The Stolen Earth/Journey's End
Doctor Who hasn't been worth writing about since 2006, nor have I been so hyped for a finale since then.
Well, I definitely enjoyed it, even though it got dumber and dumber as it went along.
As a fan, I think I occupy some sort of fandom "middle ground". If you take into account a lot of the negative criticism of the series then I'm obviously stupid enough to be swept along by the all the fun, pop-culture references and stunt casting that fandom abhors so much. I even admit to being suckered by Doctor Who Confidential's self-congratulatory bollocks; Yes, for a few weeks I really did think Steven Moffat was god's gift to Who. It took me that long to realise how pointless Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead really was (more another time). And yet, I'm not dumb enough to ignore the terrible mistakes the show sometimes makes, like the opening to Journey's End.
To be honest, the whole story seemed like one big excercise in hype - with Russel T Davies actually (and probably knowingly) contradicting what the series had already established a "regeneration" to be so that he could give us one of the biggest and most talked-about cliffhangers of the show's history. The cop out solution was horrendous - and began the episode's downwards spiral into idiocy.
The inclusion of so many of the shows characters was great - but it was just fan service. Unlike what we were assured on DWC and in the Radio Times, none of the returning characters served any function that contributed to the plot - most notably Rose herself. Sure, they all helped the Doctor to find Earth - but it was stupid that the TARDIS wasn't teleported along with Earth in the first place.
In fact, a lot of what was set up in The Stolen Earth was pissed on in the conclusion. By the end, you realise that there was no point in going to The Shadow Proclamation or in Rose coming back at all. Then theres Dalek Caan, the last surviving Dalek who against all odds defied the LAWS OF TIME to bring back the Dalek Empire because he wanted them to be destroyed by the False Doctor. It seems like Russel wrote the first half of the story without knowing how to resolve it. As much as they try to fool you otherwise, there was no big story-arc laid down from the start. This was made up as they went along. Why were the Daleks rounding up all humans for testing when they only needed one to test that laser. It works on any matter, why didnt they just use a brick?
Why even use that Z-Neutrino whotsit at all? The Delta wave established in The Parting Of The Ways kills anything with a brain - and it wouldve left every planet lifeless, ripe for Dalek plunder. Why didnt they use that? Oh wait, - so they could have that cool "stars going out" shot in Turn Left.
Why was Davros the Dalek's pet? Actually, I was happy that they included this line as anyone aware of the old series will know how the Daleks betrayed Davros. This is keeping within their character - but if Davros grew all the Daleks from his own cells, why didnt he instill obedience into them? (Dalek Caan may have saved a whole command ship including the SupremeDalek).
If we view the finale as purely "A Dalek Story", then it just about delivers. It has all the essential ingredients of a Dalek story - the invasion, the devilish plan and their eventual defeat. -And the Daleks were always defeated by a magnet + a bomb anyway so their press-a-few-buttons-instantly-destroy-entire-empire defeat doesnt actually seem like a cop-out. It was always like this, only usually better written.
It strikes me as ever-so-slightly odd that I felt a tinge of emotion when the Daleks went out of control and everyone laughed at them. It was a bit of fun for the kids but I couldn't help feeling bad as the lone spinning Dalek cried "Help me" while Jack laughed at it. Sure they'd murdered a bunch of innocent bystanders, but this is the Doctor-Who-World equivalent of kicking down somebody's daffodils. I actually felt worse watching the Daleks being ridiculed than I did watching the prisoners being disintegrated. At least Daleks kill you instantly rather than torturing you and then making you explode. Even the prisoners seemed to die painlessly.
Yes, it sounds stupid of me but I'm sure the Doctor sees it this way too. Browse through the fan sites and read how many viewers are ranting "WAT THE DR TRIED TO SAVE DAVROS??? WHY DIDNT HE LET HIM DIE??" - a testament to how many fans just don't get the show or the character.
Another thing the fans have been whining about is the horrible treatment of Donna. It's definitely very sad what happened to her at the end of the story, sad things happen in drama- but its not an OMG HORRIBLE mistreatment of her character and another reason to send the death squad after RTD. Fandom's reaction to this reveals something rather disturbing about the show's most vocal online critics. What happened at the end was merely that she lost all her memories of the Doctor and carried on with her old life; texting, gossiping with friends and probably watching I'd Do Anything. She went back to being a normal, happy person, albeit one whose true potential cannot be realised. Of course, theres nothing that a fan hates more than the unwashed, X-Factor watching, Heat reading chav masses, so this was a fate worse than the most horrible death for poor old Donna.
Yes, if theres another mistake RTD made, it was that he didnt realise his main audience of dedicated followers was oh so much higher on the intellectual ladder than the normal TV viewer (*) - and this goes a ways to explain why so many fans were against the casting of Catherine Tate.
