Last time, I said I liked the first part of this story, but not the story as a whole. Now obviously this means I don’t like the second half of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate everything. So here’s a list of the things I do like:
- The acting of the regulars is top notch, especially David Tennant, Bernard Cribbins and John Simm
- The casting of Timothy Dalton. He’s brilliant and it’s nice to see him in things again
- The fact they brought back the Master and the Time Lords. I like them both, I’m glad they came back, although, as I’ll talk about later, I don’t like the way they were used.
- That the cacti’s ship looked like Starbug from Red Dwarf. I don’t know if this was intentional, but if it was, it’s a nice nod to a fellow BBC show.
- The fact the Master sacrificed himself for the Doctor. This was planned in the Third Doctor’s finale, but due to the actor who played the Master, Roger Delgado’s untimely death, it was scrapped. It’s nice to see it here.
- Seeing the happy endings of the companions. Although there’s a but which we’ll get to.
- Matt Smith’s first scene. For cheering us up.
Never let it be said I hate this story. I just don’t like it very much. The reason, it’s like a big dumb action movie. Action’s ramped up, stakes are heightened, emotions are explosive, but then none of it really fits together, the climax is muffled, characters don’t make sense and the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. It’s a story that attempts to be epic and powerful without first making sure that it’s even solid, which gives it a outer sheen of being great, but scratch the surface and it’s a mess. So let’s see why The End of Time: Part 2 is the Independence Day of modern Doctor Who.
Problem 1: Plot-holes
-When the Time Lords return the Master-race to being human, the effect of them being turned into the Master is reversed. What’s the problem with that? That means they are in exactly the same place they were the day before. Did every member of the Master-race just stand still for a whole day?
-Why do all the Masters obey the original? He’s incredibly untrustworthy, and there isn’t even a throwaway line to explain why all his copies are loyal and not trying to take power themselves.
- Are the Master-race human? If they copy him exactly, then why does he want the Time Lords, surely they would all be Time Lords? If they aren’t exact copies, instead just in the outer looks and personality, then why are they hungry, like he was in part 1? That was because of his Time Lord body being damaged. But then, if they’re hungry, why is he never hungry in Part 2? He’s still ripped apart, because he still has his powers, but he doesn’t have his hunger? That don’t make no sense.
- Why won’t the Doctor kill the Master? We’ve seen him kill in extreme circumstances before, but hey, he’s changed his ways since the Time War. So let’s revise this question. Why does the Master think the Doctor won’t kill him? The Master doesn’t really know the post-Time War Doctor that well. He remembers him more from his old ways. When he might have killed him. The Doctor from the classic series let the Master die a few times and killed a couple people himself, and that is the Doctor the Master knows. So why is he so certain the Doctor would never do it?
- Why do the writers miss a vital opportunity to fix something? The Master never had the drumming in his head before the new series. It’s established in this episode that the Time Lords put it in his head as a child while they were in the time war. Perfect, that’s why it only started after, because it was an effect of time being changed. But then the Time Lords say he had it all along before they put it there. Why ruin this perfect chance to make things make sense?
- The drumming as a signal. This is not so much a plot hole, more of just a piece of lazy writing. It doesn’t really seem to make any sense and is very sketchy. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems very like the writers couldn’t think of a way the drum beat could bring the Time Lords, so just said, “Fuck it, it does.”
- Why do the Time Lords arrive at this time? Let me explain. The Time Lords use the signal to find the Master “now”. But that’s now from their perspective. Also, the Doctor and the Master are always at the same time as each other from their perspectives. That means they can meet anywhere and anytime, but the John Simm Master will never meet the ninth Doctor, because that time has passed. The Doctor and the Master always meet each other in the same order as each other because their times are both the same. Do you vaguely understand? Well that fact holds true for all Time Lords. And there is a Doctor in the ‘now’ the Time Lords are at who is probably the eighth Doctor. So surely finding the Master ‘now’ would lead them to the Master at the end of time as seen in Utopia. It would not lead them to the Master from their future. That’s not how it works. It could be argued that they’re desperate and there’s a way round it. But it’s not. At no point is any explanation given.
- Why is the vanguard of the Time Lords: The President, two official looking blokes and the people who are against their plan? The President knows the Doctor or the Master or both will be there when he arrives and he knows they are both dangerous and opposed to him. Surely he would just bring some guys with guns? Or at the very least not bring the two people who would want to help the Doctor?
- Why can the Woman appear to Wilf? She seems to be a Time Lord. So why is she able to talk to Wilf before the bridge from Gallifrey to Earth is formed? The President can’t talk to the Master, so what makes her special?
- Why is there a line which goes “The star was a diamond and the diamond was a white point star”? That just sounds awful… wait, I’m being too nitpicky here.
But you see what I mean by plot holes? There’s probably more holes than plot in this story, and these aren’t for the most part little nitpicky problems, they are major obvious story telling flaws.
Problem Number 2: Characters
Another story telling flaw. Characters. There are three more than one-dimensional characters in this story. The Doctor, who doesn’t make sense, but that’s in the end, which we’re coming to. The Master, who is supposed to be a villain, but then as soon as the Time Lords appear, is reduced to some stupid kid who’s out of his depth and trying anything to save himself, making him seem like an enormous coward, which isn’t support by any of his other actions in this story. And Wilf. I don’t have a problem with Wilf.
You might say, what about Donna? She’s only in it for about three minutes. What about the cactus people? They are very flat characters with one character trait each. He’s cowardly and not used to action and she’s bossy. And the president? He’s a cardboard cut-out power-hungry villain. He only seems more because he’s played by Timothy Dalton, who’s a great actor. The characters in this story are either one-dimensional, inconsistent, or Wilf.
Problem Number 3: Pacing
Why is there a missile shooting space battle? Because otherwise the only action sequence would be the escape bit at the start. This is not a good reason for action. That’s a problem. But the main one here is not that, but the fact that everything is rushed so we can have the big long goodbye. The Master-Race don’t do anything but summon the Time Lords then get changed back to humans, they don’t have a purpose beyond furthering the plot. So all the time spent on making them a threat, was pointless as they’re dealt with in about ten seconds. And the Time Lords, the big return everything was leading up to… are on screen for five minutes. I mean, really. They were built up so much, then they appear, do nothing but talk, and the Doctor shoots a Magoffin and they’re gone. What a waste. Everything in this story was built up so much by Part 1, but then is let down due to a rush for the over-long ending.
You might think that it’s weird I’ve written all this without touching on the ending. And that’s because, well the ending is really annoying in its own right and deserves a blog to itself. So come back next time for the final end of my review. We’ll look at the ending which makes this already majorly flawed story even worse and then you’ll get my final thoughts on the story as a whole and the overall rating on part 2. We’ve not much longer to go, don’t worry. See you next time, for one last time.
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