Last of the Time Lords

[jadesfire]

So.

Well then.

I was going to post something witty and lengthy about the episode, making comparisons, exploring themes, referencing films, books and plays and possibly ending in song.

Instead, I shall throw the floor open. I know lots of you have ranted in your journals already, but let's take this as calmly as we can. As usual, big areas for discussion are Performance, Production and Writing, and let's make sure we include implications for Torchwood. Assume that everyone's seen everything, so also ASSUME SPOILERS in the comments.

Feelings are running high, so let's try to keep it polite. Debating's fine; flaming's not. Keep it clean, folks.

Comments

[dune-drd.livejournal.com]

Total disappointment after the long build up. Instead of jumping right where they left us last week (and oh, they could've given us so much action!) they spend another entire episode to introduce us to the (new) setting again, and then resolve the plot in under 5 minutes.

Then they throw in some cheesy dialogue, make an unnecessary pun regarding Jack and think it's the best thing they ever did. There's just nothing that saves this episode.

[xwingace]

And actually my main hangup with the resolution of the plot (apart from the Pratchett steals) is that, while the previous episodes all provided some minor additions to the arc leading up to the final three, which was brilliant setup, the one thing they should really have been setting up is the Archangel Network, which was sort of dropped in at the last minute, and now has to carry the entire plot.

And they were doing so well.

XWA

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I disagree that there's nothing to save the episode. Martha was great, not so much in what they did with her (although the "Time Lord gun" was a great idea, well used) but in her performance. When she's facing the Master, she's calm, composed and confident. It's great.

And the Master's death (the death itself, not the Return of the Jedi funeral) was great - they both played it to perfection.

I'm still wavering on the Jack-front. Although I admit to yelling at the TV when it happened, I think it was more because I'd read the spoiler and dismissed it as too daft, and so was disappointed that they couldn't come up with something more original. laligin's fic on the subject made me laugh and was surprisingly believable.

However, the less said about Doctor-the-House-Elf and the amazing glowing Time Lord, the better...

[aoife-8.livejournal.com]

I'm not quite sure how I feel. On balance, I think I feel...cheated. There was so much unrealised potential in this episode. Some of the characters were grossly underused (Lucy Saxon; Jack) and there were a fair number of plot holes...and I'm afraid I lost the ability to suspend my disbelief when the Doctor turned into Gollum. On the other hand, there were some cracking special effects, and some inspired performances from both Tennant and Simms. And I loved Martha's final goodbye scene with the Doctor. The final revelation about Jack? Had me speechless; but I don't like it and I don't buy it. SO I'm off to watch the episode a couple more times to see if this changes my mind.

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

Russell T Davies has been on the podcast to say he definitely means that 5 billion years into the future, Jack *is* the Face of Boe. I've posted more thoughts about that just below - I still think it involves a bit of RetCon.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

It was such a mixed bag. My own instinctive feeling is that they were great performances, let down by the production (including the writing). Doctor-the-House-Elf? In a bird cage?

JB said he wondered what RTD had been smoking. This is a sensible question, I feel...

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Well my utter loathing of the Jack revelation aside I did think it was a slightly disappointing episode. Too much Martha and new characters, far too little scenes with the Doctor, the Master and Jack. Tennant was completely ineffectual (well up to the wonderful moment when he cried with the dying Master in his arms which was wonderful) as he was stuck in old age makeup or as a CGI creation. I simply haven't warmed to Martha's family (and I can't help but wonder if this is one of the reasons why poor Freema is getting the boot because the production team realise that the actors who play her family simply aren't very engaging) and resented any screen time they got.

Simm was brilliant but didn't actually get as much screentime as he deserved and was defeated rather easily. Plus the Doctor's Tinkerbell style regeneration was just embarrasingly cheesy.

And there was just so little Jack - he may as well not have been in the episode.

Oh and did I mention how much I hated the reveal? Clumsily written with awkward exposition and just a really grotesque fate for Jack.

