Firstly, the final episode.
If, for some reason, you haven't seen it yet, just don't bother reading any further. But if you haven't watched it yet - why not? Wasn't the whole series the best one yet? Please don't tell me you're one of those sniffy folks who turned their noses up at the idea of Catherine Tate being in it? Oh, how wrong you were.
Okay. On we go.....So, last Saturday night we found ourselves in Birmingham. We'd cleverly arranged for Molly to sleep over at a friends house. Clever because we knew they were a Doctor Who family as well and we timed the arrival to mean we could combine dropping Molly off, grab some pizza and a few drinks and settle down to 65 minutes of Doctor Who goodness.
So full of expectation and excitement, family Bruton settled down to watch the season 4 finale.
The good feelings didn't last long.
Following last weeks penultimate episode I was really looking forward to this to provide the culmination of what I thought had been the best series yet. Although I shouldn't have been too excited, as Russell T Davis always seems to overdo things when he really tries to bring it all together. This may be a reflection of the buildup throughout the series, or it may be that it's just a little crap.
The first five minutes set the tone really. Alright, so we all knew that he wasn't really going to regenerate but the way they just threw away every climactic moment from the penultimate episode just ruined it for me from the start. Torchwood in peril. Sorted with a time bubble (timey-whimy bubbly-wubbley?). Sarah Jane in peril. Along comes Mickey. And we knew RTD would be running through all the characters incredibly quickly just to get to the end of the episode but frankly it was all just too much of an ensemble cast getting minimal screen time and contributing nothing of any value. Heck, he even threw in the kitchen sink in the shape of K-9.
And Louise and I are both agreed that the two doctors idea is a cop out. Just so that Rose could get a not quite the same, yet just the same, yet slightly broken version of the man she maybe loves. That just grated with all of us. Except Molly, she was just happy to see Rose happy. I've said it since Rose left that bringing her back is just pointless. And I think the finale proved that one.
And then Donna. Obviously getting rid of Donna was a terrible thing, although not a surprising development, but the way it was done was the worst part and the highlight of an otherwise bitterly dissapointing episode. And of course, losing Donna also means we'll lose Bernard Cribbins. As Wilf he managed to get so much across in such a small part, and the emotion in those last few lines when he realises what Donna is about to lose: "But she was better with you".
I'll miss Donna because of what she brought to the show. It was refreshing when the series started to have a companion that didn't simper and moon over the Doctor. But as the series developed we realised another thing, as Donna she was the embodiment of what makes us watch. She just wanted to explore the stars and her sheer joy at doing so was infectious. We're all going to miss her at Bruton mansions.
And is anyone else just fed up of that shot of a lonely doctor on the bridge of the Tardis at the end of each season?
But Season 4 overall, regardless of the last episode that rather left us feeling a little letdown, was by far my favourite. The high points have far exceeded any problems. Donna and the Doctor just clicked perfectly without a hint of the supposed overbearing Catherine Tate personality that all the nay-sayers were prophesying. The storylines were fantastic and everything just worked wonderfully well. Sadly there's no series 5 until 2010, but we're starting the Christmas countdown already.
i think the entire episode was rushed except the last part which was superb.
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