Do Something Big

Hello, Delistra, and welcome back to Flight Through Entirety, the only Doctor Who podcast, still having very vivid dreams about John Sim every night for the last 11 years. I'm Nathan. I'm James I'm Peter. And I'm Skeletor. Well, Christmas is cancelled. There's a crazed billionaire running the world and leering at his half-wit daughter, and Tony Blair is wandering the wastelands and eating the homeless. So things are very much business as usual in the penultimate episode of the David Tennant era, the end of time part one. I think we're gonna break with tradition and just start at the very beginning. Very good place to start. Yeah. So we actually start with the classic Russell T. Davis shot for the last time of the Earth from space, don't we? We don't sort of descend through the clouds into Chiswick, but we do start with that particular moment, I thought it was worth noting because it's our last one, sort of. And of course, Moffo will do that. Start next season's a cheeky little reference. Yeah, although he has a different take on the on the opening scene after the credits begin, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. How do we feel about this opening scene? It's got Sir Bernard in it, so obviously it's superb. I think it's great to see him trundling along and, you know, um with his shopping and it's Christmas and then we're going into the church and there's the whole voiceover stuff and I just love all the stuff with, um, you know, as he spies the TARDIS in the stained glass window. I just really like, like, I have a notion. Yeah, it's not going to be particularly Christmassy, is it? But this is the most Christmassy bit. I think maybe it's choir practice because no one else seems to be in the church. And we have Wilf in front of a war memorial, which will be important, I think, you know, both this week and particularly next week. And we have Timothy Dalton. And I am not a big fan of voiceovers. And I think the way this story relies on voiceovers makes me think that perhaps another revision might have not gone Australia. It always seems to be a sort of crutch a bit. But it does the Moffat trick where the person doing the voiceover the narrator actually ends up being a major character. That's an absolute Moffat thing to do. And it is, of course, Timothy Dalton, who is incredibly great. But Nathan, I think that the voiceovers in this paper over the cracks in the plot, really, like they're holding it together. Yeah. And he's never used it before, has he? Well, I mean, no, he does at the beginning of doomsday, I think, or what is it? Army of Ghost starts with Billy's voiceover. Yeah, that's Rose, though. It's not a character who's just sort of, you know, its omnipotent voice. No. And I guess we've got Elton telling the story of love and monsters. And he sort of has control over the narrative in the way that sort of wrestle on Will. But it is sort of a sort of slightly strange thing, I think. Well, it's the kind of thing which Russell's always shied away from. And I think it might be indicative of a few of the problems I have with this episode and that he's fallen back on that and he never has done in the past. hm, where's this leading? In fact, it puts me in mind of Romana. Remember she says portentous? Well, that's what it is, but pretentious is the word. I can forgive all the cracks that this episode has because it has wealth in it. Getting back to Bernard Crippen's like, I love the fact that he becomes a companion for 2 episodes. I think that's fantastic. Yeah, no. And he's in the opening credits, so the master's a companion as well. And the fact that the opening focusses on Wolf means that this is going to be to a certain extent good because you know it's going to have an industrial level of will in it. Yeah. And it is Wolf's story. I mean, the job of the pre-credit sequences to tell us what the episode will be about. And so that pre-credit sequence ends with the master laughing which is the dream that everyone in the world or possibly the universe. It's hard to tell has been having for the last little while. And so it goes from Wilf. It touches on his war thing. It touches on the, you know, what the doctor's job is. Um, and then it hits the beat with the master. Yeah, and you've got the mystery woman in white just apparating in and out, you know, as part of the plot. I think it's Chancellor Flavia. Rodan. Well, she certainly wrote an in from somewhere. So Brendan, father of the podcast, Brendan, agrees with Russell T Davis that it's the doctor's mum. It very clearly has to be a doctor's mum, in which case it's abusive torturer Tech Teune, which is a sort of fairly upsetting thought. Don't bring Chris Tripple into this. Well why not? I mean, there's lots of time lords, galafray nonsense. In fact, I think, now, I'm a big fan of hating on Gallifrey, and we will talk more about Gallifrey next week, because it's obviously hugely important, and this episode doesn't really do Gallifrey, but I do think after absolutely not doing Gallifrey for 5 years, I think it's inevitable here. And I think it's Julie Gardner as well, who agreed with that, that we now get to touch on Galafray, we now get to do the thing that the show started with, which, which was the reveal of the time war. I think it was inevitable as well, but unfortunately, I think they stuffed it up. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's entirely possible. So here we have something that's all set up. Is that right? This episode really is establishing the players and shifting things into place and the voiceover actually kind of says that. So Timothy Dalton comes back at about 29 minutes. It's the whole episode is basically a 60 minute pre-credit sequence for the 2nd episode. And it often happens that that's the case with a two-parter doesn't it? Yes, and especially the Russell two-parters. Like, we're just marking time and moving people around and trying to give red herrings and give funny bits of dialogue and bits of heart and but also, you know, put you off track and and have you guessing and not give you all the information until, you know, we get into part two. Yeah, episodes one's all build up, so 2 is all payoff. Well, it should be. Well, that's what I think might be a structural problem and that episode one builds up to the big cliffhanger, but then the big