The Parting of the Ways

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod! My inner eight-year-old is so very happy...

The final episode of this series was SO good that the Doctor kissed his companion AND I DIDN'T CARE!! Normally I would be up in arms at such un-doctorish behaviour but the episode was SO exciting and SO moving that it almost seemed OK. (Jack kissing the Doctor isn't a problem as that's the companion kissing the Doctor, not the other way round...)

Regarding the big mystery that was finally answered- I bet we all thought a one or several points, 'Ooh, I wonder if Rose could be the bad wolf...' and then thought, 'neah.' Thank you RTD for one of the most brillliant apotheistic twists we could have hope for. Don't quite see how the Daleks were able to survive the time war 'through' the emperor dalek but again - strangely - that doesn't really bother me.

There were alot of wonderful & iconic moments in this episode - almost as though RTD was ticking them off one by one. Dalkes breaking through a door with a cutting torch AND a regeneration in the same episode is quite literally fan heaven.

There were wonderful quirky, inventive moments such as the companion, boy friend and mother conspiring to break into a piece of Gallifreyan technology using a chain and a truck. It's so wonderfully bizarre. Again brilliant use was made of the stark contrast of colours and mood between Rose's council estate and a space station in the distant future where humanity is about to meet its end. There was powerful archetypal imagery with Rose attaining ultimate power (and becoming something a bit dangerous in th process - total power corrupting totally and all that). The Emperor Dalek attaining a god-complex, a re-visiting of the Doctor's hesitance to kill from Genesis of the Daleks, and the Doctor sacrificing himself for his companion.

And the Doctor regenerated standing up ...blimey- I'd never have thought of that. And it seemed to suit Ecclestone's dynamic and swaggering portrayal to a T. It was a much more empowering way to regenerate, when contrasted with the ususal vulnerabiltity and disorientation that surrounds most regenerations. It wasn't at all what I'd expected in terms of ceremony and solemnity - but instead it was fantasticly optimistic and almost like a redeeming process after the trauma of the Time War.

Christopher Ecclestone has left us - and what a nice goodbye speech we got. He really has put an enormouse amount of effort into this series and by the final episode, I think I'd forgiven all of the telling people to shut-up and gurning. He's done the show a huge service.

But now we've got to start dreaming about Christmas- David Tennant. Teeth. Barcelona. Fantastic.