The End Of The World

So what are we going to learn about the Doctor as his travels continue; this very modern Time Lord and his very contemporary travels? This second episode of the first (and only) series to star Christopher Eccleston was an exhaustive journey through the extremes of time travel, that which takes its passengers to the end of the world itself, but also hinted at potentially explosive details of the Doctor's own life.

Now that dust has, to a degree, settled upon the return of Doctor Who, perhaps more focus can be placed on the content of the individual episodes, of which this was the first to hint at the blossoming relationship between the Doctor and Rose. In "The End of the World", the Doctor takes his new companion to just that, a bizarre tourist spectacle of the death of Earth. Amongst a gathering of the peculiar aliens of the galaxies, the Doctor encounters the self-styled last human on Earth, whose own plot to get rich from a none-too-clear business plot is thwarted in double-quick time.

Certainly this episode was in fast-forward, and with a story as potentially muti-layered as this, more the pity that a Part II does not exist. Too much in this episode was left as a glossy sheen, nothing deeper than hints and allegations. An old-fashioned cliff hanger could have been structured to help with the audiences understanding of Rose, her relationship with the Doctor and so on. Just as the sun visers were falling, just as Rose was exhausted with trying, imagine the theme tune screaming in then! Sadly, it can only be imagination, for this new series appears to have no time for genuine nail-baiting tension. Whilst both Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston shone in this episode, the former quite brilliantly, neither had the chance to save this episode from being a clutch of missed opportunities.

The interesting jewel in all this dust must be the possibility that the Eccleston Doctor will prove to have more a more complex, more dimensional character than any before him; he has been written well this year. His bursts of anger and emotion are genuine, and the information about Gallifrey and he being the last remaining Time Lord should have fans stroking their chins for a while. Just what role does a solitary Time Lord have, exactly, and will we have the chance to find out? Certainly Eccleston seems to have given his status a little weight and gravitas.

If all this 'save you in the nick of time' stuff is a little too much even for the committed fan-base, then celebrate the strength of the minor characters, who did the best with a story no-one could really save from being too thin. Lady Cassandra was a very clever pastiche, and the Forest of Cheem was represented by a very well designed trio, of which applause to the very well acted Yasmin Bannerman. Incidentally, applause to Billie Piper for looking genuinely bemused and confused by the introductory mingling of the crowd. 

I wondered if it was possible for this series to be as close to perfect as my imagination could wonder, although thus far I am having to have all my predictions put in check by reality. Surely no-one can forgive the 'mobile phone a billion years' scene, however 'in touch with reality' it was supposed to be. I am not yet disappointed - this was a good episode - but how far towards 'mainstream drama' and how far from 'Doctor Who' is this series to go?