cliffhanger is kind of thrown away, and episode 2 doesn't pay it off. So it's a strange structure. We will talk about the cliffhanger at the end, of course. I think it's spectacular for a couple of reasons, but we will get to it. Well, we start off with the oud, really. The doctor turning up in a comedy classic scene of, you know, with his keys to the TARDIS and... So you know where that scene was filmed? Alaska. Whoopie hole. W wonderful. found out this could only have been improved by one of those cybermen turning up and maybe the vogan round the corner. Can anyone give? And possibly someone almost drowning? So I think this scene is super weird. and I think it actually points to why the specials kind of fail. So we build up to this massive, massive character moment at the end of Waters of Mars, which I think doesn't work at all and showcases all of the worst things about David Tennant's performances, the doctor. And then we kind of throw it away. And I don't know, are we meant to read his kind of offhanded comedy thing is menacing because he's not really playing it like that. Yeah, I think maybe we're meant to read it as the doctor is kind of vamping a little bit and having fun because he doesn't want to face what's going on, but it just comes across as misplaced whimsy. Yeah. I mean, you know, like comedy in Doctor Who is great and naming a galaxy. Alison is a pretty cool thing to do, but I just don't know. We had this big, big giant moment. You know, the doctor had gone crazy and he'd gone too far because he saved a bunch of people and that was wrong for some reason. And now he's, like, and there's no, is there any, any cost to that? You know, the doctor has been fooling about instead of doing what Bude Sigma told him to do. I think the cost is however much you're willing to pay for Time Lord Victorious. Yeah, no, that would be right. Whatever that is. a lot I think it could have worked, but it actually needed to be funny, and the problem with those scenes is they're not actually very funny. You know, the TARDIS kind of thing clicked locket and... It's not actually very amusing. Whereas it'd be genuinely funny. would have gone along with it. I think part of it is that it is just intentionally broad because it's Christmas. Do you know what I mean? And so the joke that that the sort of sonic screwdriver being the you know, key fob for your car. Oh, yeah. Like, that's cute and sort of funny. It's not super witty or anything. And Russell doesn't go for like massively hilarious jokes sort of generally. I don't know, I just found it irritating. There is a line of dialogue that says, you know, if only you'd come straight here or whatever, something might have been better but there don't seem to be any consequences to her. There's a cleverness lacking in the scene, I think, which I'm used to from Russell. Russell's an extremely clever, an able writer, and yet they feel a little bit disappointing, and it's got to be the fact that he was running on empty, having written so many episodes and like come back for the specials when, you know, he basically from the next doctor, he'd sort of run out of steam a little bit. But yeah, I'm disappointed him and I'm not I'm not bagging him for that because my expectations of Russell are so high. This is like the 10th episode in a row he's written. Oh, next week, it's the 10th episode. Right is written, I think. Yeah. Oh, I don't mind it. Well, I mean, I think it's, I think it's agreeable enough. I think it's a way into the next bit, which is the ood telling what's going on now and having flashbacks to the end of series 3 with the master and trying to do a big, huge info dump with the master, the master's wife, the naysmiths, and all of that happening kind of all at once. which I think Russell does very well. You know, he gets all that information out there. And you don't feel like it's a headless chicken or whatever they what's that, the timeless children episode where you just get the where you just get spoken to, right? And so boring. Whereas whereas here he's trying, we're going from the comedy bit into this info dump and we're trying to make it as easy as possible so that everybody's on the same page. So we have the oud talking about a prophecy, and at this moment in our episode, I want to do a prophecy count. So how many prophecies are out there kind of kicking around at this point. You will knock 4 times. He'll knock 4 times. The Oudes prophecy. He is returning. He is returning. returning. returning. So is it three? It's they and he. Okay, that can be 5 then. Martha and Mickey will get together. Yeah. So I want that spinoff. I actually think it's just about permissible. Okay. You hate prophecies, Todd? Is it you who hate its prophecies? No, you're good with them. I don't know. I'm so tired. I have no idea. I no idea. On that note, do you know what I don't like about prophecies? I don't like mysterious figures? and this will appear, I think, at the start of the next episode where we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but mysterious figures who talk nonsense and are delivering prophecies. And there's one with the time lords. The old woman who's scratching away at the things and going, blah blah, blah, he will return. It's exactly the same as Dalek Khan from Journey Zend, who is infinitely more entertaining. You're not sure reminds me of the Rybots operation. Yes. Yes, if only you could have had anti, I'd imagine boons of our fathers. Oh, this is our kids. There's no way that Russell didn't steal that from there. Of course. And she's got a sort of sisterhood of Khan vibe. But I think that the prophecies kind of work in a way, because prophecies and coincidences, because we've not even mentioned Claire Bloom prophesying either, so we're probably up to about 12 by now. Because the time lords are returning and because the time lords have this relationship with time, that Russell makes properly mysterious, Russell's time lords have a much more kind of weird you know. Yeah, yeah. And so time, you know, causality goes backwards and there are coincidences and all of these things are happening because gala phrase is about to kind of burst onto the stage. So I'm going to let it pass even though it is probably a bit of a cheat. But also, if you're going to have big portentous slash pretentious prophecies. These are the episodes