The Parting of the Ways

A couple of years ago Big FinishВ’s audio adventure Zagreus was, somewhat unjustly, criticised, largely on the basis that it was not being the epic multi Doctor conclusion to a terrific story arc people expected. This was in no small part due to the fact the hype surrounding it had resulted in fans coming up with increasingly grander anticipations of what it would be about. В‘The Parting of the WaysВ’ was always going to be one of the most eagerly awaited in Doctor WhoВ’s history, and after last weekВ’s ending few fans were not speculating on its content. Given this there was a real danger it could be a disappointment if it did not live up to the adventure people had been writing in their heads over the past week based on speculation, conjecture, internet rumours and wishful thinking. As this adventured turned out to have none the predicted appearances from Davros, the Eighth Doctor, the Watcher or any other of a number of weird suggestions I had heard, I suspect some fans will be disappointed. Personally I thought this was generally a good episode with nice twists and surprises, good action sequences and moving moments.

Brilliantly, the episode shows the Daleks at their most powerful and ruthless; massacring humanity on and off screen without a care. We also see people we have grown close to like Lynda and Jack die at their hands, although the latter is resurrected and doubtless will return. The scenes of the Daleks attacking the satellite are brilliantly realised, as are the scenes on the Dalek ship. The Emperor is a brilliant design and is well voiced by Nicholas Briggs who gives him and all the Daleks a real menace. It would be a waste if they really were all dead and personally I think RoseВ’s amnesia will be used as an excuse to disguise the fact some survived (possibl;y one of the smaller ships that headed for Earth. Even if I am wrong in this guess as this show is about time travel the Doctor can easily encounter them again in the past, although to avoid overuse I think their return should wait until series three (Season 29 if you are pedantic) ideally in a cliff-hanger ending.

To get back to this episode I also liked the fact the Doctor sent Rose home and her determination to come back for him which shows the importance of their relationship. It also illustrates that after travelling with the Doctor Rose can never go home, as she would not be able to go back to an ordinary life. This is character development to a degree that Doctor Who has not seen for a long long time, and the kiss, which some fans will hate, is a logical pat of that development.

The solution to Bad Wolf and RoseВ’s return trip to the future is also clever using information from earlier episodes. Furthermore there is no cheating as all the clues were there. The Bad Wolf had to be someone Rose had seen before the Unquiet Dead and it was - the baby Rose saw her future self in 1987. It is also good that В‘Boomtown!В’ (and to a lesser extent the 1996 T.V Movie) foreshadowed the use of the power of the TARDIS and JackieВ’s helping Rose was because of events in В‘Fathers DayВ’. Clearly this series as whole was very tightly plotted by Russell T. Davies and this is allows this episode to work.

That said there are elements of the script which are slightly disappointing. The Doctor is able to walk into the Dalek mothership and rescue Rose far too easily in my opinion and the use of Rose as some kind of super-being to wipe out the Daleks is a bit too convenient and caught up in technobable. Most annoyingly of all it is not clear why the Doctor dies and Rose lives for she was infected by the vortex for a far longer period. Admittedly this could be explained away by saying the energy became more deadly the longer it was away from the vortex or if it was the act of expelling it back to the TARDIS/vortex that caused the DoctorВ’s cellular decay. Or is this a hint that there is something special about Rose yet to be revealedВ….

This brings me on to the regeneration which was, in my opinion, very well handled with the Doctor explaining to Rose, and by extension to new viewers what was about to happen. ItВ’s a moving scene with the Doctor trying to assure Rose that everything will be fine and make light of what is happening, but at the same time he realises that he is genuinely upset that his Ninth personality is about to die. Although the Doctor will still be around he knows apart of him is dying for ever and this is his goodbye to Rose, and on another level Charistopher EcclestonВ’s goodbye to the audience. Eccleston pulls this off brilliantly and itВ’s a real shame itВ’s the end of this incarnation already. When he was cast I was not sure that he could ever be the Doctor in the way his eight predecessors had been, but over the past thirteen episodes heВ’s proven my doubts wrong. Goodbye Doctor number nine - you were indeed В‘fantasticВ’.

Yet as the Doctor once said В‘ItВ’s the end, but the moment has been prepared forВ’. Although only on screen for a couple of minutes David TennantВ’s performance gives me great hope for the future as does the reassuring James Bond-style caption at the end В‘Doctor Who will return in the Christmas InvasionВ’. Thankfully we now know Rose will be back too which on the evidence of Billie PiperВ’s performance in this episode, and across the series as a whole, is good news indeed. I also hope Joe Ahearne will return to the series one day as this is another example of a well acted, visually impressive production that has clearly benefited from having a good director.

All in all, like the 2005 series as a whole, despite a few niggles this episode was a thoroughly enjoyable piece of television which deserves to be called classic Doctor Who. As the Ninth Doctor would have said В‘fantasticВ’.