Someone mentioned a while back about confusing John Simm with Simon Pegg, which is something that I did quite often back when they first came onto my radar. I don't think it was the looks, per se, but the names. Common first name, short odd last.

EOT2: I think one of the novels established The Doctor's father was Time Lord, and his mother was human. Which leaves Mysterious Time Lord woman as Romana. Of course, they do not treat the novels as canon, so who knows. And Who may know if they will ever tell us who she was meant to be, but I don't.

Speaking of Simon Pegg, wasn't he first in the queue having his book signed by Jessica Haynes-Stevenson? Must rewatch. I liked the fact that she showed up. "Were you?" .

The Guardian review specifically says that Claire Bloom played the Doctor's mother, and as reviewers have access to press packs, I'm going to assume that this is indeed the case. For a minute there I did think it might be the aged Timelord part of Donna (à la Jack/Face of Bo), but that might have been too complicated even for RTD .

Part One was something of a disappointment for me, so I'm glad that they pulled it out of the bag for Part Two, even if the valedictory ending went on too long. In the Confidential, RTD said that he assumes the new crew won't be using the old characters, so he wanted to wrap it up for everybody, which is fair enough .

EOT2: Jesus, that was self-indulgent. I think I feel dirty. Also, since when did Martha marry Mickey? Although they both looked awesome, I must admit.

Seriously, it just went on and on and on and ON. And I just watched the end of ROTK tonight, so I know from going ON AND ON. I'm ready for the end of the Rusty era. But that said, my first thought about Matt Smith's performance was: too much Tennant. I really wish they'd gone for a totally different type instead of another lanky wacky-haired young guy.

Oh, and also re Cactus Gal -- omg that was NINA! I kept trying to figure out where I knew her from. Awesome!

OK. As usual, I tend to think otherwise. God, just, give me a moment here, would ya? I'm still all teary, and it's a very good thing I type this, and you don't hear me sniffle in real time.

This was not the ending I was hoping for. While my expectations to EoT p.1 were huge, and indeed I was happy with most of what happened, I had none regarding to part 2. What would they be able to do that will make me gasp even more, cry (as in yelling, not as in crying) and get emotional over with that sense of wonder that part 1 didn't make me feel/react to? The computer stayed turned on during another not-getting-much-sleep-due-to-fever night, to get me the ep.

My sense of wonder, and any credit I ever wanted Ten to have, just as the credit he wanted to give to the Timelords, are gone. Devastated. I remember that last week someone mentioned that Nine had so much more dignity in him, and humor, when his time came. I didn't believe it until I watched part 2, where I saw Ten retreats into his most childish appearance ever. His way or the highway, which almost made me think that everything Ten ever was was a childish, overrated Doctor who couldn't face mature decisions unless when they were his decisions. It took me several long minutes to remind myself that it's not the case. This is not the Doctor, the Ten I loved. This is not the character that made me lose hours of sleep, from ecstasy about a new episode, or just browsing the internet to read reviews, commentaries, YouTube clips. And the more the ep. continues, the worse it got. Snapping at Wilf, despite I continue to dislike him, is not Ten. His death was not Ten, and I'm almost furious that Tennant's exit was the scared little boy who didn't want to be alone. Ten, IMO, was so much more.

Disliked: Wilf. The end of The Master. The use of the return of the Timelords for what, 40 minutes of an ep? That shit could last for a season! Also, what I rambled about in the previous paragraph. Ten's "reward" (oh, come on! That's no way to do a goodbye sequence montage!). All of the hints of Ten's "improper" relationship with humans (if that's improper, your entire series is improper, genius!).

Lurved:"Worst. Rescue. Ever!" (you see? THAT is my Ten). The master. Donna's mom, at times. The Ood. And the last, but hardly, hardly the least: ladies and gentlemen, the Cactus Gal ("that's racist!") rocked my world. Damn, she could have been a great sidekick. I know I'd love to see her again. Hell, she might have been the only character I could relate to in this... arrgh, I cannot believe this is the end of Ten. You know, just watched the ep, it'll take me time to accept it.

If you read so far, surely you'll understand why I can't wait for Matt Smith/Moffat era to start. I liked, not loved, his entrance ("I'm a girl...?"). Right now anything would be better, just to remove the aftertaste of disappointment over Ten's ending.

Somebody tell me I'm wrong. Convince me it was a good ending. I do not wish to remember Ten like this. Fuck you, RTD. Fuck you.

I need a hug. Or a strong drink. Could do both.

Passes the whiskey and the purring cat to Shir. I have to say that the end was not so much to serve the story, as to serve the storytellers.

How so, WindSparrow? I feel that both weren't served well by this story.

Shir, the long goodbye montage was definitely what Rusty wanted rather than what the story demanded, Ten saying he didn't want to go - that felt like it was supposed to be a message from Tennant to the fans instead of the Doctor's voice. Except, who knows for sure what Tennant really feels, I just imagine him feeling that way.

EoT2: Now that I have a few minutes, I have to say that LotR was the first thing that popped into my head about when we saw Jack (and then Donna. And then Rose). I liked seeing everyone but I felt like it detracted - significantly - from the storytelling. The one thing I did like about that long ending was knowing that apparently the Doctor forgave/understood Jack in some way for CoE.

I have always liked the Master so his decision to work on the Doctor's side at the very end made me happy. Having said that, I'm not sure who either of the two mysterious women were (were they just one?) and it seems like cheating a bit to introduce some random woman at the end and have it be *her* face that made the Doctor's decision.

I have decided that the Time Lords must have been working from the past, which wasn't at all clear, and not simply chilling in their time locked bubble. But, that part of the plot was lame, I thought. I have read fic that did a much more coherent job of bringing back the time lords.

Not a hug fan of Eleven off the bat, but I bet that's afairly normal reaction. I liked Nine but hated Rose and didn't really like Ten or even enjoy the show until she was gone. I loved Wilf and I like seeing the Doctor interact with someone who wasn't attracted to him. I thought Donna was wasted and was hoping there was more to her involvement.

Finally, despite my criticisms, I mostly liked it. The Cacti were great, I liked all Wilf's interactions with Ten, I loved the Master stuff, and even Ten's tantrum while Wilt was in the box added to the story/character. I saw DT say somewhere that with a character like the Doctor, you can only tell this sort of story at the end because he can't really change until he does. So I liked seeing the Doctor struggle with his own end, even though he's not really ending.

Stephanie, I believe that the Time Lords were, indeed, acting from the past, from inside the time bubble, and I believe it was simply during the last few moments while the Doctor was outside it, doing what needed to be done to end the Time Wars. There was mention of needing the signal to travel through Time as well as space.