Journey's End (Doctor Who)

Writing

The episode is the culmination of all four series of Doctor Who produced by Russell T Davies;^[2] dialogue in the episode refers to the events of "The Christmas Invasion", in which the Doctor had his hand amputated and regrown while fighting against the Sycorax.^[3] Russell T Davies started writing "Journey's End" in January 2008.^[4] At 65 minutes in length, it was approximately 20 minutes longer than a standard fourth-series episode.^[5]

The music during the travel back to Earth's original place is the "Song of Freedom" heard at the end of "Planet of the Ood" and appearing on the series' soundtrack.^[6]

This episode's original ending involved the Doctor, following the final scene where he is alone in the TARDIS, being alerted to something on the monitor and as he checks two Cybermen rise up behind him.^[7] This was supposed to lead directly into the 2008 Christmas special "The Next Doctor", but Davies was convinced by Benjamin Cook (who was corresponding with Davies for the book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale) to drop the scene, as he felt that a cliffhanger was not appropriate after such a sad ending.

Casting

Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri make their first appearances in Doctor Who since "Doomsday".^[8] K9 (voiced by John Leeson) makes his first appearance since The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Lost Boy,^[9] and his first in Doctor Who since "School Reunion".^[10] Several former companions return for the episode including John Barrowman, Billie Piper, and Elisabeth Sladen.^[11]

Filming

Castell Coch, situated close to Doctor Who's Upper Boat Studios, is used as the German castle.^[12] The beach at Southerndown, a few miles west of Cardiff, is used once more as Norway's fictional Dårlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay).^[13][14] Some exterior scenes, including various companions interacting with Daleks, were shot at Arcot Street, Penarth.^[15]

One significant feature of this episode is the creation of another Doctor. Unlike the multiple Doctors of stories such as The Three Doctors, "The Five Doctors" and The Two Doctors, where his previous incarnations were played by actors or depicted in old footage, this Doctor is identical in appearance to the Tenth Doctor. In the accompanying Doctor Who Confidential for this episode, Davies explains "This is so busy and so mental and so epic and universal in scale that of course you need two Doctors to solve it."^[16]

Phil Collinson, Graeme Harper, and David Tennant discuss the use of the double, a musician named Colum Regan^[17] who is a very good physical match for Tennant. Collinson explains that while with an unlimited budget they would use Tennant in every shot, "we only have a certain number of effects shots where you can see the two Doctors together, so we have to pick those carefully." Harper explained that in "two or three wide shots" they were able to use Regan and Tennant together; for the most part the double is used for scenes where one or the other Doctor is only seen from behind, or only an arm or back of the head is seen in a shot. The double has appeared in other episodes throughout the series. Tennant described the procedure for making an effects shot involving Tennant as both Doctors. The camera is locked in place while Tennant goes off and changes clothing, with Regan holding his place.^[16]

A scene filmed showed the Doctor giving Rose's Doctor a small piece of "coral" from the TARDIS so that he could grow his own TARDIS.^[18] This was removed in the last edit of the episode, but was ultimately cut because the production team felt it made the Bad Wolf Bay scene "too long and complicated"^[19] and that producing another TARDIS should not be seen to be so easy.^[19] The clip was included on the Series 4 DVD boxset.^[19] The Doctor's reply to Rose's statement of love is specified to Rose but left unheard to the audience; Davies deliberately left the reply ambiguous when he wrote "Doomsday". Executive producer Julie Gardner stated on the "Doomsday" commentary and the Doctor Who Confidential special for "Journey's End" that the Doctor requited her love.^[20][16]

Another additional scene with Donna was cut from the final episode: "There was an additional Donna bit after this goodbye from the Doctor, which is when he goes outside into the TARDIS, we cut back into the kitchen, and there's a moment where Donna hears the TARDIS... there's a moment of realisation, and then she turns back round and carries on talking into the phone."^[7] Gardner considered this scene untruthful and too confusing, since Donna remembering would lead to her death, and since she didn't recognise the Doctor it wouldn't make sense to assume she would recognise the noise of the TARDIS.^[21]

Broadcast

The episode was screened free in Trafalgar Square in London as part of Pride London 2008.^{[citation needed]} The series three finale was previously planned to be shown during the 2007 event, but was cancelled as a security measure.^[22] A teaser trailer was appended to promote the 2008 Christmas Special, "The Next Doctor.^[8]

