Story #202 - The End of Time (2009-2010)

Harry -

We have finally reached The End of Time, and I'm feeling fine. Sarah let's break out the gin to toast the end of another era.

It's got to be over a decade since I watched this and the "victory lap" ending was as cringeworthy as remembered. However I was surprised to find the story leading up to it was better than I thought. Definitely better on a rewatch.

Sarah -

I was hoping to have the same reaction as you, but I think I liked it even less on this rewatch. At the very least, I know I won’t ever have to watch it again.

On the upside we have Wilf as the Doctor’s companion. Hooray! Unfortunately, it’s also Christmas time, so we know nothing good will happen. Cue the resurrection of the Master by some lame cultists devoted to him, which leads to the massacre of innocent people in a quarry. Remember how excited we were when John Simm was announced as the Master? How naive we were. I’d almost rather watch Eric Roberts’ performance. Almost.

Harry -

John Simm's Master was very jarring at first. Very hyper and over the top, a dark reflection of David Tennant's Doctor. As Doctor Who has rumbled on for over 50 years, each iteration of the Master has shed a layer of Roger Delgado's initial quiet coolness and become more bouncy-bouncy bonkers. We have watched this character grow increasingly insane over time. This Master continues the progression. I remember not liking him when this season first aired, but over time he's become a favourite, probably because of his performance in the Capaldi era which we will get to.

Sarah - 

I’m already counting the seasons to the return of the Master!

Harry - 

The resurrection scene was definitely bad. The cult, the massacre, the barely plausible Gallifreyan biology that makes Time Lords immortal, bleh. At least Lucy Saxon took a measure of revenge and threw a spanner into the works, screwing up the process and leaving the Master more a flickering flame than a fully-formed being again.

Speaking of comebacks, I wonder how tempted RTD was to write Donna back into one more story. If he really wanted, he could have found some way for the Doctor to restore and preserve her mind for at least one more adventure. New Who's showrunners seem to have carte blanche. However it's interesting that it didn't happen. Instead, we got Wilf as the companion and it was a smashing time. Wilf leading his own merrie branch of L.I.N.D.A., what a riot.

Sarah -

Donna’s return was one of my favorite parts of the story. I hope she’ll be very happy with her husband and that lottery money won’t hurt! Wilf’s band of Doctor-hunters were adorable, but I’m not sure about the lady who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. Still, he probably has it coming after the Queen Bess comment.

Harry -

And so the early part of the story bounces between three corners. The Master reborn and bonkers, the Doctor in pursuit, and Wilf & Co. in pursuit of the Doctor.

An air of mystery is added by a mysterious woman who delivers enigmatic messages to Wilf. Surprisingly, RTD let her remain an enigma.

After a couple of confrontations with the Doctor, the Master is kidnapped by some paramilitary thugs and the story kicks into another gear. The Master is briefly held captive by Joshua Naismith, a man of unlimited wealth and power. Briefly. Feigning that he will help Naismith harness a piece of alien technology that can supposedly make humans immortal, the Master rigs it up to instead transform all humans into Master-clones. A Master Race! Very clever. But like all of the Master's schemes in New Who, it's all high concept but filled with holes. We will see this pattern repeat itself: the Master/Missy creates a massive army, but fails to think through all the ramifications and the entire project collapses. As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Sarah -

I feel exhausted just thinking about this nonsense. The Master is the, well, master of bonkers schemes, but this one takes the cake. Just what we need, a whole planet of the “Master” race. And when did he start being able to shoot electricity and fly? I can’t even tell you how much I loathe this plot line.

Harry -

It's totally in keeping with the modern era's Master in that his/her plots are nonsense, as if the point to the entire thing is to get a reaction from the Doctor. Get a room already!

Sarah -

The whole Obama/recession storyline is silly. And the mispronouncing of his name got under my skin. While I’m on a tear here, what the what with the creepy Naismith? The way he looks at his daughter may be the grossest thing in Doctor Who’s history.

Harry -

Eww eww Naismith. Please do not get a room!

Sarah -

And then we have the Time Lords, making their first return since Trial of a Time Lord in 1986. They’re as irritating as ever and I’m more than ready for Gallifrey to be destroyed.

Harry -

I don't recall if the return of Rassilon was known before this story aired. 

Sarah - 

I definitely remember being surprised the first time around, so I’m guessing not. 

Harry - 

Timothy Dalton's performance was scene-chewingly amusing, but I'm not sure what we were meant to think at the end. Was Rassilon not all that great after all, his scheme broken up by the lightning-flinging Master? Or had the Master evolved into some entirely new kind of being, able to fling lightning at the mighty Rassilon? Best not to expend too many brain cells on it. After all, Wilf is knocking.

And so the Tenth Doctor meets his demise. Not by the Daleks or Cybermen, not by some stupendous new monster, but by poor old Wilfrid Mott trapping himself in a chamber that's about to go nuclear. Ever since "The Caves of Androzani", I've wanted to see another story where the Doctor sacrifices a life in order to save just one person, not in some grand space opera setting but in a quiet corner of the universe. We got that here and it should have been great but for RTD blowing the regeneration up into the most self-indulgent, eye-rolling ordeal of all time.

