It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

After taking the good Doctor into some very dark territory with "The Waters of Mars," Russell T. Davies returns the Doctor back to his roots with "The End of Time, Part One," the first half of David Tennant's final story as the Tenth Doctor. From the very beginning of the episode, Davies intends to create a memorable story to give Tennant a fond farewell. And the story really is brilliant, exciting, wacky, and scary in the tradition of classic "Doctor Who." The cast and crew do a fantastic job of creating this amazing story, preparing us for the second half of the story, which promises to give Tennant an epic, fantastic farewell. While some may find it too outlandish, it does so with great fun and excitement, making it worthwhile. And the cliffhanger is the biggest, most exciting one yet, ending the show on a double-whammy! Longtime fans will surely love it! Allons-y! Grade: A+

For fans of Dr. Who, the first of this two segment special is a must see. Part of the charm of Dr. Who has always been the cheesy sets and melodramatic acting. To a certain extent, "The End of Time" follows these aspects of previous episodes of the series; yet, there is a new emotional intensity that draws the viewer in and makes the essence of the story memorable. Moreover, the clues to the future in the storyline are mixed with references to the past in a manner that is intriguing—creating a puzzle for the audience to ponder or attempt to figure out. In not conforming to recent demands in marketing, the writer and producers remain true to a quirky sense of humor and an offbeat style that made followers love the show from the beginning.

I won't give spoilers other to then to say I was damn surprised about how good it was. I have been a fan for over 30 years and this episode was in line with some of the greatest of ages past, such as War Games, Deadly Assassin, Trial of a Time Lord, etc. It takes 5 years of of the series and wraps it up beautifully. The episode, plus the preview for the following week make this the most amazing thing I have seen on TV that I have seen in years. I was amazed at what they did. Any of the other reviewers who complain about the episode I say those peeps are whiny little bitches. I'll say it again, they are whiny little bitches, its a fantastic episode that will go down in history. Screw all of the nay-sayers!!!!UPDATE: After watching Part 2...I am disappointed.

I can't say I was overwhelmed by any of the DOCTOR WHO specials . Neither was I impressed with any of the previous Christmas specials so when we get a two episode Chritmas special I wasn't getting any hopes built up . Seeing as it signals the end of the Tennant/ Russell T Davies era I was expecting Rusty to throw in everything including the kitchen sink . Think of the previous season finales squared and you have the idea . Thankfully after seeing this episode not only were my low expectations met they were far exceeded No story in the show has ever been perfect but RTD has restrained himself with a relatively simple plot . Someone builds something they shouldn't have and the story's villain uses it to build a " master race " . There that's the plot explained perfectly and while there's not enough narrative to reward an audience on repeated viewing it's a simple enough story well told for the most part . Thankfully Rusty hasn't thrown a massive spanner in the works buy bringing in anally retentive past references every five minutes . We're reintroduced to the Ood again , Donna Noble has a cameo , there's a couple of nods to the season three finale and a cliffhanger ending featuring the Time Lords . Just enough to remind die hard fans why nostalgia plays a large part in their lives without alienating casual viewers This probably won't be remembered as a masterwork from the show and undoubtedly in years to come it will be remembered as reintroducing the Time Lords as well as writing out Tennant from the show . What The End Of Time does do very well is entertain the audience and much of this revolves around John Simms as the Master . No longer Prime Minister Harold Saxon the portrayal is a sort of hybrid between Hannibal Lector and a chav . But Simms is having so much fun playing the role it's impossible for the audience not to be swept along with him There are some flaws . As has been pointed out already there's little internal logic for the Master to be able to fire lightning bolts and jump hundreds of feet in the air and seems to be an excuse for The Mill FX team to show us what they can do while June Whitfield is the most superfluous guest star ever featured in the show . There's also the Shimmer creatures which seem to be included to simply impress young children but seem somewhat silly compared to the more dramatic aspects of the story . These however are very minor flaws and I watched this episode in front of my parents without feeling any shame or embarrassment to being a die hard fan .Truth be told I'm sure they were thoroughly entertained as well as millions of other people who sat down to watch this . Whilst not being a great piece of storytelling it is undoubtedly 60 minutes of highly entertaining high quality television