to do it. These are like the big banner episodes. It's an important series for the public. Do something big. That's fine. Clan likes to prophesy, doesn't she? Doesn't get our prophecies very right. like, you know, tell the doctor of nothing of this. His life could still be saved as long as you tell him nothing. Really, honey, he's got 2 episodes to go, he's not going to be safe. Well, he doesn't get killed. He just turns into Matt Smith. which is not such a bad thing. But also, if you're going to tell the doctor nothing. Why are you bothering to tell Wolf? That's right. Just don't mention it. And she tries to get him to take the gun, right? Like later on when they're watching the queen's speech and I love the fact that she's got that sort of hair and the pearl necklace and all of that sort of thing and she turns up on the tally instead of the queen being sort of terribly posh. Everyone in Russell stories turns up on the telly. Rose did. If you got a telly, there they are. Yeah, speaking of turning up on the telly, you know that Lachelle Carl was actually supposed to have a guest role in this, not on the telly. Trinity Wells was actually going to appear in person reporting, I think, at one point. I think it's the scene where the doctor arrives at the prison. Ah, yeah. And she would have been reporting on the scene and would have given him some information that would have moved the plot on. You see, if they hadn't have had the oud in the 2nd half, we will sing you to your sleep. They could have had Trinity Wells turn up without a mic and everything. Dr. Staggers towards the Tartars. amazing. What dramatically reporting of this man is taking to it? We have seen Rose Tyler walk up the stairs to the flat. Oh dear. Or maybe before we launch into the our analysis of the episode as a whole, there is another introductory scene that we need to talk about, which is obviously the prisoner cell block age scene. Can I just say it's just absolutely hilarious that we have like the governor, right? And then Mrs. Trefusius? I wonder if she she obviously made it across from Spain or wherever. The Stone Circle, she did. And Lucy Saxon, you've got all of that going on. It's like a game of you know, because they put down one card, right to say, well, we've trumped you because we've got the books of Saxon. And then Lucy's doing something. So she tries to trump her with the next you know card. It's like, it's layer upon layer upon layer, and it makes, like it's just ridiculous. It makes me smile, but it's just so like, well, look at us. We've started this and we've countering you and we're countering you and curse of fatal death. Well, I mean, that scene can only have been improved if the freak had turned up, gloves and all. Well, I think that the missus whatever. She's not the governor, but the sort of chief. I mean, the governor sort of Erica Davison, perhaps, you know, just a few decades earlier. And then that sort of grey-haired woman has a very kind of Maggie Kirkpatrick sort of vibe. She does. She could have brought back Harold Saxon from the dead and got a cut of the poke money or story at the same time. But I love the way in which it is tied back to season 3 and that was always an ouch. Like, that was always set up, which is great. I mean, if we'd just got this as a cutaway that wasn't back in that episode with the master dying, then I would have been quite irritated, but he's obviously, again, it's this Russell thing where he does things, and then I pay off later, even if he hasn't got it fully planned at the time. Yeah, I suspect that he didn't have it fully planned, but he knows that you're always going to want to bring the master back. He's a child of the 80s. Yeah, exactly right. He knows, you know, that scene in Planet of Fire, where I genuinely thought as a kid that that was it. The master was dead. He burned up. you know, how can he get out of this? And so Russell absolutely kills him. Has the doctor burned his body and then leaves an out. And it's fantastic that Chris Chibnall has actually built on that because when the master has to live through the 20th century, He obviously has written the 5 or 10 volumes of the books of Saxon in that time because he's not going to interfere with any of his other history during that time. So he's just sat in a room and he's written all these books that they can then use. I think that you should email that to Christian all because that will be the basis of a future episode. I can hardly wait. The next season finale. Yeah, I would think. You see, I'm sad that they brought the master back because not because I don't like the master, but because I thought his character arc was so good in sound of drums and last of the time lords, that he's kind of brought back for nothing but to be a spectacle in these episodes. There's no sort of character development there, really. Oh, you don't think? No, no, no. I think that there's really interesting character development. I think we'll leave it till our next episode. But he is brought back for a reason. And the other reason I think he's brought back. I mean, you know, Russell knows about the final game and the fact that Pertley didn't get to face off against the master in his regeneration story, which was sort of rather tragic. So he's obviously pairing them again. What has he got to do every single season finale? And this is functionally a season finale, isn't it? The series finale, has had the master or the cybermen or the Daleks. And so, you know, he always goes big for the series finale. So he brings the master back. And there's no monsters in this story. Well, he kind of turns the master into a little bit of a monster in those scenes and that's actually one of my problems with the character. I think it debases the character a little bit. But don't you think that that's what's actually happened? Because so he's still the master. And I think the costuming is really brilliant because he's wearing a black hoodie. So he's got a hood and you can see his red t-shirt, like the hem of his red t-shirt. And actually, this was at the same time that David Cameron, pre being Prime Minister, was running his whole hugger hoodie campaign. All right. So he goes from being Prime Minister of Great Britain to being, you know, one of the kind of lowest members of society as far as status is concerned. I think that's