Sarah - 

Right? It would have been perfect if the Doctor just regenerated and moved on. To be fair, if there’s one person worth dying to save it’s Wilfrid Mott. 

Harry - 

There's no need to go over the victory lap. It sucks and I'm not a fan, but it was RTD's farewell and he deserved to have his way after resurrecting the greatest TV show of all time. I really can't say anything else nice, so let's wrap it up.

Sarah - 

The victory lap may be the most egregious thing ever in Doctor Who, let’s leave it be. 

Harry - 

Best Line:

Wilf enters the TARDIS for the first time: "I thought it would be cleaner."

Favourite Moment:

Tough to pick one. I liked some of John Simm's manic moments. Gross but riveting.

Lasting Image:

Wilf's final goodbye to the Doctor.

5/10

Sarah - 

Best Line: 

Doctor: "I'd be proud."

Wilf: "Of what?"

Doctor: "If you were my dad."

Favorite Moment:

The return of Donna Noble!

Lasting Image: 

Wilf hugging the Doctor

3/10

Story #201 - The Waters of Mars (2009)

Sarah -
I've been looking forward to this story, which I haven't watched since the first airing. I remembered it being the best of the Specials year and I was not disappointed.


Harry -
Everyone acted the hell out of this one, especially Lindsay Duncan as Captain Adelaide Brooke. Wow!


Sarah -
Duncan is definitely one of my favorite guest actors of the Tennant era. She’s spectacular as Adelaide.


Harry -
The only memories I had of this story were the "Gadget gadget" droid, and the dripping monsters. But I forgot how much of a horror story this one was. More haunted house than base under siege. What happened to the infected crew members was horrific.


Sarah -
"The Waters of Mars" is a proper horror story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The junior member of the Smith household, let’s call her Ace, commented that the story reminded her of Alien. Alien is my favorite horror film, so I’m down with that.


Harry -
Wicked!


Sarah -
I love that the chaos starts with a simple carrot.


Harry -
A simple carrot, bitten by the first unfortunate member of the crew, bringing something very ancient back to life and setting off a chain reaction for Adelaide and her crew.

I can't recall if there was an expectation that a story set on Mars would include the Ice Warriors. They did get a shout out by the Doctor quite late, but the menace he encountered here was something else entirely. An ancient race or intelligence (that understood a Northern Martian dialect, apparently), that craved or depended so much on water that it was ready to travel to Earth and soak up its seas. It was up to the Doctor to stop this invasion before it even got off the planet. Only, once he realized where he'd stumbled into, and who he was among, and what day it was, he suddenly wanted to leave the Mars base as soon as possible.


Sarah -
It’s so rare to see the Doctor react this way, which just amps up the tension even more. He knows how this is going to end and watching it happen is unnerving. He keeps trying to get out of there, but can’t manage to do so.


Harry -
Half the time he was was standing in a doorway in his orange spacesuit, knowing he should leave but desperate to stay. He hung around, then got completely carried away at the end when he should have just left.


Sarah -
We’ve already called out Lindsay Duncan’s performance, but the entire cast is fabulous. Watching them be infected one by one is terrifying. Maggie’s transformation while talking to Yuri is especially effective. Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s performance well and truly scared me. The moment that broke my heart was Steffi starting the video of her children when she realizes she’s about to transform. That was crushing.


Harry -
The props and costume crews outdid themselves here. The monsters were very unique and very horrifying.

Each time a crew member fell victim to the infection was traumatic. I forgot how powerful this story was. 

It all leads up to a series of confrontations between the Doctor and Adelaide. First, when she cottons on to the fact that he knows more than he's admitting. Then, when she refuses to let him leave until he lets her know what he knows. Their final face-to-face was the most explosive of all. Having gone completely apeshit movie hero, the Doctor rescued Adelaide and two remaining crew members before the Mars base was completely destroyed. Knowing her future history, and realizing that it has been altered with potentially massive consequences, Adelaide rounds on the Doctor with fury. How dare he play god and tamper with human history, and then act all full of himself for having saved a few lives, when he might have prevented the disaster from the very beginning. I love how she completely tells him off.


Sarah -
YES! The Doctor has had that coming for a while. What happened to, "you can't rewrite history! Not one line!"


Harry -
It was something he badly needed to hear. Left alone again, he finally admitted to himself, "I've gone too far" with his Time Lord victorious shtick.

He seems to hallucinate the appearance of an Ood on a London street, before retreating to the TARDIS with destiny about to crash down upon him. What a wild story.

Shall we see how the Doctor's song ends?


Sarah -
Let’s go!


Harry -
Best line: "I hate funny robots."

Favourite moment: Adelaide rips the Doctor to shreds.

Lasting image: Andy, the first victim, transformed by the waters of Mars.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: 
Adelaide: State your name, rank, and intention.
Doctor: The Doctor. Doctor. Fun.

Favorite Moment: Adelaide telling the Doctor off for rewriting history.

Lasting Image: Maggie after her transformation.

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #202: The End of Time...

