The End Of The World

After the 'kitchen sink' settings of Rose, The End of the World - with its far future setting and strange alien creatures - was an ideal choice for episode 2 (if only to demonstrate the incredibly flexible format of the programme to new viewers). It was a refreshing contrast. Apart from Rose's phonecall to her mum and a visit to the chip shop, Earth only appears in The End of the World to be destroyed by the sun and the themes of death and apocalypse run right through the script from beginning to end.

The realisation of the setting, and the characters within it, was remarkable, and probably the best that Doctor Who has ever seen. In this respect it felt like a much, much better Curse of Peladon! The script was highly ambitious, however the production team pulled it off with greatness. The effects were marvellous and the 'creatures' and costumes fantastic. Of particular note was the costume of Jabe, which, with it's regal splendour, enhanced our understanding of the character. Also the realisation of the Moxx and Cassandra were wonderful. Even the little blue people were good.

It was therefore a shame that there was not enough time for more from these characters. Even the villain of the piece - the Lady Cassandra - is only on screen during the episode for about five minutes. Jabe is used well, however the Moxx of Balhoon and the Face of Boe (aside from looking very good) don't add much to the story at all (and, given that he was fried at the end of the episode, I doubt we're going to see the Moxx again). Obviously a lot of time and money had to be spent on the aliens in order to make the whole thing look effective, however it felt a little wasted and I was aching to hear something from those three intergalactic monks. Maybe another time...

Apart from it's zoo of characters, this episode may well also be remembered for it's humour. Davies's script is genuinely funny and there is a confidence and ease about the humour that has not been a part of Doctor Who since Douglas Adams's days. Not once did it detract from the serious moments of the story and we should all welcome the return of 'fun' to Doctor Who after so long. The iPod joke, Britney Spears, the Ipswich gag - these will all go down as the funniest moments in Doctor Who. Never should Doctor Who be so earnest and dull that it cannot have a laugh.

Some of the funniest lines go to Billie Piper who was again on top form (all the stuff about the Doctor and Jabe 'polinating' and being back by midnight was great). She is an incredibly effective actress and brings a wonderfully natural air to the character of Rose. This is helped of course by Davies's writing, and Rose's reaction to the aliens is so true and genuine that you begin to realise how often this aspect of the companion's character was neglected in the old series. Tucked in amongst the frenetic pacing, I really liked her quiet little scene with the plumber.

Chistopher Ecclestone's Doctor was again good - apart from a couple of duff 'comedy' moments (namely his constant grinning as the delegates were being introduced and his painful 'dancing' to music). I found his lack of compassion towards Cassandra quite shocking at first, however, on thinking further about this, I realised that it fits perfectly into the mood and theme of the episode (of which more later). However the third thing that will make this a remembered episode is the layer upon layer added to the Doctor's character. As well as learning all of the stuff about Gallifrey being destroyed in a war (I have no problems with any of this), the scene where Jabe talks to the Doctor about it is truly remarkable (for Doctor Who) and profoundly moving. Even if Ecclestone is sometimes a little too over the top at playing the fool, his 'serious' acting in that scene, and in the final moments of the episode, was wonderful. It goes to show that having such an accomplished actor in the role does pay off and it is sad that he wont be returning next year. I think that this is he first time that we have seen the Doctor shed a tear on screen - and it worked so well. His reaction to Jabe's death was also well done.

There was more of a plot here than was evident in Rose, however the limitations of the 45 minute format are beginning to show in this respect. Just as the speedy resolution to last week's plot was to throw a vial of antiplastic into the Nestene Consciousness, this week the solution was to pull a lever (albeit the scene was a lot better, with the death of Jabe and the whole shutting his eyes to walk through the rotor bit). The whodunnit theme was over so quickly. It would have been so much nicer to have just a little more time - however it wasn't too detrimental to the episode. I have high hopes for the three 2 parters.

Finally the overall feeling of the episode worked well. Its title is apt given that the themes of death, the passing of time and apocalypse were so prominent. The scene where Rose phones her 'dead' mother, the Doctor's line about "everything having its time", the destruction of Gallifrey and of Earth, the sacrifice of Jabe, the grotesquely extended lifespan of Cassandra. Nothing is constant and everything must pass in time. Underneath the jokes there was great pathos and sadness and the chip shop line at the end topped it all off magnificently.