What did you think of these episodes?
Sonic!
Good!
Bumpy-wumpy!
Exterminate!
I did have a few gripes with this one, however, it is still a banger!
I honestly had tears of joy in my eyes as I watched The Stolen Earth, I loved every single minute of it. It was thrilling. It really was a happy experience watching this again - if you ignore the Daleks trying to wipe out all of reality of course, they always do put a bit of a downer on things.
My gripes come down to three women. Let me get this straight, these three women are legends in their own right, this isn't some sexist rant, I just thought they could have been treated better. This also isn't some rant about RTD either, as I mentioned, I love this finale, I think it is RTD's best one.
Two of the three gripes were during the story, the third is an additional gripe with hindsight. I shall explain myself I promise.
Before I moan - The Stolen Earth is probably the best first part of a two part story EVER, I truly doubt it will be beaten either. IT...IS...SUPERB!! The trailer after Turn Left told us who was coming but that didn't lessen the impact of seeing everyone from the Whoniverse rock up! Even the very fast credits adding all the companions was a punch the air with joy moment!!
I mentioned this a lot - but won't have to soon - but I was still wasting my money getting pissed up on a Saturday night up until Planet of the Dead. At some point between June 2008 and April 2009 I had watched every boxset and had obviously decided to become a hermit. Best decision I ever made!!
It does make me a bit jealous though, as if I had been fully immersed in the Whoniverse when this aired - watching Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures - I can only imagine the thrill the people that did that got. It is at times like this when I wish I had a TARDIS.
The pre-credits sequence is so good, the Earth vanishing, the milkman, Torchwood, Sarah Jane, Martha, UNIT, Rose bloody Tyler...
Even though I wasn't an avid viewer at the time this aired, it was another moment when I really gave myself a talking to that I must start watching Doctor Who again. I remember seeing it everywhere, a regeneration out of the blue, who is the next Doctor going to be? Well it was David Tennant after all that.
It does make me think though, wouldn't it be cool to have a regeneration we know nothing about? The next Doctor hidden away ready to burst onto our screens. Is that even possible to do? Probably not, it would be great television if they could pull it off though. I am not ready to lose Ncuti yet though, so don't go getting ideas Russell.
"Alright, now we’re in trouble. It’s only just beginning."
Let me get my first gripe out of the way. Martha Jones - she truly gets the shittest jobs in the whole Whoniverse!! Poor old Martha had basically been made into a soldier, she was whisked back home to say hello to her Mum, then teleported straight to Germany to blow the planet up. Yeah I know she gave the Daleks the option, but do we think this is who Martha is? She knew the Doctor was back at this point, and I know Martha would trust him to sort this shit out. I did not buy it that Martha would kill herself and the whole planet after fifteen minutes of a Dalek invasion.
It did give us the Daleks talking German though - which was bloody marvellous!
I really enjoyed the idea of the Daleks wiping everyone from all of reality, I loved how mentions of missing planets and moons were scattered throughout the series - I felt this was a bit more hidden in plain sight than other arcs - Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Mr. Saxon.
Maybe I just miss the obvious though.
"The human harvest will commence!"
Julian Bleach must have had a headache each day filming this. I loved his portrayal of Davros. When he was revealed on outer space Facebook it was thrilling. Everything about this was thrilling. How many times have I typed thrilling?
What else was thrilling then? Probably the most exciting part - when everyone calls the Doctor. When Mr. Smith announces he is calling the Doctor; it gives me the chills, in a good way of course. The music, the visuals, everything.
There are more, like when the TARDIS pops out the Medusa Cascade and the planets blink into view. When the Daleks kill a family. When Rose blows the shit out of a Dalek about to exterminate Wilf and Sylvia. When Jackie and Mickey pop up (Jackie does not look right carrying a fuck off massive gun).
Of course the most thrilling moment of the lot is the TARDIS towing Earth home. There is one moment that always makes me grin - Martha giving me a big smile - she isn’t smiling at anyone in the TARDIS, she is smiling at me. I felt like I helped saved the Earth. I felt like I was a part of that team. I was on the journey with them all.
"I’ve only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you. If you want."
Before I sum it all up - here are my final two gripes. On a rewatch I am not sure Rose is very Rose-like. I mean she seemed more than happy that Martha was going to blow Earth up and that Jack was going to blow the Crucible up with her, the Doctor, her Mum and Mickey on board. Rose would not have liked that.
My big problem is her ending though - this is actually the thing that irritates me the most about Doctor Who actually - a good tragic ending being undone for shitter happier ones (this will crop up again in my final gripe). Rose Tyler would give anything to be with the Doctor, she would in no way accept a replacement. She had become blinkered to life with the Doctor during series 2, she was obsessed with him and the life they led, he was the most important person in her life and she made that very clear. In Doomsday she chucked away a life with her family to spend her days with the Doctor - obviously that plan didn't quite work out.
So I ask this question - would Rose really have let the Doctor fuck off and leave her in a parallel world with a lesser version of himself? Would anyone accept that?
There was nothing mentioned that meant she had to go back to the parallel world as far as I could tell, no rules of the Universe imploding if she didn’t return, she wasn’t meant to be there in the first place after all. Doomsday was an unreal ending to her story, it was heart-breaking, it was beautiful. Words left unsaid, the woman who healed the Doctor torn away from him, never to see each other again. I just felt it undid one of RTD’s best moments.
We all love Rose - but would we love her as much if she just toddled off home after Doomsday? Her original ending cemented her status as an iconic companion.
"Rest of my life. Travelling. In the TARDIS. The Doctor Donna. Oh, oh my god, I can’t go back. Don’t make me go back. Doctor, please! Please don’t make me go back."
This leads me to the hindsight gripe. Watching this made me eggy about The Star Beast and The Giggle endings. Much the same issue as Rose really, the original ending of Donna's story was, for me, the best of any companions. It was worse than killing her off, it was a bloody tragedy.
Her knowing what was coming, the begging, and then the superb interactions with the Doctor, Sylvia and Wilf. Like I said, he was just going! Ouch!
Wilf telling the Doctor he will look at the stars on Donna's behalf, good lord that is some emotional shit. Bernard Cribbins delivers it like only he can and it is beautiful.
My gripe? This was such a great ending for Donna, she started as the woman who missed everything, and ended as the woman who missed the most. She would never know! The Star Beast completely undid that, first we had the big talk about how Donna's head would explode, the Doctor reiterating it to Shirley then a few minutes later he was flaunting his sonic in front of her like he didn't actually care if her head blew up - Sylvia was right to give him a slap!!
Then to make matters worse - she didn't blow up in the end, she just let it go and made a dig about the Doctor being male presenting!! I mean if that was the case, how come Thirteen didn't go and let Donna know? I just didn't buy it all, and I loved The Giggle as well, but again, the ending just didn't work for me.
Enough moaning, I am sorry!! This was bloody good!! Possibly the best finale we have ever had.
RATING: Sonic!
BEST LINE: "Your voice is different. And yet… its arrogance is unchanged."
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