I came away from the episode with mixed feelings. Yes, I felt myself tearing up at the end. And, yes, there were some wonderful moments, most of which people have pointed out.
However, I felt that the pacing of the episode was wrong. The length of time between the doctor starting and finishing to regenerate was too long compared to the rest of the episode.
While I liked the idea that the doctor was able to say goodbye to the people he'd become attached to before he left, I felt jolted by this. I felt as though this was Russel T Davies saying goodbye and not the Doctor.
I am a casual watcher of the series. I like it, will make an effort to see the episodes if I'm around, but don't usually bother rewatching. As a result, I had to struggle to remind myself who some of the people were. I didn't know / remember who Alonso was until someone reminded me. Were we supposed to be as moved / shocked at the mention of Jeremy Noble's name as Donna's mum was? Are we supposed to know who he is?
More seriously, and on top of all that, I also feel as though I'm missing some of the background I need to understand the whole time war / timelord storyline. Yes, this has been mentioned before, since 2005. But did viewers ever see the war actually happen in earlier series?
Am I supposed to know more about the time war than I do? Was the storyline obscure in places, or was that me? Do diehard fans know what is going on? Am I handicapped by not being one?
Was that woman his mother? I didn't think so. (I'm not going to embarrass myself by putting my ideas down here.) Are we supposed to know? Were we supposed to recognise her?
I'm going to miss David Tennant in this role. I think he's made a great doctor. I just don't think that this was a great episode with which to end his stint in the role.
Despite those tears the storyline managed to wrench out of me, I think back on the episode and feel rather flat. Given my overall reaction to the show, I also feel rather astonished that I've felt moved enough to write this post.
Krissie
