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Journey's End (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
"Journey's End" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth series
of British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
first broadcast on BBC One
on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
, preceded by "The Stolen Earth
". At 65 minutes in length, it was the longest regular episode of Doctor Who, approximately 20 minutes longer than a standard revived series episode.
(David Tennant
) is regenerating
inside the TARDIS
. Once his body has healed, he halts the transformation by transferring the remaining energy into his severed hand. The TARDIS is captured by the Daleks and transported to the Crucible, the Dalek flagship at the heart of the 27 planets. The Doctor and his previous companions Jack Harkness
(John Barrowman
) and Rose Tyler
(Billie Piper
) leave the TARDIS, but Donna Noble
(Catherine Tate
) is locked in. The Supreme Dalek orders the TARDIS to be destroyed; in the process, Donna collapses by the Doctor's severed hand, and activates the energy stored in the hand to form another Doctor, who saves the TARDIS from destruction.
Concurrently, Torchwood
employees Gwen Cooper
(Eve Myles
) and Ianto Jones
(Gareth David-Lloyd
) find safety from an advancing Dalek in an impenetrable time lock created by their deceased colleague Toshiko Sato
. Sarah Jane Smith
(Elisabeth Sladen
) is saved from a Dalek extermination by Rose's ex-boyfriend Mickey Smith
(Noel Clarke
) and mother Jackie Tyler
(Camille Coduri
); all three surrender themselves to the Daleks and are taken to the Crucible. Martha Jones
(Freema Agyeman
) teleports to a castle near Nuremberg
, enters a secret UNIT bunker, and attempts to establish communications with four other similar bunkers across the globe.
The Doctor and Rose are taken to Davros
(Julian Bleach
), creator of the Daleks. The Doctor taunts Davros for his low status among the Daleks, but Davros in turn retorts that the Doctor is as much a monster as he. Davros explains that the 27 stolen planets form a compression field which can cancel the electrical energy of atoms. The resulting "reality bomb" has the potential to destroy all matter in every universe; reality itself would be destroyed.
After the device is tested, the Daleks receive two transmissions: Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jack, and Jackie threaten to destroy the Crucible using a "warpstar" that Sarah Jane has, and Martha threatens to use the Osterhagen Key, a last-resort device which would destroy the Earth by setting off a chain of nuclear warheads. Their actions cause Davros to challenge the Doctor's reliance on his companions. The companions, however, are transported to the Vault before they can execute their plans, whereupon Davros gloats over his seeming victory and makes the Doctor reflect over the deaths he has caused and the sheer number of people who have died for him. Davros then summarises the Doctor as "the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not... out of shame!" and says, "This is my final victory Doctor; I have shown you... yourself."
Davros gives the order to detonate the reality bomb, but as he glories in his apparent victory, the TARDIS materialises in front of him. The other Doctor and Donna run out, but are stunned by Davros' energy blasts. The blast activates Time Lord
knowledge imbued within Donna when she helped create the second Doctor, and she disables the reality bomb, Davros and the Daleks. The two Doctors help her relocate the missing planets, but the control panel is destroyed by the Supreme Dalek before Earth can be relocated. In the confusion, Davros asks Dalek Caan why he didn't foresee this, but the Doctor realises that he had. Caan confirms this, citing that having witnessed the atrocities committed by the Daleks throughout time and space, Caan sought to bring an end to it.
Motivated by Dalek Caan's prophecy of the Daleks' extinction, and knowing the Daleks could still take the universe by force, with or without the reality bomb, the new Doctor destroys the Daleks and the Crucible. The original Doctor offers to save Davros, who refuses, accusing the Doctor of being responsible for the destruction and naming him as "the Destroyer of Worlds". The companions flee into the TARDIS as the Crucible self-destructs, and "tow" the Earth back into its original orbit with the aid of Sarah Jane's supercomputer Mr Smith
, her robotic dog K-9
, and the spatiotemporal rift in Cardiff
.
