I don't think anyone actually reads my posts so this is probably completely unnecessary, but I'm going to comment on the finale of Season 4. Don't read this if you don't want to know anything.
Along with my recent Doctor Who marathons, I've been searching the Internet to find out the answers to my burning Doctor Who questions...
1. Why did Christopher Eccleston leave the show, really.
2. Why is Freema Agyeman being given short shrift on Doctor Who?
3. In the writers and producers mind, what was the evolution of the Rose and The Doctor love relationship, what were the circumstances that brought about the storylines?
4. Bad Wolf...? Didn't make sense to me.
While I was looking around, I accidentally saw a small sentence about a plot outcome in the season finale. Aargh. I decided I might as well watch the whole thing on You Tube.
Mind you, I haven't seen Midnight, Left Turn, or Stolen Earth.
The good -
1. The stories are all wrapped up. With the exception of River Song, there's nothing left to wonder about.
2. This makes a nice four season package of DVDs.
3. I liked that Mickey and Martha will work at Torchwood.
And everything else -
1. After the crisis was averted and the Tardis is back on Earth...the people walk out of the Tardis like the last episode of a bad sitcom, each having their last moment with the Doctor. Ugh. And it was very quick too. After all the drama and the fear and the amazing adventure and the near destruction of all life in the universe as we know (and don't know) it, and they just walk out of the Tardis and casually go their own way? Odd. I'd think they'd want to at least have lunch together to debrief. From there they could have left to go to their own ways - that would have felt better to me.
2. Martha Jones - maybe I would have felt her presence more if I'd seen Stolen Earth. Poor Martha Jones. She saved the Doctor's life so many times - not to mention travelling around the world getting everyone to believe in him. And what has he got for her? Not much. She was treated badly, by the Doctor, and the writers.
3. I really didn't like how the Rose Tyler and Doctor story ended. Wow. Yucky. Rose calls the Doctor that flies away in the Tardis the 'real' Doctor. So, how does that make the one that's standing there feel? And its okay with everyone? Weird.
4. And speaking of the second Doctor, why did he just let the original Doctor be the leader? If he's every bit the same as the original Doctor, why does he just stand there like a robot? He seemed very 'blank' to me. No wonder Rose was upset that the original Doctor left.
4. I didn't like the way the Doctor got all googly when Rose said she was working on a way for her to return to the Doctor. Like they were schoolkids. I'm back on my earlier soapbox...it makes no sense that he would love her above all others.
5. I REALLY didn't like it when Billie Piper said (in the Doctor Who Confidential) that Rose particularly likes THIS version of the Doctor. That implies that Rose cares more about how the Doctor looks than who he is inside. She couldn't stand the idea of him regenerating again. If I were her, I'd be fine with it. Who cares? He's going to be the same guy - that's what she found out when the Doctor changed from Nine to Ten. But apparently, it really matters. Which makes even less sense because it was with Christopher Eccleston that Billie Piper had good chemistry. David Tennant and Billie Piper were cute together and it wasn't bad, but the real passion was with Christopher Eccleston.
6. Donna. Donna Noble. A great companion. What a bad ending for her. And it seemed so unecessary. Why? I think they did it just to make the ending poignant and to have the Doctor walk off unhappy and lonely again. The reality is - this is all a fiction. So, there isn't any good reason why she couldn't have a happy ending. The Doctor could have just wiped the Time Lord part from her mind and let her be. He could have told her he just wants to travel alone for awhile. She could have had a support group with Martha and Sarah Jane for companions who are trying to readjust to regular life again. Hey - the way this show works, they'll be another alien incursion in a few months anyway. This was just a mean and unnecessary plot device. Donna was a wonderful character and I think Catherine Tate did an excellent job portraying her with dignity.
7. I don't know about classic Doctor Who and the Daleks and Davros. I like the Daleks fine, but it is true - don't they keep getting defeated and then they come back and back and back? Maybe the writers would do better to pace themselves. A little battle here and there.
