The End Of The World

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.

Having been greatly let down by the first episode, I approached this one with some trepidation. Fortunately, I can report that I’ve been witness to one of the most well-scripted and moving episodes of Doctor Who ever. Eccleston’s Doctor here is just as light and fun as in the series opener, but is also dark and brooding when talking about himself, and vengeful when dealing with this week’s villain. He seems more at home with the assorted aliens than with Rose, whose culture-shock is superbly portrayed by Billie. Rose is clearly floored by the reality of TARDIS travel, yet she still gives as good as she gets, with her “home by midnight” line in particular raising a smile. Whereas the Doctor can mix easily with the “great and the good”, Rose is more happy chatting to the station staff who, wonderfully, are the most normal people on the Platform. Even if they are blue.

The Earth-based scenes prove to be very moving, and I must admit a tear came to my eye in the final scene. The contrast between life on Earth and the scenes on Platform One is very jarring, and puts Rose’s reactions into context. We fans may be blasй and accepting about time travel and aliens, but Rose is not.

The story itself is a simple whodunit, which gives room for plenty of character moments without making the pace seem rushed. The episode is also a showcase for the special effects, and never have they been better than here. As a general rule, I loathe CGI with a passion, but there was scarcely a shot or an effect that didn’t work beautifully, which is some achievement when you consider exactly how many effects this show contains. I’m strongly reminded of Lexx with the exploding planet sequences, and the general bizarreness of the aliens. Very few of the aliens are fleshed out, though, and I was surprised that such a highly publicised character as The Face Of Boe is used purely for window-dressing. Perhaps if this was a traditional four-parter, there would have been scope to develop them all further. As such, most of them appear and disappear without even saying a word.

Such quibbles are minor, though. For the imagination of the setting and the supporting characters; for the improvement to the Doctor’s and Rose’s characters; for the emotional weight of the final scene; and for the wonderful contemporary references from Newsround through Britney Spears, I cannot fail but to score this episode 10/10.

The first classic of the new era.