a little online discussion of his previous appearance and said the main criticism was that he was 'camp and OTT'. So he has purposely ramped it up just to annoy the fan boys. Then again the Master is a half dead, unhinged psychopath genius so subtlety isn't required.

This is a big bold n bombastic send off for La Tennant. Its Xmas Day family entertainment. It had that fella from Hi De Hi in it n a randy June Whitfield. Tramp canibalism! The Cribbster!

Wish Murray Gold's music would sod off but all in all wonderfully bonkers.

And an ex Bond n the return of Them Fellas in time for part 2. Bring it on!

So not exactly overwhelmed. There was plenty to enjoy in the main meat of the story and it was an improvement on most of the previous Christmas specials. I did enjoy last year's cyberman episode, but the Kylie one was poor, and The Runaway Bride, well, it had Catherine Tate. Not my favourite actor by a very long way, which is unfortunate for a Who fan given the whole of the last series.
The end-of-an-era feeling was cranked up to a high degree, but understandably, and that was fine. My main problem with the episode was the lengthy exposition by Mrs The Master as she chucked that stuff (what was it exactly? And how was a prison guard complicit?) at her regenerating dead husband.
What has stood out about the Russell T Davies Who's is that he can do great moments, and handle long story arcs crossing multiple stories, but the in-between sections, which is to say episodes as they are braodcast, are very inconsistant. I put this towards the higher end, and will certainly watch the finale on New Year's Day, but I'm looking forward to where Stephen Moaffatt takes the show next.

made me wonder if someone's been watching Being John Malkovich!

that Stephen Moffat may take it closer to the Jon Petwee/Tom Baker era, but (obviously) with better effects. Certainly, his previous scripts have had more of the scary frisson from that period.

It was rubbish,the last 10 mins aside. Weak story too, a real drag and Simms was over the top. As much I respect Davies and Tennant, it definitely feels like it's time for them to leave.It's been hyped to death and just didn't cut the mustard for me, bit of a Matrix rip off at the end too. Bah humbug!

Dr Who has always been prone to camp, overblown set pieces, and I thought the cliffhanger, including the exposition of why Dalton was there, was just brilliant. I've always loathed Tennant, though - even before Dr Who, he just pulled the same three or four faces in lieu of actually acting. His "intense" face is particularly irritating - "like he's lost a contact lense" as a friend of mine put it. I thought Simm showed exactly how it was possible to do overblown and ridiculous but still make it seem like you believe it, and completely overshadowed the gurning Paisley lad. And some of the scene in the junkyard was, as another friend said, "like a pilot for a gay tramp-wrestling show - BBC3 would commission it, too".

that Davies had decided how the Doctor's fate was going to be sealed, and then worked his way back to the start. I enjoyed it though. Simm is brilliant, as ever. I am very much looking forward to the new Doctor, whom, as I understand, is going to be a much darker and more troubled character. I am also very excited about Moffat, as he was responsible for writing "Blink" the best episode ever, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the doctor was hardly in it.

My problem with this episode was that too many characters had too many different plans, none of which the audience was allowed to understand.

The people bringing back the Master wanted him back. Why?

The Green people had invaded the Immortality place. Why?

The black couple were trying to build a gate. Why?

The narrator character was building up to something bigger. What?

The woman in the telly had a different plan all of her own. What?

Towards the very end, some of these were explained tokenly but most of them were hanging around for the most of the episode. Far too needlessly confusing and complex to be the big Christmas blockbuster everyone wanted. It's a total set-up for next week's. We've reached the end now - the time for setting up should be gone.

Then, I have some questions. Why does the Master want to live in a world populated entirely by himself? It just seems like he stumbled accross a grand master plan by accident, and shoved it through. And if we're not supposed to know that the T.Ls are back until the final scene, why show Dalton in T.L. costume about halfway through the episode? Frustrating, when I was SO desperate to love it.

of Two. all will become clear next week and all your questions will be answered

Either that or RTD will press the reset button again and people will just go 'Waaaahhhhh!!!'.