Disappointing - but I shall await the fic with interest!

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

I should also point out that the reveal renders Torchwood the series completely irrelevant. If we ultimately know Jack's fate then we know that nothing he does in Torchwood will have any effect. And it means its difficult to care about Ianto, Gwen, Tosh and Owen if we know that ultimately they account for a very brief moment in Jack's very very long life. Very strange idea - I'm baffled as to why the Production team thought this was a great idea.

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

I don't think Martha's getting the boot - Russell has said that she'll be back, and there's some speculation she'll also turn up in Torchwood (just think of the pace it could move at if she replaces either Gwen or Owen).

I think he wants to move away from the Doctor/Companion setup a bit. The companion always has to be "wide-eyed" and he can't do that with Martha (or Jack).

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that in the scene where the family are promising to kill the Master (which really, really didn't work. I mean, Japan is the first thing Tish thinks of? What about her home, her friends?) I was thinking see, they could have given this screentime to Jack. But then I always think that...

The effects were what let it down for me - too busy showing what they could do instead of wondering if they should.

The Jack-reveal didn't really bother me, although I know I'm in the minority. But the lines were not well written, which was more my problem than the reveal itself. I mean, he's walking away from the Doctor and this is what he's got to say? Sorry, clumsy writing.

Ah, the fic. The fic. Well, assuming brains aren't too exploded after we get the screencaps (because the preview photos were bad enough...), there will definitely be some. I mean, Jack in chains? *mind boggles*

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

It did contain a lot of recycled items (Captain Scarlet, Terminator, Star Wars, Tank Girl, Dracula. V for Vengeance and Peter Pan to name but a few), and while a game of spot the reference can sometimes be fun, this time it was just a distraction.

I liked the idea of Martha Jones walking across the world, saving it by telling it one thing, even if it does make her Sarah Connor. I'm less convinced by the V for Vengeance time critical outcome - would people be able to synchronise their actions in that way, and why (other than the interests of the plot) should it be just before the Master pushes the big red button.

The whole ending felt rushed and disappointing. Tinkerbelle The Doctor as a deus ex flying harness machina, restored to life by everyone saying they believed in him. Why? Why would this work? Why would he un-age 1000 years.

Jack Harkness destroying the paradox machine by emptying the magazine of a Heckler and Koch G-36 into it. Why? Why would this work? Why would it reset the whole of time and space rather than do something utterly unpredictable.

The restore point = just after the US president was killed. Why? Why would this work? The paradox machine must have been running since the first time a toclofane killed a human, since that was the point at which the paradox started. So the intrepid Daily Mirror reporter was the first point we saw in the paradox.

We could have done with less of the diversion on Cloudbase (I assume it was a diversion, not a genuine attempt) and more time for a proper ending.

I wasn't convinced at first by the Face of Boe. I thought it must involve some retrospective continuity, and I still think it does. A news report from The Long Game describes Boe as giving birth to the last of six baby boes, leading one to believe that he is *a* boe not *the* boe.

But now I think about it, I am reminded of Data's comments in the ep of Star Trek where they find his head. Data said he was glad, because it showed that one day he would die/cease to be - that he had an end. Because otherwise he might have to contemplate living forever, outliving everything else around him, including the universe.

[beccaelizabeth]

The paradox was that they were *wiping out* humans, leaving no one to become them. If a time traveller killing someone automatically makes a paradox then there's a lot of paradox lying around from assorted individuals.

It's a grandfather paradox on a massive scale that the paradox machine was blocking out. Unless the reporter or the president were yet to become the ancestors of that specific future, no grandfather paradox.

[pinkamethyst.livejournal.com]

and possibly ending in song.
Oh, please do! I'm sure you could knock up a quick song, Mitch Benn stylee, about Doctor Who.

