*Spoilers.*
This story is a mixed bag for me. There’s some neat stuff, and returning companions will pretty much always have me squeeing with nerdish delight. Plus, I mean, Donna frickin’ Noble—‘nuff said. However, it also suffers from RTD finale syndrome in that, at times, it just goes too big, too angsty, too zillions-of-monsters for me.
Planet Earth has a ginormous problem—it, along with 26 other planets, has been transported halfway across the universe to be used for some nefarious unknown purpose. The cockroaches of the Time War, the Daleks, are their usual genocidal selves, fueled by some extra-strength crazy served up by their creator Davros and their…I dunno, prophet? Dalek Caan. The Tenth Doctor and Donna are on the case, along with the veritable companion-apalooza of Rose, Martha, Jack, and Sarah Jane (not to mention bonus help from Mickey, Jackie, and members of team Torchwood and team Sarah Jane—Davros threw an end-of-the-universe party, and everybody came!) In short, this story is companions and Daleks and questions of morality and tragic endings, oh my!
We’ll start with the good. Even though the episodes are more than a little over-packed (Torchwood feels especially extraneous once Jack runs out to join the TARDIS crew,) the interactions between the various companions and the Doctor are the stuff Whovian dreams are made of. I like seeing the whole gang working together, meeting one another, and bringing their assorted skills to the proceedings. The whole “gotta find the Doctor” tag-team throughout “The Stolen Earth” is a ton of fun. That said, I’m grateful that Donna doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of all the shiny toys; she does some top-shelf companioning, gets a major Big Damn Hero scene, and, my favorite, has a really lovely heart-to-heart with the Doctor about her worth. Catherine Tate is just a treasure throughout, and I think Ten is often at his best with Donna. Plus, continuity alert! Davros totally remembers Sarah Jane, and they totally take a break from all the evil planning and evil-plan foiling to say hi—that kills me.
On the not-so-good, as I said, it all just gets to be Too Much. These two episodes feel like about five, and there are too many shocking moments piled on top of one another. A story needs room to rise and fall, and here, the ante is upped so far, both from all that’s come before it and even within its own confines, that the collective Drama!! and Calamity!! and OMG!!!!! sort of collapses under its own weight. (This, by the way, is my main reservation to RTD coming back as showrunner: I hope he recognizes that he sometimes needs to rein it in.) Also, I know how the Doctor feels about violence, but it annoys me when they get super judgy about it, so I’m kind of bugged by the way things resolve with Ten point Five (on the other hand, I guess it kind of supports the retcon that the Doctor disowned Eight point Five to the point that they didn’t even count him as being the Doctor? So there’s that.) And okay—I get that it’s to keep Jack earthbound for Torchwood, but why does the Doctor have to keep disabling his vortex manipulator? Jack’s a grown man, and it feels way paternalistic.
And of course, the big news: Donna’s exit. Her ending is horrible and I hate it, but I think I hate it in a good way, if that makes sense. I mean, I hate what happens to her, and it makes me enormously sad, but it’s a compelling story and doesn’t feel as contrived as some tearjerking companion exits. Additionally, I love that her ending isn’t just about her relationship with the Doctor. It’s also about her impact and accomplishments during her travels with him, and all the worlds that are safer for her having visited them. The Doctor’s “one shining moment” speech is gorgeous and makes my heart swell even as I’m shaking my fist and shouting, “RTD, how could you?!?”
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