In the dénouement of the episode, the Doctor parts ways with his companions: Sarah Jane returns home to her son Luke; Mickey leaves with Martha and Jack; and the Doctor returns Rose and Jackie to the parallel universe in which they were trapped in "Doomsday
". Determined to stay with the real Doctor, Rose asks both what was the last thing the Doctor said to her before the transmission ended in Doomsday. The other Doctor whispers the response to Rose and they kiss, while the real Doctor and Donna leave the parallel world in the TARDIS forever. After departing, Donna becomes overwhelmed by the Time Lord knowledge. To save her life, the Doctor is forced to wipe her mind of all memories of her time with him. Returning Donna to her mother's Chiswick home essentially as she was before meeting him, the Doctor explains to her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
) and grandfather Wilfred Mott
(Bernard Cribbins
) that Donna must never remember him, even for a second, because her mind will burn up and she will die if she does. The Doctor goes on to tell them how Donna has become a hero to many across the universe, pointedly implying to Sylvia that this should give her cause to be kinder to her daughter. The Doctor parts amicably with Wilfred, and returns to his TARDIS in a state of obvious misery.
produced by Russell T Davies; dialogue in the episode refers to the events of "The Christmas Invasion
", in which the Doctor had his hand amputated and regrown during a sword fight and to the Ood
naming the time travellers "Doctor-Donna" in "Planet of the Ood
." The episode refers to Genesis of the Daleks
; Davros mentions Sarah Jane's presence on Skaro
at the creation of the race.
The fictional Dårlig Ulv Stranden (Norwegian
: Bad Wolf Bay) seen at the end of "Doomsday" is revisited. The Doctor's reply to Rose's statement of love is specified to Rose but left unheard; 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.
Davros
's taunts give the Doctor a series of flashbacks of all the people in the revived series who died for or near him. Those include the humanoid Jabe ("The End of the World
"), the Controller of Satellite 5 ("Bad Wolf
"), Lynda Moss ("The Parting of the Ways
"), Sir Robert MacLeish ("Tooth and Claw
"), Mrs Moore ("The Age of Steel
"), the majority of LINDA ("Love & Monsters
"), the Face of Boe
("Gridlock
"), Chantho ("Utopia
"), Astrid Peth
("Voyage of the Damned
"), Luke Rattigan ("The Poison Sky
"), Jenny
("The Doctor's Daughter
"), River Song
("Forest of the Dead
"), and the Hostess ("Midnight
") as well as Harriet Jones
from the previous episode
.
Davros refers to the Doctor as "The Destroyer of Worlds". The first reference to this phrase is from the novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks
, which states that the Daleks, in their own language, refer to the Doctor as Ka Faraq Gatri, which translates either as "Bringer of Darkness" or "Destroyer of Worlds".
In the episode "Victory of the Daleks
", the Eleventh Doctor
refers to the events of "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" when he asks Amy
to help him explain to Winston Churchill
about the true nature of the Daleks. Mysteriously, Amy has no memory of these events. He later concludes in "Flesh and Stone
", when faced with the cracks in the universe, that these Daleks were absorbed by the crack and erased from history.
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.
and that producing another TARDIS should not be seen to be so easy. The clip was included on the Series 4 DVD boxset.
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." 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.
, situated minutes away from Doctor Whos Upper Boat Studios
, is used as the German castle. The beach at Southerndown
, a few miles west of Cardiff
, is used once more as Norway
's fictional Darlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay).
Some exterior scenes, including various companions interacting with Daleks, were shot at Arcot Street, Penarth.
". K-9 Mark IV (voiced by John Leeson
) makes his first appearance since The Sarah Jane Adventures
story The Lost Boy
, and his first in Doctor Who since "School Reunion
".
Former Blue Peter
presenter Gethin Jones
controlled one of the Daleks that escorts the human prisoners aboard the Crucible. He previously played a Cyberman
in "Rise of the Cybermen" and has made a cameo appearance
as himself in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures in the episode "Invasion of the Bane
".
