David Tennant

Dear Gary—

David Tennant is born into the role of the Tenth Doctor almost in a coma that he is reluctant to wake from; he goes out kicking and screaming. In between his Tenth Doctor is heroic, romantic, and charismatic; he is also self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, and self-righteous. Through it all and above all he is entertaining. In short he is the epitome of New Who.

This is Doctor Who all grown up; and yet he has never been so juvenile.

It starts with Rose. The Ninth Doctor was smitten but managed to rise above. The Tenth wakes into this young girl’s fantasy and he lowers himself to her mentality. At times I think Bill and Ted are more mature in their adventures. The Doctor and Rose hit their low point in The Idiot’s Lantern when their hijinks tend to the mean-spirited. For the most part, though, the two are well intentioned even if a little too class clown and cliquish.

After Rose’s dramatic departure Martha continues the adulation of the Doctor. However, the Doctor keeps Martha at arm’s length. As cloying as the Doctor’s relationship with Rose was, I’m not sure that this aloof approach is an improvement. There are some genuine moments between the Doctor and Martha but they are brief and far between. I think the closest the two get is at the end of Gridlock.

 Both Rose and Martha feed the Doctor’s ego. He manages to have a deeper relationship with some one-shot guest stars, most notably in The Girl in the Fireplace and HumanNature/The Family of Blood, only to return to the doting girls at his feet. Thankfully Donna puts an end to the fawn fest.

 Donna is Doctor Who getting the companion right. The two have fun together but not at the expense or exclusion of others. There is a compassion and warmth and understanding with these two. There is also a respect and admiration without the worship. Donna is always eager to help the Doctor but never hesitant to challenge him as well. The Fires of Pompeii is one of many fine examples of this. When the Doctor wipes Donna’s mind Wilf bemoans the fact that she was better when she was with him. However I think it is the Doctor who is the bigger loser. Donna makes the Doctor a better person.

Companionless in the specials, the Doctor begins to revert to the exclusionary demeanor he had with Rose. If he can’t have one companion forever and always by his side, he reasons, then he’ll have none. The Doctor has had countless people traveling with him through his many generations; countless TARDIS crew have come and gone. School Reunion with the wonderful Sarah Jane Smith explores this heartbreaking reality of his life. Now at the end of his tenth generation and after 900 plus years he finally has enough. This tenth generation stamps his foot and will have no more of it.

Delving into these emotional depths is an interesting development in New Who; but there is a danger to it. New Who has put so much emphasis on the Doctor, his relationships, his feelings, his psychology; New Who has made the adventures secondary. The adventures are now all in service to the Doctor and to the season story arc that will reveal some deep dark secret or explore the Doctor’s nature or bring the Doctor face to face with the ultimate decision/peril/destiny. The show is called Doctor Who for a reason; the Doctor should remain a mystery. New Who is so fascinated with the enigma of the Doctor that it over indulges. It shines a glaring spotlight on him to reveal his innermost thoughts and then tries it’s hardest to throw him back into the wonder of shadows. It wants to keep things about the Doctor hidden yet it continually harps on those very things. There are only so many times you can ask the question ‘Doctor Who?’ before you are compelled to answer it; but then you have to answer it in a way that doesn’t quite answer it so that you can continue to ask the question and then you have to come up with more half answers to keep stringing along. Let the title alone ask the question and stop hitting us over the head with it.

Sorry Gary, I got off track there with a bigger Who issue, although it has its beginnings with the Tenth Doctor. One outcome of this disturbing trend of trying to illuminate and at the same time enshroud the Doctor is the emerging picture of a hallowed nature. From his congregation of young girls to his sometimes godlike powers to images of angels flying him heavenward, this Tenth Doctor flirts with divinity. That is one of the things I love about The Waters of Mars; it shows up this lonely lord as a false idol.

With David Tennant we get some lighthearted fun ala New Earth, Partners in Crime, and The Unicorn and the Wasp; we get some tender and moving fare ala School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, and Human Nature/The Family of Blood; and we get some psychological fare ala Midnight. We get action adventure, spine-tinglers, and extravaganzas. We get a little bit of everything and most of it is good. However there are also some bad, including three that I would put at the bottom of my all time Doctor Who stories: The Idiot’s Lantern, Fear Her, and The Lazarus Experiment.