kind of interesting because I think this story, and I'll get into it a bit later, is about hierarchy and status, you know, in a huge way. That I have no problem with. I think that's really good. But then what becomes of the master, you don't get character moments between him and the doctor, you don't get any exploration of that theme. You get the master turning into a Marvel or DC sort of villain and bouncing round the place and firing energy bolts from his hands and things. And I think that could have been any villain. Why is that the master? See, I agree with both of you. I think it's an interesting thing to make the master this sort of debased character who has lost all his power and sophistication and status. But I think making him into some sort of weird flying skeleton man is a move too far. But except that wonderful scene with the food truck where he eats the 2 ladies who are making sandwiches. Like we go back to the food truck and they're just kind of charred skeletons. And that's our only kind of death. Todd, you must have been hanging out for it. just love that. They cut back to it and you've got them still in their outfits, but they're child skeletons. I 1st out laughing because in the 1980s, the original series of V there was this triangle between Charles, Diana, and Lydia, and Lydia was trying to poison Diana, but instead, the poison cup goes to Charles, and Lydia walks in, and she's talking to Charles, and the chair spins around, and there's this skeleton of a lizard in the V outfit, and it just reminded me of that so much. I think it's brilliant. And I love the fact that the master's this super, um, skeletor, you know, type creature because I think in, in all of this, the brilliance of Russell Teen Davis actually shines through because he keeps coming back to Wilf and saying, you know, you're not special or you're special and, and I keep meeting you, right? And at no point I actually think that it's going to be the knock 4 times thing, right? He's got all these other red herrings all the way through. It kind of reminds me a bit of the mask of men, Dragra, where you've got the count who thinks he's the main villain, right? But he's not. That's the Naysmiths, then you've got Hieronymus, which is really the master. And but behind all of that, you've got the Mandrago Helix, which of course is Wrestleon and the Time Lord. And then we've also got the cactus people. So you've got all these different things that he's set up where you think, well, they're going to be the villain, they're going to be the villain, who is the villain, and everything keeps coming back to Will all the time to keep, but then they break away with a joke or a heartfelt moment or some plot thing. And so I have no problem with the master turning into Skeletor at all. I actually think it's really funny Although it does give us that appalling moment in David Tennant's acting where he's on the ground with John Sim and asks him something and I just thought that is the worst bit of acting that David Tennant has ever done in the history of his time on Doctor Who. I've got to find it in my notes. Sorry. Oh, yes, the master he is, he is like one, two, three, four, and the doctor says, what's inside your head? It's the worst bit of acting David Tennant has ever done. Is that the moment where the doctor realises and therefore the master realises that the 4 beats inside his head are real. So they're audible to tenet. I don't like that moment. But I think John Simmons spectacular in this, and I give him absolute kudos for all of the things that he has to get into all of those different outfits, you know, at the end and play all those different characters slightly differently. And even when he says like the master race, like it could have been so like so cheesy, but I just adore it. Like, I did not like John Sim back in season 3 originally at all right? Second time through. Much improve. And I think he does a spectacular job here. And when he's hungry all the time, like ripping, doesn't it make you feel a bit sick, seeing all of that fast motion eating? It's meant to, isn't it? absolutely intentional. doesn't mean I want to watch it. And he's ripping that turkey apart and what we're doing now. Thanks, Peter. And David Harewood, is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. David Herald is like mortified from Supergirl. Yeah. You know, I can't take him seriously. Like he's got gravitas. But he's got the English accent here and I'm so used to him being in retirement mode in Supergirl using John Jones using the American accent. But here, like the nice Mr. Built Up, and I'm going to make my daughter discovered the secret books and, you know, really, she's just like from the secret housewives of, you know, Cambridge on Thames or something like that. And so for me, it's like, I love the fact that Russell has created these really super crap villains who think they're all that, but they really are all crap. Yeah, yeah. And the fact that he loves her so much and he's going to put it on a pedestal and she's so appalling. Like it just is just, it's delicious. That is one of the things I quite like about this episode. The supervillains in it are really inept. Yeah, well, it's kind of funny, isn't it? And it is because they're a faint. It is because they're not the real villains. But I do think making them billionaires is interesting because you've got homeless people. You've got the middle class family, you know, the noble family you've got billionaires. You've got the master who is makes his way up that hierarchy. Only, you know, once he hits the top of the hierarchy, suddenly he's SmackDown because there's something much, much worse than anything we've ever seen before in Doctor Who. And you've got the aristocracy coming back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that yeah, that's exactly it. Yeah. And you've got June Whitfield and the Silver Cloak. You've spent weeks now talking about how crap June Whitfield is in this, but I actually think... No, you're the one, Peter. You're the one, Peter, who has talked about how rubbish shit. June Whitfield can bite me. I think there's very, very little between her performances, mother on Ab Fab and her performance here. It's not quite as sort of demented as the mother in ab fab. Isn't that the whole point? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Like, she is supposed to be, you know, we've had a few whiskeys and scotches and, oh, it's June Whitfield and she knows she's comedy relief and she's playing for comedy relief, but it totally takes me out of things watching it now. It's a mugging for the camera. I mean, it's 0 god. And her friend, her friend who's so into David Tenner. who looks like who Richard Franklin friend. Oh, a bit of crumpet or whatever. He really wants David Tennant's photo. But that's the problem. They're both into him. And I afraid that being old doesn't give you license to grab someone's arse. Hashtag mini too. And she did it like every take, she pitched his parmada. But I think it works, Lieutenant, because Tenant is so kind of sexually confident as the doctor, you know? Oh, so he doesn't have a bumby, has he? That's right. should lose a hand. So I don't, you know, like, I don't mind that at all. And I also like the fact that Russell allows old people to be sexual, which is not a thing that is normally sort of permitted on television. Junkie. She's not that old. Speaking as an old person. She's younger than you. No, no. Actually, June Whitfield is fine. She does mug for the camera and it is irritating and I love her. So, you know, me, my bones rot saying it. I love it too. But I just think it's hilarious. Like, you know, the master and the doctor are in that junkyard or boatyard or wherever they are. What is it? Well, I walked into that, didn't I? And then they just enter from stage left, like out of nowhere. Like, the camera just sort of cuts to them and it's like, where's the bus? Where they come from? Oh, no, they were all as a pack. They're moving as a pack and they've found him as a pack. And I just laugh at that bit of direction by Euroslim. They were just waiting behind some scrap. For their cue. Exactly, James, exactly. That is what it looks like. They're just polished off the remains of those people in the truck. Yeah, no, this is indicative of the problem. June wheatfield is fine. But the silver cloak is just dressing. And that's all this episode is it's all dressing. There's no meat on the bones, so to speak. You know, the silver cloak was actually a discarded idea that Russell came up with for partners in crime. Oh, really? It's also what the Vardens wore in the invasion of time. So, so was the idea, because it took Donna a year to find the doctor and the silver cloak do it in about 15 minutes, was it, was Wilf helping Donna find the doctor originally? Is that what was that the plan? Who knows? That's better. That's all I know. Yeah, Will wasn't really a live thing in the planning of series 4 in any case. He just ended up being there. Yeah, I mean, it's another one of those coincidences. And you can just about sell it because there's a line about there being lots of coincidences, you know, or no such thing as coincidence. The thing is, you have all that scene with, you know, let's get a photograph with the doctor and just as I'm beginning to get irritated. We then jump to Will from the doctor in the cafe, having that conversation with Donna turning up outside and just the emotional resonance and how sort of affected that I get by it all the time. So just when you have a, I find that in this episode, when I have a moment where it's like, oh, that's a bit crap. I then suddenly have a moment where I'm laughing or I'm really that he goes for the heart strings. I think David Tennant is really good in that scene. And when David Tennant has to cry and stuff, I usually find him like super irritating. But here, there's that moment where he's just about to burst into tears and where Wolf, you know, is so kind of heartbroken and his response is so just sort of warm and beautiful. And then it's diffused, like they kind of laugh or, you know, he doesn't quite come back. It's not quite jolly, but he sort of, he sort of pulls it together and kind of tries to make light of it. And it's so real and it's so good and tenant is great in it. It's a really good scene. And it's not overwrought. melancholy. Yeah, yeah, that's what you want. There will be overwrought later. Right, absolutely, there will. agree with you. It's one of the highlights of dated tenant in this episode, but it's also the fact that he's against Bernard Crippis, who's almost breaking down as well. And the scene also has a lot of like info sort of dump dialogue you know, I'm going to die. He will knock full times, we keep coming back to that. And even if I change it feels like dying, some new man goes sauntering away, like all that foreshadowing of what's to come and and we've been through it all before, you know, these new, the new series fans have experienced it once already quite out of the blue. So now for the 2nd time with the doctor, they've loved for 3 years and universally loved. They know where it's all heading and how they're going to feel. And so I think those fields begin in that scene in this episode. It's funny, isn't it? Because when someone like Russell talks about or, you know, Moffatt or or people who grew up on the old series, talk about how it feels to have a new doctor. The show isn't apparently aware of that, you know, like there'll be a sort of heartwarming moment or something, possibly, um, or you know, the Rani will just turn him over and it'll be, you know Sylvester McCoy in a wig. I was heart warmed by that. But this show is super aware of it. And because it's the most popular show on TV. And I think we talked about this in our Planet of the Dead episode or I said that regeneration is a bit of a hack, you know, it's a bit of a, it's a tiny bit crap. they really do need to kind of let you know that they know how you're going to be feeling about this. And so the idea that the doctor fears regenerating and feels like it's an annihilation of his kind of self, that's not in the old show at all, but it sort of works here. Do you remember in Death of the Doctor, the Sarah Jane Adventures episode? where Matt Smith doctor says that it hurts, that it always does that it's painful, you know? So that's that from the other direction. It's what we were saying about on the stolen Earth and Journey's End podcast about the fact that the audience is complicit in doctor at this stage because it is so popular and it is such an icon of television that you've got complete license to be emotional about the fact