Journey's End

********Spoiler Warning********

Last night's episode of Dr Who, the finale of this series, was apparently watched by 9.4 million viewers, and reached up to 9.8 million in the last 15 minutes, nearly 50% of the total viewers. The start of the Doctor's latest "regeneration" tempting millions to watch this week.
Many people I spoke to about this finale before the event said that they were hoping it wouldn't be a let down, as in previous series' the penultimate episode had outgunned the actual finale. This year, I think they got the balance just right. The right amount of drama and emotion. The right amount of action, re-action and interaction. And the right amount of each of the characters, good and bad.
I forgot to mention last week how I love this regeneration "pose": Him standing in a semi-crucified stance with energy poring out of his exposed flesh. You can almost feel the rush of energy whilst watching thanks to the addition of effects and music. Brilliant. It is so much better than the poor excuse of regeneration I remember from Baker to Davidson, where he just seemed to be laying there!
I was impressed with all the performances, none of them overdone, not even John Barrowman's! I guess even he realised that this wasn't HIS show!
I really like the character of Mickey and look forward to seeing him more in the future [more on that in a bit]. And seeing Jackie holding that massive gun was hilarious, I'm sure, if the Doctor had seen that he would have been horrified, he wouldn't even let her touch the controls of the TARDIS!!
It was a shame that Ianto and Gwen never got to join in the action, but at least there was a reasonable reason given, of them being time-locked into Torchwood base by a device developed by Tosh before she died.
And, as always there was the right amount of humour in the show. When the Doctor hugs Rose at the end of his non-regeneration, Donna says to Cap'n Jack, "You can hug me if you want!" to which he laughs, "No! Really! You can hug me!!" she retorts. She makes sure that she does get a hug later on once they have saved the Earth.
I loved it also when Martha Jones teleported to Germany to initiate the Osterhagen plan and the Daleks were flying overhead shouting in German, "Extermineeran!" [excuse my spelling, I tried finding the correct spelling but found that exterminate actually translates to "Abschaffen Sie" instead and I never did any German at school].
And, when the second Doctor "regenerates" from the severed hand, Donna says:
"It's you!" and then looks down, "And you're naked!"

The whole show was magnificent with amazing music, especially upon the TARDIS inhabitants saving the Earth together. I was almost moved to tears. Almost! And Julian Bleach as Davros was marvelous, an amazingly emotional considering who he was portraying, but, for me, it worked. I hope, upon the return of Davros, for it is almost inevitable, that Julian gets to do it all again.

What Questions Were Answered?

Did the Doctor regenerate into a new form? No!
Was there a duplicate Doctor? Sort of!
Will he snog Rose Tyler? Yes!
Will we see Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith? Yes!
Would Davros recognise Sarah-Jane? Yes indeed!
Does Donna Die? Nope, but she might as well have!
What is the Osterhagen key used for? To initiate a worldwide plan to destroy the planet Earth to save humanity's suffering.
Why does the TARDIS jump and jolt its passengers when travelling? Because it is designed for 6 pilots not just one!
Is Gwen Cooper related to he identical fellow-Welsh person Gwyneth from "The Unquiet Dead" episode of the first season of "new" Dr Who? Yes, almost certainly!
Did Jackie Tyler have her baby and what did she call it? Yes, it was a boy and she called it Doctor [Not really, you plank! She called him Tony!].

What Questions Remained?

Which of the companions is going to die? I was almost disappointed that none of them did as "promised" in the previous episode (and several spoilers). My vote was for Martha or Rose, both are dispensable.
Is that the last we have seen of Davros and the Daleks? Almost certainly not!
Will Rose and the Doctor [John Smith?] live happily ever after? For a while probably but almost certainly not forever!

What Do We Have To Look Forward To?

It certainly looks like Martha and Mickey will be the two replacement members of Torchwood 3. I like both characters, Mickey more than Martha, but I would have liked to see newer characters as moving the same characters around like this, or using the same actors over and over seems unimaginative and incestuous!
Torchwood series 3 in Spring 2009! Which has only 5 episodes confirmed so far, all to be aired in one week, hopefully there will be a lot more than this as one week of Torchwood will not satisfy many people! James Marsters is almost certain to appear.
A new series of the Sarah-Jane Adventures, being filmed now!
More Cybermen at Christmas! Yawn! Yawn!
Then some Dr Who Specials throughout next year before the next series in 2010! Just Not Fair! WHO wants to wait that long?
No more Catherine Tate, which isn't a good thing as she was brilliant. That is unless, she was the one who picked up the Master's ring at the end of Last of the Time Lords?