Anyways. Let's be serious. *roll eyes* I can't even explain why I didn't like this episode. In fact, I don't even think that I didn't like this episode. I just felt that it lost the magic, somehow. I've got so used to watching Doctor Who and feeling swept away by it, longing for it to be next Saturday already. Without meaning to sound too weird, I do think that there is something very magical about Doctor Who and I just didn't get that from yesterday's episode. *shrugs* But I'm willing to admit that this may be because I watched it at some ridiculous hour of the morning and maybe I will like it more when I watch for the second time.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to hear what you think on repeat viewing. I think you've got a good point about the 'magic'. The old Doctors (make-up version and CGI version) just didn't work for me at all. Which kinda spoiled it.

Song. Right. Will see what I can do...

[fandom-me.livejournal.com]

I loved the "One Year Later" thing - the opportunity that gives us for fic is excellent. There's lots of fic fodder in the episode, period, and that makes me happy.

There's a lot that just doesn't make sense to me. It felt like the timing at the end was too much, with too much going on and being revealed too fast with too much exposition rather than showing. The scale was too big to be interesting or to invest in, especially with the speed that it all happened.

All that said: Good info for us, good fodder for fic, and interesting things to play with in fanon - and since that's most of what I'm after, I'm good.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I find that I increasingly approach my fandoms from a 'writers' point of view - not so much a fanfic writer, but a "how would I construct this" point of view. And although the red herrings in this were great (I called the professor within about 30 seconds, and thought Martha's story on the stairs sounded ridiculously rehearsed) you're right that there was just too much plot and not enough time.

Which is a shame, as it felt like great performances and a good idea in search of an outlet.

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

Another thought on the "say my name" (very Kemitic:) ending, arising from a discussion over at fandom_me's.

It would only have taken a little more time on the script to have come up with an explanation for the ending that didn't sound completely Peter Pan. I was reminded of Logopolis, an adventure that dealt entirely in the power of sound, and also involved the Master. It should have been building up to that - Shakespeare's words were powerful, powerful words featured several times. It would only have taken a little effort to make it the power of the word, and not sound like "do you believe in fairies"

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Someone...somewhere...did a post on words in S3. There were a surprising number of significant moments, not just in the Shakespeare Code.

*sigh* It's going to take a while for RTD to live down Tinkerbell Who. Although it was fun watching the Confidential to see that it was all done with glitterballs and a couple of torches. Literally :)

[miss-zedem.livejournal.com]

A lot of things trouble me about the episode, but I keep coming back to the Jack as Face of Boe thing. I've been musing over precisely what it is that bothers me, and I think I've worked it out.

The thing I always liked about the character Captain Jack was that he was an enigma. We never knew if what he was telling us was the truth; our first introduction to his is as a conman, and it's clear the Doctor doesn't trust him, so we don't either.

But he's charming, he's intriguing, so gradually we get drawn in, along with the Doctor. And the fact we don't know much about him becomes a good thing rather than a bad. We forget about being suspicious, and start looking for clues to piece the puzzle together just so we can understand him more.

During series 1 DW, and series 1 TW, we gradually learn bits and pieces about the character's past - he's been a torturer at some point, he's served in the air force but also the army, he's been on Earth for a long time, etc. Series 3 DW gives us even more - we now know how he got back to Earth, we know when he arrived, we know about a few of his deaths. So far so interesting - our enigma is starting to become less so, and is becoming all the more appealing.

Then we find out he will become the Face of Boe, and suddenly all intrigue is gone. We know how long he'll live for, we know how, where, and when he'll die. We know he'll meet the Doctor again, and we know he'll have children - so much for never doing that again. Mystery? Gone.

The fact that it completely goes against canon, the fact that it makes no sense at all, and the fact that it's possibly the crummiest, worst written, and most contrived revelation I've ever heard are all completely beside the point. For me, the core of what makes Jack Jack has been wiped away, and with it my interest in the character.

[beccaelizabeth]

I'm puzzled as to how you can say the mystery is gone when we know approximately five minutes in his next five billion years. The gravestone is not the novel, knowing when he ends doesn't mean we know how he lived.