I have struggled in writing this entry, Gary, as I have for most of the Tennant serials. I don’t want to be as negative as I sound and yet it keeps coming out that way. I really enjoy David Tennant as the Doctor and in my original rankings had him in fourth place. However when I come to final placements I will probably move him down at least one notch. David Tennant is the most charming and entertaining of all of the Doctors and that covers many flaws; but I have uncovered the flaws and they nag at me.

I continue on my slow path, Gary, weary though it has become . . .

The End of Time, Part Two

Dear Gary—

Let’s see, where did we leave off? Oh yes, the Time Lords were returning. These are not the galactic ticket inspectors of old, though. These are fully hardened war lords driven mad with battle lust. I do find it amusing that these lords of time who have all of time and space at their disposal, who can look into the Time Vortex and Untempered Schism, who control the laws of time, these almighty Time Lords hang on the every gesture of a soothsayer. The character is quite effective, however, and I am reminded of the Seeker from The Ribos Operation.

Time Lords gone mad. Six billion Masters have nothing on them.

Oh yeah, what of the Master and his six billion grinning, clapping, and waving clones? They are still grinning and clapping and waving, mostly rooted to the same spots in which we left them last except for a few who are scurrying about at the Master’s command. That’s the problem with six billion Masters. They are redundant. The one practical use these extraneous extras serve is one that is becoming a habit for Mankind in the new Who universe—and that is to serve as a transmitter. In Last of the Time Lords they all thought the one word (Doctor) to work their magic Peter Pan spell; in The Stolen Earth it is their phones that are used to transmit the Doctor’s telephone number. Here in The End of Time Part Two hapless humanity, in the shape of the Master, tune in to the drum beat in unison in order to track down its source.

 It is all to good effect, though, and that is what New Who is all about. The End of Time (Parts One and Two) are Doctor Who at its most self indulgent.

I have long since learned that there is no use trying to follow any logical thread in these two part season ending stories. Most plot elements exist merely as a thin veil to string together a series of dramatic highpoints, spectacular special effects, and poignant character moments. 

Let’s take Wilf’s gun as one example. The Woman in White cajoles and chastises Wilf with vaguely dire prophecies into digging it out from storage. This gun obviously has been set up as a linchpin and is the center of some interesting discussion between Wilf and the Doctor. It becomes a focal point emphasizing the Doctor’s pacifism as he resists Wilf’s urgent and moving pleas; but in a flash the Doctor tosses aside his principles when he learns of the returning Time Lords and he grabs the previously rejected gun without hesitation. This is the Doctor taking arms. Shakily he stands between the Master with his Skeletor powers and Rassilon with his lightning bolt throwing gloves and he cows them both; with Wilf’s rusty revolver that has been collecting dust under his bed for who knows how long. I think the sheer audacity of it has awed the Master and Rassilon into inaction. The Doctor can’t make up his mind, though, which mighty Time Lord to use it on until he gets the brilliant idea to shoot out the controls that will send the Time Lords and Gallifrey back where they belong. That’s always the go-to Doctor Who solution—disable the controls. Why didn’t he just do that and be done with it? And for that matter, why the need for the gun at all? What’s wrong with his magic sonic which he has used countless times to damage controls and at least once in this episode alone? But then we wouldn’t have any of the drama and the pathos and that is what this entire show is about.

And spectacle. Let’s not forget the spectacle. What would Doctor Who be without explosions and chases? The Doctor and Wilf and the Cacti in a spaceship being chased by dozens of missiles. They’re dead, of course. Ten times over they are dead. Except this isn’t reality; this is virtual reality complete with game boy chairs and joysticks.

Speaking of dead of course—the Doctor hurtling at high speed from the space ship, smashing through a glass skylight, and crashing onto the hard floor putting the drop that did in the Fourth Doctor to shame. Dead of course. Except this is only virtual reality; he pops up with a few scratches and a torn coat. (And after surviving that he expects to face down Skeletor and the Lord President with a bullet.)

It is a breathtaking ride of a comic book narrative. When it is all over the disposable characters need to be disposed of. That’s easy. With just a line or two the Cacti skedaddle and the Naismiths are arrested for “crimes undisclosed.” The six billion Masters are handily erased with one magic wave of Rassilon’s glove.

