overall she was never shown to her full potential. Owen wasn't really either.
This goes back to my gripe about all the Gwen focus. I don't think she's really that exciting a character and yet she just eats up screen time like mad, often with trivial nonsense.
A smaller team migth allow for better character management. It's shame though because I do like Martha and I thought she had fantastic chemistry with Jack and Ianto. My real dream would be a dead Gwen and a team with Jack/Ianto/Martha. But you can't always get what you wish for.
excellent point!
I typed quite a few words several hours ago
some errors occured and they all magically disappeared.I`m heartbroken and still not in the mood to write it all over again.
Sigh,anyway,I`m very satisfied with this episode.Yes,there are many things which can be improved and some plot holes.But with this many characters in just one episode,RTD had done a respectful job.This episode is even a little bit longer than regular ones,slightly more than 1 hour I believe,but there still wasn`t enough time for everything.Catherine Tate & David Tennant are so outstanding in this episode and that`s one of the many reasons why I`m so in love with this series.Donna end up becoming my favourite companion in the new series(besides Jack),and I`m praying very hard that she would show up in the future story lines.
Talking about that,do any of you think it`s possible that Donna would be back someday?cause otherwise the "husband twist"in the 2-part Library story would seem very strange.If that storyline leads to nowhere why would Steven Moffat wrote it this way in the first place.
Also for your viewing pleasure
Comic Relief - Catherine Tate & David Tennant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A
the most hilarious thing I`ve seen in quite a while.
I was on the edge of my seat
Donna's mum finally steps up...
Did anyone notice that Donna's mother finally comes to her defense after the entire run? So many episodes where she's such a cold fish and she finally seems to turn the corner.
Nous Sommes Tous Sauvages.
CHRISTMAS TRAILER
Heart trumps geek
Yeah, some of you guys up there a few posts really are geeking out. I didn't mind any of the "convenient" resolutions; they just seemed like formula fun. What I was hugely impressed with was the Donna arc. What gorgeous writing was that?!
The bittersweet of Donna having saved all of reality, and then having to revert back to Clueless Twit status . . . not to mention when she, as Doctor Donna, realized that it had to happen (in conflict with her human part, that couldn't bear the loss). Writing doesn't get too much better than that, kids.
The blog loves good writing. The blog wants to blow Russell T Davies.
Thoughts on the finale...
Too much Rose
Unfortunately I think that they were hell-bent on reuniting the Doctor and Rose. From a perspective of storyline symmetry it really should have been the Doctor and Sarah Jane in the vault with Davros and not Rose. They were there for the birth of the Dalek race and they should have been the main pair here.
Don't get me wrong, while I generally like Rose as a companion I think she's way over-hyped. Her accessories (Mickey and Jackie) aren't all that grand either. But hopefully this provides closure for her and her mother.
As I already said, I think the Torchwood team were under-utilized as well. Given all the alien tech they've got I would have thought they'd be more useful fighting Daleks than Jackie (Mickey at least has experience fighting off Cybermen and Jake). As I recall, Jack's wristband is capable of transporting more than one person.
I agree that it would have been cool to see Torchwood (too many guns) interact with Sarah Jane (too much kiddie stuff) as well as having Rose compare notes with Martha. Rose's pissing match with Sarah Jane in School Reunion remains a classic.
Unfortunately the characters were all used in neat little buckets. Gwen and Ianto confined to the Hub. Martha off doing her UNIT-can-blow-up-the-world thing. Sarah Jane gets saddled with Mickey and Jackie (I'm surprised she didn't try to hurl herself into the reality bomb test to escape the misery.
Plus, an extra Doctor just for Rose. *groan* Exactly how much do they need to pander to her character?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I will
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I will miss your recaps so very much! Torchwood cannot return soon enough! (still wishing they'd let us see Jack go home and be all 'Here. New team members. Gwen, show them around. Ianto, my office, naked, now!"
I wanted Donna to stay DoctorDonna. She was always amazing and I wanted her for at least another season. Kick some sense into the Spaceman.
I'm sure Gwen and Ianto got bored after awhile down at Torchwood. Wonder if Jack missed out on a Torchwood orgy?
I want to be a hero like Captain Jack Harkness, kicking butt and snogging anything with a pulse! Besides, then I get a sexy receptionist of my very own. And no one would mess with me because I can kill them creatively.
Journeys End
John Barrowman