that David Tennant, the most popular doctor there has ever been, is leaving the series. I don't particularly like seeing the doctor get very emotional but it's totally warranted here. I kind of like it. It is the thing that that Russell's brought to the program is giving the doctor some interiority. And I remember that moment, the moment where Eccleston like tears up. You know, his face is otherwise completely immobile. He doesn't cry or, you know, there's no quivering bottom leap or anything, but he tears up when Jabe is talking to him about the Time Lords. I thought that that was an absolute just revelation. You know, it was so amazing. And I'm glad that he brought that to the show. I think my problem with it is that David Tennant tends to kind of overplay it a bit and he doesn't in this scene. No, he gets it right. The other thing that appears in this scene is, of course, Donna and I think that she's amazing in this. I totally agree. You can see that the character, Nathan, has she's still Donna, but she's not the Donna from the Runaway bride. She she's not the donner that she ended up being, but there is growth there. The fact that she actually has a fiance and she can still give it to the ticket officer woman. Yeah. It's just lovely seeing Catherine Tate come back and do these small parts. It's intensely frustrating because I want these episodes to be about Donna. I want them her to be all throughout them and I wish she was. However, it was the correct decision by Russell. not to do that. And he knows that you wish she was the star of it. And that's incredible thing. And initially she, in the original draft original drafts of the script, she was in it a lot less. She was only supposed to make a short cameo and he decided to put her in more, but as this character who is floating around in the background is a shadow of her former self. But it works too, because it also gives the opportunity to bring in Sylvia. Yeah, and see the growth in Sylvia, like that hilarious scene where she says hello to the doctor or Merry Christmas or whatever. And, you know, the last time they did not end on very good terms. But, you know, she seems to have gotten past that to an extent and can share a bit of a moment and then berate him. Exactly, James. You know, I do want to say one more thing about that cafe scene because there's a choice that Auros makes, which is to shoot Donna and Sean through the window. Yeah, maintain that distance. Yeah, yeah. And so we are kept away from them. And there's that other scene where we see them opening Christmas presents and watching the Queen's speech and stuff like that. But they're also in the background too, because it's all, yes. From Wolf's perspective. Yeah. Yeah. So it is amazing getting her back, you know, having a companion back, but she's not allowed to interact with a doctor, she can never interact with a doctor at any point. And we so wanted it because those 2 were so magical together. It's really good. And so Russell makes you feel the way that you feel. It's an exercise in restraint on Russell's behalf, and it's absolutely the right decision, but it's so frustrating. But it is the brilliance in his writing here that I think shines through all this emotional stuff that you want that to happen, but you're not going to get that. And then in that scene, giving Wolf the moment to piece together the naysmiths and the book. You know, it's another clue as to his importance. But you don't really realise that when you're watching it. Yeah, the 1st time through, it's just, it just happens, but it keeps coming back to him and keeps coming back to him and then he gets to get into the TARDIS and... thinks it's dirty. It's not as clean as I expected. So doesn't the script lampshade that bit where it's not really a good idea to park the TARDIS in the street outside where Donna lives? Lovely little comic moments with the emotional resonance that, you know, Russell gives us. And this episode gets it so right. You just want to spend more time with these characters and you get more time with these characters. And I think that that's what, I think that that's what he's doing and I think the reason, perhaps, that the plot isn't particularly satisfying, there's almost nothing at all to it, is because his last, you know, biggest season finale ever, was so stuffed, had so many characters in it and was super plotty. And this time it's kind of like, no, let's just give David Tennant some time to do some things. Let's just let the audience spend some time in the world that the last 5 years of Doctor Who has created. And so, you know, there's a way in which this is a bit indulgent but there is also a way in which he's giving space for us to say goodbye to this version of Doctor Who and cluttering it up with plot and science fiction things and stuff would just detract from that. I mean, I agree in one respect. I think Russell played his best hand with the stolen earth journey's hand. That felt like it should have been the end of the doctor because it was so warmly resonant at the show that had come. However, I slightly disagree because I think these episodes especially this 1st one, are stuffed with plot, but it's meaningless plot. It's just it's talking about big plot. And so that detracts from these lovely scenes which you have with the family and everything because it gets in the way of those. I think you still have to give everyone sort of Doctor Who-ey things to do. But I mean, it's not like anything's very complex. It's not blink or anything. It is just super linear and a little bit sort of throwaway. There's a kind of, this is never an insult, but there is a kind of Sarah Jane adventures kind of vibe to the, to the nasmiths in a way. They're very two-dimensional, but for a reason. But I like the fact that we're now getting drawn into their world actually to their mansion and we're seeing their scientists that are helping them and the absolutely brilliant Sinead Keenan, who plays Adams, the scientist. And I'd just seen her, I think, playing Russell Toby's girlfriend Nina, the werewolf, being human. In being human. And so I was really excited that she was in it. And it's interesting how like her and her offsider, whose name I cannot. I think it's Rossiter. It is Rossiter. I just call them the Meglos twins. Wow, that's super racist. Initially... Initially... Initially