I dunno if you are ever going to develop much empathy for a couple of clone armies -- particularly if one faction is a bunch of identical freakjobs that the audience can't understand. At the same time, I would rather have seen this stretched into a two-parter than the dreadful 2-parter that preceded it.
As reviled as Last of the Time Lords was, I don't think RTD finales are guaranteed groaners. The S1 and S2 finales are solid episodes, even though they aren't particularly outstanding or memorable.
I'm certainly looking forward to the Steven Moffat episodes more than the finale though. I doubt it'll ever happen unless RTD tanks the ratings, but it sure would be awesome if they just handed the show over to Moffat.
Those Hugo listings are pretty crazy. You would think that since the vote was split between 2/3 different Doctor Who episodes each year, that it would tank the chances of ANY Who episode winning -- yet the best ones rise to the top every time/
Is the S2 finale really considered to be that bad? From the Wikipedia entry, it looks like it was well-appreciated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_%28Doctor_Who%29
The episode is one of the most popular Doctor Who episodes since the show's revival. It was nominated along with "Army of Ghosts" for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, which was won by the fourth episode in the series, "The Girl in the Fireplace". As of March 2008, it shares the new series' highest Audience Appreciation rating of 89 with "The Parting of the Ways", and is favoured by most critics for both the Cybermen–Dalek conflict and the farewell scene between the Doctor and Rose.
The only complaint I ever heard was that it was uncharacteristic of the Daleks to talk smack to the Cybermen......but then I don't really keep up with any of the fan communities. I certainly have a much better recollection of Doomsday than I do The Parting of the Ways (if that says anything).
What are the common complaints about Doomsday? While I don't think it's a standout episode, it certainly doesn't seem so offensive that it should draw ire from longtime fans.
On an unrelated note, the Hugo in 2004 went to "Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards".....beating out 2 of Firefly's better episodes. Even ignoring the fact that an acceptance speech for some cable channel's sham-awards should not even be eligible for honors.....how the hell did that happen? As much as I like to see Moffat honored, shit like that makes me question the Hugo's credibility anyway.