, 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." Phil Collinson, Graeme Harper, and David Tennant discuss the use of the double, a musician called Colum Regan 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 is then shown directing a scene in which both Regan and Tennant are shown around the TARDIS console. Harper explains 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. Over documentary footage showing the shooting of the scene where the new Doctor emerges from the TARDIS, Tennant describes 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. A shot is made for reference with Regan, then another shot is made without Regan. This enables the shots to be merged during editing to create the effect of having David Tennant in two places in the same shot.
in London
as part of Pride London 2008
; the third series
finale
was planned to be shown during the 2007 event, but was cancelled as a security measure. A teaser trailer
was appended to promote the 2008 Christmas Special.
"Journey's End" was watched by 10.57 million viewers when broadcast on BBC1, 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".
A story on the BBC News website
described fan reaction of the serials on the Digital Spy
and Ain't It Cool News
forums as "mixed".
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.
John Preston states that this episode of Doctor Who "[a]s usual...served up a lot more than mere excitement." He credits Doctor Whos success partly to its "richly defined characters behaving in readily identifiable ways." Also of The 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. 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". 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."
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".
Writing for The Mirror, Jim Shelley
is highly critical of this episode in his review, describing it as "[d]emented rather than dazzling". He was confused by the two Doctors played by David Tennant, saw little development in Donna across the series and was puzzled by the Doctor's attempt to save his arch-enemy, Davros. He claims that "amidst all the shrieking, shouting, and mock opera
tic bluster, [he was] sure [he] saw a kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. Riddled with scientific mumbo-jumbo, it was too chaotic and long-winded to be the classic farewell Russell T Davies promised." He argues that the plot "went haywire" and that "Rose and the two Tennants acted out a sort of twisted ménage à trois
." In conclusion he states, "Tennant's cheeky chappie mannerisms made the show into an extraterrestrial EastEnders
."
In Scotland's Daily Record
, Paul English called the episode "yet another fizzing Doctor Who adventure" and said that "Writer and producer Russell T Davies makes TV with the epic feel of the movies. He gets more tension, humour and emotion into an hour of telly than many films manage in twice the time with double the budget." He lamented that "Journey's End" "lacked the goofiness" of the series' 2005 return, but concluded that the finale was "TV gold".
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. 'Journey's End' is almost a two fingers up at technobabble
; there's certainly tons of it in the episode, but it's largely irrelevant." He praises the action sequences and the portrayal of Donna, Davros, 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".
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. 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." John Beresford of TV Scoop called the finale "just about the most exciting Doctor Who episode [he could] ever remember", and "a fantastically imaginative, exciting and action-packed finale to the fourth series."
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 5 July 2008. It is the second episode of a two-part crossover story featuring the characters of spin-off shows Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
and The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
, preceded by "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
". At 65 minutes in length, it was the longest regular episode of Doctor Who, approximately 20 minutes longer than a standard revived series episode.
Synopsis
The episode continues on from the end of "The Stolen Earth"; the DoctorDoctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
(David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
) is regenerating
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
inside the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
. Once his body has healed, he halts the transformation by transferring the remaining energy into his severed hand. The TARDIS is captured by the Daleks and transported to the Crucible, the Dalek flagship at the heart of the 27 planets. The Doctor and his previous companions Jack Harkness
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
(John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
) and Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
(Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
) leave the TARDIS, but Donna Noble
Donna Noble
Donna Noble is a fictional character played by Catherine Tate in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A secretary from Chiswick, London, she is a companion of the Tenth Doctor, appearing in one scene at the end of the final episode of the 2006 series,...
(Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
) is locked in. The Supreme Dalek orders the TARDIS to be destroyed; in the process, Donna collapses by the Doctor's severed hand, and activates the energy stored in the hand to form another Doctor, who saves the TARDIS from destruction.
