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Doctor Who retro review: Journey’s End (Tenth Doctor story)

By James Aggas

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Davros is about to unleash his most evil scheme yet. Will the Doctor and his companions be able to stop him?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Featuring three Doctors, a host of companions, and Davros’s return, is Journey’s End a satisfying series finale?

Continuing directly from where The Stolen Earth left off, Journey’s End resolves the huge cliffhanger with an easy (if problematic) solution. (For my full thoughts on how that cliffhanger was resolved, read my analysis on it here.)

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Since it featured so many characters already and had to resolve so much, not just from the last episode, but from the whole of Series Four, it’s perhaps unsurprising that all the spin-off characters are put to one side for the majority of this episode.

It was definitely cool to see Gwen and Ianto meet Luke and Harriet Jones in the last episode. But focusing on the primary regulars of Doctor Who was definitely a smart decision for this one.

It was great to see the Doctor and Davros finally have a reunion. For many of their stories, there’s usually a strong psychological battle between them.

Journey’s End is no exception. While it’s not the best story to feature such a psychological angle between the two (see Terror Firma), it definitely has its moments. In particular, Davros taunting the Doctor for shaping the “Children of Time” as weapons is a great moment.

And Julian Bleach is fantastic. It’s definitely one of the best performances of Davros on screen since Genesis of the Daleks, at least. (Don’t get me wrong, Terry Molloy is also fantastic. But it’s in the audios, especially in prequel spin-off I, Davros, that he really shines.)

Martha and Rose

I love Martha’s role in Journey’s End. With Rose’s return and Donna’s story coming to an end, Martha’s role is easy to overlook.

But her plotline with the Osterhagen Key is nicely handled. It’s even better on re-watch now, after watching the War Doctor’s story in The Day of the Doctor.

Both Martha and the War Doctor came very close to destroying their own worlds, when the situation was at its most desperate. Both are stopped before they can do it, although for completely different reasons. So it was great to have her echo the Doctor, even when it was during one of his worst moments.

We also have Rose and the Doctor reunited. How was this handled?

Their initial reunion scene, after the big regeneration fake-out, was rather sweet. But Journey’s End had a lot going on throughout. So much so that we surprisingly didn’t get that much Ten and Rose interaction, even when they’re in the same room.

For most of the episode, Rose really doesn’t get that much to do. It’s a little disappointing, especially after a full series of build-up. But as I mentioned, Russell T Davies had a lot to include with this one.

Donna’s story is resolved in Journey’s End. Is it a satisfying ending to her character?

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Rose’s new ending

The biggest problem with Rose’s return? The ending. The truth is that Doomsday is one of the greatest companion exits ever in Doctor Who. It’s big, it’s emotional and utterly heartbreaking.

Now I know that Rose’s new ending in Journey’s End has its fans. But honestly, it just feels like a super-convenient cop-out, and the real reason Ten-Too was created. There are a lot of interesting things that could be done with the character. (There’s a recent Short Trip audio, The Siege of Big Ben, that certainly proves that.)

But it’s sold too hard that he’s exactly the same man that Rose loves, while establishing at the exact same time that he clearly isn’t. For example, he committed genocide on the Daleks, which is why he’s being sent to another universe. But at the same time, Ten keeps saying to Rose that they’re exactly the same.

Russell T Davies is trying hard to give Rose the happy ending she deserves with this episode. And yet it never quite reaches the emotional highs that Doomsday did.

Donna’s ending

Thankfully, Donna’s ending is far, far more satisfying. Russell was clearly more than a little inspired by Jamie and Zoe’s ending in The War Games, with the loss of memory. But it works beautifully.

Even though Donna doesn’t exactly “die”, the version we know is gone. The one that learned how special she really was, and got to change and develop so much. Donna’s journey was one of the best things about Series Four. So her losing all of that is heartbreaking.

Especially just before it happens. She doesn’t want to forget. Even though she knows she’d die otherwise, she doesn’t want to lose who she’s become. She’d rather die than lose everything she is. (Interestingly, that was a very strong theme in last year’s finale, The Doctor Falls.)

What’s also great about this ending is that even though we know Donna comes back, we also know that nothing changes this tragedy. She really never remembers the Doctor, or at least, not before instantly forgetting. She’ll never remember how special she is. Still, the Doctor scolding Sylvia might have changed that.

Summary

And that’s Journey’s End. A very big episode, and one that tries to do a lot in such a short time. Even while it’s 20 minutes longer than your usual episode, it still doesn’t feel long enough for everything Davies tried to do.

It’s not a bad episode. Far from it. And it does have some great moments. But it’s not quite as strong or as satisfying as The Stolen Earth was.

Still, Journey’s End was overall an entertaining episode. Not one without its problems, both major and minor. But it does get many things right. Even better, Donna’s ending is incredibly emotional. A fairly decent end to a strong series. Not to mention a great end to the truly brilliant pairing of Ten and Donna.

Next: Twitch Watch: Recommendations of the day 07/20

What are your thoughts on Journey’s End? Is it a favorite of yours? Or do you think some key parts of it could have been improved? Let us know in the comments below.

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