(It’s so, so bad )
The End of Time to me gets a bit of a pass because it is so huge and bombastic. It’s like… idk WrestleMania, a spectacle. It goes really big and crazy and it’s fun even if the plot doesn’t always make the most sense. Now The End of Time is tricky for me because there are some really weird and kinda bad stuff in it, but there’s also some great stuff in it. I mean the stuff between Wilf and 10 is fantastic. Implied cannibal Skeletor Master… not so much but even then, it is at least entertaining in my opinion.
Beyond it being when he finally goes and meets Ood Sigma, I don’t really see how The End of Time is in any way related to the TLV themes from the episode prior.
As for why I hate it, I think the big thing it boils down to is it being the epitome of RTD always thinking he has to outdo himself, so he raises the stakes to absurd proportions, throwing sense out the window for spectacle. We saw glimpses of it in pretty much every finale from Series 2-4 increasingly so each time, resulting in severe diminishing returns from finale to finale. And in the case of The End of Time add in a seemingly smug “I’m leaving, so I can do whatever the hell I want,” attitude from RTD’s writing, and I think the result is just dire.
Valid points. And while I give the defense of “it’s a spectacle and entertaining”, I will say that there are both positive and negatives to that. As for a few positive examples: the Time Lords returning, 10 and his friends shooting down missiles in a spaceship (that is just cool, okay?), the character interactions between 10 and Wilf as well as 10 and the Master, and 10 being pushed to his absolute limit. Wilf being the one who knocks 4 times is also a clever twist in my opinion.
Negative examples: the Master’s return is very, very contrived and giving him Jedi powers is pretty dumb (I actually think the “Master Race” plan works though with Simm’s crazy portrayal, even if you know… “Master Race” gives some unfortunate implications), also the machine that the Master takes over (along with the father and daughter behind it) really feel like they’re just there for the sake of the Master’s plan being able to even happen. The rich family don’t feel like characters, they feel like plot devices. I think 10s regeneration tour isn’t inherently bad, but it’s way too long and self-indulgent. Strip it down to him seeing Martha (and she should talk about being married to Tom Milligan, no Martha/Mickey thank you), Donna, and Rose. Yes, Joan was important to 10 in a way and Jack was around for a number of adventures, but I don’t feel like he and Verity needed to be there.
At least the actual regeneration scene is quite epic and Matt Smith nails the post-regeneration f##ky-ness immediately so that’s nice.
Honestly, Martha and Tom Milligan was weird too. She just randomly calls the guy up because of knowing him in an abandoned timeline he has no knowledge of.
I find “The End of Time” to be fine, but I love how Wilf is the main companion for the episode (I love Wilf).
Well she clearly seemed to like the guy, which is why she checked to see that he was alive after the paradox machine was broken. And clearly as revealed later, the two got on well enough to get together. Also according to Wikipedia:
Martha tells Owen in the Torchwood episode “Reset” that she has a boyfriend, who is revealed to be paediatric doctor Thomas Milligan in “The Sontaran Stratagem”, by which time the two are engaged — indicating that Martha has gotten over her love for the Doctor. In “The Poison Sky”, she cites her relationship with Thomas Milligan as a reason to stay on Earth, rather than join Donna and Doctor in the TARDIS — saying that she’s now got a great big adventure of her own to enjoy. [Freema] Agyeman feels that Martha’s relationship with Tom has “helped cement where she is in life”.
There was at least more chemistry between Tom and Martha than Mickey and Martha.
That last point is definitely true. The two barely even spoke to one another.
“Wilf” “companion”
You see the vision !!!
Well you all clearly need glasses then
Been thinking if i should say this but i think Series 4 is quite overrated,maybe this is due to me not being a tennant era fan but i just think ppl give it too much credit
Definitely agree that the whole thing with Martha suddenly being a freelancer and married to Mickey made no sense. I’m still upset with RTD over that. Same with Joan’s story being in the sort of farewell tour scene. I also agree that the rich family characters had no depth. I guess the positives of the episode just sort of outweigh the negatives for me, but everyone is definitely giving some valid criticism.
I think that’s understandable. It’s my favorite season, but I think people sometimes put it on this pedestal of absolute peak Doctor Who, when really it comes down to more of a preference thing.
Yeah i really think first half isnt that good,but maybe thats just me
My controversial opinion is I think series 4 100% deserves to be put on a pedestal . There is not a single bad episode that season, you’ve got Tennant and Tate absolutely nailing the chemistry, and some of the best RTD1 episodes, and the best final out of any RTD1 season (though Parting of Ways comes close). I think what drags this season down for some people are the specials, but I’m just going to cheat and say they don’t count
/j. Joking aside, I do think S4 is the best of the RTD seasons with the best Doctor Companion duo (of RTD).
Happy Wrestlemania week everyone
Oh absolutely this, the only ep lower than a 7/10 for me is The Doctor’s Daughter. There’s 3 10/10 eps in this series for me which is the highest in any for me
Oh I don’t agree. The start of the season is so textbook RTD formula that we’ve seen three times already, it’s tiresome by that point. The episodes are pretty run-of-the-mill for the first half, not bad, but not stellar either. The Doctor’s Daughter is probably the only actually bad one. It’s more RTD thinking a repeated phrase is a story arc, but I think Bad Wolf, Torchwood, and Saxon all come together better than DoctorDonna, lost things, and comments about bees disappearing. I’ll give Library two-parter, Midnight, and Turn Left being a solid run of episodes, but I think the finale isn’t particularly good, the second part especially, and it makes the season a let-down. And I hate to say it, as popular she is, Donna is not a favorite of mine. She has moments of greatness, but also plenty where I just find her Catherine Tate-ness to be too much, even if not to the extent of Runaway Bride. Series 4 isn’t bad by any means, but it’s most certainly put on more of a pedestal than I think it should be. Honestly, I prefer Series 3 out of the Tenth Doctor seasons, and 4 or maybe even 5 of Moffat’s seasons, to Series 4.
I also love Series 4, I think it’s the greatest series we ever had, and that finale is the best we have ever had.
All the different parts of the Whoniverse coming together, so we end with that scene with (most) of my favourite characters piloting the TARDIS (if only Ianto and Gwen could have joined in too somehow), it was the greatest moment of being a fan for me, even Day of the Doctor, which I love, didn’t feel like as much of a celebration of the show as Journey’s End to me.
And Donna is the best companion (unless we count River as a companion ).
Ok, this might be a pedestal that’s too high even for me
But in all seriousness, Journey’s End felt like NuWho’s Avengers moment, you’ve got all the companions back, even those from the spin-offs for one final huzzah, culminating in everyone* teaming up to fly the TARDIS (sorry Jackie). It really was a spectacular moment and a fantastic end to RTD1. It’s a good thing no other episodes came out after this and we just went straight into the Moffat era .