Your responses
Raeann on July 11th, 2008
All I can say is I think we should be asking ourselves what Davies is planning that will take 4 or 5 more episodes...and why everyone thinks what the Doctor did in this episode is justified. To me, it seems the Doctor crossed several serious lines...he is no longer just helping people along...he is dictating their lives against what they expressly wish. Now...if he didn't care for Rose...by all means...he could explain and go. But if he cares for her...why not give her the one thing she has always said she wanted...to know he is okay on his own? Oh...because he's not very okay on his own, is he? No...instead he puts her into a happy virtual world...like he does to River and Donna this season. I wonder if we should be questioning the Doctor's judgement before we question the writing.
Joy, Chicacgo on July 11th, 2008
Well said. The Dr-Rose conclusion was so short and he controlled the whole thing while she kind of floundered without enough time to do much of anything. In the end the Dr. had more emotion for the loss of Donna. A bit odd to be sure.
Martin, Belfast on July 10th, 2008
well i thought the finalle a utter dissapointment like. It brought no any jawdropping moments or anything that kept me in suspense. I thought that billie pipers role as rose was applaling like. I was glad that elisabeth sladden reprised her ole again. In conclusion i thought that russel t davies story writing boring an unconclusive leaving a lot of areas still questionable! I do think russel t davies day of writing are over. I wis the daleks exterminated him earlier so i would of received a amazing finalle!!
Lulu, US on July 10th, 2008
I thought it very appropriate that Rose not dominate the finale. Why bring Rose back anyway? Martha was/is an excellent character; I love her, but her time had come; Donna was even more interesting and strangely loveable. "Rose and the Doctor" for years to come would have become boring just as Doctor 4 and SJS grew tiresome. All along there was something Rose needed from the Doctor that she couldn't have from him, so she settled for following him across time and space. He very unselfishly gives her exactly what she needs (and he knows her so well, doesn't he?) whether she can understand it yet or not. The sad bit is, she knows that he is still out there, doing with out her, soldiering on. OH WELL. Life is ruff. Time and space march on. She's safer at home with her family and D2, and if that means HE can't have what HE wants... well, he's quite used to that, isn't he? I actually really liked the Rose resolution. I liked that Martha remains, and I was crushed that the DoctorDonna had to go. It was more crushing than seeing Rose crying on the beach 2 years earlier. Sure she had lost the Doctor, but he had left her with a posh life with her mom AND her dad, and her boyfriend to keep her company. What a gift! Donna can't even have her memories of him or his gift of her personal improvement. She begs him "Don't send me back!" to temping and x-factor. That broke my heart so hard. RTD is f***ing brilliant and I will miss him when he is gone. So yeah, I liked the finale.
Paul, Dunstable on July 8th, 2008
I, for one found the whole thing underwhelming. The cliff-hanger especially so as just about everyone knew Tennant was in the Xmas special as it had been in most of the papers about 2 months earlier. What I found most disapointing is that is was a poor copy of the much better Ecclestone episode, "Parting of the ways". OK so Donna didn't look into the time vortex but the she did have Time-lord knowledge put into her, she did come to the rescue and once AGAIN every Dalek has been destroyed (just how many total extinction can one species have?). All that aside, RTD & the BBC kept on trying to racket up the episode with that 'You ain't seen nothing yet' attitude. Well actually - yes I have and I've seen it done much better. The ending was some of the worst writing I've seen in almost any programme. My congratualtions to both David Tennant & Catherine Tate for handling all the material given to them throughout the series with humor, compassion & feeling. Catherine Tate was brillaint and in my singular opinion the best compaion on the series to date, and NO I did not miss Rose one single bit or want her back. Piper chose to leave, well go away, stay away and give someone else a chance.
Howard Pitfield, London on July 8th, 2008
Watched on the open air screen in Trafalgar Square (after London Gay Pride). Cried twice in public - what am i like!!?? Loved it. Greatwhen the crowd bboed and cheered in unison!!