they were supposed to be called Shanshay and Shanshay. And with a slightly different pronunciation, but Wolf couldn't work out what the difference. I love the fact that they're sort of in the background and now they're sort of, you know, coming to the forefront and you know something's not right. And then, of course, David Tennant gets to meet them when they go downstairs and he gets to say the word Shimmer. And I love how he says Schimmer. schlock from the reboss of Horatia. And he keeps saying it. I just want to keep saying Shrimmer. Shrimer. And she's so great. I just love her energy as one of the cactus people. Sorry. She's kind of not putting up with any of his crap. I mean, that just seems to be her kind of default thing. She's kind of annoyed with him and not intimidated by him. I think she's really good. And do you remember that makeup? The green makeup is entirely computer generated. They didn't paint the actor's green. They put green prosthetics on them. And kind of faded into their skin tones and then had to digitally retouch every shot that they were in green because they went, oh actually, that looks a bit pants. And in fact, another use of CG, and I've just read about time. So I didn't know this before this, that the turkey in the Queen's Christmas speech scene, because that takes place at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the speech normally, rather than the morning. The turkey was raw on the set. And Russell realised that, of course, by 3 the turkey would be cooked, so they digitally cooked it in post-production. It's a computer effect. I didn't have too much budget on this show. Oh, that's fantastic. They've got the immortality gate. I love these names that Russell comes up with and the Nace Miske to talk about the immortality gate, but yet again, it's a slight misdirection because what they believe it to do is not actually what it actually does. And it's like with Donna having been memory wiped and if she remembers everything, she's going to die. Well, that's not exactly true, and this is another Russell trope that he likes to sort of give a certain information or an interpretation of what something actually does. It's our last anti-plastic of the era, isn't it? It's the immortality gate. It makes people immortal. It's really very simple and does what it says on the tin. It's the sort of techno babble that I actually really quite like. Because again, this is a Christmas special and it's being half watched, while drunk and full of turkey. And so it needs to be straightforward. But I like the fact that the master has the ability to repair it. He's a timelord. He's repairing it. And at the same time, then, you know, when he's talking to Adam's the doctor's talking to Adams, you know, it makes people better but why so big and there's these questions and then it's like, well it doesn't, men's whole planets and then it's like the David Tennant run. like, this is much worse than we expected. Which we had at the beginning of the episode when he runs back to the Tartars. Like, this is really bad and then it's the run. You know how he jumps off the wall and it's like we've got to stop this and then it's all hell breaks loose because Skeletor gets to you know, zap his hands and jump into the gate and everybody begins to shimmer. You know, things are really bad when David Tennant does that big run with his arms and legs everywhere. I love it. And it's such a new series thing because you can't run in the studio. You just don't have the space for it. And so now we're in location, the doctor can properly run. Wasn't there a story that either David Tennant, Matt Smith or Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi needed the same operation done on their knee because of the running down corridors. Tennant and Capaldi. So, Todd, let's talk about the cliffhanger then. I contend that it, well, I went on Twitter. I actually live tweeted my watching of this hashtag, Final Days of Planet Earth, and I made the bold contention that this was the best cliffhanger of the era, and I kind of want to defend that. And part of the reason is that I'd forgotten the final scene. And so I expected it to end with the master running around and I think Sim is wonderful in this because he's running from place to place and when he sees another one of him, he's super excited and he throws his arms out and he's jumping up and down. He's wearing dresses. I don't know how he did it as an actor. You would be so tired to have to go through all of those costume changes. I hope to God that they actually filmed it over several days. All on one fee as well. It deserves an extra fee for it. But I also like the fact that he talks about like in here, I think Russell throws in hypnotism and mind control and they're all going to become me. Like, I like all these little subtle explanations back or links back to the original series. It's like Shada, where Christopher Nemes' character, Skagra, wants to put his mind into everyone in the universe. And for a 2nd the doctor thinks that that's what the master's plan is. But the master's plan is much better than that because it's so ridiculous. And so those wonderful scenes where like Sylvia and Sean and Barack Obama all turning into the master. And remember, this is set on Christmas Day, let's say at the time it was broadcast. So it's also happening to the viewers at home and Barack Obama. My head was spinning watching this. But Barack Obama, it's like we've never mentioned the real... No, this is real. Why Obama? He went to great pains to avoid Tony Blair and George W. Bush in the sound of... Well, did he though? I mean, someone like George W. Bush was cast. And he kills Tony Blair and stuffs him in a closet in Aliens of London. He turns President Obama into the master. I mean, it's very definitely Obama, and I wonder why I made that decision. But I think it's so that it's the viewers at home because one of the things that you can do with, remember Pirate Planet episode 4 where Xanac is about to materialise around Earth, and I like to imagine that it's going to materialise around Earth while you're sitting watching the program, right? And that that's what the doctor prevents. He's actually preventing you, the viewing audience from being killed. Or in Daleks masterplan, where we know that the Daleks are on their way to