Plus the entire episode dealt with things being true that couldn't both be true at once, so it's not like knowing a thing will happen in this 'verse means it actually does.

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

My main worry right now is how I am going to be reconciling knowing Jack's ultimate fate with any future enjoyment of him in TW. I didn't want to know how Jack finally dies anymore than wanting to know how I or beloved family and friends will die.

It makes me anxious thinking about TW and the character now - and that makes me resent RTD throwing that Boe thing out there.

It doesn't help that I was seriously underwhelmed with the finally in general. And what PTB were saying about Martha in the commentaries makes me scratch my head too.

Not a good time for me right now as a fan.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I don't think his being/not being the Face of Boe is a big deal for Torchwood, given how far in the future it is. I mean, even the year 100,200 is a pretty long way off. There are some good "interpretations" out there to explain it away, which are comforting for those who are struggling with it.

I loved Martha in this - what were PTB saying??

[mimarie.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where to start with this. It didn't grab me like the last two have done on first watch, but there was still plenty to think about - if you weren't kept busy playing 'spot the reference' that is! (My favourite had to be the Flash Gordon 'Ming the Merciless evil!laughter' (TM), although 'do you believe in fairies' comes a close second...)

Simm!Master was wonderful, while insane, damaged Lucy Saxon was... indescribable. Can we have her back, please?! Yoda!Doctor not so much, Martha's family were fabulous (Tish for TW PA!)and she was suitably heroic and her laughter at the Master's belief in the four-chemicals gun was as gorgeous as it was a relief that they really hadn't done that to us after all. But really, whatever the aesthetic pleasures of chained!Jack, the only way the episode could have played out as well as I hoped would be if we'd had a four-part finale! (He *shot* the paradox machine. That's it? I mean... wtf? I wanted effects, Jack's being an integral part of the solution, linking this to his being a 'fact' and therefore it being impossible for him to exist in the same space as the paradox machine, which is why the Doctor told him not to touch the machine when they first walked into the TARDIs on the Vailant - not merely his inabilty to die (which is fine, that is after all a perfectly valid reason for why he spent the year chained up somewhere visible, getting holey (please note spelling ;) ) and delightfully filthy (and oh such fics there will be...).

And then that little revelation - I've seen plenty of opinions one way and the other on the woe-of-boe in the last 24 hours, but personally I can't see that it makes much difference to TW - or for that matter, at this point in his existence, to Jack himself - if he's going to a) live forever or b) turn into a giant, telepathic, tentacled head in a fishbowl in several million or even billion years time, and it certainly doesn't detract in any way from the potential for Happy!Jack in next season of TW.

Whatever happens to him is going to take a long time, and I know it's a nasty little cliche, but it's his journey that interests me. He's moved on from that pit of angst now - and in a more believable way having had a year's (non-) time to think about it than if the events had taken merely the linear time the rest of the team will see. He's going back to his team with a smile on his face and he looks free - and it's going to screw with their heads! (Conflict! Story!) As for the FoB... I'm standing in the middle of the see-saw, arguments from both sides make a lot of sense (and that the FoB is supposed to come from the place where 'Professor Yana' was found as a child only adds to my delight at the utter kerfuffle that's stirred up around this.) I'm still looking forward to next season of both DW and TW - and long may Rusty reign! :) sorry, got a bit carried away, I'll shut up now :{

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

Yay, I get to play this week! Last week LJ was being stupid when I had so much squee, and this week all I have is meh.

My thoughts aren't nearly well enough organized to say everything I want to yet, so I'll just throw this in for consideration.

Leaving aside the actual FoB revelation, that scene didn't sit well with me. The "can you fix me" part was good. The saluting part was good. That was all Jack. The part in between--as soon as it got into "What happens about my gray hair?" I didn't see Jack anymore, I only saw John Barrowman.

It may have been that there was no possible way to view that scene except as a set-up to account for the inevitable fact of the actor aging. So it threw me right out of "suspension of disbelief" territory.

