Doomsday

Well, what a finale. Daleks vs Cybermen, all out war, Torchwood and Rose's departure. So how good was it exactly? To be honest, I've read a lot of reviews poo-pooing Russell T Davies' scripts, but I think he's a bloody brilliant writer and I'd like to see his nay-sayers do any better. Of course, the main attractions were the war between Doctor Who's biggest baddies and Rose's impending (supposed) death. The all out war between the Daleks and Cybs was on a huge scale and well worth watching. Fanwank? Yes. Wishlist? Yes. But by God, as I've said before, we may never get to see another chance for this to happen so it HAD to happen now. The bitchy Black Dalek sparring with the Cyberleader was superb and a lovely touch to what otherwise could have been boring robots talking to each other. The Black Dalek had obviously been taking lessons from Cassandra. And I know what you're gonna say, but the Daleks have always been a touch camp, so just let it be, OK?

RTD, in the allotted time, managed to squeeze in a hell of a lot, and chief among them he did not commit the cardinal sin of forgetting to expose exactly why these two races are so monstrous. Firstly, the Cybermen yet again impressed me and touched me more than the Daleks. They are Us. When they converted Yvonne (who genuinely liked) and her as a cyberman later crying oil that really shook me. In Yvonne, we had a wonderful portrayal of a deeply flawed but very human woman who was more than aware of the fate she awaited (and more than aware after, which is so bloody gruesome. Just chilling). The Daleks, too, mass produced killing machine's emerging from the Genesis Arc prison TARDIS reminded me of a plague of killer wasps long before the bit where they were all sucked back into Canary Wharf in a giant swarm. Funny, I've never thought of a prison TARDIS before, but what a good idea!

And of course, there's the Tylers, which is where the only major flaw in the whole story comes about. Well, I say flaw, more of a hindsight suggestion - constructive criticism. I really think it would have been better introducing Pete and Jake in the first episode instead of shoehorning them into the second and just allow the whole script to b-r-e-a-t-h-e a little. That way, when the Daleks emerged at the end of Army of Ghosts, we would have been concerned for them too and still be wondering how they and Mickey had got through the void. But hey-ho.

The big thing we needed for this episode was a big pay-off. A pay-off to wrap up the whole Rose story spanning two years, complete with all the Tylers and hangers on. We got them all - the whole family, and it was wonderful to see Jackie and Pete fighting in the corridor then suddenly realising that they really are who they are (if you see what I mean) and they need each other. I am incredibly fond of happy endings, and RTD is right when he says Doctor Who is ultimately optomistic. The story of the Tylers and Mickey had to be rounded off in a neat way to allow the Doctor to move on and be that lonely old traveller again, the way he's always been. I think we got it, too. A bigger role for Jackie went down a storm, and deservedly so, as Camille Coduri has been an utter delight. It was brilliant to see her sparring with the great Shaun Dingwall again, who really should have been cast as Max Branning in EastEnders. We got a lovely bitter-sweet ending with all the Tylers together, shut away from the Doctor forever (?) and Rose is back in her shop with a complete family. Bitter sweet indeed. But somehow, it's probably saved her.

David Tennant has proved he really IS the Doctor. By turns, he wild and maniacal, deep and brooding, intense and funny and lovely. The only other person to achieve this in his portrayal of the Doctor was Lord Tom of Baker. I love David Tennant as the Doctor. He carries me away with him to the point I forget he's acting and he actually is the Time Lord. Now that really is acting. Well done, David.

And we had Catherine Tait at the end. Bizarre.

I am a huge fan of RTD's vision of Doctor Who and I am not ashamed to say so. Thank you to the production team for another year of the best programme in the world. And thanks to Joe Ford, my fellow reviewer, for such an entertaining read over the last three months. I've heard the Ice Warriors are the big baddies for Season Three... shame... I was kind of hoping it would be the Sontarans or Sea Devils...place your bets now! Til Christmas then!!