After having been thrilled by the previous episode, I had high hopes that this one would NOT - like the previous couple of WHO season finales - turn into a string of cop-outs and frantic, muddled plotting. My hopes were dashed. The truth seems to be that Russell T Davies simply cannot write endings. At the very beginning of the episode, what happens to the Doctor (carried over from the previous episode's conclusion) is such a terrible anticlimax that every viewer must have felt cheated. Unfortunately, things didn't improve from there. The emotional tone of the previous episode was completely lost in a series of frantic run-arounds and damp squibs. It's almost as if RTD thinks that action is the only thing that matters, and that a plot doesn't need logic because "it's for kids". Once again - and I don't think this is too much of a spoiler - we have a deus ex machina in an ending where all the destruction that's gone before is magically reversed. As Robert Holmes - the greatest of the writers of the "old" Doctor Who - liked to point out, in a series like this, plot is everything. It's very disappointing to see the series producer repeating some of the mistakes of the 80s show: one major reason for its decline was that viewers couldn't follow the plot of half of the Sylvester McCoy stories.

I don't want to be too harsh on RTD, as he deserves credit for reviving the show, but I'm glad to see that Steven Moffat is taking over. Here's a writer who really can construct plots and leaves the viewer entertained even at the end of his stories. I'm confident that storylines will improve in 2010.

and "everyone jumping around looking at fireworks in the sky" has parallels to the celebration by the Ewoks and everyone else in Star Wars.

Aside from that, too many characters made the episode hard to follow. We could have done without Captain Jack, Martha Jones (and her mother), Rose's mother, Sarah Jane (and son), and the token black guy. There wasn't one clearly defined theme. The whole episode was a jumbled mess, shifting from one special effect to the other. But the most disappointing part of the episode was that no one died, as stated would happen, and we were left we a lackluster ending. Where was the big cliff-hanger? It shocks me that others describe this episode as "well-written". I for one could not believe how awful it actually was.

The best finale there has been for decades. Without a doubt the most moving episode since Doomsday, the most action-packed episode since The Parting of the Ways and best episode since The Unicorn and the Wasp.

All of the episode was filled with amazing moments, with all of the companions returning, then leaving. The saddest moment is Donna's goodbye, she doesn't want to leave, but of course she has to.

And right at the end, when Wilf bids his farewell to the Doctor is the most emotional piece since Donna in Turn Left.

In conclusion, with the return of Davros, the companions and the end of Season 4, it couldn't have gone better.

HEAVY SPOILERS WITHIN:
So, the Daleks have taken planet Earth (and 26 other planets) for some nefarious scheme. Davros was back. Sarah Jane was about to be killed. And horror of horrors, a Dalek had scored a glancing blow to the Doctor, triggering a regeneration.
So, as always, a fantastic penultimate episode and genuinely brilliant cliffhanger, the kind RTD delivers every year...and always follows up with sloppy, overdone, dues-ex-machina rubbish that presses the reset button for the main characters. Oh dear. I hope this time it would be different.
It wasn't. The episode was overdone. There was a lot of emotional stuff. The villains were defeated by a giant dues-ex-machine, and reset buttons were pressed.
And it was GLORIOUS!
I'll deal with the niggles first:
1 - The 'regeneration' ending fizzled out, as the Doctor quite easily solved that problem (and if he planned to do it all along, isn't be a bit of a douchebag for making everyone think he was going to die?)
2 - The Torchwood team were basically bystanders
3 -The Dalek's plan was epic, but seemed ill thought out. So, they destroy all other forms of life. Then what do they do? A speech from the Doctor like the one in the audio 'Jubilee' would have worked wonders.
4 - Original Doc getting all pissy at his counterpart for destroying the Daleks, calling it 'genocide' Er...you mean like the ones you committed when you started a civil war on Skaro? Like when you BLEW UP their planet? Or when you ended the Time War by destroying their fleet? Or when you sucked the Genesis Ark Daleks into the Void? And what would he have done?
5 - It's all played like Davros is dead and the Daleks are gone forever. Come off it.

But in terms of the bigger picture, these are minor problems. Easily ignored when you look at TWO David Tennants. The brilliant effects work. Davros being such a nutter. German Daleks! Sarah Jane being recognised by Davros. The DoctorDonna. A happy ending for Rose. Nice continuity references. Great music. And THAT ending...

In a way, Donna losing all her memories in a cliche. It's a lazy way to write out a character. Blah blah. But it is carries such an emotional punch.
Donna wasn't a likeable person when we first met her in 'The Runaway Bride' She wasn't supposed to be. But when we met her next, she was a different person. As she traveled with the Doctor, she grew as a human being in so many ways. Even The Doctor was impressed, calling her 'special' and 'brilliant' To see the 'death' of someone who had in the spare of 12 weeks gone from 'annoying' to 'favorite new series companion' was truly tragic.

It's fitting this is called 'Journey's End', cause this indeed feels like an ending. The show could finish here, and it would feel right (well, I mean it would be a good ending - ending DW will never be 'right')
But with the baggage of the RTD era cleared away, this is something else: A clean slate.

Over to you Mr. Moffat!