206. (4.17 & 4.18) The End of Time

It is returning and he will knock four times!

This is it! The big finale! The end of the 10th Doctor. The end of the RTD era. The end of the Master (again). The End of Time is the biggest, most lavish, heart wrenching, tear jerking, love letter, farewell, finale ever. RTD gives us his magnum opus and manages to wrap up fours years worth of storylines and characters. David Tennant gives us his best performance ever right up to the last moment. Bernard Cribin's Wilfred Mott is the best companion and rips our hears out a few time during the story. The return of John Simms as the Master is fitting to face down this Doctor in his final hours and give him the best run for his money. The surprise return of the Time Lords and Gallifrey from the last moments of the Time War creates a perfect bookend for RTD's arc throughout his tenure. The casting of Timothy Dalton as a resurrected Rasillon is genius and up the game of this story to the highest level. 

After all the fighting, all the hoopla, all the edge of our seat gritting, and we think we've won, do we finally get the four knocks. Wilf, trapped in a radiation chamber, knock four times for the Doctor to let him out. And we now know that this is the 10th Doctor end. He must sacrifice this body to save Wilf, and out hearts are ripped out as David Tennant rages against the dying of the light. It is the most brilliant moment of Doctor Who ever. With Wilf saved and the Doctor dying of radiation poisoning, the Doctor goes to collect his reward. We are treated to seeing all of the 10th Doctor's companions, from now-married Martha and Mickey, to Captain Jack, to Sarah Jane, to the granddaughter of Joan Redfern, to Wilf and Sylvia at Donna's wedding, to finally the Powell Estates on the morning on January 1, 2005. Rose and Jackie are walking home in the snow from New Year's Eve celebrations. The Doctor and Rose exchange a few words and he says she's going to have a great year. And with this, we come full circle. Where is began, it now ends. The Ood sings the Doctor to his sleep, and in the biggest my explosive regeneration ever, we see the 10th Doctor dying in a blaze of fire and the 11th Doctor is born. And the most incredible era comes to a close with so many memories, so many tears, so many laughs, and so many adventures. Thank you Russell T Davies and David Tennant for the best times ever!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Time

205. (4.16) The Waters of Mars

Enter the Dark Doctor! The Waters of Mars takes the "base under siege" premise and ramps it up ten fold. With the infected Martian water taking over everybody it touches, time is running out and the Doctor knows what's coming. As history has already written that his base on Mars and its crew will all die on this day, the Doctor tries to not interfere. But he gets a little cocky and starts having delusions of grandeur. He now thinks he can change time and rewrite history as the Time Lord Victorious! So he saves 3 people including Captain Adelaide Brooke despite knowing that she needs to die on this day. In a twist I never saw coming, Adelaide fixes time on her own and goes and commits suicide in front of the Doctor. This really deflates the Time Lord Victorious' ego, just as a projection of Ood Sigma appears to beckon the Doctor to the Ood Sphere for a special regeneration message. 

It is returning and he will knock four times!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waters_of_Mars

204. (4.15) Planet of the Dead

The Doctor and the Cat burglar! We welcome Lady Christina De Souza for the companion-of-the-episode, who is clever, cunning and damn sexy. Quickly shunted to another planet via a dimensional gateway, the Doctor and crew only have their wits to get back home. The Doctor and Christina make a great pair and deftly rescue everyone. The introduction of Malcolm as UNITS scientific advisor is brilliant and provides some great comic relief. I wish he'd come back more so than Lady Christina! All in all, it's a pretty standard episode just with a stinger of a prophecy at the end that signals the coming demise of the 10th Doctor.

