With the success of the reinvention of Doctor Who (in particular the seasons with Tennant in the title role) there was always going to be a lot of pressure on this double bill to deliver a suitable climax so that fans can go away content and get on with the business of wringing their hands over the selection of a twelve year old child as the new Doctor. With this in mind it is perhaps understandable that everything about it is as "big" as it is, because not only does this have to satisfy the requirements of being the BBC's Christmas "must-see" special but it is also concluding this successful period for the show. While this broadly works I will be honest that at times I would have liked it not to have put everything up to 11 for the majority of the show simply because it did seem to have too much going on and a lot of noise in doing it.
The return of the Master is the subject of the first half, building to the release of the Time Lords and the end of time in the second. All of this provides the big noisy spectacle and global-extinction level threat that is required for this type of thing and in that regard it does work. It does all happen very quickly though and nothing has very long to build particularly. The threat of The Master hardly has time to sink in before we have Time Lords turning up and again they are dealt with reasonably quickly. It is entertaining enough and quite exciting but it didn't ever have enough in the way of substance to make me care about it so much as just enjoy watching it as the spectacle that it was. The plot itself is generally a bit messy as well because of it having too much kicking around. There are things we are not meant to understand/know mixed in with things that we should know if we have been watching and remembering every episode of New Who, then there are things that don't totally make sense – all of these come together in a way where it is not the easiest to follow. Adults and fans should not struggle too much but I did wonder for the younger viewers what they would be able to make of it.
This "up to 11" effect also impacts on the smaller moments because again there is this pressure to have an "end of an era" effect rather than just a season of a television show coming to an end. This means that we have lots of loops being completed, connections being made etc as the Doctor goes round checking on his companions etc and although some of these are good, it did feel unnecessary and a bit overblown in terms of getting emotion from the viewer. Tennant is rewarded though with a couple of scenes where he actually gets to act (as opposed to doing a "solemn stare" like he normal has to do) and he is moving when he gets the chance. Likewise his scene with Wilfred (when the "he will knock four times" prophecy is given a brilliantly impacting reveal) is great and to me was more engaging that all of the bigger special effects moments. Tennant will undoubtedly be missed from this show. Although this conclusion is a reminder that the material didn't use him well enough often enough, he is a good actor and he has delivered when enabled to do so. The role is his and one does have to feel a little bit for the massive job that Matt Smith has in carrying this on – a job not helped by him looking like he would be more at home representing his public school at a polo match than in the Tardis.
The supporting cast is good. I've never really cared for Donna or her extended family, but Cribbins is on good form here and works well with Tennant in the moments where the special effects stop and it is just the two of them. Simm has a great old time as The Master and although he is working right at the end of "good ham" he never tips over it into bad ham; not sure why we had to have him flying everywhere but his performance was good. Dalton is a good addition in theory but he suffers from the "too much going on" problem because he never has a chance to be more than a "famous face doing a stern presence" type performance and as a result he doesn't carry a lot of threat or weight – doesn't help that his scenes appear to have been shot in a conference room with really thick curtains. Tate does her thing but I'm not sure what possible value June Whitfield added to proceedings. Everyone else is not particularly great and there is a prevalence of so-so acting below the top two or three names, but special mention should go to Ifeachor (the PM's daughter), because she is surprisingly wooden considering she is part of the RSC.
The End of Time is still a good double special though. It comes with the usual noisy effects and excitement and global threats that you expect from the Christmas specials but also does its best to draw an emotional close to the era of Tennant as Dr Who. It does suffer from having too much going on and this constant feeling that everything is being pushed to be as big and as meaningful as possible, which does hurt it to a certain degree but Tennant's performance helps it a lot and the rest of the noise and energy helps keep the viewer from losing interest in it. Not as great as I had hoped perhaps but still a good conclusion and certainly better than some of the specials leading up to this point.
The return of the Master is the subject of the first half, building to the release of the Time Lords and the end of time in the second. All of this provides the big noisy spectacle and global-extinction level threat that is required for this type of thing and in that regard it does work. It does all happen very quickly though and nothing has very long to build particularly. The threat of The Master hardly has time to sink in before we have Time Lords turning up and again they are dealt with reasonably quickly. It is entertaining enough and quite exciting but it didn't ever have enough in the way of substance to make me care about it so much as just enjoy watching it as the spectacle that it was. The plot itself is generally a bit messy as well because of it having too much kicking around. There are things we are not meant to understand/know mixed in with things that we should know if we have been watching and remembering every episode of New Who, then there are things that don't totally make sense – all of these come together in a way where it is not the easiest to follow. Adults and fans should not struggle too much but I did wonder for the younger viewers what they would be able to make of it.
This "up to 11" effect also impacts on the smaller moments because again there is this pressure to have an "end of an era" effect rather than just a season of a television show coming to an end. This means that we have lots of loops being completed, connections being made etc as the Doctor goes round checking on his companions etc and although some of these are good, it did feel unnecessary and a bit overblown in terms of getting emotion from the viewer. Tennant is rewarded though with a couple of scenes where he actually gets to act (as opposed to doing a "solemn stare" like he normal has to do) and he is moving when he gets the chance. Likewise his scene with Wilfred (when the "he will knock four times" prophecy is given a brilliantly impacting reveal) is great and to me was more engaging that all of the bigger special effects moments. Tennant will undoubtedly be missed from this show. Although this conclusion is a reminder that the material didn't use him well enough often enough, he is a good actor and he has delivered when enabled to do so. The role is his and one does have to feel a little bit for the massive job that Matt Smith has in carrying this on – a job not helped by him looking like he would be more at home representing his public school at a polo match than in the Tardis.
The supporting cast is good. I've never really cared for Donna or her extended family, but Cribbins is on good form here and works well with Tennant in the moments where the special effects stop and it is just the two of them. Simm has a great old time as The Master and although he is working right at the end of "good ham" he never tips over it into bad ham; not sure why we had to have him flying everywhere but his performance was good. Dalton is a good addition in theory but he suffers from the "too much going on" problem because he never has a chance to be more than a "famous face doing a stern presence" type performance and as a result he doesn't carry a lot of threat or weight – doesn't help that his scenes appear to have been shot in a conference room with really thick curtains. Tate does her thing but I'm not sure what possible value June Whitfield added to proceedings. Everyone else is not particularly great and there is a prevalence of so-so acting below the top two or three names, but special mention should go to Ifeachor (the PM's daughter), because she is surprisingly wooden considering she is part of the RSC.
The End of Time is still a good double special though. It comes with the usual noisy effects and excitement and global threats that you expect from the Christmas specials but also does its best to draw an emotional close to the era of Tennant as Dr Who. It does suffer from having too much going on and this constant feeling that everything is being pushed to be as big and as meaningful as possible, which does hurt it to a certain degree but Tennant's performance helps it a lot and the rest of the noise and energy helps keep the viewer from losing interest in it. Not as great as I had hoped perhaps but still a good conclusion and certainly better than some of the specials leading up to this point.