Watching NuWho

[James from London]

Concept-wise it's great and quite mind-boggling - a myth that has grown over a period that never happened - it's just that I didn't get enough time to enjoy it.
The Hath creatures give another meaning to the word "mouth-watering" and I found it hilarious that Martha understood everything they said.
Daughter Jenny's exit is the most in-your-face spin-off announcement I've ever seen, but it didn't happen except for audio stories on the Big Finish label that also did the Dark Shadows audio stories.
I simply cannot imagine how that works for an action character like Jenny!
Anyone here who has played those CDs?

I have listened to a few Doccy Who Big Finishes, but not those ones.

There was a kind of real-life spinoff, in that the Tenth Doctor went on to marry his onscreen daughter, who is also the real-life daughter of the Fifth Doctor, which means the Doctor is now his own father-in-law, or son-in-law if you prefer.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

Absolutely ridiculous decision - how can you decide after1 season that she needs dropping. 2 seasons should be the bare minimum for a companion - it normally takes that long to fully appreciate them. I get this how RTD works, but with the short season lengths you think he'd change tack.

Apparently, Millie Gibson will return in the next season on a limited basis, which seems to indicate that her storyline will be incomplete or not be fully resolved
at the end of the first Gatwa season.
Since it is only 8 episodes, she might have the shortest ever run for a main companion

 

[Willie Oleson]

From body in the library to Silence In The Library.
So far I have watched quite a few mind-boggling Who stories, but this amibtious two-parter tops them all. It's BLACK MIRROR meets INCEPTION, but Doctor Who did it first.
Dreams, carnivorous shadows, vocal memory emails and remote controls - the first part builds the story with intricately plot developments on top of the previous ones, and it does so with a healthy dose of humour.

Doctor: we must count the shadows.

Donna (pointing at the only shadow in the room): one. One shadow.

Proper Dave and Second Dave, and the girl with the IQ of plankton.

Then there's the intrigue of professor River Song, a woman whom the Doctor hasn't met yet. Yet, not "before".
Even for a Doctor Who episode this is just beyond meta, and for one trembling moment I thought they were actually predicting the future of a female Who regeneration aka Jodie Whittaker.
I was wrong, she's the companion from Stories Untold which means that the series easteregged its very own missing episodes into the saga! And like companion Rose she's been saved to live in a perfect alternative reality for the rest of her life. This made me think, what does "alternative reality" mean in the grand scheme of things?
It's still a reality, not an un-reality.
Meanwhile, as it often happens when the Doctor is very busy figuring out the whys and whats, companion Donna is carted off to her sub-plot of the week.
Her short-time memory loss, the result of someone else's dream sequence, looks very creepy and it reminded me of the classic British anthology thriller series.

Whenever the Doctor explains how he's going to try to prevent a tragedy by manually connecting "this" with "that" I prefer to take it at face value, it's only science fiction after all.
But this time it seemed more important to absorb every tiny detail, even if that meant to be confronted with disillusion in case it wouldn't make sense at all.
Since the climax part usually happens during a moment of vocal upheaval and frenetic activity - very distinctive features for a climax - I had to watch these parts two or three times in order to understand exactly what they were doing.
That's not a problem or anything, but I wouldn't be able to do this during a live TV broadcast.

Pieces of the puzzle fall into place while the episode cools down which also allowed me to catch my breath. All I can say is....icecream.
For a modern age Doctor Who story I think it has pretty much covered everything.

Count the shadows.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Of course we always hope that every story of a series with stand-alone episodes is going to be a winner, but the history of these series including the anthologies have proved over and over again that this is simply not feasible.
So, after the brilliance of the Library story I decided to lower my expectations and I'm glad I did.
MIDNIGHT is about alien possession on board of plane in an unspecified future, and the only reason it happens in a future sci-fi world is because this plane operates differently from the ones we know.