"Journey's End" was watched by 10.57 million viewers when broadcast on BBC One,^[23] giving it a 45.9% share of the total television audience. The episode was the most-viewed programme of the week; "Journey's End" is the first Doctor Who episode to receive this rank. It also received an Appreciation Index score of 91, equalling the record for the programme set by its predecessor "The Stolen Earth".^[24][25] "Journey's End" was the first science fiction–based series to achieve a No. 1 placing in the UK television ratings in 32 years after a July 1976 broadcast of The Bionic Woman.^[26]

The episode premiered in Canada on 12 December 2008. Although the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is credited as a co-producer, the CBC used a version used for international distribution that cut 21 minutes from the episode to fit it in a 60-minute timeslot with advertising. This edit removed numerous subplots as well as the final farewells by the various companions, as well as the final scene of the Doctor alone in his TARDIS. The CBC subsequently streamed the unedited version of the episode on its website.^[27]

Critical reception

The Daily Telegraph's John Preston states that this episode of Doctor Who "[a]s usual...served up a lot more than mere excitement." He credits Doctor Who's success partly to its "richly defined characters behaving in readily identifiable ways."^[28] Also of The Daily Telegraph, Sarah Crompton wrote that the episode was "exciting, incomprehensible, satisfying and slightly irritating all at the same time". Although Crompton said, "It was inevitable that the start would be an anti-climax", she praised the special effects and also noted that she would miss "the warmth and humour" that Tate brought to the series.^[29] Lucy Mangan in a humorous review for The Guardian that rewrites the dialogue between Tennant's and Cribbins' characters at the end as a discussion of the plot, described it as providing "something for everyone".^[30] In The Times, Andrew Billen called "Journey's End" "a spectacular finale that... gave the lie to the truism that more always, dramatically speaking, adds up to less."^[31]

Mark Wright of The Stage likens "Journey's End" to "one big house of cards...[that] will come crashing down" if thought about too much. However, he had no problem with the resolution of "The Stolen Earth"'s cliffhanger and is critical of those who complain about feeling cheated by the lack of a regeneration. Though he expresses that he saw little need for Mickey and Jackie in this episode, he asserts that Donna had "the saddest end for a companion ever" and praises Davies for just managing to keep the plot together. He argues that as Davies "writes the emotions and big themes so well...blow logic and rational plot moments if they get in the way!" He compares Davies's writing style to "PT Barnum showmanship" and praises both the dark and light elements of the episode. He concludes that, if not overthought, the episode remains "an audacious, big, silly, often poignant season finale".^[32]

Dave Golder of SFX says "If, while your brain is telling you, 'This is crap!' your heart is still doing backflips then it's your kind of episode." He praises the action sequences and the portrayal of Davros, Donna, Rose and the Doctor, but remarks that the overcrowding of minor characters made parts of the script seem "underdeveloped" and describes the Daleks as mostly "[c]annon fodder". "[The] plot does hang together, but only just". Overall, he describes the episode as "exceptional" but "not perfect".^[12]

Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy describes the episode as "a satisfying and epic crowdpleasing conclusion" to the series and particularly praises Tate and Donna's exit. He states the episode mixes poignant and haunting scenes with "'punch the air' moments and fan-pleasing twists." Noting the episode is "not entirely flawless", he is critical of the Daleks' seemingly "too convenient" demise, arguing that it undermines their menace.^[33] Writing for the Doctor Who blog on the Radio Times website, William Gallagher called "Journey's End" "event drama" and "party television". He stated that the resolution to the regeneration cliff-hanger left him feeling "a bit cheated", but praised the episode's characterisation, concluding that David Tennant "has been the best Doctor of them all" and that "Doctor Who is the best drama on TV: it's the one with most verve and spark and exuberant excitement."^[34]

IGN's Travis Fickett gave a negative review of this episode, claiming 'it misses the mark in almost every way' and 'plays like the most outrageous of fan fiction.' He claimed the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Doctor-Donna 'stretch credulity so far that it becomes translucent', and that 'it's sort of silly to even bring Rose back when you've got the episode stuffed with almost every other character from the series'.^[35]

A poll conducted by Radio Times in 2015 found that readers voted the series four finale as the greatest series finale of Doctor Who.^[36]

Billie Piper publicly stated that she was disappointed with the conclusion of Rose's character arc. Writing for Comic Book Resources Brian Power agreed with Piper and felt that the ending was out of character for Rose.^[37]