Jack, London on July 8th, 2008
Special effects apart - which were great - this was a typical Russell T Davies episode: badly written, plot holes you could drive a truck through and totally lacking in emotion. Indeed, I had to be rushed to hospital to have my fingers surgically removed from the back of my throat. Someone should have a quiet word in Mr D's ear and tell him that Billie Piper is not most men's idea of an attractive woman. (Other, possibly, than those with an IQ somewhere below that of a carrot.) If she could act it would help. And am I the only viewer who needs subtitles every time she opens her mouth? Thanks heavens she and Mr D have gone and that Steven Moffat is taking over. RTD revived Dr Who, for which we should all be grateful. Had he remained at the helm for much longer, however, he would have destroyed it, too. Hopefully, from now on, things can only get better.
Lee, York on July 8th, 2008
Simply brilliant in every way. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Simple as!!!
Olga, London on July 7th, 2008
I agree with the reviewer above. Too much going on and not enough attention to any specific story strand. We've all been waiting for Rose to come back but that story felt rushed and not satisfying. We were warned that someone would die, but no one did. Donna sort of "died" but the resolution of her story leaves the option open for a future cameo. Did we need Torchwood, Sarah Jane et al? It smacked of publicity for the other shows. All in all, I enjoyed it and TV with Dr Who is better than TV without, but I was left distinctly underwhelmed by the resolution of Rose's story. Her whole character was underwritten, which is a shame, after all the hype about her return.
P Kaur on July 7th, 2008
Exceptionally amazing!!! Especially after the last episode when I thought the doctor was dead. Not 1 but 2 doctors / david tennants & 'doctor-donna' - genius but I do agree that Rose should have had more prominence. I cant wait until xmas & the cybermen.
Aidan, Mansfield on July 7th, 2008
I thought that the season finale was BRILLIANT!!!! I really hope that Donna comes back somehow ...
John, Essex on July 7th, 2008
Gosh - having read some of the previous comments it would seem people get into this show as if it were eastenders or corrie, neither of which real life anyway. I thought the series overall was very good although slightly tainted by the finale. Far too many main characters for a 1 hour airing. RTD would have done better to leave out a few - Rose's mum for a start cos you just can't take her seriously. As for Rose, Billie earns all that money you would think she could afford a decent dentist - what's going on there!! I do enjoy DocWho though - good old entertaining bunkum. Like the idea of occasional specials as opposed to a series, will keep the programme fresh with hopefully bigger budgets per episode. I think that format will prove popular and wouldn't be surprised if it becomes the permanant format after the 2010 series. Stephen Moffat will be a great head for the programme and possibly make it a little darker - sometimes far to camp with RTD. David Tennant - he is good but frankly I'm getting a bit bored with him now. All of the possible replacements suggested seem to be of the same stamp - would prefer to see someone a little older and more in the Eccleston mould, cos he was excellent.
Babs, Dublin on July 7th, 2008
I absolutely loved it, and yet again cried buckets during a Doctor Who finale, what am I like (I always have to watch Doctor Who Confidential to remind myself it's not real, that alone is very sad and very un-me). I'm delighted David Tennant is staying on, the Best Doctor I've seen (and I've seen all of them).Obviously he won't stay in the role forever but why the furore about him not regenerating? He's brilliant and I for one would have been far more disappointed to see him go. It was a great story, a thrilling ending to what has been another brilliant series. I was crying very early on, with Rose and The Doctor finally getting to hug like they couldn't 2 years ago. I thought the Doctor and Donna half imitating each other after she cloned him was gas, very funny. I was smiling like a 10 cheshire cats when they all flew the tardis to get the Earth back home (poor Jackie not being allowed to fly it!). Crying again when Rose got her man (but her man didn't get her, if you know what I mean). And practically in a puddle on the floor at Donna's horrically sad fate. And the sad, lonely Doctor all alone again, having had a Tardis filled with his friends only hours later. And only I KNOW it's not real I would be joining the queue of volunteers to join him the next time. A brilliant story, such convincing characters that are down to the writers and the actors. Congratulations and thank you to all who make this programme unmissalble for me. Roll on the Christmas special and the Cybermen!