The Doctor and Donna are relaxing in a resort made of diamonds and the Doctor goes on an excursion to watch the waterfall made of sapphire (I can't believe that I, a relatively intelligent person, just said that).
Suddenly, the plane (or whatever it is) is attacked from the outside and the cockpit has been broken off.
The mysterious force enters the plane via one of the passengers and then the rest of episode deals with the alien progression of that passenger.
It is similar to the horror films about viruses caused by zombies and vampires that turns ordinary people into dangerous predators, and also how those who aren't infected (yet) are going to deal with the situation.
Perhaps the most fun part is that it shows the true colours of the various characters who are forced to deal with the dilemma, and that's exactly what happens in this story.

Still, I don't like it as much as I want to because most of the characters irritate me, and there's all that screaming and the camera zooming in on faces - I just found it unpleasant.
David Tennant and Lesley Sharp give great performances, and the possessed character of Sky Silverstry is truly menacing.
The story concludes without revealing the origin of the mysterious force which means that it could be revisited in a future story.
It's a bit of an experimental and minimalistic novelty and I appreciate the bold decision to do something very different. Are they going to do it, do it again?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Episode TURN LEFT.
Let's start with the good news: the handsome Clive Standen reprises his role of UNIT soldier.

And now the rest.
There has never been a shortage of emotions and drama in the episodes I have seen so far, but it was always a part of the adventure.
This episode appears to be written for no other reason than the tearful drama, and also to inform us what a wonderful and special person Donna is.
But I already know she's a special person otherwise she wouldn't be the Doctor's companion, so why preaching the choir?

The "what if" scenario, or parallel world, starts to look a little bit too familiar because it has been done sufficiently for the first companion, Rose Tyler.
Furthermore, the reason for it - what would happen to the world if the Doctor couldn't save it - is totally pointless because we've already seen how that almost happened.
And that's why it looks like an uninspired greatest hits that simply expects me to buy into the blatantly emotional manipulative hoo-ha.
The problem is fixed by making sure that Donna doesn't TURN RIGHT, which is as bare-bones as it gets, imo.
The fact that all of this was caused by the Trickster's Brigade is only an afterthought, I would have liked to see more of the sinister fortune teller.

I enjoyed the return of Martha and also the cameos by Rose, but now that Rose is back in a supporting role I think it's becoming too much of a gimmick.
There is some funny stuff screaming to get out - the disasters of the Titanic, Adipose and ATMOS happening one after another looks sadistically funny and then there's Wilfred Mott's laughably understated comment that "things are getting worse these days". Oh, you think ?
But overall the episode is humourless and it's also the first one that I really dislike.
To my aghastment I began to realize that this was the first chapter in an overarching storyline.

Thankfully that feeling disappeared as soon as the funny Daleks showed up, and this time it's going to be the ultimate-platinum-definitive-grand-deluxe showdown because the plan is to destroy the whole universe. All planets, all parallel worlds, everything!
I just love the interaction between the treacherous Daleks, they're like the SPECTRE of the Whoniverse.
Since they already plan to kill every human being I find it absolutely hilarious that they would also exterminate a person as a penalty for showing disrespect.

When I watched JOURNEY'S END I began to see the bigger picture, and how "Donna is special" fit into it.
And not only is it a wrap-up of series 4, but of all the characters from the first four seasons. Sarah Jane & K9, Rose Tyler & Co, Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Martha, Jack Harness from Torchwood. In that regard it's a phenomenal payoff, with all the emotions it deserved.
However, since the story was literally all over the place, and with LOTS of sci-fi technobabble, I found it difficult to follow. A second doctor, the Donna Doctor, explanations that seemed to be invented on the spot - I just couldn't make head nor tail of it.

Donna: it's the macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix.

Now I ask you!

 

[Willie Oleson]

I guess it's been a while since you've all watched these episodes, but do you know from memory what your favourites were?

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

I guess it's been a while since you've all watched these episodes, but do you know from memory what your favourites were?

