The Parting of the Ways

I am someone who didn't live during the time of the old Doctor Who and therefore know almost nothng about the previous Doctors or even the Daleks for that matter. I have to say I think Russell T Davies and his team of writers have done a fantastic job in resurrecting Dr Who for a whole new generation. The 'Parting of the Ways' was similarly a mostly excellent finale and closing episode for Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. It was kind of saddening to watch Eccleston and Piper's final episode as a duo and it certainly feels as though they have been together for years and not just 13 weeks.



The surprise re-entrance of the Daleks did not surprise me at the end of 'Bad Wolf'; I already knew that the first series of 'Doctor Who' would see the return of the Doctor's arch-enemy and the invasion of Earth. On the latter front, I have to say I was disappointed that Davies chose to set the action in orbit of Earth of the future again and as a sequel to the earlier episode. The idea that thousands of years into the future the human race would be completely hooked on reality television which featured completely robotic versions of earlier celebrities was either just very cynical or very lazy. The promised invasion of Earth was little more than a picture of the Dalek lasers zapping the continents until they changed shape. If Davies did want to return to a previous time-period, why not experiment with returning to the Victorian era or something else? While the invasion and massacre of the Gamestation was well-done, it did seem a bit sad that the producers saw fit to recycle an old premise.

Still, the idea explained by the Emperor of the Daleks that they had been harvesting humans to create more of the floating pepperpots was a truly creepy one. So too was the premise of the new, religious Daleks with the Emperor as a god. We felt sorry for the creatures for a brief second when the Doctor calls them 'driven mad by their own flesh'. I also liked the moment where one Dalek skittered away from the Doctor, supoosedly because it was scared of him.

The sense of desperation was built up well in the episode from the Doctor pretending to have a flash of inspiration only for him to send Rose home, to the death of everyone on the station until only the Doctor was left standing. I was genuinely surprised when Captain Jack snuffed it and equally surprised when he was resurrected thanks to Bad Wolf Rose.

Speaking of Captain Jack, I cringed when he appeared in his WW2 guise in 'The Empty Child' but have since come to like him. In this episode, he becomes a full hero and a worthy time-travelling companion for the Doctor. It was sad that he got left behind and it will be interesting to see if he returns and how?

Billie Piper carried this episode with her performance of Rose. First of all as a desperate bystander to events as she tried desperately to understand the workings of the TARDIS and secondly as the triumphant assistant who solves the Bad Wolf riddle and saves the day in a role reversal of every other week.

The final resolution was very touching and yet somehow annoying at the same time. On the 'touching' side of things, it was wonderful to see Rose come through for the man she called 'my doctor' although I wasn't completely sure if this was Rose talking or the being inside the TARDIS. The moment when he kissed he to remove the pain it was causing her was the culminatin of the trust, frienship and strange love that had been building between the two characters since the beginning.

On the annoying side of the things. did the all-seeing all-knowing Tardis being just resurrect Jack or all the human race aswell? And surely the Daleks can't all be gone? I understand that they all turned to Dust. but have the producers backed themselves into a rather tight corner by doing this? Also, I found myself wanting to cuddle the Dalek Emperor when he said 'I cannot di-i-i-ie'

And finally, to talk about Christopher Eccleston - the ninth Doctor. To me, he is the first as Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee are just legends. I enjoyed his combination of a cheeky-chappy Northern Doctor who puts a middle finger up at the jaws of death and a lonely time traveler who carries the weight of the universe on his shoulders. He showed both qualities in this episode. He also presented us with a quality previously unseen in the Doctor - cowardice. Despite his grim promises, the Doctor cannot end his own life to take the Daleks with him and he seemed a tad pathetic when Rose arrived to save him.

Eccleston reconciles both sides of the Doctor in his final speech. He wistfully talks of all the places he was going to take her and raves about the wonders he would show her. Yet, the laws of time and space means he cannot stay and that his time with her is cut short. His own assertion that he was excellent is both a great final bow for Eccleston and the reminder that the Doctor will be back in another form.

And so we were introduced to Doctor Number Ten - David Tennant. I honestly didn't guess he would appear in the last few seconds, as I thought that would be saved for the Christmas special. I liked his first lines of dialouge 'Oh yeah that's right...Barcelona' and get the impression that Tennant may play the Doctor as some kind of eccentric, Cockney wide-boy. The shocked expression of Rose suggests she is going to have serious trouble accepting that this is essentially the same man she went through life and death with. I could hedge a guess and say that this will be part of the reason Billie Piper is written out in series two.

The catchy reworking of the theme tune closed the series along with the promise that 'the countdown to the Christmas invasion has begun.'



Just some closing thoughts...



- What exactly is a 'Time War' and how does one differentiate between this and a 'Time Scuffle'?

- The Time Vortex Being said she 'scattered the words' to remind herself to look open the heart of the Tardis into the phrase 'bad wolf' So what were the words originally? The only anagram that springs to mind is 'Dab Flow...or Flob Daw.

- The Doctor said he could not go back in time to escape because he would become part of events. So what has he spent the last 13 weeks doing? The man in the first episode showed him at the assassination of JFK and at the launch of the Titanic. Isn't that becoming a part of events?

And some plot predictions for next series.

Likely - that Rose will leave beacuse she can't accept that the new Doctor is the same man.

Possible - that the Daleks will have infiltrated the world of L'Oreal adverts - Ex-foli-ate

Unlikely - Captain Jack will use the Dalek dust to create himself a scary new pet.

Hope To God It Doesn't Happen - David Dickinson will be the eleventh Doctor.

The Theme of Series Two - After the success of the mystery of Bad Wolf, Davies will try 'Placid Goldfish'