8. Okay - so Davros wanted to rid the universe and all dimensions of all life except Daleks. And then what would the Daleks do? They would just sit there. After a number of years they'd start getting bored and have wars with each other. It makes no sense. They might as well keep all the other living things alive and just kill them off one at a time, since that seems to be the only thing they like to do. That way they'd always have something to do without killing each other. I don't care how evil something is, there's no point in being evil when there's nobody to be evil to. Silly.
9. So, Davros final victory is that he has shown the Doctor himself. But, the Doctor always knew his life was a double-edged sword. His companions have made that abundantly clear. So, this, as a speech at the end of the show by Davros, wasn't very illuminating. And it was just being hammered home to me, once again, that the lonely Hero has to have a soul in conflict to do the kinds of things that Heroes have to do to save the world. Yeah. I get it.
10. And I'm reminded again of how he hurt Donna by taking away the wonderful life she'd been given. Just a mean, mean, mean way to end the show for no good reason as far as I'm concerned. Couldn't she have met that stuttering guy? At least?
11. As I've tried to articulate before, I don't think the Doctor would have one love. I can't believe a person who's lived 900 years and who's experienced the myriads of worlds he has would be so limited to think ONLY one person can be a soulmate - or that ANY one person is a soulmate. He would love on a level that's deeper than physical love. And, physical love wouldn't be the milestone marker that is in our relationships. Anyway - I know he's not perfect, and he destroyed his people for what he thought was a good cause (and turned out to be for naught? because all the Daleks keep living anyway?) and lives with that guilt and anger and sadness. But, still. I'd expect his perspective to be wider than a humans.
12. I think the Doctor is obessively enthusiastic about Earth and Humans. (I understand 'obsessively enthusiastic' is the new broad definition of the word 'geek'; I was going to say the Doctor is a Humanity Geek, but I looked up Geek and its not defined as obsessively enthusiastic yet so I left it alone)
13. There was a lot of talk after the finale of "Desperate Housewives" this spring when the writers decided to jump ahead 5 years. It was called a reset. And it sure was. But, no more than this ending. There is nothing left of the last four years with the Doctor except the Doctor. Everything else will be new and completely different. I wonder how it will be received?
14. I didn't really understand how Donna was the center of it all - the most important person in the universe - anymore than I understood how Rose was Bad Wolf. It seems to me that if you have to watch a Doctor Who Confidential to understand what the writer's intent was, then it wasn't written very well in the first place.
Mr Davies wrote the last show of his Doctor Who career. I wonder how he feels about it. Was it his best work? Is this how he wanted to see the stories end? Or, was he influenced by fan expectations, network requirements, contract negotiations, and his own burnout?
I have my own ideas about how I would have liked to see it end. But, its not my story. Its his story, so I respect and appreciate his choices in any event.
Russell T Davies (and the other writers) made the Doctor Who stories for us; for our enjoyment.
I like to think of the storytellers of the years and eons before. We get our myths and much of our beliefs based on the stories people would tell. Even the Bible stories were passed around by word of mouth. Storytelling has a long and noble history. The people who make stories and care about giving them to us are important to me and our society. I hope they all take it that seriously. When they do, they can change the world.
Its amazing to me that humans have absolutely no proof whatsoever that there is life in the universe like ours or even remotely like anything we portray on television. And yet, we imagine it so vividly that it almost seems like a given.
Anyway...
In totality, I enjoyed the Doctor Who experience. Sometimes it makes me cringe and I have issues with the stories, but I love the stories nonetheless. They can make me think about perspective and imagination and creativity and what if? and humanity. Doctor Who gave me good stories. Thanks Doctor Who.
The Christmas story will have the Cybermen. I actually like the Cyberman so that's cool with me.
I'm also going to watch "Left turn" on YouTube because I think I'll enjoy that story. Maybe my thoughts and opinions will change based on new information.
My plan is to finish watching Season Three again (I only have the final trilogy at the end to go), then rewatch Season 4 on Tivo.
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