RTD era, excluding specials and Season 4A (The last Tennant specials)

In no particular order:

The Unquiet Dead
Dalek
Fathers Day
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
Tooth and Claw
School Reunion
Rise of The Cybermen/The Age of Steel
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday
The Lazarus Experiment
Human Nature/Family of Blood
Utopia/The Sound of Drums
The Unicorn and the Wasp
The Stolen Earth/Journey's End

Episode TURN LEFT.
Let's start with the good news: the handsome Clive Standen reprises his role of UNIT soldier.

And now the rest.
There has never been a shortage of emotions and drama in the episodes I have seen so far, but it was always a part of the adventure.
This episode appears to be written for no other reason than the tearful drama, and also to inform us what a wonderful and special person Donna is.
But I already know she's a special person otherwise she wouldn't be the Doctor's companion, so why preaching the choir?

The "what if" scenario, or parallel world, starts to look a little bit too familiar because it has been done sufficiently for the first companion, Rose Tyler.
Furthermore, the reason for it - what would happen to the world if the Doctor couldn't save it - is totally pointless because we've already seen how that almost happened.
And that's why it looks like an uninspired greatest hits that simply expects me to buy into the blatantly emotional manipulative hoo-ha.
The problem is fixed by making sure that Donna doesn't TURN RIGHT, which is as bare-bones as it gets, imo.
The fact that all of this was caused by the Trickster's Brigade is only an afterthought, I would have liked to see more of the sinister fortune teller.

I enjoyed the return of Martha and also the cameos by Rose, but now that Rose is back in a supporting role I think it's becoming too much of a gimmick.
There is some funny stuff screaming to get out - the disasters of the Titanic, Adipose and ATMOS happening one after another looks sadistically funny and then there's Wilfred Mott's laughably understated comment that "things are getting worse these days". Oh, you think ?
But overall the episode is humourless and it's also the first one that I really dislike.
To my aghastment I began to realize that this was the first chapter in an overarching storyline.

Thankfully that feeling disappeared as soon as the funny Daleks showed up, and this time it's going to be the ultimate-platinum-definitive-grand-deluxe showdown because the plan is to destroy the whole universe. All planets, all parallel worlds, everything!
I just love the interaction between the treacherous Daleks, they're like the SPECTRE of the Whoniverse.
Since they already plan to kill every human being I find it absolutely hilarious that they would also exterminate a person as a penalty for showing disrespect.

When I watched JOURNEY'S END I began to see the bigger picture, and how "Donna is special" fit into it.
And not only is it a wrap-up of series 4, but of all the characters from the first four seasons. Sarah Jane & K9, Rose Tyler & Co, Prime Minister Harriet Jones, Martha, Jack Harness from Torchwood. In that regard it's a phenomenal payoff, with all the emotions it deserved.
However, since the story was literally all over the place, and with LOTS of sci-fi technobabble, I found it difficult to follow. A second doctor, the Donna Doctor, explanations that seemed to be invented on the spot - I just couldn't make head nor tail of it.

Now I ask you!

"Turn Left" was sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Sliding Doors" adapted to "Doctor Who"
As such, it did a good job avoiding most of the usual cliches
Not my favorite episode, necessarily, but an interesting departure from the "usual' episode

 

[Willie Oleson]

Not my favorite episode, necessarily, but an interesting departure from the "usual' episode

It's funny/sad that she had to make sure that her storylines would actually happen, only to forget about them all over again.

excluding specials and Season 4A

When you watch it on streaming or DVD it doesn't feel like that anymore. These are full episodes, and "special" makes me think of a 10 or 15 minutes "extra thing".

