The End Of The World

Following on directly from the events of the first story, The Doctor takes Rose on a trip to the far future. There, the Great and the Good gather aboard a space station to watch Earth’s final moments, little realising that there is a murderer loose amongst them…

Following on from the breathless debut of Rose, The End of the World is more evenly paced. The first “act” shows Rose as an Outsider above her own planet, staring aghast as a bewildering array of alien dignitaries arrives to party. The entrances of the magnificently realised Face of Boe and Moxx of Balhoon (yes, he does exist!), along with various other races, evokes memories of The Curse of Peladon, and the setting is a nod to Douglas Adams’ Restaurant at the End of the Universe. 

Rose’s sense of isolation is wonderfully portrayed, Billie Piper managing to effectively cast off any lingering doubts that she won the role on merit, rather than on the ability to fill tabloid pages. Indeed, her performance in this episode (shot in the second production block) shows that she has got to grips with her character in the filming of the first set of episodes. Throughout, she is convincing as the Innocent Abroad, cast adrift in Time and Space and wondering what she has got herself into. 

The episode better structured than Rose was: it doesn’t all run at Warp 10. The story is split, effectively, into three sections: the first sees Rose encounter the aliens and discover her sense of loneliness; in the second, the pace hots up, cranking Danger Levels to maximum and ensuring that everyone sweats. The final section, really only a coda, allows Rose time to reflect on what she has seen on Platform One, and to learn something about the magnitude of The Doctor’s suffering.

Ah yes, The Doctor. He’s at the heart of things here, all bristling energy and flirtatious charm. After repelling Jackie’s charms in Rose, here he’s making eyes and blowing "air from his lungs" at Jabe, a Tree-lady from the Forest of Cheem (I suspect a Tony Hancock influence there). Indeed, during the second “act,” Jabe acts as a surrogate companion, used to further the story development and to help The Doctor in his frantic efforts to save Platform One. Yasmin Bannerman’s performance is exquisite, and her scene in the service duct with The Doctor is underplayed and touching. 

Another of the gallery of grotesques deserving of mention is Cassandra, portrayed by Zoe Wannamaker. Cassandra is the last “Human,” although after 2000 years and over 700 cosmetic surgeries, you wouldn’t know it. The realisation of her appearance is superb, and worth every penny of the CGI money spent on her. Her character, vain and bigoted, shows how little Humanity has changed in the five billion years between then and now: Cassandra is held up as a mirror to the Human Race, reflecting both the best and worst traits we see in ourselves.

The Mill have worked wonders in this episode, with numerous Special Effects shots dotted around the episode. It is likely that there are many CGI effects which have gone unnoticed amongst the many shots of Platform One, a dying Earth and the four-legged spiders which have infiltrated the station. That alone should be testament to how far Doctor Who has come, no more fuzzy-edged CSO or wobbly set walls. 

But, even with the effects, and even with the Monsters, The End of the World would be nothing without a story. Rose was, effectively, two characters in search of a story, with an alien invasion thrown in for good measure. The End of the World is a proper, space-station-in-peril, companion-under-threat, whodunnit style story which Doctor Who has been doing for over forty years. And yet, it hasn’t been doing stories like this one, either. This is too smart, too clever, too witty and too frantic to have been part of the original run of stories. RTD knows how to write for modern TV audiences, and anyone coming up with stories in the style of The Ark in Space, however good that was, just won’t be entertained in an executive’s office. 

And then, after the world has been consumed in the coronas of the Sun, and the villain of the piece has been thwarted, The Doctor returns Rose to a busy London street. Here, we get reflection and introspection, with revelations and hints to what has gone before – which we expect to be revealed over the next few weeks. Comments made by Jabe are expanded and explained – to some extent – but the scene makes it clear that RTD has something more in mind than a series of individual 45 minute episodes. The best comparison would be the final seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where the plotlines dovetail and interlink. Here, we’ll be getting more of the same, and I can’t wait to see how it develops. 

The end of the world? No, not really. Just the start of another voyage in the good Ship TARDIS. Long may she sail. 

Overall: a steady improvement.