Even the Time Lords are disposable really. They look and sound impressive; they put on a good show; but ultimately all of their ‘end of time’ threats come to naught. The Doctor warns that “hell is descending,” but all we see are a few Time Lords standing around and a giant planet appearing in the sky with no apparent adverse effects upon the Earth. There is just too much crammed into these two hours and none of it is given the time to fully develop (although the origin for the sound of drums in the Master’s head is one rich nugget gleaned from this flash in the pan).

Everything that has been crammed into the story has all been to serve one end, and that is the departure of David Tennant. It is a grand and epic spectacle put on in his honor. Through it all we are left to guess and wonder when and how it will happen; through it all we are misdirected and misled; through it all Wilf remains by his side as friend and counselor and ally.

“He will knock four times.” How fitting that the Doctor has emerged unscathed from the mayhem only to hear Wilf’s meek little raps on the glass and realize his time is up. (I’ll refrain from commenting on the idiotic nature of these chambers that can only be pulled out of the desperate air of a writer’s mind.)

It is indicative of this tenth generation that he throws a hissy fit when confronted with the inevitable. Even though he had been warned and prepared, he rants and raves to the bitter end.  “It’s not fair!” How many lives have ended in just this serial alone, not to mention since the Tenth Doctor first woke up on Christmas Day; and yet the Doctor cannot reconcile the fact that he is about to regenerate; not die but regenerate, something he has done nine times before; to walk away and live for perhaps another 906 years.

“Oh, I’ve lived too long,” he finally decides as he releases Wilf from the most ridiculous of predicaments and absorbs five hundred thousand rads of radiation.

He’s not done yet, though. He’s not quite ready to give up this pleasing form of his with the great hair adored by young girls. He is off for one last jaunt to claim his reward.

I said this was Doctor Who at its most self indulgent, and these last few moments of The End of Time Part Two are decadent with indulgence. It is a reward not only for the Doctor and for Doctor Who but for the fans as well, this end of an era extravagance. This is a chance to revisit old friends one last time. It’s all made up and contrived, of course, but that is appropriate for this Doctor. I also notice that he blatantly breaks those laws of time that he preaches as he crosses time lines and peeks in on people at the most coincidentally opportune times. I don’t mind; I’ll take this reward along with the Doctor. I don’t even mind seeing Rose again. Jack, Sarah, Mickey, Martha, Jackie; how great to meet up with them once more. With the added bonus of Alonso and the granddaughter of Joan Redfern. And of course the final parting from Donna, Wilf, and Sylvia. Lovely vignettes to shut out the Tenth Doctor’s run.

“We will sing to you, Doctor.” Ood Sigma stands by as the Doctor finally starts to lose his grasp on this generation.

“The universe will sing you to your sleep.” Quite a production for this tenth in a continuing line.

“This song is ending.” It’s taking its time, but it is ending.

“But the story never ends.” We’ve been here before. We know what is coming next.

“I don’t want to go.” No, I think we have gathered from your feet dragging that you don’t want to go.

Self indulgent. But appropriate.

At long last—Matt Smith.

Geronimo Gary . . .

The End of Time, Part One

Dear Gary—

This is what happens when you feel the need to come up with a bigger, more spectacular finale each and every time. Eventually you reach a point of diminishing returns. Eventually you run out of ideas and just throw everything you can think of at it and hope something sticks. The End of Time, Part One (along with its companion piece Part Two but more on that one later) is just such a whirlwind of a story.

It is all meant to feel grand and epic and prophetic. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t. Some of it is explained and some of it isn’t. There is so much crammed in, though, that one loses track.

Just look at the first few minutes. We have a Narrator predicting the end of the Earth (doesn’t happen by the way). Then we have visions of a laughing Master while being reminded of the events from Last of the Time Lords and told that people are dreaming about those forgotten days. Next we see Wilf (the Narrator implies that Wilf is the one person who has not forgotten that lost year, but he can’t remember any better than the rest). Wilf is joined by a mysterious woman in a church which inexplicably contains an image of the TARDIS in one of its stained glass windows. Finally we get the Doctor in sunglasses and lei being uncharacteristically insufferable, flippant, and callous, obviously not taking his lesson from The Waters of Mars to heart. He is joined by an Ood and is struck by the improbability of the advancements made by the Ood civilization. We are treated to visions in the Ood circle, again of the Master and of Wilf and of a new mystery couple (“the King is in his counting house”). And we get vague explanations of “time is bleeding” and “a shadow is falling over creation.” It is all fuzzy and unexplained. None of this clarifies why people are dreaming or how the Ood development is being accelerated. It is a shroud of mystery meant to divert and mislead, and through it all is the refrain: “Returning, returning, returning.”