THE NEXT DOCTOR is awesome.
It starts with a self-aware "dressed up for a Dickensian Christmas TV movie" vibe, but as soon as the Doctor meets another Doctor we find ourselves knee-deep in yet another mystery.
A tragic encounter with the Cybermen made this man believe that he's the Doctor with amnesia, a storyline suspiciously similar to the one that happened in SONS AND DAUGHTERS when a woman believed that she was Patricia Hamilton with amnesia. She did that in front of the real Patricia Hamilton who couldn't tell the truth because she had taken on a new face and identity etcetera etcetera.
Next "Doctor" Jackson Lake is a sympathetic breakout character and I always love it when there are human villains involved. The vengeful Miss Mercy Hartigan has made a deal with the Cybermen: she will supply the power to generate the Cyber King by means of child slavery in exchange for....I'm not really sure.
It kinda looks like a misguided sort of worshipping based on the fact that it's different from her earthly existence, and therefore it has to be better. Perhaps similar to Luke Rattigan who wanted to start a new race with exclusively highly-intelligent people.

Either way, after some double-crossing the Cyber King rises like Ursula in THE LITTLE MERMAID, a Godzilla made of steel and also the second super-monster after the beast in THE SATAN PIT.

The way the Doctor makes it disappear is a little simplistic, it's not much more than waving a wand but I don't care because it all looks so fabulous and the story of Jackson Lake is still the meatiest part of the episode.


The Doctor is being praised exhaustively by the Dickensian Londoners, but it's the kind of wholesome propaganda that really works for characters like Doctor Who or Batman or Peter Pan. All children need heroes, I think.

 

[James from London]

I guess it's been a while since you've all watched these episodes, but do you know from memory what your favourites were?

At some point during the last couple of years, I finished re-watching all the New Who stories from the start to 2020, but non-chronologically. So I jumped from Doctor to Doctor, watching one story from each in a random-ish order, rather than as part of their original context. To my surprise, the 10th Doctor eps quickly became my least favourite. While some of his stories still worked for me (most of the ones with Rose) , others I'd enjoyed the first time round really went down in my estimation, which is the opposite of what usually happens when I do a re-watch. In contrast, I think I appreciated all the other Doctors more (or even more) the second time around.

The 10th Doctor stories I did still enjoy tended to be the more tightly structured ones, where there's less room for David Tennant to either do wacky comedy acting or make the whole story all about him and his emotions. So I would class the following as my favourites from the Martha/Donna period: Blink, The Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead, Midnight, Human Nature/The Family of Blood and the whole Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey's End thing. And I did love The Next Doctor when it wasn't all about the 10th Doctor's feelings.

 

[Willie Oleson]

To my surprise, the 10th Doctor eps quickly became my least favourite.

Hmm, perhaps the worst best is yet to come?

when it wasn't all about the 10th Doctor's feelings.

It's still early days for me as a Who viewer so I don't know what it is considered too much emotion/comedy or too little emotion/comedy, especially compared to the classic Doctors.
I think I liked Christopher Eccleston a little bit better, but one out of two isn't saying very much.
Catherine Tate is a very good actress but Donna Noble could be challenging to watch sometimes. I could have watched more of Martha but one series of Donna was precisely enough.

I just watched the Easter episode Planet Of The Dead, the CGI isn't very awesome but overall I found it a very enjoyable piece of escapism. The inconsistent tone of the series works very well for me because I never know what to expect, but maybe I'll feel different when I rewatch these NuWho stories.

 

[James from London]

I don't know what it is considered too much emotion/comedy or too little emotion/comedy, especially compared to the classic Doctors.

Well, I think I'm definitely in the minority on this one. David Tennant seems to be the most popular Who actor, at least of modern times.

I never know what to expect

That's good. In fact, I think that's the ideal way to be. There's endless speculation and expectation surrounding everything to do with Who that it can cloud the actual viewing experience. I try to avoid it all as much as I can.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Funny mini-fact, when I clicked on "play POTD episode" I was thinking that David Tennant was prolonging his time in the Tardis, and then somehow I remembered that Eartha Kitt used the word "prolong" very often in the BATMAN episodes - obviously to pronounce it as prrrrrolong.
And then the first thing that happened in this episode was a Catwoman type stealing an artefact from the museum. Just a coincidence, but I like it when life surprises me in the most insignificant ways.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

So who is it that the Toymaker will not encounter - another game ,as he indicates?