Concurrently, Torchwood
Torchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
employees Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
(Eve Myles
Eve Myles
Eve Myles is an award winning Welsh actress of stage and screen. She is best known to Welsh audiences for her portrayal of Ceri Owen in the BBC Wales drama Belonging, and to audiences worldwide for her role as Gwen Cooper in the science fiction show Torchwood, a spin-off from Doctor Who.-Personal...
) and Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television series Torchwood, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A series regular, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwoods parent show, Doctor Who...
(Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd
Gareth David-Lloyd is a Welsh actor best known for his role as Ianto Jones in the British science fiction television programme Torchwood.- Early life :...
) find safety from an advancing Dalek in an impenetrable time lock created by their deceased colleague Toshiko Sato
Toshiko Sato
is a fictional character from the television series Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood, played by Naoko Mori. After a one-off appearance in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London" , Toshiko is re-introduced as a series regular in the Torchwood 2006 premiere episode "Everything Changes"...
. Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
(Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Sladen
Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen was an English actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series Doctor Who. She was a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside both Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and reprised the role many times in subsequent decades, both on...
) is saved from a Dalek extermination by Rose's ex-boyfriend Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith
Mickey Smith is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Noel Clarke.Mickey is introduced as the boyfriend of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, and a recurring character on the programme...
(Noel Clarke
Noel Clarke
Noel Anthony Clarke is an English actor, director and screenwriter from London. He is best known for playing Wyman Norris in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Mickey Smith in Doctor Who...
) and mother Jackie Tyler
Jackie Tyler
In "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" Coduri plays a parallel Earth version of Jackie. In this universe, she is still married to Pete, but they have no children, although she has a Yorkshire terrier named Rose. Despite Pete's success, which has led to Jackie becoming a celebrity, they...
(Camille Coduri
Camille Coduri
Camille Coduri is an English actress. She is best known for her role in Doctor Who as Jackie Tyler.-Career:She featured in the film comedies Nuns on the Run and King Ralph...
); all three surrender themselves to the Daleks and are taken to the Crucible. Martha Jones
Martha Jones
Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, replacing Rose Tyler...
(Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman
Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is best known for playing Martha Jones, former companion of the Tenth Doctor in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and itsspin-off series Torchwood...
) teleports to a castle near Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, enters a secret UNIT bunker, and attempts to establish communications with four other similar bunkers across the globe.
The Doctor and Rose are taken to Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
(Julian Bleach
Julian Bleach
Julian Bleach is an English actor who is best known as co-creator and "M. C." of Shockheaded Peter, a musical entertainment based on the works of Heinrich Hoffmann, which won the 2002 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.Bleach trained at LAMDA...
), creator of the Daleks. The Doctor taunts Davros for his low status among the Daleks, but Davros in turn retorts that the Doctor is as much a monster as he. Davros explains that the 27 stolen planets form a compression field which can cancel the electrical energy of atoms. The resulting "reality bomb" has the potential to destroy all matter in every universe; reality itself would be destroyed.
After the device is tested, the Daleks receive two transmissions: Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jack, and Jackie threaten to destroy the Crucible using a "warpstar" that Sarah Jane has, and Martha threatens to use the Osterhagen Key, a last-resort device which would destroy the Earth by setting off a chain of nuclear warheads. Their actions cause Davros to challenge the Doctor's reliance on his companions. The companions, however, are transported to the Vault before they can execute their plans, whereupon Davros gloats over his seeming victory and makes the Doctor reflect over the deaths he has caused and the sheer number of people who have died for him. Davros then summarises the Doctor as "the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not... out of shame!" and says, "This is my final victory Doctor; I have shown you... yourself."
Davros gives the order to detonate the reality bomb, but as he glories in his apparent victory, the TARDIS materialises in front of him. The other Doctor and Donna run out, but are stunned by Davros' energy blasts. The blast activates Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
knowledge imbued within Donna when she helped create the second Doctor, and she disables the reality bomb, Davros and the Daleks. The two Doctors help her relocate the missing planets, but the control panel is destroyed by the Supreme Dalek before Earth can be relocated. In the confusion, Davros asks Dalek Caan why he didn't foresee this, but the Doctor realises that he had. Caan confirms this, citing that having witnessed the atrocities committed by the Daleks throughout time and space, Caan sought to bring an end to it.
