12 Reviews of Christmas - Doctor Who: The End of Time (2009)

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and the most wonderful time of the year is back. It's time for 12 Reviews of Christmas. And, yes, I'm starting a bit early this year, but it's mainly due to a road trip I will be on for the Christmas holiday. 

         So, let's get 12 Reviews of Christmas started with the 2009 Doctor Who Christmas special The End of Time. Released as a two-parter, this special marked the end of the Tenth Doctor era, and would see Russell T. Davies hiatus from serving as showrunner for the franchise, until his very recent return. This special stars David Tennant, John Simm, Bernard Cribbins, David Harewood, Jacqueline King, Catherine Tate, Karl Collins, Alexandra Moen, and Timothy Dalton. 

        So, it's approaching Christmas time on Earth, and a number of people are seeing visions of a madman cackling. One particular individual seeing visions of the cackling man is Wilfred Mott, grandfather of Donna Noble. However, he is approached by a mysterious woman, who informs him that the Doctor will return to help. The Doctor, meanwhile, arrives at the home planet of the Ood, who have seen visions across time of several individuals: the cackling man, Wilfred, a wealthy man and his daughter, and a woman in prison. The imprisoned woman is none other than Lucy Saxon, wife of Harold Saxon/The Master, the latter of whom the Doctor is certain is dead. However, part of the Master survived, as a cult of his followers picked up his ring. And, with the imprint of his DNA on the lips of Lucy, the Master is revived. However, not fully, as Lucy's family contacts were able to create a serum to reverse the Master's resurrection, leaving the Master as an incomplete being stuck between life and death, requiring his need to devour the life force of other people. 

       But, how are the Ood able to see all of this? Well, according to the Ood, time itself is bleeding, and their visions across time, as well as the Master's return, only means one thing: the end of time itself. The Doctor rushes back to the time and place where Lucy was imprisoned, but too late, as the prison is destroyed, and the Master on the loose. However, the Doctor is met by Wilfred, who catches him up on several things. First, Donna is engaged to a nice young man named Shaun Temple, and they're set to get married in the spring. The Doctor, meanwhile, senses the end is coming for him. 

       The Master, meanwhile, after a few confrontations with the Doctor, is collected by men working for Joshua Naismith, who wants the Master to help fix a broken Vinvocci medical device. And, who are the Vinvocci? A humanoid alien race with green skin and spikes on their heads, often mistaken to look a bit like cacti. But, to appear human, they wear a shimmer to hide their true appearance, as is seen by two Vinvocci salvagers posing as scientists. 

         But, the Master has other plans, as he looks to superimpose his own likeness onto every human on Earth, including Naismith, his daughter, Wilfred, Shaun, Sylvia, heck even President Obama in the United States. Every human on Earth is now The Master. With one exception: Donna. You see, when the Doctor erased her memory to save her life, he added a bit of protection which kept her mind from being affected by the Master. Luckily, both the Doctor and Wilfred are freed by the Vinvocci salvagers, and the four make their way onto the Vinvocci ship in Earth's orbit. 

        But, aside from the Master, what is behind these events? Well, it seems as though the Time Lords are ready to return. Trapped in a time lock, the Time Lords are looking to escape, and initiate the Final Sanction. We'll get into what that is later. However, to escape, they need to make a connection beyond the Time War, which is where the Time Lords are trapped. The Time Lord President, Rassilon, discusses with the High Council of what to do, with the drum beat in the Master's head being a rhythm of four beats, identical to the heartbeat of a Time Lord. Now amplified to the scale of a planet, the Time Lords can make a connection. 

        The Time Lords launch something across time, and the Master is able to collect it. What is it? A diamond that can only be found on Gallifrey. This completes the link, and Rassilon and the High Council arrive on Earth, restore every human to normal, and Gallifrey arrives in Earth's orbit. And it's here where we see Rassilon announce the Final Sanction: the Time Lords shedding their organic forms and ascending into beings of pure consciousness. Unfortunately, this would destroy everything. And, thus is why the Doctor had to stop them with the atrocity he committed to end the Time War. And, it's here where the Master learns that the drumming was placed into his head when he was taken to the Untempered Schism as a child. 

        Using a gun he was given by Wilfred, the Doctor destroys the diamond, sending Gallifrey, the Time Lords, and the Master back into the Time War. Unfortunately, Wilfred found himself trapped in a control box about to be flooded with radiation. Knowing this will be his end, the Doctor goes inside and takes in all of the radiation, saving Wilfred, but triggering the start of the Regeneration process. Knowing what's coming, the Doctor pays one final visit to his many Companions, seeing Martha and Mickey, now married, fending off a few Sontarans, passing Captain Jack Harkness a note about a man sitting next to him in a cosmic bar, getting an autograph from the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern, saving Sarah Jane's son Luke from being hit by a car, leaving Donna and Shaun a lottery ticket as a wedding gift, and seeing Rose and Jackie on New Year's Day the year Rose meets the Doctor for the first time. 

        All of this visiting now done, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS, where he begins to regenerate, but not before saying "I don't wanna go." The regeneration is explosive, practically obliterating the interior of the TARDIS and shattering the exterior windows. And, with that, the Tenth Doctor is gone and the Eleventh Doctor is here. Checking out his new features, including slightly longer hair, a big chin, and still not ginger, the Doctor realizes the TARDIS is crashing, and he hangs on for the ride and exclaims "Geronimo!" 

         As a final two-parter for the Tenth Doctor, The End of Time was a really fantastic way to mark the end of an era. Russell T. Davies really knocked it out of the park for what was meant to be his final outing as showrunner of Doctor Who. David Tennant also really stood out in what was meant to be his final outing as the Tenth Doctor, and it was absolutely heartbreaking when he finally regenerated into the Eleventh Doctor, and Matt Smith definitely made a hilarious first impression as the Doctor in the special's final moments. 

       Seeing the return of Donna, Wilfred, and Sylvia was a lot of fun. Bernard Cribbins really stepped up as a major character in this particular special, while both Catherine Tate and Jacqueline King were great in supporting roles. As far as the villains go, both John Simm as the Master and Timothy Dalton as Rassilon were fantastic. Dalton's Rassilon was easily terrifying as the leader of the Time Lords, while Simm as The Master was clearly insane, and really felt like a monster by comparison to his previous appearance during the third season. 

        The plot tying the Master, and the drumming noise in his head, to the Time Lords, and seeing them escape from the Time War, was definitely fascinating. The idea that the Time War made the Time Lords far less noble, and far more dangerous than they were during the classic era of Doctor Who, was really a bold choice, and it was fantastic seeing the return of the Time Lords during a regeneration special. Also, I did admire how they referenced the fact that Obama was President of the United States around this time, and included recorded audio of him along with a body double seen only from the back. Whilst Doctor Who did have a fictitious President during the third season, it's always nice when IRL Presidents are referenced in works of fiction. I also appreciated seeing the Doctor give a brief farewell to all of those he traveled with during the entirety of the Tenth Doctor era, as it really gave the era a sense of closure. This is, also, something that would become a recurring thing for each Doctor's regeneration going forward, which I appreciate. 

       Overall, for what was meant to be the final Doctor Who outing for both David Tennant and Russell T. Davies was a genuine high note. I'm giving Doctor Who: The End of Time a rating of 5/5. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and 12 Reviews of Christmas will continue tomorrow with my review of the original classic Miracle on 34th Street.