Doubtful that is another Time Lord - the Toymaker doesn't seem intimidated by Time Lords.
Possible exceptions

Morbius - a Time Lord of the First Order, whatever that means.
Maybe he survived and has gained more powers

Borusa - Did he somehow escape and gain more powers.

Some speculation the Valeyard, but he is the Doctor, albeit an alternative one,
and he is no more powerful than the Doctor

Omega? technically, not a Time Lord, but he would seem to be quite formidable

Best guess - The Black Guardian would have similar powers to the Toymaker, I would think

Outside chance - Suteck - a truly powerful being

What role does the Lady Flood play in this saga? Who is she?

The Toymaker has certainly thrown much of the Doctor's past in doubt
- he said something like making a jigsaw of the Doctor's past
For how long?

In the first televised adventure, Hartnell clearly indicates that he has met the Toymaker in the past
It is not clear whether this was before or after "An Unearthly Child"
Has the Toymaker been at work since the very beginning?

It might be significant that The Doctor regenerated into Tennant again .
Has the Toymaker been manipulating events since Tennant became Matt Smith?The Doctor's own memories and assumptions
about his past are now not reliable, since the Toymaker has manipulated the Doctor's past
And as River Song said, 'The Doctor lies'!

Both the good news and bad news is that there s no canon anymore

Writers can now write anything, but without a foundation,
it would lead to sloppy, inconsistent storylines
It could almost become a sci-fi Dallas dream season anomaly

RTD and Tennant/Gatwa have restored the Series, at least in the ratings ,
so the Doctor's immediate future seems encouraging

 

[Willie Oleson]

Looking at the air dates it shows that there was no regular series at all that year, were they stalling because they had to find an actor who could play the Eleventh Doctor?

It's becoming curiouser and curiouser in THE WATERS OF MARS. It sets up a damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't scenario similar to the one in THE FIRES OF POMPEII (which is also referenced in the episode itself) but it ends with a different and quite unsettling twist.
Perhaps there was some foreboding in the Doctor's harsh criticism of robot Gadget-Gadget and the guy who created it.
Since the series has already used plenty of these funny creatures (the Dalek, just to name one) this criticism is just as bewildering as watching Valene Ewing insulting her appearance in front of a mirror.
Who-Who the hell does he think he is telling me what I can and can't like?

The story delivers some serious horror with a very downbeat vibe, but then again, horror and sadness usually go together. Not a great episode for kids, imo.
Incidentally, it features the second mention of a gay marriage. The first time it was Sky Silvestry, this time it's the face-timing brother of Russian (!) crew doctor Yuri.

The future of Captain Adelaide Brooke and her granddaugther in particular is like a sci-fi fairy tale and that partially softens the blow proactively, but the importance of that future history is only based on "we say so" - as opposed to the Pompeii disaster that has happened for real and therefore couldn't be changed.
It feels there's still just enough reason to save them, and that's what's going to happen but in a most unexpected way.
The wholesome superhero suddenly becomes aware of his immense powers - it's the kind of realization that destroyed Miss Mercy Hartigan, but in this case it turns the Doctor into an egomaniacal despot.
It's an extraordinary bold move and possibly the most jaw-dropping cliffhanger so far.
On top of everything, Adelaide Brooke dies anyway and the fact that her granddaughter's future remains the same appears to be a matter of a chance.
Her grandmother's suicide may as well have had the opposite effect since Adelaide didn't die as a hero on Mars.

A split second before my hand touched the mouse in order to play "next episode" I stopped.
*ominous music playing in the background*.
I thought, well, if I'm so emotionally invested then maybe it's not a good decision to watch the final outcome so close before bedtime. On the other hand I will instantly rebel against a decision not to do something. And what if something happens and I won't be able to watch it tomorrow? Oh my god.

 

[James from London]

Looking at the air dates it shows that there was no regular series at all that year, were they stalling because they had to find an actor who could play the Eleventh Doctor?