But the delivery of the lines didn't feel right, either. I love JB and will forgive him any amounts of bad acting. I love Jack as a character and he could pretty much stand around dirty and chained up doing nothing and I'd still love him. (Oh, wait...) But the whole "vanity--poster child" scene was way off, and I'm not sure whether it was bad lines or bad acting.

And of course that made it hard to buy the FoB revelation, because everything before it felt so off.

Not getting into him spending a year thinking about his team yet...

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I was not a fan of e12 and e13 was 100x worse. There were so many plot holes spackle wouldn't do it, you need to replace the wall.
Think of it- the President and PM are both dead, yet there is no body to bury in either case, no state funeral, no explanation made to the public.
Jack, Martha and the Doctor were made public enemy #1 and had their faces plastered all over the telly the night before. Arrest warrants were drawn up for them and the Jones family (although apparently Leo's got lost since he randomly disappears and isn't mentioned again)
And the Face of Boe... *sigh* not a good idea. Jack is a fixed point in time and space, both The Doctor and The Master can feel it and it feels wrong. Yet we've seen the Doctor with the Face several times, there didn't appear to be any weird vibe that the Doctor felt in any of those scenes. I'll go with the idea Jack was kidding, thank you, otherwise I'd have to bash my head into the wall on principle

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

apparently Leo's got lost since he randomly disappears and isn't mentioned again

Oh, good point! Yeah, a big deal is made about how he's still loose in the last ep, and you think that he's going to be integral in helping save everyone...and this ep, nothing. Not even a mention that one of the Jones family is still loose.

Grr.

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

Said I wasn't getting into it. OK, I lied.

In "Utopia", Martha says, "Think what the Face of Boe said. His dying words. He said--" Jack is standing RIGHT BEHIND HER, and he registers zero reaction here. If he had seriously been called that in the past, he would have had some sort of reaction. There was an explosion right then, and he wouldn't have had time to ask questions, but his face should have shown SOMETHING.

All I can think of is that 1) He made the whole thing up. He spent a year in chains. I'm sure he had time to think of what Martha had said, and figure out some sort of practical joke to play on the Doctor. Whether he knew who the Face of Boe was or not, he knew from what Martha said that it was important. I can see Jack finding that kind of thing funny.

Or 2) nnwest's theory, that the "real" FoB was already well-known and he was called that as sort of a pun, because of where he was from. So when Martha mentioned that, he knew she wasn't talking about him, so he didn't react. And then when he mentions it to the Doctor, he's saying it in a "hey, isn't that funny?" way, as you do when you're telling people about stupid stuff in your past.

(We could go with the idea that RTD didn't figure this out until the ABSOLUTE LAST SECOND, and the first scene was filmed before anybody knew it, which is why Jack had no reaction, but frankly, if RTD can't be bothered to know what he's doing with his own characters, I see no reason why I should be bound to his ideas of canon.)

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

And then when he mentions it to the Doctor, he's saying it in a "hey, isn't that funny?" way, as you do when you're telling people about stupid stuff in your past.

Forgot to mention here (although perhaps it's obvious) that of course Jack thinks the Doctor understands the reference and gets the joke, when the real joke is, the Doctor doesn't.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Something else that just occured to me...
In "Utopia" The Doctor talks about looking into the heart of the TARDIS and how if a Time Lord did that he'd become a god, a vengeful god.
Why didn't the Master just do that? It seems a lot simpler than his paradox plan with the Toclafane.

[beccaelizabeth]

indeed

[rachel68620.livejournal.com]

I think I am stranded on an island all alone. Not only did I like the ep. I'm ok with the reveal.

Was the ep great in Jackness? Well, no. He definitely wasn't used to his fullest potential. And yes I felt cheated by that fact.

And believe it or not, I think Blink had more Doctor in it than this one did. Yes, I know the old man was the Doctor, and yeah the cute little alien was too. But, God RTD you have David Tennant playing the Doctor, let the man do his thing. The show will be all the better for it. I do not want to see John Simm trying to pick up the slack, cause as good as the man is he's no David.

