I'm not a hater by any means, he revitalized the show. But the tricks he loves so much (fanfare for ordinary people! and clunky foreshadowing) are becoming more and more evident.

Brit TV is best served when writers are able to move around to new projects. They tend to molder if they're in one place too long.

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Post-Donna, the Doctor is in one of his "I don't need anyone" phases and was mentally building a case against Lady Christina the whole time in case he might feel temped to ask her to come with him at the end of the adventure. The "eew dead people in my hair!" thing was a clue that she wasn't Companion material, but her kissing him was the final straw. He basically did everything he could to encourage her behavior short of initiating it himself, with the result that now he can't take her with him because he's not about to take on another Martha-like situation.

(Also, I think his ego is still a bit bruised from Donna's total lack of attraction to him and he wants to prove that he's "still got it.")

It's like Donna said, sometimes he needs someone to tell him when to stop, and Christina is definitely NOT that person. It's a sign of his character growth that he recognizes that and has moved beyond inviting every random attractive girl he meets to take a ride in his Tardis.

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And they somehow managed to outrun some monsters which fly 100 miles in 20 minutes.

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Though I did like Malcolm's scarf. Fashion tips from UNIT's last scientific adviser?

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It was cliche-ridden, and featured your typical Nu-Who deux-ex-machina ending, but it was done in style, and an extremely (for Russel T. Davies) restrained manner. Thank goodness they had quality actors who could actually pull this one off.

Now for the quibbles:

Cybershades -- It's completely understandable that the cybermen lack the raw materials and technology for proper conversion, so their experiments end up a bit... erm... "special." That said, whoever green-lit those costumes should have been shot. Who would have thought that a multi-million pound FX budget would bring us all the way 'round to the Taran Wood Beast again?

Other than saving a few pounds on the lower half of the costumes, there was absolutely no reason for them to look so ludicrous. With a few gallons of liquid latex and some bent copper tubing, they could have gone the 'Attack of the Cybermen' route, and given them only partial conversions. (either that, or given them bulky chest units and ski-masks ala. 'The 10th Planet.'

Dalek and Cyber-technology -- So, if that Dalek vortex gizmo had the power to send them to any number of populated planets that didn't suck, why the hell were the Cybermen slumming around in Victorian London? Also, where did they get those info stamps (and the spare view screens and all their other future technology) and why on Earth did they have them in the first place? It's bloody convenient they happened to have that one on the history of London, makes you wonder what other sorts of random information the Cybermen carry around with them at all times for no particular reason. (instructions for knitting cyberman-sized booties, wiring diagrams for a 1973 Pinto, and UK Habitats of the Canadian Goose)

The Cyber King -- How did they get all the supplies to build a 30-story high giant robot, not to mention finding a place big enough to assemble it unnoticed?

The Deux-Ex Ending -- There's a long-standing tradition in Doctor Who of the alien's human conspirator realizing his folly at the very last minute and then sacrificing himself to destroy the entire invasion force. It's an even longer-running cliche than reversing the polarity of the neutron flow. That said, I can't think of any reason for the Doctor "restoring" Ms. Rattigan's mind, other than to be a dick. Thanks a lot doc, now the woman can die screaming in terror instead of sitting there cyberized. Also, is it just me, or did she actually pop like a big red balloon right there at the end?!?

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Could have still worked the ending around that, too. He still does the Vortex of Infinite Perspective routine to force Hartigan to look at what she's become, and she realizes that she wants to be better. With her Cybermen, they can go to another world and she can take a crack at utopia.

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The cybermen made no sense at all. How could cybermen from another universe, yet created at around the same time as the 10th doctor, know about his previous incarnations? I had some hope that maybe these were 'our universe' cybermen, but alas it wasn't to be.

The giant robot was totally out of character for the entire series. Time-travel episodes set on earth never had anything this amazing/huge/crazy happen. It's supposed to be a twist on some historic event, so we can all snicker and say "oops, the doctor was responsible for that one too!"

All Davies has done is poop all over the doctor who mythos.
I'm gonna go watch some Tom Baker episodes now to clean my palette.

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Only one nit that I'll pick: The cybermen are basically Daleks that say "Delete" instead of "Exterminate."

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I noted that 10 (at first) identified Morrissey as either the next doctor or the one after that. Is this our first new series confirmation of the 12 regenerations thing?

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