As I remember, the announcement about who was playing the Eleventh Doctor came at the beginning of the year, before all the one-off episodes you're currently watching. So I think it was more to do with David Tennant and the producer, who was also leaving, not wanting to commit to a full series, and so they decided to wrap things up with a handful of specials sprinkled throughout the year . And really, Who was so massive at that point they could do what they wanted really.

I loved The Waters of Mars - it felt like the ideal combination of old Who -- a traditional "base under siege" story where everyone is trapped in one place with a homicidal alien presence picking them off one by one -- and new Who -- deeper character development e.g. the Doctor going power mad.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And really, Who was so massive at that point they could do what they wanted really.

It's easy to see why because the last two episodes are so blockbusting it could as well have been released theatrically.
A complicated story with different points of view, and sometimes I had to remind myself what was going on.
The Master is resurrected but I have no idea why and I also have no reason to believe that this is the last time. It looks as if the resurrection is sabotaged by his wife Lucy but since he does return I guess she didn't do much damage.
He's very hungry but not constantly, and in the second part he doesn't eat at all.
A billionaire who wants to create a Lazarus project for his daughter needs the Master to make it operable but the Master reprogrammes it for his own benefit.

Then there are not-so-dead Time Lords locked in a time-bubble and then the Master links his...eh...I don't know. I just don't know it anymore.
It all looked great and spectacular but I feel it's all created to make the various prophecies come true.

What now! The disasters are often the funniest part of the episode, with people running and screaming.

Unfortunately, the Doctor's power trip from the previous episode doesn't continue but it's interesting that his own people have now become the main antagonists, although I find it difficult to describe the reasoning behind it. Timothy Dalton as the Time Lord president was a great choice and added to the feel of a biblical epic.

And I'm sure it has something to do with the weeping angels but nothing has been revealed (yet?).

We finally reach the part that will show the Doctor's demise but, good grief, talk about a detour. It re-revisits everything and everyone that had already been revisited in JOURNEY'S END.
Of course it's all about pulling at the heartstrings, but then when the Doctor finally actually dies I had to swallow some tears. It was David Tennant's series swansong, not the Doctor's.
I wonder if it made a lot of impact. I don't think it matters if he's the best Doctor or not, to many new viewers he was the first. Christopher Eccleston's last WHO appearance was more than four years ago, so....

But that's all over now and I got a preview of the next Doctor who is still not a ginger. I hope he gets a whole new set of characters, I mean, I like Rose Tyler and Mickey and Wilfred Mott but I really don't want them to come back anymore.

 

[James from London]

I don't think it matters if he's the best Doctor or not, to many new viewers he was the first.

Yes, I think your first Doctor is a bit like your first love. Plus, the majority of viewers' first experience of Doctor Who is as a child before you've developed any critical faculties so you're that much more receptive to what and Who you're seeing.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

As I remember, the announcement about who was playing the Eleventh Doctor came at the beginning of the year, before all the one-off episodes you're currently watching. So I think it was more to do with David Tennant and the producer, who was also leaving, not wanting to commit to a full series, and so they decided to wrap things up with a handful of specials sprinkled throughout the year . And really, Who was so massive at that point they could do what they wanted really.

I loved The Waters of Mars - it felt like the ideal combination of old Who -- a traditional "base under siege" story where everyone is trapped in one place with a homicidal alien presence picking them off one by one -- and new Who -- deeper character development e.g. the Doctor going power mad.

If I remember rightly David Tennant was already commited to a theatre role in 2010, that's why he wasn't able to do a full series and why we got those specials before he left.

It wasn't anything to do with the casting of Matt Smith in the role as far as I'm aware.

It's easy to see why because the last two episodes are so blockbusting it could as well have been released theatrically.
A complicated story with different points of view, and sometimes I had to remind myself what was going on.
The Master is resurrected but I have no idea why and I also have no reason to believe that this is the last time. It looks as if the resurrection is sabotaged by his wife Lucy but since he does return I guess she didn't do much damage.
He's very hungry but not constantly, and in the second part he doesn't eat at all.
A billionaire who wants to create a Lazarus project for his daughter needs the Master to make it operable but the Master reprogrammes it for his own benefit.

