1)This is my favorite of the Tennant specials - in fact I'd go so far as to say that it's my favorite single Tennant story altogether. Interesting that his Doctor works best with a character who doesn't "hero-worship" him the way the other tended to. Tennant had some good moments as he struggled between his desire to help and his desire to not mess up history. And I thought he was quite good at the end playing a man who's gone off the rails and only realized it when it was too late. You also realize what a threat he could be if he ever did totally lose it. I also thought that it was an interesting device, the way they set up straight out that they were all doomed.
2)I really liked the character of Adelaide Brooke - very well-rounded. Hardcore with her subordinates, because she feels she needs to be, but with a heart. She stands up to the Doctor in the end, no matter how "almighty" he claims to be, and is willing to give up everything he offered her to do the right thing.
3)The Flood were sufficiently creepy, weren't they - funny that a thing as common and as vital as water can be so frightening, isn't it?
4)"I hate funny robots." I wasn't wild about Gadget, either - but then, I don't think we were supposed to be.
5)"Ancient North Martian" - Nice to see the Ice Warriors get a shout-out, I wouldn't mind seeing them used again.
6)Some fun quotes:
- "Are you the Doctor or the janitor?"
- "I don't hear anyone knocking, do you?"
- "The laws of time are mine and they will obey me!" He's practically turning into the Master!
- "I'm the winner - that's who I am!"
- "I don't care who you are - the Time Lord Victorious is wrong!"
- "I've gone too far."
Overall:
An excellent episode - Tennant was good, Duncan was great and the threat was quite scary. We see that the Doctor is really rattled by the thought of dying - as close as we've ever seen him to becoming the Valeyard. In some ways, the Doctor was the scariest thing in this.
"In memory of Barry Letts 1925-2009"
[Part of list of Doctor Who episodes here.]
Replies
Was watching this again in the gym just now. Thinking that he should have at least considered the possibility of taking Adelaide, Mia and Yuri and dropping them off somewhere in the far future. That way, they get to live and history remains intact. they might still have refused, but he could have at leas toffered.
I wondered if the TARDIS -which usually makes sure he doesn't end up in this sort of spot- wasn't being affected by his state of mind.
Having seen this twice now, I can't say I really like it. It's the type of DOCTOR WHO story that I just don't care for.
Also, when I watched TORCHWOOD recently, I felt like the other team members were yelling at Jack for no good reason (in the first two seasons anyway)--the story didn't motivate this kind of deep anger and it felt like words were being put in their mouths. The writer just hadn't gotten them to the place in the story where their words would ring true. I feel much the same about the ending for this story. I can understand that in the writer's mind--knowing what he knew about the Doctor--that there could be a deep anger directed at the Doctor, but the characters themselves were not privy to that much understanding of the Doctor that they could reasonably lay this charge against him. It just sounded like the writer speaking through another character, without having laid enough groundwork for those words to ring true for the character.
Just watched this again. It's easily my favorite Tennant episode, but by God, what a dark ending!