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- Recap - Doctor Who, Journey's End
Recap - Doctor Who, Journey's End
- By Linnea Dodson
- Published 08/3/2008
- Doctor Who
-
Rating:
Journey's End - page 4
Human!Doctor is delighted as Donna wreaks havoc on the Daleks; the Doctor is surprisingly silent. Mickey and Jack grab their BFGs. Sarah Jane and Rose exchange "good to see you"s over the Dalek they're pushing into a wall. Martha pushes one as well, while the two Doctors and Donna send the planets back.
There's another round of expository technobabble as Donna explains to Rose that the Doctor fed his regeneration energy into his hand, which grew into another Doctor when Donna touched it, and Donna got a little bit of Time Lord in her brain that was unlocked when Davros zapped her.
"So there's three of you?" Rose asks the Doctor.
"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," Jack says. Oh, Jack, don't ever change.
Mickey has his BFG right in Davros' face. "You promised me, Dalek Caan," Davros protests. "Why did you not foresee this?"
Nick Briggs wins "most unhinged giggle of all" topping both the Master and Davros as Caan snickers back. Caan had foreseen the triumph of the Daleks over reality - but he didn't think much of it. He had engineered everything in order to bring the Doctor in to bring about their downfall.
The Supreme Dalek comes down to take care of business itself, but it only gets one shot - and that at the machine returning the planets - before Jack blows it to smithereens.
The Doctor runs into the TARDIS; there's only one planet left (Earth, natch) but he can figure out a way to tow it through space. While he's off doing that, Davros pleas to Caan for help, but Caan flops and giggles that he wants the Doctor to end the Dalek empire.
Human!Doctor hears him and agrees; with a flip of a few switches and a quick burst of technobabble, Daleks start blowing up all over the place.
Surprisingly for a guy who has been fighting the Daleks his entire life, has twice attempted to snuff them out of existence in New Who, and who was willing to wipe his own homeworld out of space and time to conquer them, the Doctor is upset about this.
Back on Earth, the time bubble on the Hub drops as the Dalek explodes. Before we get any more cameos, we're back onboard the Dalek ship, where the Doctor is pulling everyone back into the TARDIS. Surprisingly, this includes an offer to Davros, stuck in his chair as the ship explodes around him.
Davros tells him where to stick his mercy. "I name you forever! You are the Destroyer of Worlds!"
Again uncharacteristically, the Doctor isn't very thrilled. I guess he prefers "The Oncoming Storm," on account of that sounding so much friendlier.
Alternatively, he might have been holding out for "Washer of Racnoss Down the Drain," "Destroyer of Gelth," or maybe "Eternal Tormentor of the Family of Blood." Or any of the other peaceful, cheerful fluffy-bunny things we've watched him do to races that piss him off.
There's just enough time for Dalek Caan to whip a very deceased equine with the parting line, "One will still die," as the Doctor heads back into the TARDIS.
Inside the shaking TARDIS, everyone is clustered around the console. The Doctor intends to move Earth back into its proper place, but starts with a shout-out to the fact that Eve Myles played Gwenneth and Gwen. Torchwood is to throw the rift manipulator open so the Doctor can use its energy, while Luke and Mr. Smith are to harness that power to the TARDIS. Mr. Smith requires the TARDIS basecode numerals, which the Doctor worries will take too long to get.
"Let me!" Sarah Jane cries, and darts to the monitor to introduce the last cameo appearance: "K-9, out you come!" (I found this a bit gratuitous, but people who were at the public viewing in London said the crowd went nuts when he appeared.) With K-9 streaming the codes at high speed, long-time extended canon/fanon becomes real canon as the Doctor admits that the TARDIS was intended to be flown by a team. He stations everyone but Jackie around the console and teaches them how to fly the ship.
The CGI is so pretty and the music so nice (Murray, WHEN do we get that new album?) and the cameos of everyone we know on Earth clinging on or hiding under the furniture are so funny that I almost forget to wonder about how the hell this is supposed to work, what gravitational forces are splitting open the rift, how long the trip is supposed to take (in a sunless void, yet) and just what the mechanics are supposed to be about inserting the Earth back into solar orbit without smacking into something large and hard and in the way, like our own moon.
The TARDIS does fly more smoothly than normal, and not a thing sparks or needs whacked with a hammer. Both Freema and David break the fourth wall by mugging directly into the camera. John has said in interviews that everyone was finding it hard to settle down and act while filming this scene because they were all treating it as a big pyjama party of joy. And in many ways, it is the ultimate glorious fanservice.
It's cheering, laughter, and hugs all around (Donna literally rips Sarah Jane out of Jack's arms) as the Earth snaps back into place.
Enjoy the joy. Because huge parts of the fandom are pissed off by at least one thing that happens next.
