The End Of The World

*Phew* that's more like it. And it was the first time I had heard the words 'iPod' and 'prostitute' uttered in an episode of Doctor Who. 

I've spent the best part of last week since the debut of 'Rose' trying to work out one thing. Did I really like it? A friend asked me on the phone the other day which I preferred, 'Rose' or the TV movie of 1996, and do you know what? I couldn't answer, I think I replied with something along the lines of 'I liked the TV movie's epic grandeur, but thought the new show had the humour that was missing from the US version', although if I was being honest, I would say that 1996's TV movie had the slight upper hand, after all, at least it took its source material seriously, in a way that 'Rose' failed to. Believe me, I've attacked the TV Movie in my time and I won't mince my criticisms. I was even attacking 'Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace' long before it became trendy to do so. It’s just that there was something just not right about 'Rose'. The whole time it had felt like I was watching set of actors in a parody of a sci fi show against a backdrop that was straight out of 'Eastenders'. I so badly wanted to like the new 'Who', yet I had this horrible nagging feeling that soon I would be joining in chants of "Russell T Davies raped my childhood". However, once 'The End of the World' had finished I was almost in tears, and not only at the highly charged emotional ending. It was like an old friend who I had believed I would never see again really was back.

I won't resummarise the plot, many others will have no doubt done that before me, but to me, this is the series as I remember it, and yet feeling new and refreshed in a way that it so desperately needed towards the end of its original tenure. It wasn't perfect. The aliens still looked like men in suits and there was still the taste of the cheesy humour that was the downfall of 'Rose' (The Tardis gets a parking ticket!?!).

However, the creature effects were up to Henson standards and looked far more authentic than the CGI aliens that fill other series. And so what if the blue steward and his crew looked like men in blue face paint, the actors took their roles seriously enough that we soon forgot that was what they were. And yet whilst the pace was still lightening fast there were moments where everything slowed down and we got to learn far more about the characters. The likes of the attendant/plumber that Rose befriends were not shabbily acted comedy grotesques like Rose's mother, but fully rounded (or flattened in Cassandra's case) creations. Not to say that a few of the supporting aliens could have been given more screen time, but such are the limitations if a 45 minute format, as others have pointed out elsewhere. The biting satire that was always present in the old series was back, with tirades against racism, the hypocrisy of the class system, and the materialistic modern culture of obsessive self-improvement. The CGI was impressive and put to perhaps its best use on the exterior space shots (although I do have to say that as a drinking pal of mine works for The Mill's CGI team and he gave me a lift to the station a few months back!).

To be honest, the announcement about Christopher Eccleston's resignation hardly affected me last Thursday. I cared little for his overacting in 'Rose' and I had theorised before last week's announcement that such a noted actor wouldn't commit to a long running series anyway. Yet this week I had my heart in my throat as Doctor number nine recounted the loss of his home world and I felt his sadness at Jabe's demise. As we learn more about this Doctor's recent past we can theorise more about why he is so different from his past incarnations. This is a man carrying the scars of war and the loss that conflict brings. This Doctor has more in common with Ron Kovic from 'Born on the Fourth of July' than any of his eccentric predecessors. Note his militaristic haircut and his dulled down 'uniform' look, lacking any extravagance. Why dress up when everyone you cared for is no more, and there is nothing to dress up for? Note also his cold-blooded willingness to let Cassandra die. No wonder his Tardis is just a patchwork of used 'found' parts if he can no longer return to Gallifrey to repair it. Yes, there was still a playfulness to Eccleston's Doctor, but it was kept in better check than his constant over-comedic acting in 'Rose'. If anything this Doctor's over-reliance on humour is only an antidote to the sorrow he hides within himself, sorrow he cannot even discuss with his companion. 

Of course, the destruction of Gallifrey (assuming this is still the same continuity as the original series) opens up a whole host of plot possibilities, and with last weeks select revelations about a mysterious war hints that we might be getting that all to common of threads found in a modern Sci fi TV show - a story arc. There will no doubt be hardcore fans who will spit upon Davies for taking such bold steps to shake up continuity, but if the series is going to grow and change it needs to shaken by its roots by revelations like this. Somehow Gallifrey's destruction makes sense; everything has to eventually have an end. After all, what the Star Wars saga be without the fall of the Jedi Knights, or the Norse myths be without the coming of Ragnarok? So who were the other combatants in this war? Did they perchance look like a set of marauding pepper pots? Did the Master survive Gallifrey's destruction, and if so, which side did he fight on during the war? How would being the only two surviving Timelords change the dynamic between the Doctor and the Master in any future confrontations? Aren't these just the sort of questions we fans like to waste our time dreaming about? 

'The End of the World' was easily the best 45 minutes I've had in recent times. I only wish that 'The End of the World' and 'Rose' had been edited into one ninety-minute pilot so that the likes of the Sci Fi Channel (and those who failed to tune in after seeing 'Rose' last week) could see what they were missing. Despite the sadness of the tone at the end of ‘The End of the World’, that in time everything dies, the Doctor reminds us to cherish the life that we do have. I felt like a part of me had been restored, but most important of all, I couldn't wait to see the next episode, which was always my reaction at the end of an episode of the old series. And that my friends is what it should all be about.