(*) - sarcasm
If the episode had one low point, it was Rose's send off. I didnt buy her involvement in series 4 from the start. The writers tried to fool us into thinking "OMG, Rose is finally returning! She's been gone so long!" when in actual fact she'd only been gone for one series and..... well, she was a cunt anyway and I didnt care that she was coming back. We were given hints in Turn Left that she had some sort of mysterious agenda, that she'd grown and would play a big part in the Daleks' downfall. By the end of the finale we learned that, of course, she'd come back for no real reason at all other than to find her Doctor. Yes, Rose is just as selfish and obnoxious as when she left in series 2. It seems like the writing presents her character as someone who will go to any length to achieve her dream of being reunited with the Doctor and says "this is good", but Billy Piper plays it as "Spolied brat who bitches and whines until she gets her way" rather than "Plucky heroine who never gives up and betters herself". I couldnt possibly determine whether Billy, the writing or direction is at fault here, so enough of that.
So what am I supposed to feel when Rose departs with the False Doctor? Is it a bittersweet ending? Rose has what she wants but not really? The kiss was totally unconvincing so I can't be sure if she's happy or not. Add this to the fact that I couldnt give two shits either way and all we have are 5 minutes of the extra 15 added on to the episode that would have been better spent by having Davros and Caan crash land in a dumpster behind Tescos and declare "I'll get you next time, Doctor!!"
At the end of the day though, picking something apart to this degree is enough to ruin any children's TV show and make it look flawed. This is partly a problem with me and my demand for every minute detail to be plausible - something that comes from watching too much Star Trek. Doctor Who is about characters, story and adventure whereas (modern) Star Trek is a soulless exploration of a uniquely realised world that is presented in the most minutely detailed and scientifically plausible way. This is why you can only enjoy Star Trek if you have some weird sexual fetish for spaceships and lasers (which, as everyone knows, I have). Over-analytical fans ruin the show for themselves, as I do. If you can get by on just *squee* and not care whether the Daleks are using Thaleron Radiation when they should be venting the Drive Plasma and channeling a Single Stream Z-Neutrino Cascade through the main Navigational Deflector to create an Inverse-Phase Variance then there's really no need to get worked up. Otherwise you're never going to enjoy anything.
Lets face facts: If New Who was exactly the same as Old Who, then I wouldnt be watching it with my girlfriend. I'd be watching it on my own.
Random point of interest - The Livejournal spell-checker does not recognise the word "squee". This... just defies comprehension.
Well, I definitely enjoyed it, even though it got dumber and dumber as it went along.
As a fan, I think I occupy some sort of fandom "middle ground". If you take into account a lot of the negative criticism of the series then I'm obviously stupid enough to be swept along by the all the fun, pop-culture references and stunt casting that fandom abhors so much. I even admit to being suckered by Doctor Who Confidential's self-congratulatory bollocks; Yes, for a few weeks I really did think Steven Moffat was god's gift to Who. It took me that long to realise how pointless Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead really was (more another time). And yet, I'm not dumb enough to ignore the terrible mistakes the show sometimes makes, like the opening to Journey's End.
To be honest, the whole story seemed like one big excercise in hype - with Russel T Davies actually (and probably knowingly) contradicting what the series had already established a "regeneration" to be so that he could give us one of the biggest and most talked-about cliffhangers of the show's history. The cop out solution was horrendous - and began the episode's downwards spiral into idiocy.
The inclusion of so many of the shows characters was great - but it was just fan service. Unlike what we were assured on DWC and in the Radio Times, none of the returning characters served any function that contributed to the plot - most notably Rose herself. Sure, they all helped the Doctor to find Earth - but it was stupid that the TARDIS wasn't teleported along with Earth in the first place.
In fact, a lot of what was set up in The Stolen Earth was pissed on in the conclusion. By the end, you realise that there was no point in going to The Shadow Proclamation or in Rose coming back at all. Then theres Dalek Caan, the last surviving Dalek who against all odds defied the LAWS OF TIME to bring back the Dalek Empire because he wanted them to be destroyed by the False Doctor. It seems like Russel wrote the first half of the story without knowing how to resolve it. As much as they try to fool you otherwise, there was no big story-arc laid down from the start. This was made up as they went along. Why were the Daleks rounding up all humans for testing when they only needed one to test that laser. It works on any matter, why didnt they just use a brick?
Why even use that Z-Neutrino whotsit at all? The Delta wave established in The Parting Of The Ways kills anything with a brain - and it wouldve left every planet lifeless, ripe for Dalek plunder. Why didnt they use that? Oh wait, - so they could have that cool "stars going out" shot in Turn Left.
