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Right off the top - oh, I'd love to know why Mickey can go back to their original universe but Rose can't. There's the great big hole, for me. As for the rest of it...
So I sobbed, plenty. Donna's my favorite Companion of the new series. I hate to see her go the way of Zoe and Jamie. Better than her being dead, I suppose, but she'd developed so marvelously. I hate that she was essentially a throwaway, in the end.
I am peeved beyond BELIEF that Rose got her very own Doctor...but it did have to be done. Of course she still complained about it. OF COURSE SHE DID. I am now fully convinced that nothing hardened Rose, she was just singleminded in her pursuit of Twoo Lurve. And nothing was as important as that. Nothing at all. Poor Mickey, I'm sure she did a bang up job making him feel second fiddle in that Parallel Universe, I don't blame him for not wanting to be around anymore. Still a great whopping plot hole but whatever.
For me, Russell T. Davies did a very good job toppling her from the Awesum Companion!!1!eleventyone! pedestal she ended her original tenure on. I'm sure everyone else will see it as Rose's Well Deserved Happy Ending.
The Doctor had to send his...let's call him Doctor Prius, just to be silly (Doctor Honda Civic Hybrid just didn't have the same ring)...away. The Doctor Prius embodies exactly what the Doctor strives NOT to be: someone who sees violence as a solution instead of a final resort. The human input into the clone created the capacity to kill, and that is not something the Doctor wants custodianship of in the universe he polices. There would be a constant battle between the two of them, creating more chaos than is necessary. Better to stash him away in a universe where he can be helpful to Torchwood, and where he can keep Rose from wanting to breach the walls of the universe again. Because you know she would have tried. This way the Doctor doesn't have to look every day on the living embodiment of the part of him that made the decision to end the Time War and subsequently destroy Gallifrey...and he doesn't have to worry about Rose impulsively destroying the universes in her desire to get back to him. He very smartly subjugated his own desires there for the good of all worlds. I think it helps that he knows he will not be alone, in future, that someone will come along and be even more amazing than Rose.
Harriet Jones was not a bad guy. She, like Yvonne Hartman before her, chose to do what she saw as her duty to Queen, Country, and ultimately Planet. She did not make the wisest or most humane decision in The Christmas Invasion, but she felt she had more of a responsibility to the planet than she did to the Doctor's opinion of what was an acceptable course of action. She had more clarity of sight regarding the Doctor than he gave her credit for. I hope what she did in the end opened his eyes to that, at least.
The other 26 planets were returned to their rightful places and times by the Doctor, Doctor Prius, and Doctor-Donna before Doctor Prius chose to destroy the Daleks. It was a very quick sequence that started with Doctor-Donna boasting about her typing skills.
I do wish Martha and Jack had gotten more screentime but eh, we'll see plenty of them in 2010. They did what they needed.
I also wish the Doctor hadn't been a bit snide to Jackie when it came to piloting the Tardis. Bit of an ass moment there.
Yay for the appearance of Sarah Jane's sonic lipstick and K-9!
Yay for the Doctor and Rose linking Gwen back to The Unquiet Dead!
Yay for half naked David Tennant!...er, wait...no. YAY!
Can't wait to see what Moffat does with the franchise, really. I love his work to bits. I hope like you do that he brings in some alien Companions, and I hope they'll start lasting more than a season or two.
Back to disinfecting the kitchen now. All in all, brilliant episode, A++++++, would definitely buy again. :P
BTW, you ever wondered how much DT spends a week on his hair? I mean, the BBC can't keep it that beautiful year-round. Just a thought.
"Prius Doctor". That's a pretty perfect name. I don't think he's going to be happy to just sit on parallel Earth and be human and snuggly with Rose forever. He could get involved with Torchwood and start using their technology to become a proper Doctor. Not to mention if he gets a part-Time Lord baby to use and go all Emperor on. I don't think Rose has a strong enough will to stand up to him unless he really becomes a right prick or endangers their children.
I thought Gwen got the best treatment of any of the secondary characters. I hope that the trade-off for only five eps is that they sign them to at least a couple DW eps every series for awhile. Gwen always wanted her own project, so why not give her the ultimate one and send her off with the Doctor for a spell?
Jackie was the one that saved the day when DT was created, and I don't think it's fair that she's not given more respect now. Although her just surviving was being kind.
BTW, she left her husband and her baby to run after her daughter because she couldn't let her go? Sounds like Rose got her weird selfish streak from someone.
I've been hearing rumors that the BBC is trying to sign Kylie to do more eps and that they're going to get more "star power" for the specials. I hope not. I think they'd do better to get a lesser-known actor and keep them for two or three series like Billie Piper did. They knew they could never afford CT for more than she got, and it hurt that story ultimately that it got cut like that.
I don't think Doctor Prius would go all wacky having children at his disposal. He's half Doctor - who wouldn't ever do that even if he hadn't already been a dad - and half New!Improved!Donna! who was very much influenced by that Doctor. His human element has the capacity to carry out what we humans would consider a justified violence solution, but that's very much a "when provoked" sort of thing. He'd be happy to have a family again, and I think he'd limit himself in his running off and saving the planet, because he knows his lifespan is much more finite than it would be if he were a full Time Lord. This Doctor, I think, would almost be content settling down after everything he had seen, once Rose's influence had done its work. The Doctor has been changed from the man who destroyed Gallifrey once before; it can happen again, and more quickly now with the human aspect.
From what I have seen of David Tennant not being the Doctor, hair appears to be the least of his concerns. *L* He comes off as a bit scruffy much of the time. I think the ONLY time his hair looks like that is when the BBC stylists get hold of him!
You know who was really gorgeous, though? Adjoa Andoh, Martha's mom. Best I've ever seen her look, and I covet her cantaloupe colored sweater quite badly.
Going back and reviewing, I almost think my favorite bit was the Dalek Bowling in the Vault. Next to Jack's pervy little, "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," in regards to having essentially three Doctors running about.
And yeah...if you watch all of the eps from the first two seasons Jackie was in, and compare her to all we saw of both Regular Pete and Parallel Pete, it is VERY clear that the best bits of Rose really came from her dad, and the histrionic drama queen gene was passed unfortunately intact to Rose. Blah. I'm still annoyed at how much Rose peeved me this story arc. I really did love her a lot at one time.
Right, back to mopping the floor.
Lots of shout-out references to the past four years..check.
A script that was both slapped together and drawn out at the exact wrong times...check.
Russell T. Davies showing he can't write epic..check.
RTD going for emotion and not thinking through the story or the conseuqences..check.
All in all, a big giant, disappointing thud to end the season.
Bring on Moffatt. At least he gets what Dr Who should be...