I thought Simm was far nastier and less panto villain this time, Tennant played down the wide-eyed chirpiness and there was hardly any helter-skelter running and shouting the plot over ridiculously loud music.

Davies does seem to like doing two almost separate stories in these two-parters (eg Sontarans) and he's risking a bit of Mail outrage with mention of Christmas being a pagan celebration and Simm scoffing turkey/chicken in one go.

I reckon Cribbo's a Time Lord and the woman in the telly's the Doc's mum.

behind Lord Dalton at the end there are two figures covering their faces - is one of them Doctor 11?

What sort of idiot would park and run a mobile food van on a desolate industrial site?

It was fairly typical Russell T Davies - lots of loud music instead of decent dialogue or plot and lots of people running about with the audience have little idea of what was going on.

*this* will always be Doctor Who for me...

"Now begins the reign of Sutekh the Destroyer. I shall crush this miserable world and hurl it into the outermost depths of space! My vengeance starts here!"

I loved the Pertwee/Baker episodes as a nipper but I bought Ark in Space a couple of years ago and it was awful - flabby writing padded out to various artificial end-of-episode cliffhangers. One of the 'larvae' looked like bubble-wrap.

Pertwee's first episode was pretty poor too, although Troughton's surviving Cybermen episodes were terrific - the electronic music and muddy black and white adding an air of menace.

The new Who has a tendency to cram everything in - the episode with the single Dalek was far more effective than the shouty, breakneck Davros one.

I was nearly going to write that the new Who was better, but then I think about the Green Death, the Daemons, Pyramids of Mars, K9...

Quite apart from the fact that it was all complete nonsense (and the last few minutes with the multiple Masters was just laughable), doesn't this show that Russell T Davies has only one idea for a Dr Who story, and will keep flogging it as long as possible?

The Daleks are all dead. No, they're not.
The Cybermen are all dead. No they're not.
Rose is gone forever. No, she isn't.
(Billie Piper is a good actor. (No, she isn't).
The Master is dead. No, he isn't.
The Time Lords are all dead. No, they aren't.

Thank God Davies is going. An episode written by him is guaranteed to be awful.

I thought it were alright. It's a kids' show after all (I know, I know...) Not meant to be serious, is it?

I think Tennant is a fine Doctor & I'll miss him - have to agree that RTD has probably run his course as chief writer - I suspect he knows this too. DT is bowing out at the right moment & I hope he gets the finale he deserves.

What about the new fella? The Work Experience Doctor. A place holder for a better known actor, unwilling to fill Tennant's big shoes right away, is my theory. I'll give him two series tops. He might surprise us though - Peter Davison had to follow the mighty Tom Baker into the TARDIS & he did a cracking job - I wish the new incumbent well.

Pirate footage from New Year Day finale - all is revealed

was the 20th Century equivelant of

truly the nadir of both incarnations of the series

Fear Her was also bloody rank. Not just for the 'scary drawing' monster but Huw Edwards rubbish acting doing the commentary to the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

No, my mate who hates the rest of Nu-Who liked the 'Love and Monsters' ep, the contrary git! Then again he has just got a man crush on Marc Warren

Lots of running around and special effects hung on the flimsiest of storylines. In fact, I'm not sure there was a plot - just a series of events loosely tied together with RTD's usual deus ex machina stuff. I know it's a show for children, but they can and do follow a plot - they'll probably find it more enjoyable and affecting too.

AS a result, so much of it did not make any sense at all - all that prison stuff (nice to see a medieval great hall in the middle of a Victorian prison), and was it just me or did Berny Cribbins go into the church at night then had a great view of the stained glass window as daylight streamed through it?

That said, I thought John Simm was much better this time around. Nicely mental, but with some thought and melancholy behind it. And I am inordinately excited about the Time Lords reappearing.

My mum spotted a little continuity error..there was blossom on the trees near Wilf's house and it was supposed to be Winter.

I quite enjoyed it, especially the Aphex Twin tribute at the end and agree it was nice to see the Timelords back complete with their built in head-rests.

