Doctor Who: The End of Time Part Two

If Russell T Davies had actually wanted to sit down and write a script that perfectly encapsulates all of his strengths and weaknesses as a writer, then he would probably have produced the script for The End of Time Part Two. His strengths are there in spades - the visual spectacle, the constant escalation of crisis on crisis and the plethora of lump-in-your-throat moments. But the weaknesses were also there - the padding, the simplistic resolution to everything, and the degeneration of Doctor Who into soap opera territory. As such, The End of Time Part Two is probably an excellent swan-song for RTD - if you want a summary of what worked and what didn't during his time on the show (which has, of course, just ended), this episode is ideal.

So, a mixed bag. But let's take a look at why it was such a mixed bag.

The End of Time v. The Caves of Androzani

If you ask, most fans will tell you that the best regeneration story is The Caves of Androzani. In fact, it was recently voted by fans as the best Doctor Who story of all time. Watching it shows why it is so acclaimed. Despite the odd ropey effect (yes, Magma Beast, I am talking about you), the story has an elegant simplicity that not only enhances it, but actually becomes the propulsive force that drives the story to its resolution. See, from very early on in the first episode, both the Doctor and his companion are dying. From that point on, the story is about the Doctor's increasingly desperate attempts to save his friend and himself. The civil war going on around them is, in the final analysis, irrelevant. The Doctor eventually finds the antidote to the disease killing him and Peri. However, there is only enough of the antidote for one person. Without hesitation, he gives it to his companion. Then, having seen extremely brief visions of his friends and enemies imploring him to live and die respectively, the Fifth Doctor regenerates. Sadly becoming the Sixth Doctor in the process.

Contrast that with The End of Time. In that story, the Doctor knows he is going to die because he was told. By the Ood. And a woman he met on the bus. Crucially, he isn't dying until the end of the story. Instead of tight plotting and expert story-telling, we have a desperate attempt to give him a massive, epic sign-off adventure. Which sort of works, except it creaks under the weight of all the elements designed to make it epic. There's the Master. The human race possessed by the Master! Ooo, and the Return of the Time Lords! The (brief) return of Gallifrey! The Doctor's Mother (maybe)! At the end of the story, the Doctor stops the Time Lords but is saved by the Master. After an extremely petulant tirade - the Doctor frees Wilfred Mott but exposes himself to a lethal dose of radiation in the process. But he doesn't die - not yet. Instead, he goes on a whirlwind tour of time and space that raises as many questions as it answers*. Then he goes back to the TARDIS, where he protests that he doesn't want to go. Before he dies, and becomes a man with a big chin.

The difference between the two adventures is the amount of stuff in the latter story. There is simply too much going on meaning that the different elements - each compelling in its own right - do not get the justice or the screen time they deserve. And the final goodbyes are just too much. The final moments with Wilf and then with Rose enhance the story - the rest do not. It all becomes too much - meaning the story itself is almost too small for the scope of the tale they wanted to tell.

The relative success of The Caves of Androzani against The End of Time is proof positive of that age-old cliche that less can be more.

Regenerations: A Comparison

Yet one success of this story was the characterisation of the Tenth Doctor. Actually, over recent adventures, he has been shown to be less than the perfect, ideal hero that the Doctor so often becomes. We've already noted his petulance at the idea that he will have to die to save Wilf, and across this whole story there was a feeling that the Doctor would do anything other than what his nine previous incarnations have done with relatively little fuss - regenerate. His final words are "I don't want to go!" This is a Doctor who had not only come to terms with being the last of the Time Lords, but also seemed to come to relish it. He also loved being himself. His arrogance and his hubris meant he was determined to fight destiny for as long as he could, and when he finally had to go, he resented it. It was a fine piece of character development, and a nice contrast with the previous Doctor.

See, when the Ninth Doctor died, he did it unflinchingly because he wanted to save his companion. And when he went, it was with a sense of sadness that someone else would be taking over from him. But his last words were to praise his companion and then himself. This showed how much the Ninth Doctor had changed from bitter survivor to a man who was willing to trust, if not love, a human, and sacrifice himself for that human. His regeneration represented the end of a great piece of character development - just as the troubled, almost resentful regeneration of the Tenth Doctor showed how he had changed into something new across the course of his time as the Doctor. The regenerations themselves were something RTD got absolutely right.

Matt Smith is... The Doctor!

Of course, no review of this adventure could be complete without at least a comment on the new Doctor. And he seemed to be... Ok. Energetic. Big chin. Easily filling the space left by Tennant - for the seconds he was onscreen for. Which is the problem with trying to make a call on the Eleventh Doctor - the complete lack of evidence. However, take a look at this... if nothing else, it looks very interesting.

Which is the point. The End of Time left me sad that one era was ending, but excited about a new beginning. To paraphrase the Ood, one story is ending, but the story as a whole goes on. After five years of RTD at the helm, and four years of the Tenth Doctor, a change of lead writer and actor may well prove to be just what the Doctor ordered...

*Such as "Martha and Mickey married? You what? And since when?", "If Luke Smith is such an intelligent lad, then why can't he look when he is crossing the road?" and "Since when has Captain Jack needed the Doctor's help in getting laid?"