lemmingology

What an ending. I'd actually call this the best finale so far, better than even Doomsday. This episode lived up to all its hype - it was epic, but without being difficult to work out; unlike Last of the Time Lords, everything was explained and fitted together perfectly. It was full of twists and turns and dips and ducks, it all keeps you on your toes, keeps you guessing all the way through.

Obivously I can't reveal any plot details here, so I'll keep this short. All of the acting is amazing - Catherine Tate being the star of the show in my opinion, and with good reason.

Russell T Davies has pulled off an amazing swansong here, pulling together his entire Doctor Who universe into this episode - everything is relevant. It's like he's written the entire 4 series to build up to this finale, because it's all brought together so seamlessly. The only consolation in him leaving after this is the excellent Steven Moffat taking his place.

If I was completely honest, I'd say you have to watch the entirety of the revived Doctor Who to understand this episode inside out, but it's so worth it.

Here's looking forward to Christmas and the returning Cybermen.

Wow. What a set-up for what looks like being a storming finale. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole of this episode, right up until the enormous shock at the end and its subsequent cliffhanger. Quite often the plots of the finale are quite hard to keep up with, but that's certainly not the case here.

Russell T Davies, with his script for this episode, has somehow managed to intertwine his entire "Whoniverse" together. Not just with the characters - all the favourites are back (Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane, and of course, Rose - and even Harriet Jones makes an important cameo) along with the two spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures (with Gwen and Ianto from the former and Luke from the latter playing large parts), but also, just like with The Sound of Drums last year, all the seemingly insignificant events from earlier episodes that you dismissed as part of those story lines alone have become massive plot developments. It's obvious just how much careful planning Davies has put into this entire series on the first watch of this. On top of this, we finally discover what the Medusa Cascade and the Shadow Proclamation (complete with random Judoon cameo) are - things that have been talked about ever since Christopher Eccleston's first episode.

Even things that I would normally criticise serve this episode very well. The main thing being Murray Gold's repetitive music - he's borrowed music from all over the rest of the series for this episode and yet it still works really well.

As for the acting, I don't think there was a single bad performance. John Barrowman and Elisabeth Sladen in particular are on top form, Tennant is excellent as always, and Julian Bleach's Davros is frighteningly reminiscent of Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine. And from the trailer that has just appeared on the BBC website, it's only going to get better.

Again, what an amazing setup for next week's finale, and a very convincing episode in its own right. And so begins the anticipation...

Now, before I start, I just want to make something clear - I do have the game. I love it. It's frightening in a way that no Resident Evil game has ever managed. Instead of just making you jump every now and then, it taps into your darkest fears, and from experience, the whole series of games has the ability to reduce even the most hardened horror gamers to quivering wrecks. The movie, however, is a little bit of a wet sponge in comparison.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I didn't like it. In fact, I did quite enjoy it. But there was no point in it where I can honestly say I was scared. In a way, it felt like more of a very gory episode of Doctor Who. In fact, there's a few episodes of the revived Doctor Who that have scared me more than this did. For me, it was more like fascination and curiosity. Although, before anyone reads this and then watches the movie expecting to not get scared, don't. I can see very well how people would be disturbed to their very core by this. It just didn't do that for me.

Aside from that, the positives. All of the performances are fantastic. It's very well scripted, and in particular, the different characters from the game work well - I have to agree with another reviewer who said that Harry wouldn't have worked in this. Even better, it's not a direct rip-off from the game, so watching this still won't give you all the answers for getting through the game - in fact, I'd go so far as to say it's almost completely different apart from the concept. As you'd expect, most of the deaths are brilliantly gruesome as well - one, in fact, may actually be my new favourite movie death of all time, even surpassing Erin from Final Destination 3. All I'll say is think of Robbie William's "Rock DJ" video.

So anyway, all things considered, it is a good movie, and definitely worthy of being based on the game. But I think it could easily have been better.