As for the reveal, all I'm saying here is it made me happy. And I'll tell you why, cause if Jack is the FoB, then boy is he breaking major rules. Not supposed to cross his own time line and all. What I mean is, by the time we get to New Earth this season, of course the FoB knows the Doctor's not alone. He's already lived through it with him.

Now, I'll grant all of you this, Jack as the Face of Boe does lend to some trickery with cannon, but I have a feeling if we all sat down we could figure it out.

Whether anyone will want to or not who knows. Think of it this way, after Utopia Jack's timeline no longer made our heads hurt, with the reveal we can get migranes trying to figure it out.

[silverdragon262.livejournal.com]

This is late and a little long-- sorry! I've just discovered torchwood_meta and I've never done a meta post before.

I watched this episode expecting to hate it, as I'd read a lot of meta about it already. I didn't hate it and I liked the first half quite a bit, but by the end I was left rather-- cold.

The Jack reveal I really can't stomach. It strikes me as utterly ridiculous. It's a cute joke, or a cute pun, but as the truth, it just doesn't fit. I like Jack and I like the Face of Boe, but I can't mesh them in my mind. I was more intrigued by the conversation between the Doctor and Jack in Utopia-- suggesting that Jack might still be alive in the year 100 trillion. That's more tragic, but it had so much more emotional resonance. The Face of Boe lines were badly written and badly paced, so they just felt empty.

There wasn't much Torchwood-related this episode, but-- two things. One, I was happy to see Jack expressly say that he wanted to return to his team. After spending 140 years searching for the Doctor, he finds him... and promptly spends a year thinking about Torchwood Three. I like the parallel there, the recognition that needs to devote himself to one or the other. Two, I can't help but wonder what happened to the team during The Year That Never Was. I suspect they're either dead or part of some underground resistance, but--

Actually, let's make this a new paragraph. I was bothered by the fact that the resisting humans didn't actually seem to do anything until Martha came along. I would have liked to see some evidence of action; Tom showed Martha the shipyard, so I wondered if they hadn't had some plans to do it in. Even though it would have smacked of re-using ideas, I'd've been happy to see something like the Preachers in the alternate universe, or the human underground in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. They had the makings of a good ensemble episode here; the promo photos of Martha and Tom made me expect more. I liked Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, and I liked Ricky, Jake, and Mrs. Moore. I wanted to like Tom and Professor Docherty that way. And yet, instead, they're... used. I want my humans fighting back, not just picking their Time Lord champion.

Unfortunately, when you come right down it, this wasn't an episode about humans. This was an episode about Time Lords. I feel like that's why the resolution was sloppy; the two plots (one on the Valiant and one on Earth) belonged in two distinct episodes, and the manner in which they were connected (Tinkerbell) couldn't be anything but rushed and contrived.

I did not like the Gospel of the Doctor idea, either. Martha, a strong, capable, smart human wanders the Earth... and does what? Spreads the word of their alien Saviour? Lies to them about a gun that can kill the Master? (That really bugged me; anyone could be a spy for the Master, so wouldn't she have to lie to them all?) It just didn't sit well. Not to mention the fact that there's no reason for the telepathic network to be two-sided, nor for it to give the Doctor superpowers even if it were. (Which reminds me: the Doctor says only 'Use the countdown' and yet Martha knows exactly what he means?)

So, yes. The way the humans were wasted, the resolution, the lack of Jack, the maids' outfits, Lucy Saxon in general-- these really ruined it for me. Which is a shame, because I love the Master and I love John Simm's portrayal. The opening scene and the death scene were both particularly wonderful. Also, I have to say: good for Martha for leaving! Boo for coming back and making it all about relationships or the lack thereof. Leaving in order to become a doctor and to look after one's family is a perfectly fine reason for leaving the TARDIS.