I just hope for the new season they tone down *very loud* the orchestral pomp of the music and get Belbury Poly or Broadcast in to do it all on 1980s synths and washboards..far scarier. Worst thing about it is those sawing cello's and brass splattered all over the top of the, otherwise ace, remake of the theme tune.

or The Human League

Some Doctor Who fans have had their criticisms of Russell T Davies animated, using genuine transcripts from online Doctor Who fan forums. And are more often than not, bloody funny. Warning - The language is not family friendly

The Last of The Time Lords Review
Two Doctor Who fans "Rob" and "Rani" review the Russell T Davies penned 2007 series end, John Simm's first appearance as The Master

The Doctor's Daughter
It is reported that David Tennant is dating Peter Davison's daughter Georgia Moffet, who also appeared with Tennant as his onscreen daughter in Doctor Who. Rob does not approve

Goodbye Russell
One Doctor Who forum writes a gushing tribute to Russell T Davies leaving. Another feels the need to balance opinion with some serious non-gush

Christopher Eccleston
A heated discussion on why the Ninth Doctor looks like "some pub bloke taxi driver who just came out the bookies"

...are magnificent.

one discussing Hartnell having it away with Carole Anne Ford is Dr Who forums in a nutshell

RTD deserves total respect as the executive who made Who more popular than ever, making a show that Proves Family TV Can Still Exist etc. But the episodes that he actually writes are generally among the weaker of the series. Whereas Steven Moffatt's ones, from the demented Empty Child ("Are you my mummy?") onwards, are usually the best (the one in the library apart.)
I thought the Christmas Day one was just about well acted enough to cover up for a pretty shambolic script. Never mind marking time until tomorrow's finale, it's marking time until Moffatt's proper new series for me. Not sure about Matt Smith just yet - he was the weakest actor in the otherwise wonderful Moses Jones - but let's give him a chance until Patterson Joseph hopefully gets the job as Doctor 12.

For God's sake. Without RTD Doctor Who would still be a mouldering old joke about cardboard sets and men in rubber monster suits. I think too many of you view the 'good old days' through rose tinted specs. Yes Pertwee and Baker were good, but the show tailed off badly after the Peter Davidson era. RTD revamped it brilliantly and, a few weak episodes aside, it has been 'must-see' viewing ever since. The special effects are generally superb, the villains have been handled with reverence to the past and despite Tennant's occasional tendancy to gurn, he's been a brilliant Doctor. The final story arc where he's facing his own demise is a corker. The Xmas day episode had an elegaic feel to it, and do some of you really want everything explained to you as it goes along? The whole point of a two parter is that there are questions to be answered. I look forward to what Moffat and Smith will do with the series. Give them a chance instead of writing them off, as some of you seem to be doing. For those of you who don't like the series, stick to your Tom Baker videos. ;-)

will be saying the same about Moffat in 6 months - "its not as good as 'Blink', he should stick to writing 'Press Gang' etc".

As you say w\o Russell this new version would never have flown or had the emotional base it has. Yes he has a small bag of tricks that he uses too often but the internet makes him out to be some kind of talentless hack.

All Who showrunners\producers seem to get a kicking, thats what they are there for. Except Verity Lambert who was ace.

Am interested to see if Moffat's 'Sherlock' project with Mark Gattis gets off the ground as Mark's plan get his Lucifer Box novels on the screen floundered.

but that doesn't mean that everything he touches turns to gold.

I just think he could do better. I may be wrong as it was a long time ago, but I seem to remember his other work - things like The Second Coming - having a plot thread and progression that at least had some sort of internal sense, which too often is lacking from RTD's episodes.

It's frustrating to have problems solved by whipping out a sonic screwdriver, "reversing the polarity", rebooting or some other such out-of-the-blue device. That sort of laziness serves to undermine the sense of jeopardy that was always central to Dr Who.

of the sonic screwdriver in Davison's time as it was too often used as a 'get out of jail free' card and so was sad to see it return.

But you're right, Rustie is too fond of reversing the polarity which is what made the end of the Torchwood: Children Of earth so dumb. he was doing ok up to that point.