It is returning and he will knock four times!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Dead

203. (4.14) The Next Doctor

Christmas time in London with aliens has become an annual tradition. Fortunately this year the present day gets a reprieve and we head back to the turn of the century. We are quickly introduced to someone who could be the "next" Doctor, hot on the heels of David Tennant's announced departure. It's very clever and really plays on things well. Obviously Jackson Lake is not the 11th Doctor but he makes a fine job of it. With companion Rosita, the battle the time lost Cybermen and Ms. Hartigan to rescue the orphaned children of London town. After the heart wrenching lost of Donna, this is a pretty upbeat story and casts the Doctor as a solo traveler. Treat number 1 is seeing the faces of all the previous Doctors. Treat number two is seeing the Cybermen marching through the snow like they did in their introductory story from 1966 The Tenth Planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Doctor

202B. (4.13) Journey's End

After four seasons of incredible stories, it all comes to this point and a giant celebration of the new Doctor Who. Bringing together all the companions of the new Who, the great Sarah Jane Smith, cameos by Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures, and everyone's mothers, this so eloquently sums up the 21st century Who. The Daleks have returned to their former height of evilness and the return of Davros just tops the crown with a giant gem. The moment when Davros sees Sarah Jane and remembers that she was their at the very beginning of his creations, a chill goes down our spines, and we know this is the same program we've been watching for decades. It's a magical moment for us classic Who fans. 

Another beautiful moment is when all of the Doctor's companions are gathered around the TARDIS console and everyone is helping fly Earth home. It's unlike anything we've seen before in the history of the show short of The Five Doctors. It's such an homage to the 10th Doctor's tenure and is filled with with love and joy. But of course this story also has the most heart breaking moment in Who-story. 

Donna Noble- brave, smart, clever, hilarious, thoughtful, and full of heart. For the most un-companion like character, she becomes the BEST companion. The meta crisis gives Donna the Doctor's mind and begins to burn her brain out. To save her life, the Doctor has to wipe her memories of everything they did together and essentially reset her to the way she was before The Runaway Bride. It's so heart breaking and we weep for her. But it's the tears in Wilf's eyes, once he realizes what's happened, that makes us cry. It is just the most lovely scene. 

The Doctor departs alone and his days are numbered. The end is coming for the 10th Doctor....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey%27s_End_(Doctor_Who)

202A. (4.12) The Stolen Earth

She is returning.... and the Doctor knows it's the Bad Wolf!

Wrapping up the fourth season and David Tennant's last full season, this kicks off the biggest story to date. This brings together the entire Doctor Who family that has grown up over the past four year with Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures and all of the 10th Doctor's companions. With the Earth kidnapped out of time and space by a Dalek armada and the Doctor seemingly absent, it's left to Jack, Sarah Jane and Martha to save the world while Rose is still searching for the Doctor. 

The return of Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister, connects every one of the Doctor's friends to connect with him, at her own sacrifice. It's a magical moment when everyone is working together to call the Doctor and the fruits of Russell T Davies labors from the past 4 years, bringing the expanding Doctor Who universe home in one glorious story. 

It is revealed that Davros, the Dalek creator, has returned and was a squeal-out-load moment. As a major classic villain, the return of Davros is huge and done so well. Amazing! The nail-biting cliffhanger of the Doctor being shot by a Dalek and starting to regenerate was jaw dropping.

TO BE CONTINUED! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stolen_Earth

201. (4.11) Turn Left

To counter the companion-lite episode, we now have this season's Doctor-lite episode and what an episode it is! Catherine Tate delivers her best performance of the season here. A tour de force that moves you from laughter to tears in the blink of an eye. The premise is that Donna saved the Doctor's life in the Runaway Bride and without her, he dies creating a whole new timeline with a world without the Doctor. And his absence leaves the world open for more disaster including the Judoon abduction of Martha Jones' hospital in Smith & Jones, the crash of the Titanic in the Voyage of the Damned, and the ATMOS incident in the Sontaran Stratagem. Without the Doctor, his companions die including Martha, Sarah Jane, and Torchwood with Captain Jack kidnapped by the Sontarans. 

It is the intervention of Rose, returned from her dimension, that leads Donna to her destiny. In this alternate reality, she turned right to a different fate. Rose prompts her to change her course and turn left to the proper timeline but only with her death as catalyst. This episode is drenched in anguish and pain for not only Donna but her mother Sylvia and granddad Wilf. It dramatically shows the importance of the Doctor in the world, and despite his absence throughout, he presence is felt deeply. 

With the time paradox resolved at the end, Donna is left to deliver a message to the Doctor from the blond woman in the other dimensions. Two words: Bad Wolf!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_Left_(Doctor_Who)