Doomsday Comes for the Doctor and Rose on the Season Finale of "Doctor Who"

While I might be sunning myself (and catching up on some reading) here in tropical Hawaii, I thought I would be terribly remiss if I didn't at least say a few quick words about tonight's two-hour season finale of Doctor Who on Sci Fi.

I had the opportunity to watch the two-hour finale ("Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday") before I left Los Angeles and it was with a certain sadness that I bade farewell to the Doctor and Rose, especially as any announcement about the series' third season airing on US television has yet to be made. UK viewers, however, have the Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Runaway Bride," co-starring the always hysterical Catherine Tate, to look forward to in just a few days. (Lucky bastards.)

In any event, tonight's two-hour Doctor Who season finale wraps things up satisfactorily in more ways than one. That "storm" on the horizon that the Doctor mentioned at the end of last week's episode does indeed materialize, precipitated by those mysterious operatives known as Torchwood, who finally come out into the open after much teasing from the series' creator Russell T. Davies. Well, the London branch of Torchwood, anyway. As for what's going on in Cardiff, you'll have to wait for SOMEONE to acquire Who spin-off Torchwood to find out what's going on there.

The Doctor and Rose have faced a number of challenges and dangers together, but this is their most dangerous mission yet and it involves the return of several familiar faces as well as the return of some much-loathed enemies. It's also the story, sadly, of how one Rose Tyler dies. Before everyone gets up in arms about spoiler-alerts and so on, let me just tell you that Rose herself admits this in the opening sequence and... things are not always what they appear to be. Especially on a series as surreal and trippy as Doctor Who.

I cannot say enough complimentary things about David Tennant's performance as the Doctor. BBC America is rerunning the first season of Who starring Christopher Ecceleston and, while at the time I loved Ecceleston as the Doctor, he simply pales in comparison to Tennant's nuanced and easily excitable turn. His Doctor oozes with curiosity, passion, and wacky intellect, but it's colored with a deep lonely shade of blue hiding behind his stripy suits and trainers.

Me, I'll admit that the end got me more than a little teary (you'll know what I mean when you see it tonight) but I am excited to see what the next chapter in the Doctor's life brings. In "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday," things come full circle for both the Doctor and Rose Tyler (not to mention the Tyler family as a whole) and the direction of the series is forever altered after this two-hour finale. Doomsday does come for Earth (several of them, in fact) and for our brave heroes, both of whom prove that old adage that sacrifice is in fact the cornerstone of heroism with a capital H.

The second season finale of "Doctor Who" airs tonight from 8-10 pm ET/PT on Sci Fi.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: 8th Annual A Home for the Holidays with Rob Stewart (CBS); Identity (NBC); WWE Friday Night SmackDown (CW; 8-10 pm); America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC); Justice (FOX); Wicked Wicked Games (MyNet)

9 pm: Close to Home (CBS); Las Vegas (NBC); 20/20 (ABC; 9-11 pm); Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy (FOX); Watch Over Me (MyNet)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); Law & Order (NBC)

What I'll Be Watching

8-10 pm: Doctor Who on Sci Fi.

It's the second season finale of Doctor Who tonight. On the first of tonight's two episodes ("Army of Ghosts"), ghosts of the dead return to Earth while conveniently (and perhaps not too coincidentally) an invasion force makes its way inexorably towards Earth. On the second episode ("Doomsday"), the invasion force--comprised of two of the Doctor's gravest enemies--attacks the planet and the Doctor is forced into a bit of a quandry when something terrible emerges from beneath the Torchwood Tower. Could this be the end of the Doctor and Rose's beautiful friendship?

8 pm: Hardware on BBC America (11 pm ET).

It's the US premiere of Britcom Hardware, starring Martin Freeman of the original UK version of The Office, taking place at a small (you guessed it!) hardware store. On tonight's episode ("Finger"), Steve cuts his finger off and causes pandemonium in the shop, while Mike's girlfriend attempts to build a collapsible ironing board.

8:30 pm: Black Books on BBC America (11:30 pm ET).

It's the third season of the scathingly sarcastic Black Books, one of my favorite Britcoms. On tonight's episode ("A Little Flutter"), Bernard becomes addicted to gambling after Manny places a bet for him and he begins borrowing money from some Very Scary People. And, no, I don't mean Fran's distant relatives.

9-10 pm: Creature Comforts on BBC America (Midnight ET).

It's a pair of episodes of Creature Comforts, the delighfully insightful and whimsical animated British interview series about Christmas. Tune in to learn why dogs hate wearing Christmas hats and why Corgis tend to get so emotional around the holiday season.