I am – Hercules!! The BBC got it Friday. BBC America gets it Saturday. AMERICANS!! BEWARE MAMMOTH SPOILERS!! “McCroker” calls it “heartbreaking and exhilarating”:

Dude, anyone who gives a spoiler on this needs shooting. Last 20 minutes were heartbreaking and exhilerating at the same time, and, love him or hate him, testament to why Russel T Davies was successful in resurrecting the Doctor. Everything you want your expectations to live up to. Don't wanna say anymore, cus I don't wanna spoil it, and movies or films, I've never been so sincere with that statement.

“palimpsest” calls it “hamfisted psychotwattery masquerading as twisty storytelling”:

Hi Herc Another quick overview of the last Tennant/Davies-era WHO, "The End of Time", which has just concluded here in the UK. And what a load of old sweaty bollocks it was too. We left the last ep with the cliffhanger that The Master had cloned the Earth's entire population, because he was up to unspecified badness. Then the Timelords brought themselves back from being locked out of time through vaguely described methodology. Then there was an escape, and some spaceship stuff and a bit of DAMBUSTERS/STAR WARS action and a Mexican standoff and a big planet almost materialised but this was averted at the last minute due to something being blown up and all the baddies got what was coming to them but at great cost to the principal goodie. That's pretty much exactly what it was like. Imagine feeding three pints of ice-cream to a hyperactive child, giving them a couple of goes on a rollercoaster and then asking them to explain what they'd done at school three days earlier. That's how coherent it was.. In fairness, all the performances were good, though special mention goes to Bernard Cribbins as old soldier Wilfred. There were a few nice lines (as ever Davies is actually more than competent at character work, and has a superb ear for baroque titles for off-screen menaces) and even a sly dig at grumblers on the internet ("Worst. Escape. Ever!"). The whole thing, though, was ultimately a mix of an hour of hamfisted psychotwattery masquerading as twisty storytelling, followed by fifteen minutes of self-indulgent luvviness as The Doctor whizzed around time and space to say cheerio to all the Russell Davies-created characters he could find, and then a regeneration... ...and as Davies wrote the last regeneration sequence, this one felt a bit samey, though in the few seconds new boy Matt Smith was onscreen he displayed something of a spark, so that went rather okay. Tennant was good throughout, and I'm sure many viewers will have been touched by his character's unwillingness to go, but there was no dramatic logic to the final reel. Imagine the last half hour of RETURN OF THE KING in the Daviesverse. That's what it was like. And not in a good way. In the end, Davies allowed himself to take the success of the last five years a little too much for granted, and failed to come close to the relative heights of last year's climactic episodes. This was an unwieldy mish-mash, and he's hung on to the series stewardship perhaps a year too long. At least he's wrapped up most of the loose ends so that future show-runners aren't saddled with his increasingly soapy baggage. Mind you, in three times Hugo winner Steven Moffat we trust. Here's hoping he can return the series back to DOCTOR WHO, rather than to RUSSELL DAVIES' VERSION OF DOCTOR WHO, which isn't the same thing at all. See you in the talkbacks

“Gabba-UK” says it was a “much better episode than Part One”:

Hi Herc, The end comes to us all, of course, except for The Doctor. This was a much better episode than Part One and I think all the fans can all agree that they gave David Tennant the send off he deserved. But not in quite the way the way you'd think. Rightio, to carry on I have to assume that you've seen Part One, if you haven't there be some SPOILERS!!! Carrying on from last week The Lord President of the TimeLords (Timothy Dalton) address' the council of Gallifray. It's the last day of The Time War, their time locked and not happy. There is a prophecy that speaks of two survivors, children of Gallafray, that are beyond the end of time. The Doctor and The Master and a place that is repeated again and again, Earth Back on Earth, The Doctor is tied up with Wilf and The Master is monologuing when Donna calls her gramps phone. The Human-Masters around the Earth begin to look for her and as she about to be cornered the images of her time on the TARDIS rush into her head before a burst of energy is flung her, knocking down her assailants and putting her out stone cold. A piece of protection left her by The Doctor, it also ensures that we have as little to do with Donna bloody Noble for the rest of the show. Yes, I'm a Tater. Deal with it. The Master recalls The Tempered Schism he was shown as an eight year old, the never ending drums in his head since that day that drove him mad. As he does The Lord President recalls the same story, and the master realises that with 6 billion versions of him with the same drumming in their head he can use it to triangulate the signal, for that is what he now knows it was. Trouble is, The Timelords know that too and it's a way for them to return to normal space and carry on with their master plan. Which is pretty bad for the rest of us and a finally gives us the answer as to why The Doctor decided to destroy them along with the Daleks..... Thats enough of the plot I think. You'll just have to Bit Torrent it to watch it. Whats bad about it? Not much to be honest. The scenery chewing that John Simm was doing last week was toned down a lot, leaving us with performance that showed a lot of the inner torture of The Master. Whats good about it... Most of it frankly. The production had a high level of polish to it. The music wasn't as bombastic and intrusive. And it had a great bit with Bernard Cribbins and a man for a cactus for a head, that wasn't a million miles from the escape from the Death Star scene in Star Wars. A scene that was a total rip of the cantina scene in the same film (and Not done too badly in fact) And a genuine knockout twist about 'he will knock 4 times'. Also RTD wrote a very lovely ending with The Doctor Visiting ALL his companions and rounding off his time on the series very nicely. In the Doctor Who Confidential afterwards he said he wrote that as a way for the incoming Moffet to draw a line and create new characters and not feel beholden to carry on with them. For all the criticism RTD has got, some deserved, some not, I feel that all Who fans should say thank you and wish him well. He did the near impossible, resurrect a failed and at time very silly series and brought it up to date with a fresh take on it and made it fun again. And after the confidential show? A brief teaser of Matt Smith doing his thing, which looks more livelier, ' Geronimo ', more fistcuffs, the Statues from Blink, Alex Kingston, his hot new assistant and him firing a gun?!! " "Trust me. I'm The Doctor"

“Eldron” calls it “a bit of a mixed bag”:

Good evening world, here are my thoughts and review on the final David Tennant episode of Doctor Who - The End Of Time. In the last days of the Time War, the President of Gallifrey and the High Council of Time Lords come up with their escape plan. They focus a signal, the four beats of a Time Lord's heart, into the vortex, to be received by the young Master, who hears them as drums in his head that fuel his insanity. Following his takeover of the Planet Earth, the Master is able to focus all 6 billion of himself onto the signal, creating a link between Earth and Gallifrey, which is then exploited by the Time Lords to force Gallifrey to materialise outside of the Time War and escape its fate. Meanwhile, the cactus aliens spring the Doctor and Wilf from the Master's capture, and teleport them to their scout ship in orbit. The Doctor disbales the ship to prevent the aliens from piloting it away from Earth. While repairing the ship, he receives a broadcast from the Master explaining the return of Gallifrey. The Doctor reactivates the ship, evades a missile attack, and freefalls into the mansion which is acting as the Nexus between Earth and Gallifrey. The President and his entourage appear on Earth, revealing the source of the Master's drums and revealing his desire to destroy the universe to assure the Time Lords' immortality. The Doctor, armed with Wilf's WWII firearm, is faced with the choice - kill the President or kill the Master, to break the link with Gallifrey and banish it back to the Time War. Choosing life, he destroys the machinery creating the link, banishing his people. The Master uses the last of his life force to prevent the President, revealed as Rassilon, from exacting vengeance on the The Doctor, and disappears with Gallifrey. In the chaos, Wilf has got himself locked in a chamber. He knocks four times to ask the Doctor to release him, and the Doctor knows his time has come. He enters the chamber to release Wilf, and receives a fatal dose of radiation. He returns Wilf to his family, including Donna, who has survived the partial recovery of her memories. The Doctor then embarks on a farewell tour, seeing Martha, Mickey and Sarah-Jane one more time. He sets the exiled Captain Jack up with the stranded Midshipman Frame, and visits the granddaughter of Nurse Redfern at a book signing. Finally, he visist Rose on New Year's Eve 2005, before they meet. Returning to his TARDIS, the Ood sing for him as he regenerates into his Eleventh incarnation. The regeneration destroys the TARDIS interior, and the new Doctor fights to prevent the TARDIS from crash landing into Earth. === This super-sized finale was a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. For the msot part it was a lot more focused than part one. There was an actual plot for the majority of the episode for a start. And yet it was ultimately unsatisfying. I have felt for a long time that Stolen Earth/Journey's End was the best finale that the RTD era could want, tying up multiple plot lines, featuring guest appearances from the entire modern-era Doctor Who family, and being a bloody good story to boot. And unfortunately, The End Of Time just isn;'t the same. So what worked? Bernard Cribbins was absolutely fantastic in this episode. He was everything a companion should be - excited and awed by the events he witnesses, an innocent party to the Doctor's death, and the real heart of the episode. The quiet conversation between him and the Doctor, where WIlf talks about his military experiences and attempts to convince the Doctor to arm himself with a gun, was easily the dramatic highlight of the episode. The action sequences, with the scout vessel fending off missile attacks and the Doctor's final, triumphant 'Allons-y!' injected the episode with a real shot of energy, something which had been missing from Part One. And John Simm turned in his best performance ever as The Master, whose redemption was fitting and beautiful. What didn't work? The Time Lords always worked better as a concept rather than a reality, and their much-heralded return amounting to standing around in some whiteness before being told to bugger off didn't live up to the years of expectation. After appearing to take the centre stage at the end of Part One, Donna's story was solved quickly and with one of RTD's deus ex machinas - a defence mechanism implanted by the Doctor that not only saved her life but also neutralised the Master clones chasing her. And the Death of The Doctor. All half an hour of it. From his selfish, petulant anger at Wilf to his final line ('I don't want to go), this over-extended love-in pales in comparison to the wonder of the Ecclestone-Tennant transition. Tennant should have embraced his future at the end, setting off on the next stage in his journey, instead of moping in self-pity right until the end. Some fo the goodbyes worked - Martha and Mickey was a wonderful moment of humour, and the unspoken words between Sarah-Jane and the Doctor had me welling up with tears. But Midshipman Frame? Surely only there because RTD fancies the pants off Russell Tovey (see The Writers Tale for much more detail). And no last minute reprieve for Donna? A real shame. Matt Smith impressed during his first minute or so of screen time, and with Steven Moffat taking over behind the scenes, I think we have had enough of Number Ten, and we are ready fro Number Eleven.

“Spud McSpud” seems grateful the Davies era has ended:

So - Part 2! GALLIFREY RISES!!! And then... Well, first - a warning. HERE BE SPOILERS. CAN OPEN, SPOILERS EVERYWHERE. Is it any good? Hell YEAH, in certain parts, and others are so painfully badly written you can't help but groan. Niggets of awesomeness swimming in a river of shite. So, where to begin? Well, first off, RTD manages not one shit Deus-Ex-Machina, but TWO. Bernard Cribbins is once again far and away the best thing in this show. David Tennant gives one of the best performances of his WHO career. And Matt Smith will be Gallifreyan Marmite (love him or hate him - there is no "meh"). So, Donna is frothing in the mind at seeing multiple Masters everywhere. The entire human race is now The Master. The Doctor can't stop him - yet. It's the rise of the "Master Race". And the Master has a plan. Does he? He does. The episode starts with the Doctor in captivity, strapped to a gurney, ready for a wonderful scene where he tries to convince the Master that it would be his honour to travel the universe at his side, as allies, not enemies. Isn't it enough to see the universe, to travel its breadth of space and time, rather than try to own it? The Master just wants the drumming in his head to stop. And eventually he figures out that if he uses all 6 billion sets of ears, he might be able to triangulate where the signal is coming from. And after last week's cliffhanger, guess where? Oh yes. GALLIFREY. No explanation as to how any of this works, of course. Simm is less annoying in this, not so much flying and "I'm hungry" rubbish. The plot makes more sense - especially the clever idea that the Lord President of Gallifrey used the signal as a way of keeping a link to outside the Time War - almost as if he knew it would eventually be time-locked. And as the plan to escape the time-locked Time War's final day is directly linked to what is going on in the Master's head (though how this works is, predictably, nonsensical, and completely left unexplained by RTD), of course this all comes to a head, as the Time Lords finally escape their prison locked within the Time War, and manage to transport themselves - and Gallifrey itself! - out into our universe. Oh, and we find out WHY the Doctor destroyed his own people by locking them eternally into the Time War... I can't spoil all the revelations - the reason why the Time Lords had to be stopped is actually compelling stuff, very cleverly conceived and written, and deserved more of a five-parter than the half-an-episode RTD gives it here. The Time Lords are brought back and bainshed again in much the same way you'd buy a cheeseburger and then throw it away - WAAAY too easily. Gallifrey is literally a blink-and-it's-gone event. And there's more of those wonderful nuggets of mythos that could REALLY be something awesome in the hands of someone greater - the Hall of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the fact that the Time War actually descended into Hell, as the combatants created monsters so blasphemous their existence was contrary to anything else in creation, that they actually became almost demonic in nature. And that as long as the Time War remains in time-lock, it will be fought ceaselessly, never to end - Hell, indeed. So, is it any good? Performance-wise, Tennant is glorious in this episode - I heartily agreed with his last words, as did Mrs Spud-To-Be. Tears aplenty in our house. He really gives the essence of a man who is afraid to relinquish up his life, because he wants - NEEDS - to do more, yet has no choice. Never mind that his death scene is a direct rip-off of Spock's in WRATH OF KHAN, or that he can't die of what he dies of because he shook the same stuff out of his right foot in SMITH & JONES (yes, RTD pulls a Lucas and forgets his own mythology). Never mind that between getting his fatal dose and actually regenerating, Tennant gets more endings than three re-runs of RETURN OF THE KING. Never mind that the painfully obvious gay reference here (and I KNOW RTD is doing this for fun now) is rammed straight into a STAR WARS Cantina rip-off so obvious you're amazed it hasn't got Peter from FAMILY GUY fronting the Bith band (Firgin D'An and the Modal Nodes. Yes, I'm THAT anal. Fnar fnar). But despite RTD's best efforts to fuck all this up, Tennant is so riveting, so magnetic in his last adventure, that you are with him every step of the way. He's glorious in his last Doctor episode. Bernard Cribbins steals the rest of the show. Proud, noble (pun intended), brave, and absolutely there with the Doctor all the way, his Wilf is the best Companion the Doctor never had. His shining moment in the STAR WARS Falcon-gunners-vs-TIE-fighters rip-off scene (the Hesperus ship vs Earth missiles) is so fantastic, I punched the air with joy. Oh yes. I AM Tom Cruise on Oprah. Fuck it, Cribbin's is THE MAN. He's the next greatest thing in this episode. Everyone else is there for the ride. Dalton is ultimately rendered pointless - a shame, since a real return of the Time Lords with him at the helm would have been next-level awesome, but it's not to be. Catherine Tate is given virtually nothing to do, except for her what-the-fuck moment where she can suddenly shoot stunning psychic energy from her head (also not explained, probably because it's also nonsensical), as are any of the other cameos. There's some fun stuff - Mickey and Martha, the time when Tennant last visits Rose (yep, she's here, but it's very well done, poignant, and doesn't feel forced at all), and the STAR WARS cantina rip-off scene is kind of funny. But most of this episode is shite, and Tennant and Cribbins hold it together. Their performances cancel out the maelstrom of suck, and render this a very good episode indeed. It's good acting versus RTD's shitty scriptwriting, and Good Acting wins out. Oh, and the Eleventh Doctor? His intro is very reminiscent of Tennant's, and lots and LOTS of fun. Looks like we're getting a TARDIS revamp next season (about time too!), and I like Matt Smith's Doctor very much - very energetic, fun, and enthusiastic. And love his new catchphrase, "Geronimo!!". Great stuff. I'll leave you with the thought that RTD actually turned down the chance to write for the STAR WARS live TV series. I think we all had a lucky escape there, on the basis of THIS script - but the new season is run by a man who turned down writing for Spielberg again over the chance to showrun DOCTOR WHO. His priorities are above reproach - Moffat IS the man to take WHO to greater heights. Happy New Year to you all. Spud McSpud out...