This all culminates in the Master’s resurrection. Now keep in mind everyone has forgotten that lost year of John Saxon’s rule. Not Saxon himself, just his rule. People are dreaming of this man but don’t recognize him as the man they elected as Prime Minister and who went insane and was murdered by his wife in spectacular fashion. He has been dead for some time, but before his death, before even his forgotten year, he had written the mysterious (again that word) “Secret Books of Saxon” and apparently recruited a cult of female prison guards to gather up his ring and the all important “Potions of Life” (I have visions of my own of Martha Jones laughing derisively at the notion of a gun with deadly Time Lord chemicals). The prison guard cultists drag an innocent looking Lucy Saxon (sorry, but she’s still a despicable collaborator in my mind) into an appropriately looking ancient ritual room where Lucy’s magic lipstick is used as the final ingredient to rebuild the Master. But oh, wait. At the last second Lucy reveals her own potion and everything goes wrong in explosive fashion. I guess her potion didn’t quite work as planned, though, as the Master is witnessed fleeing the burning building by that mystery couple from the Ood vision.

All of this could have filled an hour or two of its own episode, but instead is thrown at us in the first 15 minutes of this two part story. Doctor Who of old always managed to bring the Master back against impossible odds with a line or two of ‘oh, by the way’ explanation. New Who has gone to the opposite extreme in bringing back this indestructible foe of the Doctor’s.

The next 45 minutes of Part One has more in store for us. Much, much more.

Let’s see. I’ll start with the mystery woman in white. She continues to appear to Wilf and to Wilf alone. For some strange reason (never explained) she warns Wilf not to tell the Doctor about her. She also inexplicably chastises Wilf for never having killed a man and tells him to “take arms.” (The thing about all these prophecies sprinkled throughout—quite a few of them are false. They exist for atmosphere and effect but in the end never come to fruition.) The woman herself, however, is wonderfully portrayed by Claire Bloom and lends a dignity and elegance to the proceedings.

Then we have the mystery ‘King in His Counting House’ couple. These are disposable distraction characters. These two evil master minds only serve to bring our cast together and provide the giant gate gizmo. Somehow they have heard about the Master and know of his resurrection by the female prison guard cult and have discerned that he is an alien (for a forgotten man, an awful lot of people seem to know an awful lot about Harold Saxon). They also intuitively know that the alien machine they have salvaged has the capability of providing immortality; they just don’t know how it works or how to fix it. (And I’m sorry Gary, but the only two people who can get away with cancelling Christmas are Alan Rickman and Michael G Scott.)

Next in our line of disposable distractions: the Vinvocci. More aliens right under the noses of the Counting House Couple and helping them to fix their Immortality Gate. The two undercover extraterrestrials are on Earth to salvage this machine, but I’m not sure why they don’t just grab it and leave; it’s beyond me why they feel the need to fix it first. I suppose they exist merely as comic relief and the whole “shimmer” bit is funny. The Doctor likens them to the Zocci Bannakaffalatta from Voyage of the Damned, but I’m more reminded of Meglos; Wilf even describes Miss Addams as a cactus.

Speaking of comic relief: the Silver Cloak. This busload of golden oldies helping Wilf to find the Doctor is a hoot. A total disposable distraction but hilarious.

Fortunately what is not lost in this chaos is the heart of the episode embodied by the trio of the Doctor, the Master, and Wilf.

I’ll start with the Master since he seems to be the eye of the storm of plot threads whizzing about. After he has been resurrected, not regenerated mind you but resurrected, the Master gains comic book villain powers; the Doctor even refers to him as Skeletor at one point. He has also gone completely insane. Without a clear-cut plan and ravenously hungry, the Master starts eating his way through the population of Earth. This is where the King in His Counting House, AKA Joshua Naismith, conveniently comes in to hand over a weapon to the Master and give him a purpose. And this is where our green alien cacti come in to provide exposition concerning the Immortality Gate.

