With the holiday season upon us, now is the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the company of your loved ones. Although, if you’re the part of the world where snow is common (like myself), you’re already sick of the white devil powder that covers everything. Fortunately, we’ve got more important things to worry about. What’s so important, you ask? Well, it’s just THE END OF TIME.

Not only the end of time, but also the end of an era. Since the 2005 return of Doctor Who, we’ve been blessed with two wonderful actors portraying the Doctor, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. It’s been over 4 years since we said goodbye to Eccleston and now the time is upon us again.

Time to say goodbye to David Tennant.

[Update: This will cover “Doctor Who: The End of Time” (Part 2).]

Click here to go to the second page and view the review of “Dr. Who and the End of Time” (Part 1)

After such an extremely disappointing first half, it’s hard to think that it could get any worse with part 2 of "The End of Time" and for the first 5 minutes into the second half, I started to think that it could. Then, the clouds cleared and Russell T. Davies was able to ever so slightly save himself for being known as the man who both resurrected and ruined Doctor Who.

While the second half was much better than the first, it still wasn’t “up to standard” with what Who fans have become accustomed to. I’m not going to lie, this past year hasn’t exactly been the best in terms of story, but it would be hard for any fan to deny that since its resurrection, Doctor Who has been top notch in terms of storytelling.

Maybe that’s why this overall special failed. In terms of storytelling, I didn’t really care about what was going on; Too many new things were introduced at once and they all began to just blend together and I started to ignore them.

The whole “medical fix-it machine,” cactus people, super hero Master (flying with his hands), stunt man Doctor (falling through the ceiling), Donna’s mind defense system, Time Lord beacon… it was just too much. It seemed as if Davies had thought of a scene, “the Time Lords returning” and was so excited about that idea that he just threw anything down to make it happen.

Still, this might sound like I didn’t enjoy the episode at all and that’s not the case; I truly enjoyed the episode. The last 20 minutes of the finale were worth sitting through every single special since last Christmas. When it comes down to it, the quality of the entire episode was secondary to what we I really care about: the ending. Somehow, I don’t know how, Davies pulled out a brilliant conclusion to this Doctor Who story.

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From the moment that the Doctor stated, “it’s already started” I was hooked and couldn’t stop watching until it was over. With the words of “I’m going to get my reward” and him revisiting all the main characters, Davies got back his glory and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

This special is a perfect example why Davies needed to step down as head writer. While most of the episode was rubbish, there was enough brilliance peppered in to keep me watching and the ending of this episode was most certainly brilliant.

A New Doctor

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Alright, I know everyone is going to have their thoughts on Matt Smith as the new Doctor, so here are mine: I’m going to wait and see. It’s as simple as that.

Yes, I’ll admit that his performance at the end was odd, but if you look back to the regeneration that revealed Tennant as the new Doctor, he wasn’t exactly winning any awards.

There are a lot of things that tell me this upcoming season is going to be bad, but Steven Moffat has written so many wonderful Doctor Who episodes that I just have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Don’t I?

Click here to go to the second page and view the review of “Dr. Who and the End of Time” (Part 1)

Let’s all be honest, when Eccleston announced his intentions of leaving the show after only one season the world was up in arms. There’s no way someone could replace him as the Doctor.

Cue David Tennant. Tennant started the role complaining of his new teeth, but quickly showed us exactly how much of a talent he is. Over the past four seasons (counting this year's specials as one), Tennant has made himself known as more than just a replacement Doctor - but the Doctor.

With that we venture into his last great adventure (in this form anyway). We’ve got his most formidable opponent, the Master (John Simms) returning. With Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate reprising their roles as Wilfred Mott and Donna Noble, one can hope to expect one truly great adventure.

Review

Russell T. Davies has some explaining to do. After sitting through four mediocre (and I’m being kind) Doctor Who specials I simply gave up hope. I figured that Davies had finally lost his ability to write and this is why every episode of Doctor Who since July 5, 2008 (the season four finale) has been, as our British neighbors would say, rubbish.

