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More space opera from Russell Davies as his reign comes to an end and David Tennant finishes his time as The Doctor. But for all that, it was a pretty solid episode. A little over the top, but not as much as some other season endings. Many loose ends were tied up and David Tennant given ample opportunity to farewell his role in style.

The Vinvocci (also unchanged by the gate) rescue the Doctor and Wilf in the "worst rescue ever" (the Doctor's words). They escape to the Vinvocci's ship in orbit and hide.

The presence of the Time Lords and the drumming the Master hears are explained. The only way for the Time Lords to escape the time-locked Time War was via a link to the outside. So they implanted that link into the Master via the schism when he was eight. The Master and all his copies focus on the sound to identify its source. The President sends a diamond, unique to Gallifrey, to help amplify the source. The Master realises the source of the sound is the Time Lords. He broadcasts this to the Doctor.

The Doctor, realising what's happening, heads back to Earth to stop it. But he's too late, the Time Lords have arrived. The Master tries to imprint himself on the Time Lords using the gate, but the President stops him and undoes the work of the gate. Humanity is restored. The Doctor explains why he had to stop the Time Lords to end the Time War. And it was not as a last resort, but more to save the Universe from them. The Time War had corrupted them and they and many other evils on Gallifrey had to be stopped. The Doctor points out that the Ood prophecy warns of something, not someone, returning. And it is the planet of Gallifrey that returns with all its evil.

The Doctor is torn between killing the Master and the President. Either would break the link and send Gallifrey back. But he can't do either. He tells the Master to get out the way and destroys a machine breaking the link. The Master returns the favour, asks the Doctor to get out of the way, and, furious with the Time Lords for the drumming in his mind, uses his powers to destroy the President and send the Time Lords and Gallifrey packing. The Master isn't seen again, but I'd bet he isn't dead.

The Time Lady who comes and goes mysteriously during the episode is never identified. She speaks to Wilf several times and the Doctor appears to recognise her. Romana would be a good guess, but although the script leaves it open, Davies says it's the Doctor's mother. It seems she and the other Time Lord who defined the President become the Weeping Angels.

Normally this would be the end of the episode. The Doctor has saved the day and it seems cheated death. And then you hear it, the four taps on the glass. It's Wilf, stuck in the chamber. And we realise the importance of Wilf. All those chance meetings. How he found the Doctor so easily in the last episode. He's the one who knocks four times, not the Master. The Doctor is dismayed, but in the end, accepting of his fate.

The Doctor frees Wilf. In so doing he has to absorb a lot of radiation. His re-generation commences and he goes off on an extended swansong, farewelling many of the characters that defined the ^10th Doctor. He departs the Earth in the TARDIS. His regeneration is similar to last time, but more violent. The TARDIS is damaged and falls towards Earth. We see the 11^th Doctor briefly and the episode ends.

And so we see the last of the ^10th Doctor, but not before he and Davies have firmly restored Doctor Who as a major franchise.