Motivated by Dalek Caan's prophecy of the Daleks' extinction, and knowing the Daleks could still take the universe by force, with or without the reality bomb, the new Doctor destroys the Daleks and the Crucible. The original Doctor offers to save Davros, who refuses, accusing the Doctor of being responsible for the destruction and naming him as "the Destroyer of Worlds". The companions flee into the TARDIS as the Crucible self-destructs, and "tow" the Earth back into its original orbit with the aid of Sarah Jane's supercomputer Mr Smith
Mr Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Mr Smith is a fictional extraterrestrial computer voiced by Alexander Armstrong which appears in the British children's science fiction television series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, with further minor appearances in the final two episodes of the fourth series of Doctor Who...
, her robotic dog K-9
K-9 (Doctor Who)
K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
, and the spatiotemporal rift in Cardiff
Cardiff Rift
The Cardiff Rift is a fictional wormhole in the science fiction television series Doctor Who and Torchwood, one end of which is located in Cardiff Bay, Wales. The other end is apparently floating freely through spacetime, and matter and radiation can pass through the Rift, allowing extraterrestrial...
.
In the dénouement of the episode, the Doctor parts ways with his companions: Sarah Jane returns home to her son Luke; Mickey leaves with Martha and Jack; and the Doctor returns Rose and Jackie to the parallel universe in which they were trapped in "Doomsday
Doomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...
". Determined to stay with the real Doctor, Rose asks both what was the last thing the Doctor said to her before the transmission ended in Doomsday. The other Doctor whispers the response to Rose and they kiss, while the real Doctor and Donna leave the parallel world in the TARDIS forever. After departing, Donna becomes overwhelmed by the Time Lord knowledge. To save her life, the Doctor is forced to wipe her mind of all memories of her time with him. Returning Donna to her mother's Chiswick home essentially as she was before meeting him, the Doctor explains to her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King
Jacqueline King
-Career:King trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After training she worked as an actor in Africa, Canada, America, Sri Lanka and UAE.On returning to the UK, she appeared in several Alan Ayckbourn productions, including the original runs of Comic Potential and the Damsels in Distress...
) and grandfather Wilfred Mott
Wilfred Mott
Wilfred "Wilf" Mott is a recurring fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Bernard Cribbins. He is the maternal grandfather of the Tenth Doctor's companion Donna Noble, and father of character Sylvia Noble...
(Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
) that Donna must never remember him, even for a second, because her mind will burn up and she will die if she does. The Doctor goes on to tell them how Donna has become a hero to many across the universe, pointedly implying to Sylvia that this should give her cause to be kinder to her daughter. The Doctor parts amicably with Wilfred, and returns to his TARDIS in a state of obvious misery.
Continuity
The episode is the culmination of all four series of Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
produced by Russell T Davies; dialogue in the episode refers to the events of "The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
", in which the Doctor had his hand amputated and regrown during a sword fight and to the Ood
Ood
The Ood are a fictional alien species with telepathic abilities from the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. In the series' narrative, they live in the distant future ....
naming the time travellers "Doctor-Donna" in "Planet of the Ood
Planet of the Ood
"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. It features the return of the Ood, who appeared in the second series episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".The episode...
." The episode refers to Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.-Plot:...
; Davros mentions Sarah Jane's presence on Skaro
Skaro
Skaro is a fictional planet from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who created by the writer Terry Nation as the home planet of the Daleks and, at times, the centre of the Dalek Empire....
at the creation of the race.