The Immortality Gate; the improbable machine that mends whole planets. In a matter of minutes the Master fixes this miracle worker not to heal his life force burning body but to turn every human being into himself. It is unclear if these duplicates have the same Skeletor powers or the same insanity or the same maddening drum beats. It is also unclear if these billions of new Masters running about the Earth will all seek to dominate one day. It would be interesting to see if they would become power hungry and fight amongst themselves for supremacy. For the moment, though, they just seem to be content to stand around grinning, clapping, and waving.

It is a good concept and a startling good effect, aside from the distraction of trying to pick out duplicate Master templates in the crowd. It suits this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink whirlwind of a story.

Before being snatched up by Naismith, however, the Master has some nice moments reminiscing with the Doctor about his vast estates on Gallifrey. He has his chance to kill the Doctor but stops short. It is an interesting psychological dance these two antagonists have choreographed through the centuries; a love/hate relationship spanning time and space. The drum beats in the Master’s head has added a dimension to this dynamic, and the moment when the Doctor actually hears the ominous pounding is tantalizing.

Topping the Master and the Doctor in the episode, however, is the quiet little scene of the Doctor and Wilf in the café discussing life and death. The Doctor has known for some time that his “song is ending” and he has been hanging on as long as possible. This is the most self-absorbed generation he has ever had (I blame it on Rose).  It’s an elegant little speech though: “Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I’m dead.”

And then we have the added bonus of Donna. Donna’s presence is heartbreaking, not for her but for the Doctor and Wilf. Donna still can’t remember, but Wilf can and her loss is devastating to him. The Doctor has his own memories to mourn, and it is evident that he both misses and needs her in his life. Donna herself seems perfectly happy with her new man and the guarded peace she has with her mother. Christmas in the Noble house seems a pleasant affair and at least Donna shows signs of having overcome her dread of the holiday. It’s nice to see Sylvia again as well; she shows genuine concern for her daughter and offers more comic relief to the mix.

In the end, though, it comes down to the Doctor and Wilf teaming up (Wilf in the TARDIS is long overdue); and it comes down to the Master (“there is only the Master race”). Except no. All of these prophecies and clues and dreams and various bits and pieces of story lines converge on the duplicitous Master only to be diverted.

“This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned.”

The Narrator (Timothy Dalton no less) is revealed in all of his glory. Lord President of the Time Lords.

“For Gallifrey!”

A truly stunning reveal.

“For victory!”

A satisfying twist in this confusion of plot.

“For the end of time itself!”

A cliffhanger, Gary, to top all cliffhangers . . .

The Waters of Mars

Dear Gary—

The Waters of Mars is the classic Who base under siege plotline and it is arguably the best it has ever been done. The supporting cast is solid with the standout being Lindsay Duncan as Adelaide Brooke. The effects are spectacular, the monsters stellar, and the story suspenseful. This is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders.

The one who comes off badly in this is the Doctor, and that is one of the story’s many strong points.

“This is wrong, Doctor. I don’t care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong.”

For so long the Doctor had nothing but praise and adulation heaped upon him by his young companions and it was starting to go to his head. Then along came Donna to rein him in somewhat, but Donna is now gone and the Doctor is rudderless. Hurray for Adelaide Brooke for giving him that verbal slap in the face sorely missing now that Donna is no longer with him; and hurray for The Waters of Mars for daring to expose the Doctor in this way.

The Doctor arrives on Mars alone and space-suited up, presumably to explore. This brings up two minor points, one being why so few of the planets the Doctor visits requires the use of a space suit. The other being, what exactly is he hoping to find on this barren and deserted planet? Surely there are more interesting places for him to go, and from his reaction he wasn’t expecting to find a space station. However these are two extremely minor points. Overall these two things make for some stunning visuals; and in a way it is appropriate that the Doctor is making his lonely way through the universe on some seemingly mundane journeys to kick a few Mars rocks around. Certainly the Doctor has never looked more isolated than in the opening shots of him stepping out onto the surface of the red planet.

He is not alone for long, however. He soon conveniently stumbles across the first Martian pioneers of Bowie Base One. Even more coincidentally, it happens to be the exact fateful date of Bowie Base One’s destruction.