Martin, USA on July 7th, 2008
I was heartbroken and angered that Donna's mind was wiped, even as she wept and pleaded with the Doctor to let her die rather than take away her memories of him. RTD has said he'd never kill a companion, as it would break faith with the audience...however, he is happy to tease with warnings of a companion's death (see Doomsday as well) only to cop out. In this case, I'd argue that I would rather have seen Donna die than for all the character development of the last series go for naught. Now she is the same narrow-minded harpy, and she will never know how brave or clever she really is or the wonderful adventures she had with her beloved Grandad. To make it worse, the Doctor even saw into her mind and realized how insecure and unhappy she is, and how much being with him has helped her. Now it's all gone. A stomach-turning development.
John Simpson, Grimsby on July 7th, 2008
Natail someone did die it was the DoctorDonna, she 'died' as there can't be a Human/Time Lord, so the Doctor 'killed' her so she became the best temp in Chiswick Donna
Rod, Newhaven on July 7th, 2008
Not bad. Could have had a third episode out of that finale and given all the characters a bit more time to do something constructive. Still ..with all the loose end tying going on you could be forgiven for overlooking some missing bits and... while were at it... conjouring up some passable plot devices to re-instate any character(s) you might want to see again. For example: Where was the Doctor's daughter. Is she the mother of Susan who called the doctor "grandfather" in the first series (1963)? Yes, quick flash of River Song - will we see her again? And if you want to reinstate Donna Noble - given she has all the timelords memories thoughts and so on, she'd have known what was about to happen and might just have had a solution for it. I still like the idea that Astrid and the Tardis are somehow related. Another useful plot device waiting to have its stone turned. Meanwhile, with all the speculation about will he, wont he, regenerate... anyone have an idea who the next companion might be...???
Andrew, Cardiff on July 7th, 2008
after the sheer brilliance of turn left and the stolen earth i was expecting a lot more from journeys end. it started off with the regeneration thing which was a bit of an anticlimax itself, it was there simply to be a cliffhanger. it got better though up untill the second doctor came into it, downhill from there. last week all the assistants fitted in really well but in this weeks it was just like they were totally pointless and didnt really contribute at all. throughout the whole episode we were waiting for someone to die and it never came, in fact there was no real action whatsoever and the doctor spent all the episode in a blue tube. finally i agree with the majority that we actually needed less rose not more, donna is by far the better companion, she is a better actress by a country mile and she isnt head over heels in love with the doc. that scene on the beach is probably the worst scene in who history, the doctor is not supposed to fall in love. overall a massive disappointment. however davros, K9 and wilf were excellent
Sophie, Leicester on July 7th, 2008
I've found the whole fourth series quite poor, which is disappointing as I prefer Donna to Martha. In each of the new series, there is at least one episode that I will rewatch time and time, but in this series, there is none. I was hoping for a better finale but I just found it all quite tacky and silly. Rose was in love with the Doctor... and she ends up with a clone of him. I also found the Daleks to be quite poor... I didn't understand why they wanted to destroy reality. Surely if they did that, they'd destroy themselves? Or if they survived, they'd have no-one left to kill... I think they would've thought about that. I did however, enjoy Dalek Caan. I must also mention the incredibly TACKY huge 3D writing before the Christmas trailer - a little kid could do better than that. Simplicity is much more effective. It looked like someone couldn't be bothered to make something nice, so they just used WordArt and added some sound effects to it.
Chris, Notts on July 7th, 2008
I think you mean that YOU wanted to see Rose again. Not we. A lot of people have never liked her and would rather she stayed put in her alternate universe. More Martha and more Donna, both excellent companions. The finale was excellent though. With or without the dentured one.
Sam, Bristol on July 7th, 2008
I thought the finale was absolutely awesome! However I agree with some of the comments above that it felt a bit overcrowded with cast members that were not really neccessary (ie Jackie Tyler) and that even though it was an extended episode it still seemed like the storytelling was a bit rushed. Compared to "Turn Left" and "The Stolen Earth" I felt it was lacking a little extra oomph! I can't wait for the Christmas special and will be willing 2010 to come around in double quick time so we can have a new series! I'm glad that David Tennant didn't regenerate as I think he is brilliant as the Doctor and hope Stephen Moffatt can persuade him to stay for a while yet. A fitting farewell to Russell T Davies (who will be missed) and a fresh start for Stephen Moffatt to show us what he can do.
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