Reality Bombshell: The DoctorDonna and Children of Time on the "Doctor Who" Season Finale

I'm getting all teary again just thinking about the season finale of Doctor Who ("Journey's End"), which saw the resolution to about four seasons' worth of storylines, the "death" of one of the Doctor's companions, a meta-crisis resulting in the creation of a "second" Doctor, six pilots in the TARDIS, and a slew of familiar faces (even Jackie Tyler!) turn up for the ultimate battle against the Daleks, with the fate of all creation at stake.

This could have felt rushed but fortunately both the BBC and US broadcaster Sci Fi opted to let the final chapter of Season Four of Doctor Who run its full length (here in the US with ad breaks, it filled out a 90-minute timeslot), as "Journey's End" dealt with some rather profound themes: the natures of sacrifice, vengeance, and friendship and the price one ultimately pays for victory.

It's also about the pragmatism of the human race, with Martha willing to destroy the Earth using the Osterhagen Key in order to prevent the wholesale slaughter of the humans and ease their "suffering," just as Sarah Jane, Jack Harkness, Jackie, and Mickey are willing to use Sarah Jane's warp star to destroy the Dalek Crucible. I did believe that Sarah Jane and the others were willing to detonate the star in order to save all of creation and foil Davros' plan... or at least use it as a gambit to try and get Davros to return the Earth and not use the reality bomb.

Make no mistake about it: the battle against the Daleks is won by the Doctor and his so-called Children of Time, but it is the very definition of phyrric victory. Yes, the Earth is saved (not to mention all of creation) and the twenty-seven planets returned to their rightful positions in space but it is the Doctor and his most faithful companion Donna who pay the ultimate price.

First, I want to say just how amazing Catherine Tate's performance was in this episode. She perfectly nailed the Doctor's cadence in her role as the DoctorDonna (following the meta-crisis in which she absorbed the Doctor's Time Lord essence and then created a human-Time Lord hybrid being), delivering a portrayal of Donna as confident, intelligent, and possessing a whimsical humor, all of which gleefully showcased Tate's talents as a mercurial sketch artist (if you've never seen her delightfully wicked sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show, you are missing out). But beyond that, she also delivered a performance that left me heartbroken, as she pleads with the Doctor not to send her back, not to take away everything--her experiences, memories, sense of self--that made her "special."

For Donna, her fate is truly worse than death. (And I do believe that Donna herself would have chosen death over the alternative.) The Doctor erases her memories of him, their time together, and the fact that she was the single most important woman in the universe and deposits her back with her family on Earth. For Donna, it's as though the past few months have never existed and she quickly reverts back to type: a chavvy, self-absorbed, and shallow temp from Chiswick.

When it was announced that Catherine Tate would be the Doctor's companion for Season Four, I was a little skeptical. After all, Donna had been highly abrasive during her turn during "The Runaway Bride," and I wasn't sure that I could stomach the sort of bickering that Donna and the Doctor experienced on a weekly basis. Tate and the series' writers proved me dead wrong; instead, Donna developed into a headstrong but thoughtful character who wasn't afraid to speak her mind but who truly came to life (and an awareness of others) vis-a-vis her travels with the Doctor. And I am not ashamed at all to say that Donna has possibly become my favorite companion on the series to date.

Donna's sacrifice (and the Doctor's sad sacrifice of her) lend her character an air of tragedy that I never thought possible. It has also increased the Doctor's suffering tenfold (the reveal that the TARDIS was meant to be piloted by six people was an illuminating one). He lost Rose when the dimensions closed upon themselves but was able to make up for this by giving her the human-Time Lord Doctor as a lover, a shade of himself that is angry and raw, embodying the vengeance he felt when he destroyed the Daleks for the first time (and then had to watch "himself" commit genocide all over again). Martha Jones left him at the end of Season Three, finding a place not in the stars but with UNIT and Torchwood, to a lesser extent. But poor Donna was lost to him in an entirely different way and the Doctor is forced to know that she is out there, on Earth, but is completely closed off to him, not aware of his existence or the time they shared together, wholly alien and foreign to him.

I found that to be so upsetting and disquieting... and yet such a good way to for the Doctor to start all over again, having drawn those closest to him back to him one last time. Seeing all of the series' previous characters--from Rose, Jackie, and Mickie, to Martha, Jack, Gwen (who, finally! is revealed to be a descendant or reincarnation of Season One's Gwyneth), and Ianto--come together in one glorious story was thrilling and gave the season ender the feeling of an epic battle of the gods.

But once again, the Doctor finds himself alone and it's only a matter of time before he finds another Companion to keep him company in the TARDIS. Here's to hoping that whoever it is ends up being as memorable, gripping, and hysterical as Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. For a woman who thought she was a nobody, she ended up being very special indeed and I'll miss her presence on Doctor Who more than I ever thought possible.

Doctor Who returns to the small screen in the UK at Christmas time, though I imagine we'll have to wait quite a while to catch it here in the US. But, in the meantime, if you'd like to take a look at a sneak peek at the Doctor Who Christmas Special, featuring the return of the Cybermen, click here.