The Parting of the Ways

Now this is more like it.

If you’ve already read my review of the previous episode, Bad Wolf, you’ll know it disappointed me a great deal, after so much hype. It could’ve been so much more, et cetera. So I guess I was dreading its follow-up a little. I’d heard a lot about it, and people seemed to love it… but they’d said the same thing about Bad Wolf. So I was wary.

Okay. I was planning to write about the final episode in my traditional way, from the opening scene to the end, but after a couple of drafts, I realised I couldn’t do that. Not for this episode. This is, for lack of a better word, special. So I’m going for a different approach this time around. Hey, it’s the last one, so why not?

I watched this episode at the end of a one-per-day marathon, from Rose until now. I quickly realised just how different each story was, how different each one felt. No two felt similar to each other. And the ongoing story arc wasn’t the Bad Wolf phenomenon – it was the story of the Doctor and his best friend. Not quite his soulmate. But definitely his best friend. Their first meeting was a whirlwind, involving shop-window dummies, the London Eye, tree-people, metal spiders, gas creatures and Charles Dickens. When Rose eventually got back to her comfort zone, it was a year late… and in the middle of an elaborate alien invasion. When the invaders were defeated, she decided she wanted to come aboard properly… and the Doctor decided he wanted her to.

Their friendship was soon tested when he went a little nuts in Utah, but by the time they got to Satellite Five, one could tell they were having a lot of fun together. Perhaps the audience needed Adam, the companion-who-couldn’t, to come between them, to realise how well they worked together. And look at their rapport in WWII London… once again, they needed someone to come between them, in this case someone who really swept Rose off her feet. But luckily that very same man, Captain Jack Harkness, made a perfect addition to the TARDIS team, as proven on their little Cardiff adventure. Then when each crewmember awoke in a different reality TV show, you could tell they all needed desperately to get back to each other. Not only needed, but wanted to. Because they were friends. And finally, when it seemed Rose had been disintegrated – in front of the Doctor, no less – it was clear that he’d just lost his dearest friend.

Phew! So here we are, and the Doctor’s just discovered Rose is alive after all… only she’s on a Dalek ship. Ah, the Daleks. Yup, they’re back, and they’re mostly digital. But unlike the end of the previous episode, they look fantastic and – most importantly – realistic. The effects team have saved the best for last, with their glorious Dalek ships. But as for the Daleks within the plot… well, I didn’t mind the Daleks discovering religion. Didn’t make me jump for joy, mind you, but it also didn’t make me want to write a nasty letter to the production team. (Unlike those farts, and that pig, and…) I saw it as merely a plot point, in a story that was about far more than that.

The tension in this episode just builds and builds, from the rescue of Rose, to Jack’s gathering of a last defence, to the Doctor tricking Rose and sending her home…. oh! What a scene! Christopher Eccleston has just been incredible in this series – who else could pull off such a defeated look, then immediately mask it with enthusiasm about Rose’s obviously impossible idea about crossing timelines? “He’s tricked her!” I cried out to the screen. My god… I was so involved!

Which brings me to the best part of this episode – the Earth sequence. Imagine looking up at the sky, and knowing a war is taking place somewhere out there, a war that involves your best friend, who’s probably about to die… and you can do absolutely nothing about it. The world just keeps turning, the routine of contemporary life refuses to ever let up. All those little things about your home – your mum, your neighbourhood, your local café – once signified your comfort zone, but now they’re more alien than the Moxx of Balhoon. Rose is trapped in a world she no longer belongs to, while the Doctor is about to make a decision that will affect the future of her race. The worlds of 2005 and 200,100 AD have never felt so close together. It’s like they’re happening concurrently… Einstein was right. And to top it all off, there’s a time machine hidden inside a Police Box on her street corner. A living time machine, with a heart. But a heart you can’t break into. This machine is broken to her.

What Rose needs is motivation. She’s got nothing. There’s nothing out there that can help her – except some familiar graffiti. Bad Wolf. A message. A wink from the future. Doesn’t matter who it’s from – it’s proof that she can get back. It’s like in that film Somewhere In Time, when Christopher Reeve discovers his own name in a hotel guestbook from 1912. He was there. So he must be able to get back. So must Rose. All she needed was motivation, see? Oh, and bigger artillery. Like a very big truck with a chain on the end. Hey, that works! Vworp, vworp. And suddenly she’s Super-Rose, full of time-vortex energy, ready to kick Dalek butt.

Now, the resolution. Remember what I said about the “Daleks-finding-religion” plot point being just that, a mere plot point? Well, I feel the same way about the whole Bad Wolf thing. Various people have complained about the deus ex machina resolution to the plot arc. But as I already said, Bad Wolf was not the plot arc. It was just an in-joke. A plot device. And yes, the resolution was a deus ex machina, but what exactly is a deus ex machina? That’s right – a plot device. And just like the Daleks finding God, there were far more important things in this episode than the Bad Wolf thing. I personally enjoyed the whole resolution, anyway. Billie Piper, I’ve finally decided, is wonderful at what she does. I began to well up a little when she described the Doctor as “hers”. I loved the way she nonchalantly wiped out the entire Dalek race with a wave of her arm.

But it’s too much for young Rose, of course. Well, she’s only human! And she’s dying. So the Doctor must save her. With a kiss. A wonderful kiss. I cheered. I really cheered. It just felt right. These two have earned a kiss… especially since the Doctor’s saving her life. (How lovely is that line? “That’s right, I sang a song, and the Daleks ran away.”) But of course, it’s a sacrifice. The Doctor’s now infected. It’s like The Green Mile, isn’t it? But unlike John Coffey, the Doctor can’t just cough out the time vortex. It’s destroying his body. Imagine you’re a casual viewer, and you know nothing about the Doctor Who mythos. “How’s he going to get out of this one?” you wonder. Then, “Is he going to get out of this one?”

Yep. Welcome to the world of Doctor Who. A world that’s only survived for so long because of one thing. Regeneration. This guy can change. And what a regeneration! It’s glorious! A thing of beauty! “You were fantastic,” the Doctor says before he changes. “And you know what? So was I.” But it’s not the Doctor saying this. It’s Christopher Eccleston, the man who saved this show, changed it from a thing of ridicule back to an award-winning Saturday night fixture. And the words were written by that other god, Russell T. Davies. And they’re saying these words to us. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Russell. You were both fantastic.

And welcome, Mr David Tennant. I just saw Casanova. Wow! I can’t wait to see you in this role!

There’s so much more to this episode I haven’t mentioned… the terrific supporting cast, including Jenna Russell and Jo Joyner… the beautiful death of Captain Jack Harkness (we’ll miss you, Mr Barrowman)… Lynda’s chilling death… the brilliant Dalek Emperor, with Nick Briggs giving another outstanding voice-over performance… the James Bond-like caption in the end credits… the return of old-favourite Dalek lines like “My vision is impaired, I cannot see!”… that heart-rending scene between Rose and her mother, when she tells her she’s met her dead father, thanks to the Doctor… but I’m already onto my fourth page, so I’d better shut up now.

So there we are. Laughs, tears, adventure. A beautiful quasi-love story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Great acting, writing, effects, music and direction. And Daleks. Hang on. Am I talking about this episode? Or this entire series? Actually, I’m talking about both. The Parting of the Ways is, for the above reasons, a perfect example of how good this series has been. I’m really going to miss it. Hurry up, Christmas…