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WHO Q 9: What does UNIT currently stand for?

Allons-Y and Geronimo!

February 7, 2010 by Jason P. Hunt

I’m not ready to accept that David Tennant is more popular than Tom Baker, but he does bring a certain quality to the Doctor that no one else has brought – a zest for life. Which goes completely south by the time we get to Tennant’s final episode, “The End of Time”.

The tenth Doctor’s final adventures are collected in the BBC’s DVD and Blu-Ray set, “Doctor Who: The Complete Specials”, now available. These last adventures for Tennant are a fine example of what show-runner Russell T. Davies should have been doing all along – pulling out all the stops and doing the unexpected. While Davies is rightly criticized for dipping into the same bag for the same trick over and over, these specials show he’s not exactly a one-trick pony.

Starting with the Christmas special, “The Next Doctor”, Davies gives us a glimpse of just how lonely the Doctor’s life has become. He’s now travelling alone, with no companion to give him perspective. And the appearance of the Cybermen and another “Doctor” keeps him busy enough that he doesn’t dwell on it until the very end. It’s a scene where David Morrisey’s “Doctor” realizes just how lonely is the Doctor’s existence, and Davies writes it with just the right amount of humanity and grace.

A brilliant piece in this episode was the inclusion of the Cybermen’s infostamp, which carried the history of the Doctor. I felt warm and fuzzy inside when I saw the other Doctors’ images projected on the wall. It was a fun bit of nostalgia that you just can’t get with any show that hasn’t lasted more than forty years. The one thing I found hard to swallow was the giant Michael Bay Cyberman robot thingy tromping though the middle of Victorian England. I just have gotten really tired of seeing giant robots doing anything anywhere…

And then we’re off to the “Planet of the Dead”, which begins in a nice wink at James Bond and Mission:Impossible - introducing Lady Christina de Souza, socialite and cat burglar. They meet on the bus, which passes through a portal and onto another planet. Beautiful cinematography on this one, especially since the production team actually went on location to Dubai to shoot. I could have done with a more convincing alien than bipedal flies, but it works in the context of the story, I guess. It was nice to see UNIT again, too. And this is where we get the beginning of the end for the tenth doctor, a prophecy that “He will knock four times.” The Doctor knows his time is growing short.

The most disappointing thing about this episode was the unrealized potential of Lady Christina as a companion. While io9 thought the character was a disappointment, I thought there was a spark between Tennant and guest star Michelle Ryan, and I figure there could have been a lot of fun adventures between the two – with lots of room for the self-centered Lady Christina to learn how to think about others instead of herself. Not sure if Steven Moffat’s new “Who” team will use any of the RTD-era characters, but I’d like to see Lady Christina return at some point, just to see what she’s done with the flying bus.

            “The Waters of Mars” is an eerie piece that feels more like the old “Doctor Who” than any other of these specials. It’s a mystery wrapped in a time bomb, as the Doctor realizes where and when he is, and has to extricate himself without affecting the events that he knows have to happen. RTD includes an interesting explanation that there are certain “fixed” points in the space-time continuum that simply cannot be changed. But the Doctor’s so impressed by the Mars base commander, Adelaide Brooke, that he stays around and almost gets himself killed in the process.

            It’s his survival on this trip that leads to an interesting change in his personality. In overlapping voice-over bits, we hear the Doctor talking about the end of the Time Lords, how he’s the last survivor of a race that controlled time. This gives him an arrogant notion that since he’s the last of the race that controls space and time, he can change the rules. He learns at the end of the episode just what that hubris brings. Thus, the stage is set for “The End of Time”. It’s a tour-de-force for both Russell Davies and David Tennant, giving both one last opportunity to flex their creative muscles and deliver so many facets of the Doctor.

            This time, the Doctor learns from the Ood that the Master will return, and he rushes to Earth to prevent the ritual that resurrects his life-long enemy. Too late to stop the process, he now finds himself in a race against the prophecy that will end in his own death. The Master’s return is spoiled by Lady Saxon, who has disrupted the resurrection process enough that the Master is dying. As he makes his efforts to understand this noise in his head, the Doctor has been found by Wilfred Mott, and the two undertake to disrupt the Master’s plan to take over the Earth. The episode ends with the rather far-fetched process of the Master replacing every human on Earth (except the Time Lord/human hybrid Donna Noble) into copies of himself. Now the planet Earth is populated by billions of Masters, the Doctor is a prisoner, and an even greater threat to the planet looms in the distance… the return of the Time Lords.

            Now, at this point, I was thinking I’d missed something. I thought the Time Lords were all destroyed? In the Time War? The great biggie-wow huge huge astronomical conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks that ended with the Doctor wiping out both sides and destroying Gallifrey? So since we didn’t see it, it didn’t actually happen?

            Ah, turns out, the Time Lords have plotted their return from the days of the Master’s childhood, putting the “sound of drums” in his head and now using that signal to send a Whitepoint Star (only found on Gallifrey) to Earth to provide a path for their return. Now, Gallifrey is looming over Earth, about to smash it aside and take its place, and the Master realizes he’s been played.

            There’s lots of energy in this episode (both parts), including a great bit with Wilf channeling Luke Skywalker, but there’s also a few great character moments, especially between Wilf and the Doctor – two old souls who have seen and experienced so much. The Doctor confides in Wilf about the prophecy, and the quiet scenes between the two show that RTD can handle character as easily as he handles action. I’d go so far to say Davies does character moments better. And the payoff for the “four knocks” prophecy is priceless, a small bit of brilliance that turns the whole thing on its ear.

            Not giving anything away, but there are a series of nice false endings in this episode. The Doctor’s temper tantrum (before saving Wilf) is so out of character for the character, it makes complete sense when he says, “I’ve lived too long.”

            Another bit of brilliance is Timothy Dalton’s President of the Time Lords, whom the Doctor calls Rasillon. My ears perked up at this. Rasillon? The same Rasillon who founded the Time Lords? That Rasillon? Davies has confirmed in “Doctor Who Confidential” it’s the very one. And Dalton ’s performance is nicely chewy, over-the-top just as the egomaniacal Rasillon would be after so long stranded in the Time Lock.

            Now, everyone knows it’s Tennant’s last episode, and Matt Smith is the new Doctor. So it’s no surprise that there’s a regeneration at the end of this episode. But Tennant’s Doctor gets to make one last trip around the space-time continuum to see his companions one last time – Martha Jones, Mickey, Captain Jack (who’s at the bar, and obviously miserable after the events of “Children of Earth”), and Rose. The scene with Rose was especially poignant, because she doesn’t recognize him. His line “You’re going to have a great year” is both prophetic and disquieting, as we all know Rose’s fate. I actually got a bit teary-eyed during this part of the trip, knowing it was his last.

           Extras include “Doctor Who Confidential” segments on each special, plus commentaries, a behind-the-scenes video diary from David Tennant, deleted scenes, a segment on “Doctor Who” at Comic-Con, and a very fun “Doctor Who at the Proms”.

            The “Proms” special was the most fun for me, as I’ve been fortunate to see “Star Wars in Concert” and this event is very much the same concept – Murray Gold’s music in a concert performance with video montages from the show.

            Whovians will enjoy the set, and it sets the stage for the new Doctor’s adventures in a way that can be described with one of the Doctor’s oft-used words:

            Brilliant.

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