contemporary Earth while we're watching it in those sort of middle episodes. On Christmas Day. Yeah, yeah. And so this is a cliffhanger that affects everyone who's watching the show. And so it has that. And so, you see, you're, like, your touchstone to be, to make it the real world. Yeah, that makes sense. that we're in. And so there's that. And I think that cliffhanger is visually superb and it's got John Sim being as fun as he ever is. It's really silly and funny, but also really quite threatening and terrifying. And then you get the 2nd cliffhanger, which is the narrator has been wrestle on all along. But before we get to that, we're also getting Donna having all of her flashbacks, which is intercut with the John Sims stuff happening. And so you've actually got 3 different things happening at once, is Donna going to die? Everybody's turning into the master race. I still want that. And then we get, I get chills with that narration when he says, you know, this was the day, the time lords returned, and then for galafre, for victory, for the end of time itself, I just, I'm getting chills now. I, I, it's just incredible that, it's, they, you look at me complete just staying. Listeners, it's like, you know, Nathan's in one corner, like, you know, Jolly, Jolene, Peter's looking at me like, really, really. I do think that dialogue's a bit rubbish. Oh, it's super ripe, but of course it is. But it sells it. I just think it is, it's stunning. It gets to me every single time. I've got problems with the episode. You'll notice in my special book here. I've said, look at your special book. Not bad. I'm not in love with it. 7 out of 10 because I really, there are these moments that just get to me, which currently the current writing of Doctor Who doesn't do. Not bad, 7 out of 10. I am not in love with it. Is this your story notes or is this your little black book? Go away. I invited you. So I loved you in your race. Can I just say as well, that's taking Russell back to the start. That's that three-tiered cliffhanger, which was the 1st one he ever did for aliens of London. But admittedly, that cliffhanger was 3 instances of people unzipping themselves and threatening someone. Do you know what I mean? Like it, wow, that sounded... Yeah, that's right. So that didn't quite work. I mean, it worked in the sense that it lent on Jackie Tyler and how much we love her already, and it was Jackie Tyler in peril. So this has everyone turning into the master, Donna, who we also love in peril, with some exciting little flashback moments, which is sort of pretty cool. And then you've got James Bond himself in his richest kind of voice, in profile, spitting as he delivers this sort of terrifying speech because he's virtually rabid. Not the James Bond. Anyone cares about, no, but one of the best ones ever, though. Oh, don't you dare. You know that they actually initially asked Patrick Stewart. I don't think he's as good an actor as Timothy Doctor. I'm glad it's Timothy Dalton and he's got that craggy face and everything. I think he looks, he absolutely looks the bar. The only thing I don't particularly like at this point in all this is I do think the cutting to all the different masters around the world and all the paners ups and zones out does go on too long. I do sit there going, oh, just please, just quickly. Yeah. Like it's just a little bit. I think it helps having one of the scenes, the reason that we're in the council estate is because that's where Winston lives, which is Wilf's friend. And so that's why we get to be there and we get to see that happening. But yeah, I wanted it to be June Whitfield. I love that zoom out. You get that zoom out where everybody on the balcony is the master. No, but don't we zoom out even further and we zoom out over London and all you can hear is the master laughing. And it's not moaha laughing. You know, I now control the world. He's laughing because he's just delighted to see himself, you know? I really feel for John Sim having to keep laughing and laughing. John, we need another laugh. We need another laugh. Can you get dressed into this? But also, again, it is the audience because they've just finished watching this episode, like the master. They're full of Christmas turkey and whatever else is stuffed. he's face with. And they're having a good old laugh because they've just had a good time as well. Well, that's all we have time for this Christmas. We'll be back next week to clean up the mess and say au revoir to David Tennant's doctor in the end of time, part two. In the meantime, you can find us wherever you get your podcasts and you can keep up with us at flight through entirety on Facebook at FDE Podcast on Twitter, and on our website, flight throughentirety.com, where you'll find links to our other podcasts Bondfinger, and Jody into Terror. Until next time, have a very merry Christmas. Enjoy your pork and beef and fat, and we'll see you again in 2021. Thank you very much for listening and good night. Ta-ta. Good night. See you soon. That was Flight 3 Entirety, starring Harold Saxon, Harold Saxon Harold Saxon, Harold Saxon. Theme arrangement by Harold Saxon, String's performance by Harold Saxon. This episode, Do Something Big, was recorded on the 13th of December 2020 and released on Christmas Day. Of course, if Georgia Tennant is listening, we would like to apologise for any negative comments this episode about David Tennant's bum. Please don't be mean to us on Twitter, Mrs. Tennant. It's Christmas. I think we'd probably end it there. Don't you think? Yeah. All right, let me just read. Maybe I should redo that in my end of episode, sort of voice. Don't spit on the certain hate. And so we pull out and the audience has had a great time and so they're laughing along as well. The end of time. For Gallifrey, for victory, for June Whitfield herself. So good. It's got to be it's asking a tissue. It's got to be, it has to be that big, I reckon. It just has to be. It's so good It's so good. It's got such gramitous. But you know, this 3 tier cliffhanger has Eros Lynn directing it. The 1st one had Keith Bowack directing it. Can I just say, I hate the way he says the word master. because he's no master. He's Welsh. He doesn't know any better. Oh, I thought it sounded American. I just kind of thought, oh, can you just say Mars? That's a Welsh thing. Yeah, okay. Okay.