The fictional Dårlig Ulv Stranden (Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
: Bad Wolf Bay) seen at the end of "Doomsday" is revisited. The Doctor's reply to Rose's statement of love is specified to Rose but left unheard; Davies deliberately left the reply ambiguous when he wrote "Doomsday". Executive producer Julie Gardner
Julie Gardner
Julie Gardner is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of Doctor Who and its spin-off shows Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures...
stated on the "Doomsday" commentary and the Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly...
special for "Journey's End" that the Doctor requited her love.
Davros
Davros
Davros is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Davros is an archenemy of the Doctor and is the creator of the Doctor's deadliest enemies, the Daleks...
's taunts give the Doctor a series of flashbacks of all the people in the revived series who died for or near him. Those include the humanoid Jabe ("The End of the World
The End of the World (Doctor Who)
"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
"), the Controller of Satellite 5 ("Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
"Bad Wolf" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on June 11, 2005. The TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the Gamestation, also known as Satellite 5, where they must battle to survive the cruel games...
"), Lynda Moss ("The Parting of the Ways
The Parting of the Ways
"The Parting of the Ways" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 18 June 2005. It was the second episode of the two-part story that featured Christopher Eccleston making his last appearance as the Ninth Doctor...
"), Sir Robert MacLeish ("Tooth and Claw
Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
"Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...
"), Mrs Moore ("The Age of Steel
The Age of Steel
"The Age of Steel" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 20 May 2006 and is the second part of a two-part story that was the first to feature the Cybermen since Silver Nemesis in 1988. The first part, "Rise of the Cybermen", was...
"), the majority of LINDA ("Love & Monsters
Love & Monsters
"Love & Monsters" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In this episode, an ordinary man named Elton Pope becomes obsessed with a man called the Doctor and his strange blue box, and joins a group of like-minded people in hopes of finding him...
"), the Face of Boe
Face of Boe
The Face of Boe is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Not portrayed on-screen by an actor, the Face of Boe is a wholly mechanical effect, resembling in appearance a gigantic, wrinkly human-like head with, in place of hair, numerous tendrils which...
("Gridlock
Gridlock (Doctor Who)
"Gridlock" is the third episode from the third series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who which aired on 14 April 2007. The Doctor returns to a much grittier New Earth with Martha Jones and meets the Face of Boe one final time. But as New New York becomes a deadly...
"), Chantho ("Utopia
Utopia (Doctor Who)
"Utopia" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 16 June 2007 and is the eleventh episode of series three of the revived Doctor Who series...
"), Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth
Astrid Peth is a fictional character played by Kylie Minogue in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She is a one-off companion of the Tenth Doctor who appears in the episode "Voyage of the Damned", which was first broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007...
("Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned
Voyage of the Damned is the title of a 1974 book written by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, which was the basis of a 1976 drama film with the same title.The story was inspired by true events concerning the fate of the MS St...
"), Luke Rattigan ("The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
"), Jenny
Jenny (Doctor Who)
Jenny, portrayed by Georgia Moffett, is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She first appeared in the episode "The Doctor's Daughter", originally broadcast 10 May 2008...
("The Doctor's Daughter
The Doctor's Daughter
"The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008.- Synopsis :...
"), River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
("Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
"), and the Hostess ("Midnight
Midnight (Doctor Who)
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed much more emphasis on the role of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor than in the rest of the fourth series, with the...
") as well as Harriet Jones
Harriet Jones
Harriet Jones MP is a recurring fictional character played by Penelope Wilton in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Jones was introduced in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" as an MP who aids the...
from the previous episode
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
.
Davros refers to the Doctor as "The Destroyer of Worlds". The first reference to this phrase is from the novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 October to 26 October 1988....
, which states that the Daleks, in their own language, refer to the Doctor as Ka Faraq Gatri, which translates either as "Bringer of Darkness" or "Destroyer of Worlds".
In the episode "Victory of the Daleks
Victory of the Daleks
"Victory of the Daleks" is the third episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is written by Mark Gatiss and first broadcast on BBC One on 17 April 2010....