The Doctor hears the date, November 21, 2059, and is immediately thrown into a quandary. Apparently this is one of those rare fixed moments in time that the Doctor is always rattling on about. “What happens here must always happen.” The Doctor knows he cannot interfere, and yet his curiosity gets the better of him. He can’t help himself.

Now everything hinges on this vital moment and it is a compelling scenario; however this fixed point linchpin is the weakest link in the tale. The history books relate the mysterious destruction of Bowie Base One and the death of its crew, in particular Adelaide Brooke. The Doctor even goes so far as to say that a Dalek, upon encountering the young Adelaide, let her live because he too recognized the momentous personage before him and the fixed point nature of her future (regardless that the Dalek at the time did not foresee a future for anyone or anything). It seems that Adelaide’s tragic end on this date of November 21, 2059 is the inspiration for her granddaughter to explore the stars.

 “Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centaur,” the Doctor relates. “And then everywhere, with her children and her children’s children forging the way.” I’m sorry, but how does this qualify for fixed point status? A momentous moment in the Brooke family, yes. A momentous moment in human history though? I don’t think so. Clearly the technology and resources and will exists at that future date making it possible for Susie Fontana Booke to pilot the way, so if she doesn’t take the wheel someone else will. Humankind will still leapfrog its way across the universe, just with someone else at the helm. And too, the Doctor even says it himself: “Captain Adelaide can inspire her face to face. Different details, but the story’s the same.”

I think the Doctor’s fixed point barometer is a bit off; or he is making the whole thing up.

The story is compelling enough, however, and consequently I will suspend my disbelief; at least in so far as to accept the notion that the Doctor truly believes this is a fixed moment. The Waters of Mars is really the story of Adelaide Brooke, “the woman with starlight in her soul;” and this is most definitely a deciding moment in her life. The Doctor has obviously built the woman up in his mind; she is something of a hero to him; he even breaks his code to give her a salute. I can therefore certainly believe that he has blown this moment up out of all proportion to history. This is in keeping with the Doctor-centric, Time Lord Victorious nature of the tale.

With this notion firmly implanted in the Doctor’s mind he is on a collision course with his Time Lord code and is dangerously close to joining the ranks of such fallen Time Lords as the Meddling Monk, Omega, Borusa, Morbius, and the Master. Except Adelaide Brooke steps in to stop the Doctor in his tracks; and perhaps that is the true nature of her fixed point status. It is not to inspire her granddaughter as the Doctor supposes; it is to save the Doctor from himself.

The scene of the Doctor walking away from the base with the dramatic sounds of death and destruction in his ears is one of the most moving and memorable of the new era. The Doctor is walking away because he must, or he believes he must. But then something snaps and it seems that the whole show has been building towards this moment ever since Rose. With a resounding, “I’m the last of the Time Lords,” the Doctor returns in all his glory to save the day.

In and of itself this is a noble act. The Doctor saving the day is what he does; it is what he is about. However it is not the act that is in question but rather the Doctor’s motivation: “It’s taken me all these years to realize the Laws of Time are mine, and they will obey me!” This is not an act of mercy; this is an act of megalomania.

Adelaide Brooke sees this with immense clarity. She doesn’t want to die. She argued against the Doctor when he first told her of her fate and did everything in her power to prevent it. But now as the Doctor offers his helping hand she sees the truth. “The Time Lord Victorious is wrong.” And she stops him in the way that only she can. None of the “little people” could influence the Doctor, the Time Lord Victorious. Only Adelaide Brooke, the fixed point, momentous Adelaide Brooke. Not to inspire her granddaughter; frankly a grandmother who commits suicide is not inspiring. No. To stop the Doctor. “No one should have that power.” The power of life and death; the power to change history. “The Time Lord Victorious is wrong.” In his moment of triumph Adelaide deflates the Doctor's power.

There is so much in this story that I have not touched on. The humor, the relationship between the Doctor and Adelaide, the nod to the Ice Warriors, the terrifying transformation into water monsters, the overall production value, the chases, the tense race to abandon ship, “one drop; just one drop.” It’s a great story that is well executed. But the Time Lord Victorious eclipses it all. The Tenth Doctor is coming to an end. “I’ve gone too far,” he says as he realizes what he has done.

Since the new series began it has been building the Doctor up into this incarnation, this Time Lord Victorious. Now is the time for his deconstruction.

 At least in this moment, Gary; this one fixed moment . . .