First, a meme, stolen from evil_little_dog; it surprised me, since I *sigh* had to guess on a number of the questions...

Your result for The Are You Truly Erudite? Test...

The Librarian

Take The Are You Truly Erudite? Test at HelloQuizzy

Others have said things in a much more erudite manner, notably rahirah and shipperx; still, it's been preying on my mind, telling me that I take television shows WAY too seriously and I probably need therapy. My feelings? I'm easily entertained and I don't usually demand a great deal apart from enjoying myself while I watch. I've LOVED Season 4 all the way through and Donna easily comes in as my second-favorite of all time companions (making her a fit match for my second-favorite Doctor) - she's sharp, she's fun, she's quick on her feet, and she's just a person. And a redhead, even. Without any pretense to anything but being an ordinary woman capable of extraordinary things who realized she passed up something great and went to enormous lengths to get it back. She had more determination and stick-to-itiveness than almost any other character I've ever seen on TV (at least, without being totally annoying). She gave the Doctor something he has always needed - a companion who would tell him "NO!" and mean it. Rumors and portents that she was going to die in the finale upset me, but I understood that Catherine Tate had only signed for one season, and Donna announcing she would travel with the Doctor "forever" sealed her fate.

But what was actually done to her seemed SO much worse to me in so many ways - with the Doctor she grew. She emerged stronger, prouder, brave and resourceful. A woman who would never let her mother browbeat her anymore. But by wiping all her memories of her time with the Doctor, she was sentenced to return to being who she was before she traveled time and space. Before she helped save just one family in Pompeii, before she helped free an entire race from slavery, before she helped repel an alien invasion of Earth (or two). Before she discovered herself.

I hope they get Catherine Tate back, and give Donna back her memories, so she can SMACK TEN ACROSS THE HEAD for so high-handedly deciding how to deal with the problem of her having absorbed the Time Lord Regeneration. (I read a comment on a board where the blow would have been softened for us if we'd seen a future Donna where she managed to do all this stuff for herself WITHOUT the Doctor - and I agree. We could have seen how she turned out, at least. Although others keep pointing out that a lot of focus was put on the big ring she was wearing during the "regeneration" scene. Who knows? Catherine Tate may come back somehow...)

Aside from that? I didn't like Rose being satisfied with a pale replica of the man she'd fallen in love with. Seems to me that Ten-Mark-Two, sure, looks like Ten and has all the Doctor's memories, but he's not a Time Lord and he doesn't come with a wondrous machine to travel through Time and Space, which was what really hooked Rose. That is, the Rose who cared more about saving the universe than having a happy, safe life "eating chips." And wasn't settling down with a mortgage TOTALLY distasteful to the Doctor? Of course, she works for Torchwood in that other universe - who knows? Torchwood's resources, the Doctor's intelligence, inventiveness, and memories? Who knows what they might come up with. Still, it bugged me. It was like saying, "Well, you can't have me, but here - it's sort of like me. You'll come to love him as much as you do me." (And apart from the ending, how suddenly was it so easy for the TARDIS to go back to the parallel universe? Wasn't just using the teleportals still interfering with the fabric of reality - as Mickey said? It's okay to rip holes in it now? Without Time Lords?)

Stuff I did love? The scenes between the DoctorDonna and DonnaDoctor. GOD, Tennant and Tate play well together! They obviously loved getting a chance to mimic each other. (That may have been what made this season sparkle so much for me, too; chemistry abounds, and just good actor chemistry, without ANY romantic overtones at all - if anything, Donna was the Big Sister the Doctor has needed since... well, probably since at least Four, who had Romana in that position, and maybe Three, who kind of had one in Liz). Dalek Caan was awesome. Davros, likewise. The bad science? It's Doctor Who; I can handle them towing the Earth across time and space. I loved, loved, loved the scenes with Jack, Sarah Jane, and Mickey ("And who do I find? Mickey Mouse!" "You can talk, Captain Cheesecake." "Good to see ya! And thats Beefcake." "And that's enough hugging.") Donna wanting Jack to hug her (and what woman wouldn't want that?). Sarah Jane and Davros seeing each other again, after decades or centuries or both. The Gwen/Gwenyth thing. Tosh saving the day from beyond the grave. Naked Ten-clone. Daleks speaking German. K-9!

In other words, I would have been overjoyed if it hadn't been for what happened to Donna...

At least I know I'm not the only one horrified (apparently even Phil Collinson and Julie Gardner (Who producers) were upset).


I also liked the most recent Frank Rich column. I'll post it later.