Story #200 - Planet of the Dead (2009)

Harry -
Here's a story I probably haven't watched since around the time it was first broadcast. I didn't remember much about it aside from the setting of a London bus crashed on a desert planet, and the one-off character of Lady Christina de Souza.


Sarah -
It's definitely the first time I've watched it since 2009. I wasn't looking forward to watching it, remembering that I wasn't a fan of it the first time out. With expectations so low, I found myself not as annoyed by it as I expected, but not particularly engaged by it either.


Harry -
Watching it again the other day, the opening scene where Christina plunders a golden chalice from a museum brought to mind of all things the Cartmel Masterplan. If I'm remembering it right, Cartmel had planned to write Ace out of the show in 1990 and replace her with a cat burglar. History did not pan out that way, but Cartmel might have been amused to see the Doctor teaming up with a cat burglar years later.

Sarah -
I'm sure Cartmel would have had something to say about that. No one loves discussing his work more than he does.

I didn't remember much about the story besides Lady Christina and the bus, so it was a surprise to see Daniel Kaluuya as Barclay, long before his international stardom.

Harry -
That was definitely a "whoa!" moment.

There weren't many others here. After the museum alarm triggered a pursuit and bus chase, Lady Christina and the Doctor end up on the other side of the universe with a collection of baffled passengers. Back on Earth, the police call in UNIT, and the typical UNIT activities unfold. Roll in with heavy artillery, take total control and seal off the area until something Doctory happens.

Sarah - 
It was all a bit predictable, wasn’t it?

Harry - 
Things were a bit more interesting on the desert planet. The Doctor and Lady Christina strike up a friendship and go exploring. They discover another wreck, that of a spaceship piloted by anthropomorphic flies. The aliens were vastly superior in design to the buggy aliens from "The Web Planet", but they weren't given much to do. As characters go, they seemed to be as baffled as the folks back on the bus.

Sarah - 
Bafflement all around. It was sad when the aliens were killed while the Doctor was trying to get everyone back to the bus. 

Harry - 
To add some pressure to the situation of the broken down bus, the threat of a coming storm arises. The "storm" is in fact a swarm of metal-shelled, omnivorous flying beasties and it's feeding time.

So, the Doctor and Lady Christina utilize their skills and cleverness to figure out how to repair the bus, and the Doctor connects with UNIT to get their help in sorting out the mysterious portal through space.

Enter Dr. Malcolm Taylor. A force of nature all his own. I forgot that he was in this story as UNIT's brilliant and excitable scientific advisor. His scenes added some levity to the story, with a Quatermass gag thrown in.

Sarah - 
Malcolm is my favorite part of the entire story and I’m always down for a Quatermass reference.  It made me remember when we planned to watch one episode of The Quatermass Experiment at Chicago TARDIS and ended up staying up much too late to watch the whole story.  That was so good!

Harry - 
It was a great series.  The Holstian theme music still resonates.

And cue the race to the finish! The Doctor and Christina hoof it back with some fancy alien technology to power the bus. Malcolm rigs up the time portal, and UNIT stands by with guns ready. They went hog wild once the bus was back through with a few stray alien beasties, blasting them out of the sky and damn the consequences.

Earth saved, hurrah, etc.

Once the aliens are done away with, the Doctor helps Lady Christina slip away and escape on the alien-powered flying bus... which gave me a thought.

With a few tweaks, this could have been an Iris Wildthyme story. Swap her in for Lady Christina, give the story a more gin-soaked flavour, and find a way to introduce Panda. Maybe the crew of the second wrecked ship could have been tiny anthropomorphic pandas instead of insects. Iris rescues one and they become inseparable. Wahey!! The imagination runs riot thinking about this.

Sarah - 
Get Paul Magrs on the phone -- it’s time for a rewrite!

Harry -
Proof that it would not be too difficult to weave Iris into the show.  She would have made this one of the best stories ever.  I want this now!

Sarah -
The story is passable, I guess, but there’s little to inspire. 

Harry -
Well sure now that I've been whipped into a Wildthyme frenzy.

Sarah -
When Big Finish announced their Lady Christina series, I just shrugged. 

Harry -
I'll take Katy Manning any day.

Sarah -
I have no need to rewatch this episode anytime soon. 

Harry -
Are we still talking about this episode?

Sarah -
Ready for a trip to Mars? 

Harry -
Wahey!

Sarah - 
Best Line: 

Malcolm: Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm.
Doctor: You named a unit of measurement after yourself?
Malcolm: Well, it didn't do Mister Watt any harm. Furthermore, one hundred Malcolms equals a Bernard.
Doctor: And who's that? Your dad?
Malcolm: Don't be ridiculous. That's Quatermass.

Favorite Moment: Malcolm meeting the Doctor.

Lasting Image: The bus is the most iconic thing about this story. 

4/10

Harry -
Best Line:

Captain Magambo: "I don't believe it. Guns that work."

Favourite Moment: Definitely Malcolm. "I LOVE YOU!!"

Lasting Image: the publicity shot of the Doctor and Lady Christina always comes to mind first.

5/10

Our marathon continues with Story #201: The Waters of Mars...