The End of Time – Part I
A Christmas two-part’er for the final episodes of the 10th Doctors incarnation sees The Master & The Timelords return!!!
Summary of Part 1
When The Doctor goes to visit the Ood, he is informed that The Master is returning and also that “something” else from the Darkness is returning also. Rushing off to Earth to stop the Master’s return, the Doctor arrives too late and a new – more monstrous – version of The Master has returned. His rejuvenation attempt not fully completed due to the intervention of Lucy Saxon – The Master is now voracious for Life Force and is feeding of humans to get it!!
The Doctor confronting The Master in this incarnation is unable to stop him and is forced to acknowledge that the drumming that The Master is constantly mentioning is in fact real (I love it when series authors are able to tie back a single plot device to something so much larger … I really have to give them credit for mapping it all out in advance in this way) and that The Master is not insane. Appealing to The Master to help him in dealing with the “something from the darkness” The Master is instead captured and The Doctor left behind.
The Doctor meets Wilfred Mott (Donna’s grandfather) – who acts as The Doctor’s companion in this episode and together they track down The Master who has been captured by Naismith. Naismith is using The Master to rebuild an alien device that he has come across called the Immortality Gate. Unbeknown to Naismith however is the fact that two of his assistants are in fact aliens in disguise – Vinvocci – and are there to salvage the Gate. The Master given access to the Gate by Naismith is able to quickly restore it to working order.
While this has happened, the Doctor has discovered where the Master has been taken and journeys there with Wilf to try and stop him. Once again, discovering too late what the Master is working on, he is unable to stop the Master from entering the Gate and imprinting himself on every Human being on Earth except – Wilf, The Doctor and Donna Noble!
Part One ends revealing that the Narrator, who has appeared throughout the episode warning of the end of humanity on Christmas Day is the Leader of the Time Lords, and he announces that this is the day that the Time Lords will return!!
My Thoughts –
OK, as mentioned … I love the fact that the Sound of the Drums is real and that it could portend something much greater. I love the fact that the Master is able to use his Life Force as a weapon (& a source of propulsion!) and the skull effect is brilliant. On the positive side … The TimeLords have returned! WOW … didn’t see that one coming at all. Throughout this new incarnation of the Doctor, the fact that he is the “last of the TimeLords” is something that has impacted him greatly … with their return … what’s going to happen now???
Now – on the negative side … while The Master taking over the whole human race in such a fashion is cool … the overall effect seemed very “Matrixy” to me – how about you? Didn’t it just seem like Agent Smith assimilating everyone?
The End of Time – Part II
Summary of Episode –
Captured and taunted by The Master, The Doctor and Wilf are saved by the Vinvocci. Escaping from the multiple Masters, they go into hiding in the Vinvocci ship that is orbiting the Earth. Quickly realizing that The Master could easily destroy the ship, The Doctor disables the ship and hides it from the Earth based sensors.
Unable to find The Doctor, the world of Master’s concentrate on the“sound of drums” – this sound amplified a billion times becomes clearer and The TimeLords are able to use it to send a focusing device through the Time Lock. This focus – a fallen Gallifreyan diamond, called a Whitepoint Star is immediately recognizable by The Master and The Doctor. As these diamonds are only available on Gallifrey, The Doctor realizes that The TimeLords have found a loophole and are going to escape from the Time War.
Contrary to expectations, The Doctor is NOT happy that the TimeLords are returning and he indicates in no uncertain way that in the Final Days of the Time War, the TimeLords changed from their more benevolent selves into a fanatical race, willing to do anything and everything to win.
The Doctor quickly rushes to stop The Master, but once again arrives too late as the Time Lord Council appears through the Immortality Gate. The Master plans to use the Gate now to imprint himself on all Time Lords, but the Time Lord President stops him and undoes the previous change by the Gate and restores humanity. The President then reveals that now freed of the Time Lock, the Time Lords will end time and creation itself in order to live eternally as pure consciousness.
The Doctor tells The Master that that is why he had to stop the Time Lords at the end of the Time War, as he knew they were planning that. Gallifrey begins to materialise by the Earth, and the Doctor reveals that it will soon be followed by all the other horrors from the Time War.
The Doctor determines that instead of killing The Master or the President, he can instead use Wilfs gun to destroy the diamond that is maintaining the link.
Doing so and reversing the process so that the TimeLords are sent back into the Time Lock, the Doctor is further threatened by the President, but is instead saved by The Master!! Furious that he had been manipulated since a child by the President, The Master attacks the President in a rage. Gallifrey, The Master and all the Time Lords disappear back into the Time Lock. The fate of the Master, who also vanishes, is unclear.
Surprised to still be alive, The Doctor starts to rejoice only to hear 4 knocks … Wilf has been trapped in the isolation chamber which will soon be flooded with lethal radiation, killing him instantly. The Doctor initially rages about his fate – stating that“I could do so much more” and that Wilfred is “unimportant”. However, realizing that his fate is pre-ordained and that he cannot leave Wilfred to die, The Doctor sacrifices himself to save Wilf, and in the process suffers a massive dose of radiation.
Although he survives initially, the healing of the Doctor’s wounds show that his regeneration has started. He takes Wilfred home and brief scenes show him fleetingly visiting several past companions. Not wishing to change and stating that he doesn’t want to go, the Doctor completes his regeneration in an unusually violent manner with the TARDIS windows shattering and the console room bursting into flames. The newly-regenerated Eleventh Doctor explores his new body before eventually recognising that the TARDIS is hurtling back to Earth, taking the controls and gleefully shouting “Geronimo!”
My Thoughts –
Sad that David Tennant is gone … really liked him as The Doctor and he definitely made the role his own … however from what I understand the new Doctor has signed on for at least 3 years which means there are going to be some good stories coming and hopefully further details. Also, despite my previous comments about the Time Lords – quite cool that they were “bad” at the end … however, being the last Time Lord, also means there is no one else with the same amount of power as the Doctor, which also means that he really can’t lose. Also with the Master gone, the Daleks gone and Cybermen gone, this is even more true! Also really good scenes between Wilfred and The Doctor where initially Wilf said he’d be happy if the Doctor was his son and then The Doctor saying he’d be proud if Wilf was his dad. Really good. The tie in of “the sound of drums” from such a long time ago to this point – really well done.
I look forward to seeing what’s coming … it should be interesting!!