Far too many farewells pepper The Tenth Doctor's long-awaited yet sadly poor departure.
The Master returns with a ridiculous plot to end life on Earth as we know it, and even Barack Obama shakes his head at this one.
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It’s Christmas, and everyone on Earth is dreaming of the Master, none more so than our old friend Wilfred Mott. And when The Master is resurrected it appears mankind’s nightmares may come true.
The Doctor has been avoiding the Ood and anything even remotely resembling four knocks, but when they share with him their prophecy of the end of time itself, he feels compelled to return.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama has called for an economic press conference to solve the problem of global recession and billionaire Joshua Naismith is plotting to use a Stargate to keep his daughter Abigail minty fresh for all eternity.
This episode is a tough one for me. There are a lot of really great elements. And a few that just plain suck. So much is going on- what can I talk about?
I enjoyed Wilf and his team of crack commandos out searching for the Doctor. The Wilf and Doctor scenes are very good. But on the flip side, there’s Donna on the other side of the glass, who can’t even be allowed to see the Doc or she might implode. As Wilf begs “can’t you help her?” I find myself wanting to beg the writers “couldn’t you come up with a temporary return of the memory intact Donna character?” But to no avail.
The Master is super-duper crazy. Like full-on bonkers. With the limited Classic Who I’ve seen I’m thinking he’s always been kinda crazy, and now it’s just worse because of the failed resurrection involving what was it- the blood of a unicorn and Harry Potter? And I don’t even like the Master but somehow I’m starting to feel sorry for him. He tells the Doctor about the drums in his head, then mind melds so Doc actually hears them. But instead of entering the TARDIS to research Time Lord mental health Doc says, “That’s just your insanity!” (Doc- please see last week’s note regarding bedside manner)
Wait Time Lords are dead right? I honestly can’t remember how I reacted originally to their appearance.
Rating: Um, patience is a virtue?
Till next week!
There is a song that reminds me of this dynamic between the Doctor and the Master, especially in this episode. I can picture Ten singing this to the Master. It is “Pandemonium” by the Pet Shop Boys. This song was released in February 2010, a mere 2 months after this episode aired; tell me there’s not a connection.
https://youtu.be/8MDq2_au_4M
1) the intro of the song is VERY reminiscent of the Doctor Who theme
2) the lyrics of the song start:
“Is this a riot, or are you just pleased to see me?”
then: “I love you really,
even though no one believes me.
It’s chaos every time we meet.”
“Oh no! Look what you’ve gone and done!
You’re creating Pandemonium!”
“The stars and the Sun
Dance to Your Drum!”
and
“I sometimes think we’ll both explode!”