Still nothing to really change my mind. It was a single 1 hour ep stretched over 2 and a bit hours....

soz

But Moffat is plainly going to have to do an episode revealing that the mysterious woman is the Doctor's mum, probably in the same one revealing where the Master buggered off to.
Also, "Verity Lambert the only producer whose era wasn't slated"? You're forgetting Philip Hinchcliffe (golden mid-period Tom Baker), whose episodes are most similar to the ones Moffat has so far written in tone.
As mentioned, I think RTD has been a brilliant producer, I just think his own scripts were generally hammy and lacked internal logic. It was all about the set-pieces, and he didn't seem to care too much about how the dots got joined. Which is weird as, when he tries (The Second Coming, the five-part most recent Torchwood), he can be one of the best writers going.

Bring on the spring!

Jessica Hynes character was called Verity Newman as a nod to the original team and back to the episode featuring Hynes where 'John Smith' says his parents were Sydney and Verity.

ok just me then.....

I have a feeling that the mysterious lady is a Moffat idea that will bleed into the next series. The Master went back to the Time War with the Time Lords. Until he;s needed again.

I thought again the scenes between Cribbins n Tennant were the heart of the whole piece and the final bits of the Doctor raging that he has to die to save Wilf spot on.

The trailer for the next series looks rather good. although there are already people slagging off Matt Smith on the strength of 20 secs of mad shouting. And so it goes.....

I have yet to achieve this feat of athleticism so I am a bit confused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

era will be splendid, just you wait & see.

Overall it's been one of the best things on TV in recent years, and most of the stories have been highly entertaining. But it's for the best that Russel T Davies is moving on. He has become too fond of the big blockbuster approach in which the Universe is threatened with extinction, and the David Tennant finale was one of the weakest we've seen - way over the top with a comic book performance by John Simm. And the last twenty minutes was dreadful, self-indulgent hash. Hopefully Stephen Moffat will take it in a new direction - smaller scale, more intense stories that are genuinely scarey. We'll have to wait and see what Matt Smith can do in the lead role, but I'm glad they didn't give the part to a name actor who would have brought the baggage of previous high profile roles with him.

....but the good news is, it's one of the few TV shows than can jump back since it can reinvent itself completely with a new cast, new writers and new production team.

In my humble opinion, it jumped during Planet Of The Dead (the Easter special) when the psychic told Tennant "he will knock four times". Lazy scripting for such an important plot element. Everything after - apart from the momentary upward blip of Water Of Mars which was good - has been awful.

I'm not a Russell T Davies hater and even bought and enjoyed the fantastic (but pricey!) The Writers Tale book that detailed RTD's process of writing. Anyone interested in writing should read it. And RTD did reinvent and reinvigorate Doctor Who to be more than a sci-fi nerd interest.

However...RTD and David Tennant overstayed by a year. They should have both left at the end of season 4, before the specials. The last 2 eps of Tennant's reign were embarrassingly awful, made worse by RTD claiming in every pre-air date interview his scripts were "simply brilliant".

And what really galled as a long term Doctor Who watcher was RTD's attempt to undermine the future of the show on the way out. All that guff about the Doctor's regeneration being "like death" was very uncharitable to Matt Smith and the next production team's efforts. Yes, Tennant has been great (up there with Tom Baker) but no actor is bigger than the show and Tennant's extended goodbyes to everyone he'd ever met at the end of his last ep was mawkish and lacklustre. Every other Doctor got a simple but effective send off rather than a tour of the universe before popping off. I didn't feel sorry to see him go by the end which is a terrible indictment of the last year's episodes since he was so good in the part. Hopefully Matt Smith's doctor and new producer/writer Stephen Moffat can reinvent the show yet again.

*phew* Got a little worked up there about, what is essentially, "a kids show"...!!

Looks fab. Lots of running and overacting. What you would expect in a children's drama really. The kids will love him.

who the new Who looks like until it hit me

Hello????!!! Mcfly!!!

And those Daleks look a bit old skool. New companion easy on the eye, touch of the Lalla Wards.