And oh, Martha on Torchwood? Bring it on. Except I have to wonder-- is it wise to tackle another character, even for three episodes, when the writers seem to have trouble keeping up with the five they have? See: Tosh and Ianto.

DW finale thoughts, link

[mickeyk.livejournal.com]

I probably would have broken the comment box %) if I'd tried posting my own thoughts about the finale here, so I typed up my own rant, and posted it here, if anyone is interested:

http://mickeyk.livejournal.com/8297.html

Re: DW finale thoughts, link

[jolinare.livejournal.com]

I should probably watch the episode again to gain an objective perspective, as, watching it after twelve weeks of build up I was blown away by the big vat of emotional overload which Russell T poured all over this viewers head.

The Scissor Sisters scene was fantastically grotesque. The particular brand of black humour used here brilliantly conveys the Masters own special brand of insanity.

John Simms is made of win. And his character as a mirror opposite of the Doctor raises interesting points, his similarity places emphasis on the idea of the Master as a 'fallen angel' of the Time Lord gods, which says 'theres a fine fine line between good and evil when you have so much power'. Sort of like Gandalf and Saruman, but more amusing.

I don't care what anyone says, I think the face of boe revelation is the most ingenius revelation in Scifi ever. OK, so next time Jack throws himself into a firefight in Torchwood the audience won't be at all worried, and neither will the team, us: "Oh he'll be alright, he dies in a few billion years in a giant jam jar." team: "meh. Giant monsters can't kill him so lets get doughnuts". So we can't worry about his psychical welfare/death, but billions of years of life contain many possibilities of internal peril, character growth etc. How will Jack cope with living so long, with watching so many people die? I found the idea absolutely horrible; the timeframe is beyond human comprehension, thus is terrifying. Jack is doomed to live all of these years and is helpless to do anything about it. The Face of Boe's death in Gridlock gives closure to the viewer, and makes the idea of such lengthy life tolerable because we know he will actually die eventually.

Lucy! A character with interesting motivations and a subtley developing relationship with an uber-dictator. I would put 'but there wasn't enough of her' in criticisms, however I do think there will be alot more of her to come

The powa of words. I am an English Student, therefore words win at everything. But that's not a very objective or critical opnion at all.

The Powa of Martha!

Forgiveness in the face of great evil. It defines what makes the Doctor different for the better than the master. the master is unable to forgive the Doctor for all the arch nemesis things I imagine he did in Old Who, and reacts to things which hurt him with destruction, in the end destroying himself. The Doctor is able to forgive and thus is not consumed by destructive things like anger and resentment.

Ten/Master slashy subtext. Sorry, that's not very critical either.

The Doctor at last sheds his tears for Gallifrey. He hated and loved Gallifrey -the bastard timelords and the beautiful world- and he hates the Master as a destroyer and yet loves him as he is a last relic of the world he loved...SYMBOLISM!

The problems were thus:

Captain Jack was on the opening credits as a true companion, and yet he spent the whole episode...standing still?

The Big Star Trek Voyager Reset Button of Plot Resolution. This was very clumsy, and unsatisfying. Obviously DW has to return to the contemporary satus quo otherwise it'll cease to be Revelent To Today, but there is a less cliche plot device out there. And at that, one that isn't pretty much exactly the same as the one used for the Torchwood. Since the two series are made by pretty much the same people, there isn't an excuse for it. Perhaps for Last of the Timelords Russell T should.

So the Master hears drums because the vortex sent him mad? Is that it?

The Doctor is Tinkerbelle, and Jesus Christ, and Dobby the House elf. Granted, Doctor the house elf was made of very good CGI, but it was still a bit silly. The tinkerbell business also looked a bit silly and dampened the tone, but...now the Doctor is Jesus? Russell T et all like to deify their protagonists, but the restoration of the Doctor and then the world through blind faith opens up a whole theological can of worms ie. without superheroes/godfigures humanity is pretty much boned.

titanic= "what?". Totally ruined the tone of the last scene, and the set up of the next christmas episode doed not have to be exactly the same as for the last.