New Who Review for "Last of the Time Lords"

[puppetmaker]

Well that was the season ender which I think will be having the Doctor say "What?" a lot every year. This one had some fans up in arms and other fans wondering if they could put a statue of RTD in Cardiff and worship there.

Me, well I thought it had its good points and its bad points. A lot of strong acting all around and not a bad wrap up for all the loose ends that were created. Kudos to John Simm for some great acting. I loved how Martha's family came together as a family and put their petty differences aside. You can see where she gets her grit. The writing was not perfect but considering what had to happen, it was not bad.

I found out from other fans that RTD said that the two things he would cut from the US broadcast would be "I can't decide" and that seen with Martha's Mom confronting the Master towards the end so I can stop blaming SciFi for that. I also know that "I can't decide" didn't move the plot along but I really liked that sequence for a brief look at what had been going on in the gap.

Of course comments and anything after the break is spoilerific.

I am grateful that there will be another season of Doctor Who.


OK the last scene with the ring and the funeral pyre, does anyone else think that RTD is a Flash Gordon fan? I half expected to hear the Queen soundtrack. Of course he is not gone. It's the bloody Master we are talking about. If he can walk around as a living skeleton (Deadly Assassin) or as an a weird translucent cobra (The Fox Movie) then being burned to ashes Viking style is nothing to him.

We were debating if it was Doctor Yoda or Doctor Dobbie after the Master tissue compressed the Doctor. Ah the fond memories of the Master's tissue compressor. A rather horrid way to go if you think about it.

And the brilliance of the gun in four parts that can kill a time lord which brought Martha all over the world. The Doctor knows that the Master can't resist a count down (the Master says as much in the episode) and that there is this rather complex telepathic net out there that controls all cell phone signals and most of the human race. Peter said, "Let me see if I get this right. If you use a Bluetooth, you can be controlled by the Cybermen and if you use any kind of cell phone, then you can be controlled by the Master? What does RTD have against the Cell phone industry?" I have to agree and wonder if there is an explanation out there somewhere. But somewhere along the way I started flashing on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the line, "I think this is getting needlessly messianic," and I started looking for two of white mice on the set. However the scene between the Doctor and the Master after the Master is shot was wonderful.

Then there is a reveal on the Face of Boe, Peter and I both want to sit down and watch all the FoB episodes to see if that was set up the first time we run across the FoB or only after the end of that season.

Overall I am not unhappy with the season. It was a little rough at first but the second half more than made up for it. "Utopia", "Blink", "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood" were the stand-outs for me this season. "The Runaway Bride", "Smith & Jones", "The Shakespeare Code", "Gridlock", "Sound of the Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" amused me greatly and kept reminding me what it is to be a Doctor Who fan in a good way. "42" and "The Lazarus Experiment" were entertaining at parts but over all left me with a rather indifferent feeling towards them. "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks" reminded me why I am a Doctor Who fan and not in the good way. Maybe it was because I am an American and I heard about the depression not only in school but from the people who lived through it. I also live in New York and know the city really well. I am sure that there are some shows that Americans have produced based on British history which have the Brits' teeth on edge.

I am debating about doing a NWR when the "Voyage of the Damn" airs and possibly as the series aired in the UK or waiting until it is shown in the US to do the reviews then.

Comments

LotTL

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Myself, I'm delighted they cut out the "I Can't Decide" scene. I was embarrassed by it the first time I saw it. It made me remember why, for years, I had contempt for Doctor Who before the current incarnation. So, for me, the editing was a goodness.

The Face of Boe thing still makes me scratch my head. On the one hand, I got a huge kick out of it when I first saw the scene. And then, the part of my brain that picks stories apart started asking, "Wait, how did he go from being a gorgeous human to nothing but a BIG HEAD?" I need to shut off that part of my brain, really. It will only hurt me in the end.

I really disliked the Doctor-as-Jesus thing, really, really disliked it. Bad enough that he was lifted up in golden light with his arms outstretched like a crucifix; as soon as he said "I forgive you," I wanted to wretch. The season hasn't been too heavy handed with the whole "lonely god" theme, and I was okay with it right up until that point, but that really bothered me. The sooner we got through that scene, the better.

The Master's death scene, however, rocked my socks. The pair of them were so good. I've watched it over and over again.

And I was really pleased with how RTD handled Martha's exit. She took her life back in a way that I can really respect. She wasn't well developed enough as a character for my taste this season, but this exit made up for a lot of that because it was well-grounded and mature. I liked her a lot more at the end of the episode than i have the rest of the season.

Season as a whole

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

As for the season as a whole, I'm generally pretty satisfied. I agree that "Utopia", "Blink", "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood" were the stand-outs. My next favorite ep was "42" because there's some great character stuff in there. Only then do I get to "Smith & Jones" and "The Shakespeare Code." Everything else falls in line with your order from there.

I'm still loving the show; it's still my one bit of appointment TV over anything else. Looking forward to "Voyage (or is it Ship?") of the Damned."

[wide_worlds_joy]

I read the Wikipedia entry on The Master. At the end of the entry is a trivia part talking about how the producers are NOT bringing back The Master in this incarnation of Dr Who at all. The whole hand and taking the ring thing was to leave the option open for others to do so if they felt the need.

I loved the death scene with the Doctor and the Master. I hated the Jesus thing too.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Davies has in the past said that he was never going to use the Master. So I wouldn't really trust anything he says in interviews on the subject of what he will and won't do. *laughs*

[querldox.livejournal.com]

And of course there are rumors that Davies may not be show runner forever.

Btw, Neil Gaiman posted on his blog about recently running into John Sims for the first time at a party and how they were mutually geeking over each other for Sandman and Life on Mars/The Master respectively.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Well, the rumors that Davies's days are numbered go back to the first season, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Having said that, he won't be the showrunner forever because, well, there's no such thing as forever. *grin*

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed John Simm as the Master, though I wished they could have kept Derek Jacobi, and wondered if they'd cast Simm for his resemblance to Tony Blair (the new series is bumping off British Prime Ministers at an alarming rate, isn't it?).

I hadn't made the link with 'Flash Gordon' - I saw the ring and the ashes as a nod to the Hammer Dracula movies (and the pyre reminded me more of the cremation of Darth Vader). But now that you mention it, it's interesting - particularly as the new slogan for Blair's replacement, Gordon Brown, is "No Flash, Just Gordon."

[myster-web.livejournal.com]

Well, sadly I missed many of the episodes (was away for the summer), but I didn't catch the whole religious aspect of the Doctor's rebirth at the end of "Last of the Time Lords". All I thought was that his arms must have hurt after that scene.

All hail the obliviousness of moi :) Ah well, it's annoying, but I thought it was fun anyway.