If you’re in the Colonies on Boxing Day and missed the first part of David Tennant’s last episode of Doctor Who, remember you can watch it tonight on BBC America (9 PM ET).

Non-Spoiler Review: Can the Moffat Era please get here already? Part one of “The End of Time” had all the things that fans have grown tired of from the Russell T Davies era (ponderous narration, cutesy aliens). Thank goodness for the wonderful performances by Tennant, John Simm (great scenery chewing as The Master) and Bernand Cribbins as Wilf.

The second part of “The End of Time” concludes next week on  New Year’s Day in the UK and the next day on BBC America, when we presumably will get our first look at Matt Smith as Doctor number 11. 

Update: BBC America will run a super marathon of David Tennant episodes starting at midnight on January 1. Starting with “The Xmas Invasion,” BBCA will show a Tenth Doctor episode every hour until showing “The End of Time, Part One” at 6:45 on January 2, following by the premiere of “The End of Time, Part Two.”

Also, there’s a clip for next week’s episode already circulating on the net (specifically on Youtube).

[posted by Mark Coale]

14 COMMENTS

  1. I laughed out loud at your complaints. Especially “ponderous narration,”.
    Its not like the “ponderous narration” was there for no reason. Geez…look who is saying it..what it means. Cutesy Aliens? One of the funniest lines was from Cribbins about them. Instead of nitpicking little portions, try to appreciate the whole show and how its all fitting together.
    Don’t speak for “fans” and what they have grown tired of. Just speak for what you have grown tired of.

  2. I didn’t mind the narrative, but the aliens were a bit cutesy. (Not as out of tone as the farting aliens.) Not a total distraction, but not a tonal fit.

    On the other hand, I would say that there’s been a trend to make things a bit too grand a scale for the finales. The whole Doctor as messiah thing was a bit too over the top for me, and the cliff-hanger… well, it was straining incredulity for me. I’m not disliking it yet, but I’ve enjoyed other episodes more.

  3. It’s not bad, but it’s clearly 90% setup for the next part. They should’ve just played both parts together, but you gotta leave ’em wanting more as they say.

    It seems silly, but it’s going to have a decent explanation once you get to the end of the story. I can already see why those guys are back and what they plan to do as a result of what The Master did. The Doctor has to stop them and stop The Master and we all know how that’s gonna end.

  5. Considering the importance of all this, BBCA should air “Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death”.

    1) It is Moffat’s first story.
    2) It deals with numerous regenerations.
    3) It features an incredible cast, including the “original” Master.
    4) It is rather funny.
    5) All funds support Comic Relief.
    6) It can be viewed on YouTube.

  6. I get that Part I was basically the set-up, but I do agree that the first half of the ep – hell, almost everything before the last 5 Malkovichian minutes – was full of fluff. The Silver Cloak? Cute but weak. The Naismiths? Villains from a bad episode trapped somewhere over their depth. And hopefully next week we’ll get some sort of explanation as to what exactly the Master has become.

  7. After a discussion today, my DR WHO Xmas wish is that the Time Lords turn heel and cause the regeneration, leading Matt Smith and his ginger chick to be fugitives on the run week after week.

  9. After viewing “The End of Time, Part One,” I find myself hoping this story turns out along the lines of Series One’s “Bad Wolf,” which was also excessively camp but resulted in the brilliant Ninth Doctor finale “The Parting of the Ways.”

    Russell T. Davies has such a great handle on many of DOCTOR WHO’s central concepts, so it’s frustrating to see him completely miss the mark on The Master once again. I’m still trying to figure out what the point of turning everyone on the planet Earth into “The Master Race” (shudder) is supposed to be, apart from being able to hide easily in a crowd.

  10. Dr Who has always been able to mix grand drama, absurdity and outright whimsy, often all in the same scene. I don’t think there is any other comparable TV show. To criticise that is kind of missing the whole point.

  11. “I’m still trying to figure out what the point of turning everyone on the planet Earth into “The Master Race” (shudder) is supposed to be, apart from being able to hide easily in a crowd.”

    I suppose since we’re not avoiding spoiler material I’ll stop avoiding it as well.

    It creates two things. First, it nearly eliminates the human race and they’re the Doctor’s favorite. Second, it creates such a major change of history that it will force the Time Lords to intervene, probably by “time-locking” Earth (or possibly the whole universe) and what used to be the human race which results in the “end of time”. It also makes The Master nearly impossible to kill since there are so many of him. I believe that the end of time referred to the end of time for humans or Earth and not the end of all time. The Time Lords are going to be the villains because they’ll want to time-lock Earth, so the Doctor will have to reverse what The Master did in order the stop the Time Lords and stop the end of time. OR he fails and goes into an alternate universe (reboot alert) like Rose did and becomes that universe’s first Doctor which is why Matt Smith’s series is Series One.

    That’s what I’m expecting. I wouldn’t mind being surprised.

  13. I have no doubt we will find out what was locked in that ice in “The “Waters of Mars” by next week’s last episode.

    I hope at least…

    I’m guessing that Wilfred Mott owns a fob watch and thus turns out to be a hidden time lord who helps out the Doctor at the last moment.

    Okay. Enough geekyness for this month.

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