Doctor Who: Ranking the top 10 David Tennant episodes
By Ariba Bhuvad
9. “The Stolen Earth”/”Journey’s End” Season 4, Episodes 12 & 13
The last two episodes of season 4 are a blast for so many reasons. First, it was a “crossover” of sorts between Doctor Who and its two spinoffs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Along with Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, the episode brought together Rose (Billie Piper), Captain Jack (John Barrowman), Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and Martha (Freema Agyeman).
Oh, and it involved Daleks, and as all Whovians know, you can never go wrong with the Daleks, complete with shrieks of “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” Don’t you just love to hate them?
The planet’s safety is at stake in this two-episode arc, as a strange earthquake and a “rift” pave the way for one heck of a finale. In fact, it might be one of the most-talked-about Doctor Who finales to date. The clincher comes at the end of “The Stolen Earth,” when the Doctor begins to regenerate, which set Whovian everything into a spasm of speculation. That bright glow seeping out of the Doctor’s body in all directions means one thing, but it wasn’t what we thought.
In “Journey’s End,” we find out that the Doctor did not regenerate, but instead used the energy from the Dalek blast to heal and prevent any form of regeneration. It’s an emotional revelation carried effortlessly by David Tennant, along with all the returning cast members.
Tennant was always excellent at conveying the Doctor’s emotional turmoil. Throughout the two episodes, the Doctor is busy saving the world alongside his friends. However, when all is said and done, he’s left all alone, something he truly feels he is. This comes at the heels of Donna’s exit, who can no longer join the Doctor on adventures left she risk her life.
Even so many years later, I can feel the raw emotion of the Doctor’s pain and loneliness as he realized that sooner or later, he ends up alone. The Time Lord who has friends in every corner of the universe feels the woes of isolation just as we do. Tennant always seemed to treat the role of the Tenth Doctor as if it was an extension of himself, as well as all of us. It’s just one of the many reasons why his time as the Doctor is so memorable!