Last of the Time Lords

I have really loved the new Doctor Who. Each season is brave addition from what has passed before. It makes social comments and appeals to a mass audience who have grown to love it in their own way.

The last episode shows just how big the arc has been. Martha has grown into a great character and splitting the story for her several times this year has made her star shine.

I'm not going to say much more about the actual episode as you should shy away from reviews. There's been a lot of negative reactions from the press and from some of the fans to Martha and to some of the story lines. But I think she is great. And the stories get better and better. Keep up the great work BBC.

Although it never reaches the heights of The Parting of the Ways, Doomsday or Journey's End, Last of the Time Lords is still a fine conculsion to series 3 - a flawed one at that, but it's certainly ambitious, with lots of aspects to love.

Picking off after the cliffhanger ending of Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords mostly focuses on Martha Jones and her quest to stop the Master's reign of terror over the world. What I like about this story is the sense of hopeless it builds up - the world has been in ruins for a year, and Martha and her team have the last chance to stop the Master's torture of humanity. And beneath the silly scenes of the Master dancing to pop, this is a very dark story - the Tocalaface reveal is truly disturbing, as is the Master's monlouge of what happened after the end of Utopia.

The 'Doctor Dobby' CGI is really rubbish, sure, but it's a good idea, just executed poorly. And that exceeds to the ending, where the Doctor gains powers from the Master's technology to become immune to bullets and any other obstacles, floating through the air. Now, I don't really mind this moment, but at the same time... I can't defend it.

Still, I do enjoy this episode. There's lots to love despite the flaws, as the ambition of the episode alone is enough to praise. 8/10, that's a little high considering it is hugely flawed, and no where near on the level of Silence in the Library, which I gave the same grade, but I don't know, I just enjoy this one.

Spoilt brats. Those are the words I'd use to describe fans who've been griping about this episode. I thought it was magnificent, showing a breadth of imagination rarely seen on the small screen. The trouble with a lot of Doctor Who fans is that they're never happy, and never have been. At the time of Season 14, the season that was later reckoned to be the best ever, they were complaining that it wasn't as good as the Pertwee era. It was clearly a lot better. And the current show is much better still. Last Of The Time Lords was better than ANY episode of the old series. ANY episode. Easily. Why? Because it was audacious, it had an epic sweep to it, it had meaty sci-fi ideas that the likes of HG Wells and Philip K Dick would have been proud of (I'm thinking of concepts like the Paradox Machine), it boasted John Simm's fantastically enjoyable, streetwise performance as The Master (rather better than dire pantomime villain Anthony Ainley), it took risks, and most of all, it was vastly enjoyable. Sad little Doctor Who fans love to pick, love to criticise Russell T Davies, a man who has almost single handedly resurrected the show and turned it into one of the most popular and talked about on television. If the fans aren't careful they'll force him out, which would be a tragedy. This was a great end to a great series, albeit one that dipped in the middle a little. Anyone with anything to do with the making of this show: take a bow.

Still well worth watching if you ask me. As a three-part episode (of which, Utopia was by far the best) it was overall a brilliant end to what has been without doubt the best series of the three series since the show was revived. Don't get me wrong, this episode did have faults, but on the whole, it was very well done.

First, the gripes. Captain Jack is criminally underused in this episode. After his brief appearance at the start where he gets killed (again), he doesn't say another word until just before the Master's downfall. For probably the best semi-regular character in the show, this was a great shame. Similarly, the femme fatale that was Lucy barely got a look in. Off the top of my head, the only words I can think of her saying are describing when the Master took her to the end of the universe. Obviously she did have an integral part in the plot, but I think she could have said a bit more, rather than spending the episode essentially as the trophy wife. Also, I found the Doctor's eventual "resurrection" was a little hard to get my head around, and there was no possible way that Martha could've worked out exactly what the spend the next year doing just from the three words that the Doctor whispered in her ear.

Now, the pros. As if everyone didn't already know, John Simm has once again shown himself to be an absolute diamond. His performance as the brilliantly psychotic Master is sheer perfection, no actor on the planet could have pulled it off better than him, and his casting was nothing short of inspired. Freema Agyeman's performance is also heroic as she takes centre stage for once, as it's obvious how hardened she's become by the events of "the year that never was". Also, once he gets back to normal, David Tennant comes right back into it as if he'd never been reduced to a 100 year old man in a wheelchair. The revelation behind the Toclafane and the Tardis/Paradox Machine was brilliantly thought out and flawlessly written. And on a lighter note, the use of the Scissor Sisters' "I Can't Decide" when the Master is dancing around on the deck of the Valiant is a Midas touch when you listen to the lyrics, they fit the situation like salt and pepper.

Overall, a good finale to the series. Here's looking forward to Voyage of the Damned at Christmas, and, of course, the already well-publicised guest appearance of Kylie Minogue...

Quite a lot of dodgy stuff in this that really goes against the shows cannon. The Martha and Tom (Tom Ellis) partnership was the best thing about this episode and saved the whole thing for me at least. I really do think Martha was one of the best companions, I would have loved to have seen Tom continue as well.