", the Eleventh Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
refers to the events of "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" when he asks Amy
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
to help him explain to Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
about the true nature of the Daleks. Mysteriously, Amy has no memory of these events. He later concludes in "Flesh and Stone
Flesh and Stone
"Flesh and Stone" is the fifth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, the episode was first broadcast on 1 May 2010 on BBC One...
", when faced with the cracks in the universe, that these Daleks were absorbed by the crack and erased from history.
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
Planet of the Ood
"Planet of the Ood" is the third episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 19 April 2008. It features the return of the Ood, who appeared in the second series episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit".The episode...
" and appearing on the series' soundtrack.
Writing
Russell T Davies started writing "Journey's End" in January 2008. 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. 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"and that producing another TARDIS should not be seen to be so easy. The clip was included on the Series 4 DVD boxset.
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." 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.
Locations
Castell CochCastell Coch
Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built on the remains of a genuine 13th-century fortification. It is situated on a steep hillside high above the village of Tongwynlais, to the north of Cardiff in Wales, and is a Grade I listed building as of 28 January 1963.Designed by William...
, situated minutes away from Doctor Whos Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios is a television studio complex operated by BBC Wales and based in Upper Boat, a village on the outskirts of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The studios were officially opened on 27 July 2006 by Welsh Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, for the purpose of producing Doctor...
, is used as the German castle. The beach at Southerndown
Southerndown
Southerndown is a village in South Wales to the southwest of Bridgend, close to St Brides Major, Llantwit Major and Ogmore-by-Sea. It is mostly known for its beach , which is a popular tourist destination during the summer months and since 1972 has been designated a Heritage Coast and is part of...
, a few miles west of Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, is used once more as Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's fictional Darlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay).
Some exterior scenes, including various companions interacting with Daleks, were shot at Arcot Street, Penarth.
Casting
Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler make their first appearances in Doctor Who since "DoomsdayDoomsday (Doctor Who)
"Doomsday" is the thirteenth and final episode in the second series of the revival of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 8 July 2006 and is the conclusion of a two-part story; the first part, "Army of Ghosts", was broadcast on 1 July 2006...
". K-9 Mark IV (voiced by John Leeson
John Leeson
John Leeson is a British actor who is best known for voicing K-9 on the television series Doctor Who from 1977 to 1979, and again in the 1980–1981 season. He was called back to do the voice of K-9 again for the 2006 episode "School Reunion" and again for the 2008 Doctor Who episode "Journey's End"...
) makes his first appearance since The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
story The Lost Boy
The Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
The Lost Boy is the sixth story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the ninth and tenth episodes of the show's first series...
, and his first in Doctor Who since "School Reunion
School Reunion (Doctor Who)
"School Reunion" is the third episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It first aired on 29 April 2006. The episode's narrative takes place some time after the events of "The Christmas Invasion"...
".
Former Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
presenter Gethin Jones
Gethin Jones
Gethin Clifford Jones is a Welsh television presenter who has co-presented the BBC children's programme Blue Peter....
controlled one of the Daleks that escorts the human prisoners aboard the Crucible. He previously played a Cyberman
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
in "Rise of the Cybermen" and has made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as himself in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures in the episode "Invasion of the Bane
Invasion of the Bane
-Sladen and Doctor Who:Elisabeth Sladen, who previously played Sarah Jane between 1973 and 1976. In 1981, she was offered the role again to ease the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, which she declined, but agreed to star in the pilot for the spin-off series K-9 and Company, which...
".
Another Doctor
One significant feature of this episode is the creation of another Doctor. Unlike the multiple Doctors of stories such as The Two DoctorsThe Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
, 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
Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly...
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." Phil Collinson, Graeme Harper, and David Tennant discuss the use of the double, a musician called Colum Regan 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 is then shown directing a scene in which both Regan and Tennant are shown around the TARDIS console. Harper explains 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. Over documentary footage showing the shooting of the scene where the new Doctor emerges from the TARDIS, Tennant describes 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. A shot is made for reference with Regan, then another shot is made without Regan. This enables the shots to be merged during editing to create the effect of having David Tennant in two places in the same shot.