There's another round of expository technobabble as Donna explains to Rose that the Doctor fed his regeneration energy into his hand, which grew into another Doctor when Donna touched it, and Donna got a little bit of Time Lord in her brain that was unlocked when Davros zapped her.
"So there's three of you?" Rose asks the Doctor.
"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," Jack says. Oh, Jack, don't ever change.
Mickey has his BFG right in Davros' face. "You promised me, Dalek Caan," Davros protests. "Why did you not foresee this?"
Nick Briggs wins "most unhinged giggle of all" topping both the Master and Davros as Caan snickers back. Caan had foreseen the triumph of the Daleks over reality - but he didn't think much of it. He had engineered everything in order to bring the Doctor in to bring about their downfall.
The Supreme Dalek comes down to take care of business itself, but it only gets one shot - and that at the machine returning the planets - before Jack blows it to smithereens.
The Doctor runs into the TARDIS; there's only one planet left (Earth, natch) but he can figure out a way to tow it through space. While he's off doing that, Davros pleas to Caan for help, but Caan flops and giggles that he wants the Doctor to end the Dalek empire.
Human!Doctor hears him and agrees; with a flip of a few switches and a quick burst of technobabble, Daleks start blowing up all over the place.
Surprisingly for a guy who has been fighting the Daleks his entire life, has twice attempted to snuff them out of existence in New Who, and who was willing to wipe his own homeworld out of space and time to conquer them, the Doctor is upset about this.
Back on Earth, the time bubble on the Hub drops as the Dalek explodes. Before we get any more cameos, we're back onboard the Dalek ship, where the Doctor is pulling everyone back into the TARDIS. Surprisingly, this includes an offer to Davros, stuck in his chair as the ship explodes around him.
Davros tells him where to stick his mercy. "I name you forever! You are the Destroyer of Worlds!"
Again uncharacteristically, the Doctor isn't very thrilled. I guess he prefers "The Oncoming Storm," on account of that sounding so much friendlier.
There's just enough time for Dalek Caan to whip a very deceased equine with the parting line, "One will still die," as the Doctor heads back into the TARDIS.
Inside the shaking TARDIS, everyone is clustered around the console. The Doctor intends to move Earth back into its proper place, but starts with a shout-out to the fact that Eve Myles played Gwenneth and Gwen. Torchwood is to throw the rift manipulator open so the Doctor can use its energy, while Luke and Mr. Smith are to harness that power to the TARDIS. Mr. Smith requires the TARDIS basecode numerals, which the Doctor worries will take too long to get.
"Let me!" Sarah Jane cries, and darts to the monitor to introduce the last cameo appearance: "K-9, out you come!" (I found this a bit gratuitous, but people who were at the public viewing in London said the crowd went nuts when he appeared.) With K-9 streaming the codes at high speed, long-time extended canon/fanon becomes real canon as the Doctor admits that the TARDIS was intended to be flown by a team. He stations everyone but Jackie around the console and teaches them how to fly the ship.
The CGI is so pretty and the music so nice (Murray, WHEN do we get that new album?) and the cameos of everyone we know on Earth clinging on or hiding under the furniture are so funny that I almost forget to wonder about how the hell this is supposed to work, what gravitational forces are splitting open the rift, how long the trip is supposed to take (in a sunless void, yet) and just what the mechanics are supposed to be about inserting the Earth back into solar orbit without smacking into something large and hard and in the way, like our own moon.
The TARDIS does fly more smoothly than normal, and not a thing sparks or needs whacked with a hammer. Both Freema and David break the fourth wall by mugging directly into the camera. John has said in interviews that everyone was finding it hard to settle down and act while filming this scene because they were all treating it as a big pyjama party of joy. And in many ways, it is the ultimate glorious fanservice.
It's cheering, laughter, and hugs all around (Donna literally rips Sarah Jane out of Jack's arms) as the Earth snaps back into place.
Enjoy the joy. Because huge parts of the fandom are pissed off by at least one thing that happens next.
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Article Series
This article is part 2 of a 2 part series. Other articles in this series are shown below:
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Recap - Doctor Who, Journey's End
Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by lisa)
Rating:
Nice recap. I don't think Rose was responsible for the universe's walls starting to break, though. What she actually said was that the dimension canon wasn't working, then the stars started going out, and it started working. I think we're supposed to assume that the Dalek's work on the reality bomb is what broke down the walls and made it possible for Rose to return, not the other way around. So, the comment about the other Doctor being her jailer to make sure she doesn't destroy the universe was a bit harsh, I think. That said, I'm not involved in the fandom, so I was kind of shocked to hear that people see the Doctor's actions at Bad Wolf Bay as anything other than giving the woman he loves what he thinks will make her happy. If you watch the Confidential, it's clear that's what RTD intended, whatever various fan groups speculate. (and Moffat really said that? I hope he was kidding)