“Stanton” calls the first 50 minutes “a bit shit”:

The episode essentially consists of two parts: a fifty minute resolution to the previous episode, and a twenty-five minute "David Tennant (and RTD) are off, best say goodbye" bit. The plots barely intermesh. The fifty minute bit was a bit shit, frankly, or average at any rate. A typical over-blown earth in peril business. RTD has never been very good at plots. But he is good at the little moments in an episode, and there were lots of nice ones in the last twenty-five minutes, as if you get to the bottom of a box of chocolates and find the best ones are still in it. Things I particularly liked: an understated and appropriate fulfilment of the knocking four times prophecy, after lots of red herrings... a "happily ever after moment" for Donna which cunningly used time travel... and John Barrowman and Russell Tovey meeting in a bar for the gays. (Couldn't quite figure out why Tovey was there - didn't his character die? But still.) On the other hand... A lot of it was RTD saying goodbye to himself - his crapper alien creations make a gratuitous appearance, presumably because he knows they'll never be seen again. Not sure why the Doctor said goodbye to a present-day descendant of someone he'd loved (duh, he's a time traveller...). And the understated way you thought he was going to die was ultimately upstaged by some overblown regeneration special effects. All in all though, the last twenty five minutes was the best bit of Doctor Who I've seen for a while. And Matt Smith... Looks so young. He gives a very energetic, comic performance, but it felt kind of out of step with the pathos of the previous twenty minutes or so, so he didn't look too good compared to David Tennant. RTD favoured Russell Tovey for the part, which is presumably why he made a random appearance - and hell, today I'd agree.

“Lord Porkington” says it’s “not one of Russell's better episodes”:

Hi Herc, I'm a long time fan of Doctor Who (Tom Baker was *my* Doctor) and figured I'd send in a review of Mr Tennant's finale as the 10th Doctor while I'm visiting my family in England. I'll try to keep it short, but not spoiler free, so beware! Allons-y! To be honest with you, I wasn't overly impressed with Part 1, and Part 2 is only a slight improvement, if only for the way it all wraps up in the end. Russell T Davies puts a nice 'full stop' at the end of his tenure as Executive Producer and lets us see all of his significant characters one more time before leaving, but I'm jumping ahead of myself. What of the actual meat and bones of the show? Well, as usual, Russell handles the smaller, character intensive scenes much better than he does the 'spaceships and explosions' scenes, and his final episode proves to be no different. The so-called 'action sequence' was rather laboured, whilst the interaction between The Doctor and Wilfred Mott towards the end was engaging and rather moving. I did manage one laugh at least, that being the Doctor's annoyance at being wheeled out of the Master's lair on a trolley and crying out "Worst rescue ever!" I still find the Master's plot to turn everyone on Earth into himself to be bloody stupid, and the way it's reversed by the Time Lord President is typical Davies, it's a 'blink and you'll miss it' solution in the end. Timothy Dalton snarls his way through this second installment just as he did in the first, and the Time Lords disappear just as mysteriously as they appeared, although at least they explain why the Master hears the drumming in his head. There's also the Time Lady who seems to know The Doctor, and they give each other a meaningful look during a key scene towards the end. Could this be The Doctor's wife? Or possibly his mother? Will Steven Moffat address this in the new series? Did he ask for this to be shown due to his previous mentions of The Doctor's family? We'll find out soon enough... The episode wraps things up rather nicely, leaving Mr Moffat with a clean slate to start all over again. We see Martha, Mickey, Donna, Wilf, Rose, Jack and a few others from previous episodes (my favourite being the amazing Jessica 'Spaced' Hynes nee Stevenson) after The Doctor knows his regeneration has already begun, and we even find out why the Tardis has a new look for the next series, which was a nice touch. So my verdict? Not one of Russell's better episodes (his best being 'Turn Left'), but it could have been so much worse. I'd say 6 out of 10, pushing for a 7 mainly due to the last 15 minutes. Can't wait for Moffat's attempt to improve the show even further!

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