Rate "Last of the Timelords"

[Oldmankrondas]

So what did you all think of this seasons finale? I have to admit, I was disappointed. I really wanted John Simm to survive and come back at a later date, I wanted Martha to stay (Though, to be honest, I now relate with her more than ever. 'Get out' and all that.) and they killed him! Then they went all 'Return of the Jedi'

Don't get me wrong, the image of the old Doctor coming out the tent during that unsettling (both dramatically and from a viewers point of view) musical moment at the opening was brilliantly harrowing. And I loved the fact that a year had passed, and Martha and Tom should join the Doctor next series. And the Doctors reaction to the Master dying was gut wrenching. In summary, the principal characters were all on top form but RTD, usually reliable for a great season finale dropped the ball a little.

Oh, and there was something about the Face of Boe?

[Cornelia_Africana]

I thought this was absolutely awful. I'd go as far as to say it's right up there with the likes of Love and Monsters, the Horns of Nimon, etc, as one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever. It's hard to sum up how awful it was. Still, here's the points that come immediately to mind.

First, John Simm's Master was even worse than last week. The sight of him dancing like a prat was actually embarrassing. Basically, RTD has written a camped-up comic book parody of the character, and like in last week's episode, he comes across more as a rather nasty schoolkid than anything else.

Next, why did aging the Doctor make him shrink into a gollum-like creature? Is this supposed to be what happens to Time lords when they reach extreme old age, or something? I suppose the shrinking scene was supposed to be scary, but to me it came across as slapstick - almost farcical. Then, we are supposed to believe that everyone on Earth thinking about the Doctor at the same time could reverse the aging and shrinking. Why? Even when channelled through the Master's archangel network, why would it have that effect? And why was he suddenly surrounded by a seemingly invincible force-field that made him immune to weapons, and gave him the ability to float, like Ky in the Mutants? What was all that about? We know that Time lords have telepathic and telekinetic powers to a certain extent, but we've never seen anything like that before.

There were plenty of other things that made me cringe. Awful "spaghetti western" music playing when Martha was being led into the Master's presence. A fleet of rockets to take over the universe - what was propelling them, and how long would it take them to reach even the nearest star? How would it be possible for Martha to contact everyone on Earth in a year? What were Mrs Master's motives? She seemed to be a willing accomplice last week, but this week seemed to be getting more and more disgusted with him, so was that why she shot him? But it wasn't elaborated on.

It had a few good points, such as the attitudes of the Jones family to the Master after all they'd seen, and a bit of genuine emotion in the Master's death scene (if he is really dead!). But basically it just seemed like a jumble of incoherent ideas, as though RTD was thinking "let's see, I want this and this and this in it, and this will go nicely here" - without thinking of how they could all be plausibly connected together. In fact, I think he's more interested in spectacle than in a plot that makes sense, and put in set-pieces on the grounds that they would look good, rather than on the grounds that they actually fitted together in a coherent plot. A very disappointing season finale.

[John Darnacan]

This was an example of RTD's proclivity for "magical" science, that is science without logic. I understand the Master adding 100 years to the Doctor's physical age. OK. But why would he shrink at 900. The CGI version of the Doctor was stupid and served no purpose other than shock value.

I liked the idea of using the Archangel Network against the Master (although the concept seemed to be borrowed from Independence Day). However, having the result that makes the Doctor god-like was just stupid. I could have written a better climax.

Unlike others, I didn't mind the Master prancing around like a git. It seemed in character with an insane meglomaniac, euphoric over his success.

In many cases, RTD has done a good job. But perhaps it is indeed time for him to move on. He seems to be working too hard to make every story part of a grand story arc. There were so many flashbacks, as if to say, "Oh, aren't I clever. See, I've been planning this for along time."

I'm not sure what I think of Jack being the Face of Boe. On one hand, it's and interesting idea.On the other, how does he loose his body and have his face enlarge? The Face of Boe was called that because 'he was a face'! What a coincidence, that Jack was called that as a child. RTD, if you're reading this, you don't have to make everything connect!

