Fantastic end to season 4 tonight, and a fantastic end to Russell the T’s tenure as executive producer (was the title of tonight’s episode, “Journey’s End” also a reference to his own departure from the series?).
And I’m so relieved David Tennant isn’t leaving. You see (and non-Whovians won’t understand this), fans need a grieving period, which starts when it’s announced that the incumbent actor is leaving, allowing most of the season to grow accustomed to the forthcoming change. Replacing Tennant without any warning at all really wouldn’t have been very fair to the fans.
One of the great perpetual disappointments of the classic series was the writers’ refusal to explore the characters’ shared history and continuity. Davies recognised this fault (as a fan he probably shared it) and sought to rectify it, which he has done in spades. The episodes he wrote were a bit hit-and-miss, but there’s no doubt Russell the T will go down in Whovian history as the Doctor’s saviour.
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Monday 7 July 2008 at 10:44 am
Tom
Great blog as always.
However, as a life long Doctor Who, I’ve now watched the episode twice and still don’t understand the non-regeneration. Why has the Doctor never “cured” himself before rather than regenerating?
And as for how the Daleks were defeated, I ask you! They plan to destroy all of reality, but nevertheless build a big console in their ship, with…AN OFF SWITCH!!! Really, what a cop oiut!
Shame as otherwise the finale was excellent. And I loved the German Daleks – hilarious!
Monday 7 July 2008 at 11:12 pm
Chris, you’re right, of course. That’s the problem with much of Russell T. Davies’s writing – he tends to cut corners when it comes to plot devices and he ends up “reversing the polarity of the neutron flow” or some such nonsense. On one hand it’s a bit lazy but on the other it does help move the plot forward. Bottom line for me is: Daleks, Davros, former companions, K9 and one of the most moving, emotional climaxes ever seen – and that’s something very few writers do better than Davies.