For me, the saddest thing about the finale was the "resetting" of Donna back to the shallow airhead she was before meeting the Doctor. Why? Couldn't she have been reset to the new improved version of herself that she had become thanks to the Doctor, even if she wasn't allowed to know why?

I was hoping it would be like the end of Back To The Future, when Marty's parents have been changed from losers to winners because of what's happened in the past. But sadly no.

To put Donna through such a journey, developing her into such a better person....and then cancel it all out....That was absolutely heartbreaking. She deserved so much more. Rose gets a whole Doctor made specially for her, and poor Donna gets THAT fate? Talk about the short straw!

Not sure why everyone was wishing or noting this as it was predicted in the library episode that she dies or not with Dr - Im not surprised so no

She could've actually died, which would've been worse.

I think even though she's been returned to that point in her life where she was slightly more loud and shallow etc, her mother and Wilf know what she's been through, and I like to think they'd now be the ones to shape her future through their knowledge of the Doctor

But you have to remember, she is still part time lord, so you never know what other abilities she may have got. She may have got the IQ of the doctor and maybe that will make her a better person. Just he cant have too much info in her head, but I really do feel her memories are hidden and might come up... a way back into the show maybe...

Actually I agree with the OP. Someone else said that it was like a lobotomy, and I fully agree with that. By the end of the series, the character of Donna was fantastic, considerate, contemplative and cared for the well-being of others and the world at large. Now she has been turned into an airhead again, with low self-esteem and no knowledge of what she is really capable of. Just look at her reaction when the doctor says good-bye to her in the kitchen. Yeah right see yah, now let me gossip again. The new Donna would have been nicer to a stranger and more interested in the person.