End of Time

Thanks to a co-worker's generosity, I was able to watch a recording of "The End of Time" part 1 and 2.

Just finished it as my PC was trying to get all cleaned up and debugged.

Thoughts (spoilers, if you care):

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Part One was pretty stupid. The Master's resurrection was rushed and poorly-handled. His "condition" was ludicrous. The ending, with him taking over the Earth again, was just ridiculous and silly.

That said, John Simm rocks as the Master. I liked the guy who played the Doctor's companion. He was entertaining.

Overall, it was overly silly and self-indulgent, even for "Dr. Who".

Until the absolute end of Part One when the Time Lords made an appearance.

I expected Part Two to be even worse, but it flashed back to the Time War and a hard-ass President of Gallifrey scheming to save the Time Lords from the inevitable end of the Time War.

Overall, it was silly with the Master's domination of the Earth, but the twist that the Time Lords actually created the Master was kind of neat. I do know that in the Jon Pertwee era, the Master was originally supposed to have a close friendship with the Doctor and was supposed to sacrifice his life to save the Doctor's... before the actor of the time died an untimely death.

So the Davies twist of making the Master a product of the future Time Lords seemed strangely-fitting.

The Doctor's final decision as to how to deal with the Time Lords (who, as it turns out, were as bad as the Daleks) was quite well-done.

And then Davies "treated" us to a melodramatic and sappy half-hour of the Doctor, having saved the old man's life, going around to visit his past companions until he finally regenerates.

Not bad, but a bit too sappy for my tastes.

All said, I'm glad RTD revived "Dr. Who" as a show, but I'm not sorry to see him go. I hope Stephen Moffatt doesn't retain RTD's penchant for sappy and silly story elements.