Broadcast
The episode was screened free in Trafalgar SquareTrafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as part of Pride London 2008
Pride London
Pride London is the name of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender registered charity which arranges LGBT events in London, most notably the annual gay pride parade which is held in June/July. The most recent Pride London was on 2 July 2011. The 2010 event was attended by 1 million people,...
; the third series
Doctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
finale
Last of the Time Lords
"Last of the Time Lords" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 30 June 2007, and is the thirteenth and final episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series...
was planned to be shown during the 2007 event, but was cancelled as a security measure. A teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
was appended to promote the 2008 Christmas Special.
"Journey's End" was watched by 10.57 million viewers when broadcast on BBC1, 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
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
score of 91, equalling the record for the programme set by its predecessor "The Stolen Earth".
A story on the BBC News website
BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
described fan reaction of the serials on the Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
and Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
forums as "mixed".
Canadian Broadcast
The episode was premiered in Canada on 12 December 2008. Although the Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
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.
Critical reception
The Telegraph'sThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
John Preston states that this episode of Doctor Who "[a]s usual...served up a lot more than mere excitement." He credits Doctor Whos success partly to its "richly defined characters behaving in readily identifiable ways." Also of The 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. Lucy Mangan in a humorous review for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
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". In The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 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."
Mark Wright of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
likens "Journey’s End" to "one big house of cards
House of cards
A house of cards is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other. House of cards is also an expression which dates back to 1645 meaning; a structure or argument built on a shaky foundation or one that will collapse if a necessary element is removed...
...[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
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
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".
Writing for The Mirror, Jim Shelley
Jim Shelley (TV critic)
Jim Shelley is a British television critic who writes a column for the Daily Mirror each Monday titled Shelleyvision. Prior to writing for the Daily Mirror he wrote for The Guardian and his collection of reviews "Interference: Tapehead vs. Television" was published by Atlantic Books...
is highly critical of this episode in his review, describing it as "[d]emented rather than dazzling". He was confused by the two Doctors played by David Tennant, saw little development in Donna across the series and was puzzled by the Doctor's attempt to save his arch-enemy, Davros. He claims that "amidst all the shrieking, shouting, and mock opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic bluster, [he was] sure [he] saw a kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. Riddled with scientific mumbo-jumbo, it was too chaotic and long-winded to be the classic farewell Russell T Davies promised." He argues that the plot "went haywire" and that "Rose and the two Tennants acted out a sort of twisted ménage à trois
Ménage à trois
Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
." In conclusion he states, "Tennant's cheeky chappie mannerisms made the show into an extraterrestrial EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
."
In Scotland's Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
, Paul English called the episode "yet another fizzing Doctor Who adventure" and said that "Writer and producer Russell T Davies makes TV with the epic feel of the movies. He gets more tension, humour and emotion into an hour of telly than many films manage in twice the time with double the budget." He lamented that "Journey's End" "lacked the goofiness" of the series' 2005 return, but concluded that the finale was "TV gold".
Dave Golder of SFX
SFX magazine
SFX is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy.-Description:SFX magazine is published every four weeks by Future Publishing and was founded in 1995. The magazine covers topics in the genres of popular science fiction, fantasy and horror, within the media of films,...
says "If, while your brain is telling you, 'This is crap!' your heart is still doing backflips then it's your kind of episode. 'Journey's End' is almost a two fingers up at technobabble
Technobabble
Technobabble , also called technospeak, is a form of prose using jargon, buzzwords, esoteric language, specialized technical terms, or technical slang that is incomprehensible to the listener...
; there's certainly tons of it in the episode, but it's largely irrelevant." He praises the action sequences and the portrayal of Donna, Davros, 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".
Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
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. Writing for the Doctor Who blog on the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
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." John Beresford of TV Scoop called the finale "just about the most exciting Doctor Who episode [he could] ever remember", and "a fantastically imaginative, exciting and action-packed finale to the fourth series."