BTW, I don't think this is the last we've seen of Martha Jones. It just seems to be a Tegan-like fake departure. The Doctor will get a call in time for the next Earth Invasion. (And I'm really getting to hate all the Earth-Invasion plots.)

[Oldmankrondas]

Well as the news reported today, Martha is indeed back halfway through Season 4. Good news!

[Meddling Monkey]

oldmankrondas said:

Well as the news reported today, Martha is indeed back halfway through Season 4. Good news!

Halfway? Is that the first half or second?

[Claire Voyant]

I've recently been able to see the Who episodes online, closer to the actual broadcast time. Hurrah!!!!

Ditto to many of the comments above.

But I also was able to watch the first two episodes of Torchwood. And of course, I noticed the hand, etc. Of course, having just watched the finale of Doctor Who, it all made sense.

My question is to those who first watched Torchwood so many months ago, before series 3, did you realize what the hand was at that time?

[Oldmankrondas]

I guessed it was the Doc's hand, or the Radio Times mentioned it...or both. And Martha is said to return in the second half to join up with the Doctor and his new companion.

[Claire Voyant]

Oh my, a new companion. Any idea of who that might be?

[armadillozenith]

Wow. I am genuinely surprised that this story isn't getting higher votes.

I am usually quite critical but for me this story climax BLEW ME AWAY with its resolution.
The aged Doctor (+100year) was supremely poignant and his silent dignity was perhaps the weightiest dramatic performance I have ever seen. Mega credit for that to David and the makeup team... and scriptwriter RTD.

The shrunken (900year) Doctor was a shock, my belief faltered for a moment then clicked back in. It was the eyes and body language that made me feel 'That IS the same Doctor in there'.
CGI kudos and again superb acting from David, whose features and expressions they must have captured as a basis.

Logically, I guess the Master's application of Lazarus's technique was extrapolating the Doctor to the physiological state that would result if deprived of regeneration (and Timelords' ongoing nanogene tissue repair?)
If you could accept a Tissue Compression Eliminator as a gun for earlier Masters, why not that? Far more sadistically satisfying to age and diminish a living victim into decrepitude and (so he thought!) helplessness.

The Archangel network serving as a psychic link, to amplify and focus the united will of humanity... why not? Think of the Three Doctors (well, two) linking minds to reshape Omega's fortress.

I was held in suspense with real tension and concern throughout, and utterly moved - almost stunned - by the Doctor's tenderness and anguish toward the dying Master.

Martha's departure to look after the needs of her traumatised family and avoid wasting her affection longing unrequitedly for the Doctor made sense as a mature decision. It's good to see a companion being handled with respect, as more than a mere adjunct to the plot or Doctor.

I loved the face of Boe/Jack link. Complete surprise there.

Query: what of Boe's offspring, baby Boemina, announced as expected on the Bad Wolf TV channel in Series 1?
Will we see her/it, or an earlier version of Boe/Jack, in a future episode?

The Master's ring being left from his pyre (the pyre itself a Jedi funeral nod?), and the ring picked up, to a sinister chuckle, echoed Flash Gordon's emperor Ming's demise/reprise at the end of the deLaurentiis film.

And the time-reversal back to how it was before, normally a no-no, made sense here in terms of that whole year having been a paradox (spheres decimate their own past) - a paradox only sustained by the cannibalised TARDIS.

For me this gets full marks. It not only met my earnest hopes to avoid a last-minute let-down; it went beyond them.

I could not fault it, nor wish for a better culmination.

And that has astonished me.

[Meddling Monkey]

Having had a little time to think on it, I realise the plot was quite clever. It's really just a few nitpicks that really hurt it. As usual, it's those bizarre jumps in logic (or non-logic) that hurt the story, such as the Doctor's god-like resurrection, just because everybody's thinking "Doctor".

Is this Doctor Who or Harry Potter?