Then something happened… Torchwood: Children of Earth. Out of nowhere Davies returns with an epic story that was able to draw in those who were not even fans of Torchwood (like myself). It was those episodes of Torchwood that continued to fuel the flame of hope that when it came down to it, down to Tennant’s finale episode, he would pull it out and deliver something great.

And does he?

No… not really.

Overall, the episode was a mess. There were signs of absolute brilliance, but sadly those were overshadowed with horrible jokes, superhero Time Lords, Nazi puns (really Davies? Master race?) and a story so convoluted that there is no doubt Davies has done nothing but surround himself with people that tell him how great he is and want to know what the Daleks are like.

What makes me angry is that he has a million excuses for why this episode is what it is. Forget the whole “I’m brilliant” aspect Davies could arguably throw out (he has written some amazing episodes) and you’ve still got “it’s Christmas, it’s for the family” or the usual scapegoat that Davies uses when his stories are crap… “It’s a kids show.” If I have to hear how Doctor Who is a kids show one more time, I’m going to go crazy. Alright, we get it, “technically” it can be considered a kids show, but you have a hard time making that argument stick when some of the greatest episodes have been about things so dark and terrifying that I had to turn on the lights while watching it.

Still, let’s not be all negative. Bernard Cribbins is a truly brilliant actor and the scene between the Doctor and Wilfred Mott about dying was just lovely. John Simms is a brilliant actor. You might not know it from this episode, but he’s proven himself in other productions to be a top actor. I’m sure if you all of a sudden had super powers and could fly around by shooting things out of your hand you’d have a hard time acting as well. How could Davies possibly write that in? Writing it out just now sounds completely ridiculous.

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I guess one of my biggest problems is the introduction of new elements, especially in an episode that’s so important. This episode should just deal with people, places, things that we know. Use those familiar elements to help propel the importance of this episode. Don’t just throw in some cactus people that we saw briefly during a Christmas special two years ago and expect us not to stay quiet.

Then there’s this “healing machine.” There is no doubt in my mind that Davies was just sitting around and couldn’t think of a great way to tie everything together and have it make sense. So, he just creates a “healing machine.” The Master takes it and makes everyone like himself as well as fixes the broken Donna Nobel. Oh yeah, don’t think everyone didn’t see through that immediately.

Unlike most fans, I’m all right with the evil Time Lords making an appearance. I think that’s an interesting story and since I haven’t had the time to venture into Doctor Who past, I’d like a little taste of it. I’m just not sure if Davies' interpretation of them will be as good as if he would have done it years ago.

It pains me to write a negative review about Doctor Who. I love this show and there have been some brilliant, brilliant moments. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. If this were episode 10 out of 23 episodes of the season, I would be happy. Sadly, it’s not. This is all we get. After next week, we basically have an entirely new show and while I have no doubt that Steven Moffat will deliver some great stories, I’m just not sure if the new Doctor will be able to match his abilities.

We’ve still gone part 2 and who knows, maybe it’ll turn around, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Will I be watching? Of course?

Will I write up a review? Don’t I always?

Will you be here to yell at me when I get things wrong? I can only hope.

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As always, don’t miss the final episode of Doctor Who for David Tennant and the demise of the tenth Doctor and make sure you come here after to check out our review and discuss how you feel about the conclusion.

Also, if you’ve yet to watch the special or are in an area of the world where it has yet to air, don’t worry as we’ve got a bunch of Doctor Who related things for you as well.

Doctor Who: The End Of Time 3-Minute Preview

Doctor Who To Become Funny Lawyer For NBC

Teaser for Tennant’s Last Doctor Who: The End of Time

Doctor Who’s TARDIS Gets an Upgrade!

John Simm Master Doctor Who

UK – BBC ONE

Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part One premieres Friday, December 25 @ 6PM.

Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part Two premieres Saturday, January 1 @6:40PM.

USA - BBC AMERICA

Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part One premieres Saturday, December 26, @ 9PM.

Doctor Who: The End of Time, Part Two premieres Saturday, January 2 @ 8PM.