Why was Davros the Dalek's pet? Actually, I was happy that they included this line as anyone aware of the old series will know how the Daleks betrayed Davros. This is keeping within their character - but if Davros grew all the Daleks from his own cells, why didnt he instill obedience into them? (Dalek Caan may have saved a whole command ship including the SupremeDalek).
If we view the finale as purely "A Dalek Story", then it just about delivers. It has all the essential ingredients of a Dalek story - the invasion, the devilish plan and their eventual defeat. -And the Daleks were always defeated by a magnet + a bomb anyway so their press-a-few-buttons-instantly-destroy-entire-empire defeat doesnt actually seem like a cop-out. It was always like this, only usually better written.
It strikes me as ever-so-slightly odd that I felt a tinge of emotion when the Daleks went out of control and everyone laughed at them. It was a bit of fun for the kids but I couldn't help feeling bad as the lone spinning Dalek cried "Help me" while Jack laughed at it. Sure they'd murdered a bunch of innocent bystanders, but this is the Doctor-Who-World equivalent of kicking down somebody's daffodils. I actually felt worse watching the Daleks being ridiculed than I did watching the prisoners being disintegrated. At least Daleks kill you instantly rather than torturing you and then making you explode. Even the prisoners seemed to die painlessly.
Yes, it sounds stupid of me but I'm sure the Doctor sees it this way too. Browse through the fan sites and read how many viewers are ranting "WAT THE DR TRIED TO SAVE DAVROS??? WHY DIDNT HE LET HIM DIE??" - a testament to how many fans just don't get the show or the character.
Another thing the fans have been whining about is the horrible treatment of Donna. It's definitely very sad what happened to her at the end of the story, sad things happen in drama- but its not an OMG HORRIBLE mistreatment of her character and another reason to send the death squad after RTD. Fandom's reaction to this reveals something rather disturbing about the show's most vocal online critics. What happened at the end was merely that she lost all her memories of the Doctor and carried on with her old life; texting, gossiping with friends and probably watching I'd Do Anything. She went back to being a normal, happy person, albeit one whose true potential cannot be realised. Of course, theres nothing that a fan hates more than the unwashed, X-Factor watching, Heat reading chav masses, so this was a fate worse than the most horrible death for poor old Donna.
Yes, if theres another mistake RTD made, it was that he didnt realise his main audience of dedicated followers was oh so much higher on the intellectual ladder than the normal TV viewer (*) - and this goes a ways to explain why so many fans were against the casting of Catherine Tate.
(*) - sarcasm
If the episode had one low point, it was Rose's send off. I didnt buy her involvement in series 4 from the start. The writers tried to fool us into thinking "OMG, Rose is finally returning! She's been gone so long!" when in actual fact she'd only been gone for one series and..... well, she was a cunt anyway and I didnt care that she was coming back. We were given hints in Turn Left that she had some sort of mysterious agenda, that she'd grown and would play a big part in the Daleks' downfall. By the end of the finale we learned that, of course, she'd come back for no real reason at all other than to find her Doctor. Yes, Rose is just as selfish and obnoxious as when she left in series 2. It seems like the writing presents her character as someone who will go to any length to achieve her dream of being reunited with the Doctor and says "this is good", but Billy Piper plays it as "Spolied brat who bitches and whines until she gets her way" rather than "Plucky heroine who never gives up and betters herself". I couldnt possibly determine whether Billy, the writing or direction is at fault here, so enough of that.
So what am I supposed to feel when Rose departs with the False Doctor? Is it a bittersweet ending? Rose has what she wants but not really? The kiss was totally unconvincing so I can't be sure if she's happy or not. Add this to the fact that I couldnt give two shits either way and all we have are 5 minutes of the extra 15 added on to the episode that would have been better spent by having Davros and Caan crash land in a dumpster behind Tescos and declare "I'll get you next time, Doctor!!"
At the end of the day though, picking something apart to this degree is enough to ruin any children's TV show and make it look flawed. This is partly a problem with me and my demand for every minute detail to be plausible - something that comes from watching too much Star Trek. Doctor Who is about characters, story and adventure whereas (modern) Star Trek is a soulless exploration of a uniquely realised world that is presented in the most minutely detailed and scientifically plausible way. This is why you can only enjoy Star Trek if you have some weird sexual fetish for spaceships and lasers (which, as everyone knows, I have). Over-analytical fans ruin the show for themselves, as I do. If you can get by on just *squee* and not care whether the Daleks are using Thaleron Radiation when they should be venting the Drive Plasma and channeling a Single Stream Z-Neutrino Cascade through the main Navigational Deflector to create an Inverse-Phase Variance then there's really no need to get worked up. Otherwise you're never going to enjoy anything.
Lets face facts: If New Who was exactly the same as Old Who, then I wouldnt be watching it with my girlfriend. I'd be watching it on my own.
Random point of interest - The Livejournal spell-checker does not recognise the word "squee". This... just defies comprehension.