Then there are not-so-dead Time Lords locked in a time-bubble and then the Master links his...eh...I don't know. I just don't know it anymore.
It all looked great and spectacular but I feel it's all created to make the various prophecies come true.
View attachment 50915
What now! The disasters are often the funniest part of the episode, with people running and screaming.

Unfortunately, the Doctor's power trip from the previous episode doesn't continue but it's interesting that his own people have now become the main antagonists, although I find it difficult to describe the reasoning behind it. Timothy Dalton as the Time Lord president was a great choice and added to the feel of a biblical epic.
View attachment 50916
And I'm sure it has something to do with the weeping angels but nothing has been revealed (yet?).

We finally reach the part that will show the Doctor's demise but, good grief, talk about a detour. It re-revisits everything and everyone that had already been revisited in JOURNEY'S END.
Of course it's all about pulling at the heartstrings, but then when the Doctor finally actually dies I had to swallow some tears. It was David Tennant's series swansong, not the Doctor's.
I wonder if it made a lot of impact. I don't think it matters if he's the best Doctor or not, to many new viewers he was the first. Christopher Eccleston's last WHO appearance was more than four years ago, so....

But that's all over now and I got a preview of the next Doctor who is still not a ginger. I hope he gets a whole new set of characters, I mean, I like Rose Tyler and Mickey and Wilfred Mott but I really don't want them to come back anymore.

Gallifrey wasn't destroyed during the Time War. It was concealed in a pocket universe as is shown in The Day of the Doctor later. When it was concealed in the pocket universe the events of the final battle of the War were time locked, this was to prevent anyone from attempting to change the outcome of the final battle but more importantly from the Daleks discovering that Gallifrey actually survived the final planetary assault.

The billionnaire actually wanted to give his daughter a gift where she will never die but the Master later sabotages their equipment so that he can take over the entire human race. Whilst all this is going on Rassilon dispatches a white point star to Earth, the reason for this is that the Time Lords have triangulated the double heartbeat of a Time Lord (the Master) and can use this to take Gallifrey out of it's constellation at Kasterborous into Earth's solar system at Mutter's Spiral by using the white point star to home in on the signal. The Master finds the white point star and connects it to the billionnaires equipment but secretly alters the settings so he can subjugate and dominate every human being on Earth.

During the Doctor & the Master's's initial exchange with Rassilon as Gallifrey approaches Earth, Rassilon reverses the Master's subjugation of the human race by the use of the Omega gauntlet he's wearing on his arm. This drains Rassilon's power and when the Doctor turns on Rassilon and orders them to go back into the Time War, the Doctor spares the Master by firing on the white point star severing the link which has brought Gallifrey through the time lock. Rassilon attempts to use the Omega gauntlet on the Doctor but it needs to be powered up first. The Master grateful that the Doctor didn't shoot him begins using his new powers against Rassilon, forcing him & Gallifrey back through the breached time lock into the final day of the Time War which the Time Lords have prophesized is the final day before Gallifrey's destruction.

Yeah it does sound a bit convoluted but it makes perfect sense to me.

 

[James from London]

David Tennant was already commited to a theatre role in 2010

Oh yes that's right - Hamlet. I watched it when they showed it on the telly. It was really good.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

It's also interesting to note that in The End of Time scenes where Rassilon is talking to both the Doctor and the Master there are two Time Lords who are concealing their faces and who are clearly in disgrace by their fellow Time Lords.

One of these is the Woman played by Claire Bloom who had appeared in various scenes with Wilf as a character only he could see. Toward the end of the Doctor's conversation with Rassilon, Claire Bloom reveals her tear stained face to the Doctor and it is very clear that the Doctor recognises her!

However we don't find out on screen who she is. However in Russell T. Davies book Doctor Who The Writers Tale, Russell admits that the intention of the character was that she was actually the Doctor's Mother. Which now begs the question was the male Time Lord beside her the Doctor's Father?