The End of Time

"Events that have happened are happening now."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 25th December 2009 - 1st January 2010

Series: 2009-10 Christmas/New Year's Special

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Wilf

Synopsis

It is the Tenth Doctor's final journey — but his psychotic nemesis, the Master, has been resurrected on Christmas Eve! Each determined to cheat death, the battle rages from the abandoned wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate, whilst the alien Ood warn of an even greater danger approaching, as a terrible shadow falls across the entire universe.

With the sound of the drums growing louder in the Master's head and an ancient trap closing around the Earth, the Doctor and Wilf must fight alone. Sacrifices must be made, the Time Lords have found a way back from beyond the Time War, and the deadly prophecy warns: "He will knock four times."

Verdict 

The End of Time is a phenomenal story and a worthy way for the Tenth Doctor's tenure to end. David Tennant really was brilliant as the Doctor and I'm not surprised why in the view of the casual fan, he is seen as the best. However, despite my loving of him and the fact he was my first ever Doctor, he doesn't actually rank in my top three Doctors. There's no disputing he's excellent and this story is fitting for his sendoff. After the build up dating all the way back to Planet of the Ood, it did return. He did knock four times. The Doctor's song did end. It started off in great fashion with everyone having bad dreams about the Master. After the horrible events of The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, which were nicely flashbacked to, they'd forgotten all about the horrors of Harold Saxon, or at least most of them had. This was an intriguing viewing for myself for two reasons. The first was the fact I was watching with my cousin, who I hadn't seen for over a month thanks to A-Level results and sorting out university, and this was his first story to feature the Master and also his first in which the Doctor regenerates. I brought up a choice of stories for him but I quickly eliminated that choice when we were on the bus home from town, in which I excellently found the novels of Hope, Skypoint, Doctor Who and the Zarbi and Terror of the Autons for all less than £5! A steal. But he asked me how the Doctor changes so to suit me with my sporadic rewatch of the 2009 Specials also, I decided on this story for my viewing. The other reason this watch was interesting because it was my first viewing since The Day of the Doctor aired and the concept of the Time War was drastically changed. Dialogue within this story ties in with the Anniversary special magnificently which is a relief. Gallifrey was returning at a point before it was saved in the 50th celebration episode so to me everything made sense. I loved the mention of the Doctor possessing the Moment and for the first time I could picture that in my head as being the War Doctor and actually seeing the events! The cliffhanger to part one was incredible and on broadcast I really was stunned. The Time Lords were coming back! Oh, and the entire human race was now the Master. I almost forgot about that bit. The idea of the Immortality Gate was excellent and I thought the mansion setting was superb. It really was a good focus point. Bernard Cribbins gave a sensational performance and for me he was definitely a companion in this story. People argue that the likes of Astrid, Jackson and Christina are companions but I wholeheartedly disagree. However, Wilf certainly is in this story. His pensioner search party of the Doctor was just magnificent! Minnie was hilarious. I was thrilled to come up to my grandparents to find that my cousin had discovered that Doctor Who was shown on Watch and the Horror Channel and he has since viewed about 12 episodes! They were mostly Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories but he's also added another incarnation to his watch list after he told me he'd seen Snakedance! I was delighted to hear this and I have definitely converted him into a Whovian. I had to try and explain why Donna had forgotten the Doctor without spoiling her swansong which wasn't easy but he didn't ask too many questions. The flashbacks to most of Series 4 were good though the added threat of her remembering the Doctor to the cliffhanger, which would cause her to die, was superb. The Master was arguably at his most disturbing in this story after his resurrection went horribly wrong. All he could do was die, and that's what the Master fears most. Lucy's cameo was a fantastic one. I liked the references to Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime and the action packed scenes of the missile attack were marvellous! My favourite moments were probably the scenes on Gallifrey, which are phenomenally rare in the revival era, so it was nice to see that they were restored temporarily. Timothy Dalton played Rassilon sublimely and it's magnificent to see the effects the War were having on the race. Their ascension plans were pretty disturbing and it's no wonder the Doctor put an end to it all. The use of the Gallfreyan exclusive diamond, combined with implanting the drumming into the Master as a child, as means of a pathway out of the time lock was incredible. I loved the dialogue between the Doctor and Master in discussing things when they were children. That's wonderful to think about. The drumming of the Master being the heartbeat of a Time Lord was fantastic and I loved how it served as a possible reason for his madness during his life. The Time Lords were to blame. At least we had some sort of possible explanation. Rassilon arriving and reversing the Master's altering of the human race was brilliant but I loved the audacity of the great villain to want to change every Time Lord into himself as well! His opinion on saving the Time Lords soon changed. The moment the Doctor and Master told each other to get out of the way was simply stunning and at the end of it all, it seemed the Master would see the final days of the Time War. In cutting the link though, radiation was flooded into the chamber which housed Wilf and it was critical. He knocked four times for someone to let him out. The Doctor thought he had survived, but the prophecy had come true. Of course the Doctor would save Wilf. It was his honour. The Doctor soaked up the radiation in torment but once all was done, he could put off regeneration but not for long. He got his reward in an incredible flurry of scenes in which he was saying goodbye to Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Joan Redfurn's descendant, Donna and Rose. It was the perfect farewell. But it was time for a new song now. The regeneration sequence was incredible and despite the Tenth Doctor not wanting to go, the Eleventh Doctor arrived in quite spectacular fashion! A fitting end for Tennant. Superb. 

Rating: 10/10