TV Review: Doctor Who - Journey's End

Despite having villainous Daleks, the threat of all reality being deleted and two David Tennants, Journey’s End came apart at the seams very early on.

To save time, all the tense cliff hangers that were built up in the preceding week were quickly eradicated in less than two minutes. And it went downhill from there, apart from the fantastic scene when The Doctor (David Tennant) and Davros (a brilliant Justin Bleach) finally came face-to-face.

Much like last year’s finale it was mainly a “talkie” episode, focusing more on plot than all-out action. But after all the hype and build-up it was a bit of a let down. That’s not to say it was bad, it was like Spiderman 3; it was longer, and there were more story developments and returning characters (Rose Tyler, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones etc) but it just didn’t gel like previous installments.

We Are the Daleks...Again

Although it’s been proven that nostalgia sells it was a bit cheap to rely on the Daleks as the main villains for the third time in four years. Fair enough, they’re the most famous Who foe but apart from a scary looking Davros there was very little that we hadn’t already seen before. As ever they were all destroyed in the end but they’ll probably show up again next year.

There have been many new monsters created under Russell T Davies, most have been merely fodder for filler episodes. Perhaps it would be better in the long run if the fifth series “big bad” was something new rather than a modern re-imagining of an old enemy. However, as the Cybermen will make an appearance in the Christmas episode maybe it’s a case of wishful thinking.

Goodbye Donna Noble

There was some good news though as irritating Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is no more. While technically she didn’t die (even though the whole series was building to it), all her memories of The Doctor were wiped in order to save her life and she shouldn’t turn up again.

Regardless of her importance to this episode, it goes without saying that Tate wins the award for being the most annoying sidekick in history. She is boring, her acting borders on pantomime and the way her voice goes all deep and mono-syllabic when she’s trying to play annoyed is enough to make even the most tolerable person bang their head on the wall in frustration.

Two Doctors

Doctor Who is notorious for re-writing the rules of its universe and this episode was full of them. The Dalek plan was to use the energy of 27 planets (including Earth) to destroy time and the entire universe, but almost all of The Doctor’s many companions had some device that could save the day.

However, this pales in comparison to what took place at the fifteen minute mark.

It went something like this: The Doctor was able to stop regenerating into a new form at the start of the episode by linking his power to his severed hand that he keeps in the TARDIS, but later on the hand was able to draw energy from Donna and morph into a half-human Doctor doppelganger (and more screen time for Tennant) while also passing his time lord knowledge into her, thus making her half-Time Lord.

Now breath out. Make sense? Of course it doesn’t, it’s stupid.

The Future Without Russell T Davies

While Tennant’s tenure in the title role has been in doubt it’s actually good to see him stay on for at least another year not only because it prolongs the longevity of the show but because he’s one of the best actors on British television.

It was the end of a journey for Davies, who steps down as head writer and series visionary after four years at the helm, with Steven Moffat taking control. Whether or not this will change the direction remains to be seen but after a sub-par year there’s every potential for it to improve.

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