THE HANGOVER

Oops!... RTD (Russell T. Davies) did it again. When we all thought The Doctor was restored in all his glory after a reassuring The Waters of Mars and a dreamy Part 1 of Doctor Who - The End of Time, it happens again. Last time it was an inelegant botched regeneration and a second half of series 4 finale which was a subliminal commercial for Alka-Seltzer (you definitely needed one after).

Part 2 of The End of Time was full of promises after the cartoonesque but delightful cliffhanger of the first half - after all The Master is the ultimate "Mwaaah!" serial villain - and the return of the Time Lords guided by Timothy Dalton himself. The President of Gallifrey losing his marbles and using his glove while yelling « I will not die! » was pure fun. Like John Simm being the "rock star Master" again with a string of great lines (« Say goodbye to the freak, granddad! »).

David Tennant offered us his best of the Doctor, the very heart of what makes that he will be missed as the character. Seemingly trapped in a sort of routine since the end of series 3, he gave us last evening all the range that this talented actor can give (his Hamlet was brilliant), from depth (« You don't need to own the universe, just see it ») to By the book Who humor (« Worst rescue ever!!! ») Davies and Tennant love the Doctor and it shows.

Don't know exactly why but that damn diamond rang my "Uh-Oh!" alert and, unfortunately, the rest of the episode slipping into a 1941 meets Flash Gordon (with Dalton as Ming The Merciless) confirmed my feeling. The last minute dropping of the President's ID achieved to underline the fact that something as huge the return of the Time Lords is finally just a plot device if not an anecdote (like the woman played by Claire Bloom).

But we all know what the plan of the Time Lords was about: to allow Doctor Ten to exit in style. Ten could have died right in the middle of Naismith Mansion (magnificent place, btw) in the arms of his last companion, Wilf the old soldier. There were shades of the death of Spock in Star Trek II when the Doctor absorbs the radiations. « Yeah but no but yeah but no... » [Vicky Pollard's voice] The Doctor had to close his farewell tour.

Mickey and Martha... Check. At this point your humble servant had a shameful moment searching in his memory the name of the character played by Freema Agyeman (authentic). A Sontaran... Check. Luke and Sarah Jane... Check. Captain Jack... Check. How the hell is it possible that Jack Harkness, one of the best sci-fi figure ever in Torchwood, is systematically wasted (no pun intended) when used as a mandatory cameo in a Doctor Who finale? Barrowman! *shakes fist*

There's even Alonso (Russell Tovey from Voyage of the Damned) and an Adipose in this cantina galactica RTD style. Oh, yes: Rose... Check. Then the Doctor went back to the TARDIS for the so anticipated facelift (and TARDIS makeover). I hope that Geronimo! is not the new Doctor's catchphrase.

Watch Casanova and the first three series of the contemporary Doctor Who, watch Torchwood - especially Children of Earth, read The Writer's Tale (the book co-written by Russell T. Davies).

« Allons-y! »

P.S.: I want Frank Collins to be knighted at once! There's a You Tube version of series 5 trailer on Cathode Ray Tube (http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2010/01/doctor-who-2010-trailer.html).

En Français: http://thierryattard.blogspot.com/2010/01/very-bad-trip.html

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/12/master-chef.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/02/doctor-who-writers-tale-bbc-books_18.html