The End of Time Part One, Part One

Well, I'm sure I will be able to get blog-writing material out of The End of Time for a good couple of weeks... but let's just say that my reaction to Part One was very positive. I watched it before Christmas dinner with Tessa, her Who-positive brother, and her Who-clueless sister, and a good time seemed to be had by all.

And then of course I logged onto the internet, and was inundated with the usual bile. Worst episode since Timelash! A plotless, pointless mess! Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Russell T Davies!

It seems to me that, at this stage, RTD Who is not unlike US politics. Russell T Davies has always, unrepentantly, made the sort of Doctor Who he likes. (Crucially, the general public seems to like it too - EoT1's AI figures of 87, while not record-breaking for modern Doctor Who, are comfortably awesome.) There is however a significant faction in Who fandom for whom the sort of thing that Russell T Davies likes are exactly what they hate. And these people no longer even bother to weigh up the merits of RTD's style of show. If he's not making their definition of "real Who", no point in weighing up the many good points of the show he is making: let's just shout unconstructively over the top of any other opinion till he's gone.

Meanwhile those of us who found EoT1 hugely entertaining - so much more interesting, ambitious and witty than almost anything else that's on modern television, so God bless you Sir Russell! - just have to shut out the noise and wait for what will without a doubt be an even more memorable Part Two. And yes, this is a story in two parts! So for the many people who are asserting that the new superpowered Master, or whatever other plot point, makes no sense whatsoever, can we just wait one week to find out if that's actually true?

The End of Time Part One is an episode that - gasp! - raises more questions than it answers. For me that's a huge positive. Where on earth have the Time Lords been hiding all this time? What the hell is going on with the Master? Are the Silver Cloak way more than they appear? Who's that white-haired woman then? Can Donna possibly survive this one? Can the human race possibly survive this one?

I for one can't wait to find out. This could be the best cliffhanger of the whole RTD era, given the disappointingly cheaty resolution of the one at the end of The Stolen Earth...