I've got to get this off my chest...

[lostcarpark]

Okay, I can't resist sharing my thoughts...

1. David Tennant will still be the Doctor at the end of the episode. My reasons for thinking this are:
1a. Every time the Doctor has regenerated there has been a new special effect. I think RTD has too much respect for DW tradition to reuse the old effect unless it's a false regeneration.
1b. Steven Moffet is taking over, and I don't think RTD would impose a new Doctor on him. If it was a real regeneration, Moffet would at least be co-writing the episode.
1c. David Tennant loves the role too much to go without a fight.

2. The severed hand will play an important role. I don't believe we'd have had a close-up of it early in the episode without good reason.

3. Donna will die, but save the universe in doing so. There have been loads of pointers to this, such as:
3a. In Fires of Pompei, Lucius tells Donna there's something on her back. Was this referring to the beetle in Turn Left, or perhaps the weight of saving the world on her back?
3b. In Planet of the Ood, the Ood sympathise with Donna.
3c. In Silence in the Library, River Song knows something and won't tell Donna.
3d. Bit of an obvious one... in Turn Left, Rose tells Donna she's going to die. She could have meant just in that reality, but probably not.
3e. Dalek Caan predicted "everlasting death for the most faithful companion" - could that be Donna or Rose? I predict Donna.

4. Rose will survive for no reason other than I can't think of a good reason to kill both of them. However, whatever Donna does to save the universe leaves her trapped on the other side of the rift once again.

5. Martha will survive and go to Cardiff to lead Torchwood.

6. Captain Jack will survive, but get sent back into the distant past so he can become the Face of Bo.

7. Sarah Jane will not be exterminated and will return to her own show.

8. Dalek Caan described the Doctor as "The threefold man". That's got to be significant.

9. They will be tempted to use the Osterhagen Key, but eventually the situation becomes so dire that they have nothing to lose. Of course it makes the situation even worse, or at least it appears to.

10. Some people have suggested Christopher Ecclestone might make a return. I predict that he won't.


Argh! How many days till Saturday?

Comments

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Well, the other point for Tennant still being Doctor is he hasn't met River Song yet and buggering up causality like that is bad.

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

Well, if Rusty hits the Great Big Pattened Reset Button then River Song may never have existed/may never have met the Doctor. River may be a set up for future Missing Adventure. I doubt we will see her again. But since the BBC have spent large amounts of money shooting the Christmas special with Tennant, we can be certain this isn't a real regeneration.

[slovobooks.livejournal.com]

It seem unlikely that they'd have done a two-part show with a character that they were going to write out of continuity within a few weeks, so I think that River Song's appearance, and her recognising the Doctor, is a sign that he survives all this in this incarnation.

There's also the fact that, if he read her diary, he'll have known all this was coming, and been prepared for it. Spoilers, you know?

[pmcray.livejournal.com]

Spoilers indeed! But of course spoilers don't always to be true (or the whole story). I'd be surprised though if the future was changed in such a way that the Doctor can never meet River Song. Whether we will see her again is another matter - we never saw Nine at Southampton or Krakatoa and River Song's travels with the Doctor might occur only in the books.

[spodlife]

The whole thing is being played out in hidden loop of time 1second out of sync - anything could happen, and they have to get the Earth, and the other planets, back where they belong. Big reset, anyone?

[dubnordie.livejournal.com]

1a is a false assumption, sorry. They used the same effect in Yana -> The Master as they did from Eccleston -> Tennant. I have no doubt they would be willing to use it again.

[lostcarpark.livejournal.com]

I realise that, but that was to link the Master's regeneration back to the Doctor's. I stand by my belief that when he regenerates for real there will be a new effect.

[slovobooks.livejournal.com]

Dalek Caan predicted "everlasting death for the most faithful companion"

This could mean a lot of people, like Donna, Rose, or even Sarah Jane, but I have a feeling that the Doctor's most faithful companion is the TARDIS. Or, at a push, K-9...

We're actually going to be in Liverpool at John Reppion's book launch while this is on, but I think we're going to go back to their flat afterwards to watch it on video. As some small consolation for missing it, there's the fact that we're all going out for dinner before the launch, along with John's father-in-law. Which is nice.

Donna Dies?

[66steve.livejournal.com]

3(f)
One of the Shadow Proc lassies also sympathised with Donna on her terrible loss. When Donna assumed she meant the loss of Earth she replied "Oh no, I meant your loss to come. "