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.

I see, WindSparrow, and I agree.

Stephanie, as for the two mysterious women, I thought they were the ones who opposed James Bond's offer for the Timelords to rise, and that was their punishment.

Normally, I'm pretty down with the timey-wimey aspects of the show, but I thought the voiceover in the beginning of EoT1 made it seem like the President Time Lord was watching Earth on Christmas Day. I can see how he could have been doing it from the past, but it just felt present day to me, which confused me. Which is my way of saying that I agree with you but it confused me. Does this mean that the Doctor ended his race twice? Although I guess it was the Master this time .

I totally agree with Andi's thoughts about whom the ending(s) served.

Which kind of peeved me when it came to the plaintive "I don't want to go." I actually said to the screen, "Really? You've been torturing us with this for a year and NOW you need to manipulate us like this? Gack.

Oddly, the montage of ROTK proportions was my favorite part of the episode .

I also agree that it would have been better if 11 showed a more distinct personality. But I suspect there will eventually be more specific differences. The whole set up seemed to be geared for a 'soft landing' for the traumatized fans.

But I suspect there will eventually be more specific differences.

The season trailer I saw was so much more promising and exciting than the tidbit we got within the show. It is definitely a palate cleanser.

The whole set up seemed to be geared for a 'soft landing' for the traumatized fans

Which is such a mixed message following the self-serving goodbye. Rip the f-ing bandage off, I say. It really does hurt less.

I'm not worried about 11's personality. Moffat will be in charge of him, and I trust the man to do his job well staring at Rusty. No, really.

And yes, I would not have been traumatized unless someone thought it is a good idea to try and get the inner maternal instinct in me out. I didn't feel so sorry for Ten in the end. Poor thing, doesn't want to go. Bo-ho. I did feel sorry for the lousy, unjust ending that character got. Someone murdered Ten in front of my eyes from the very beginning of the episode, so I just couldn't bring myself to identify with the alien he was at the end of it.

Rusty, you're ON THE LIST. At least until I'll remember the good work you did.

Rip the f-ing bandage off, I say. It really does hurt less.

Amen, sister. Also? more fun. Metaphorically speaking.

Frankly, I thought the bulk of this was just poor storytelling. I have no patience for creators who put their personal emotional desires over the needs of the story, and fully 30% of this two-parter was Rusty indulging himself. We didn't need to see all the Companions again (and since when does Jack need help pulling someone?), the story got positively repetitive in spots (how many times did Ten switch the gun around? Six? Eight?), and it did ferocious damage to the characters. Martha marrying Mickey is a straight-out retcon as far as I'm concerned (I liked Tom!).

I was tired of the "oh noes I'm going to die!" bullshit in the first ten minutes of Part 1, and I lost all sympathy for the Doctor when he started ranting at poor Wilf for having done the right thing and getting stuck in the box.

The Doctor Does Not Whinge. That's why he's the Doctor, damnit.

So, yeah. Bring on Moffatt, I say. Maybe we'll see Sally Sparrow again.

Man, that whiny ass rant at Wilf was awful. I mean, sure, it wasn't actually AT Wilf, but it was NEAR him, a guy who had done nothing but respect, support, and love the Doctor. Thus ensuring that when the Doctor DID finally get around to saving Wilf, then he would be wracked with guilt about killing the Doctor.

I mean, REALLY.

Watching the Confidential today made me roll my eyes so hard. Tom pointed out that the tantrum WAS actually, totally Ten. Which is sadly true.