The Parting of the Ways

There's so much I like about Parting of the Ways: the beautiful Dalek FX shots, Jack kissing Rose and the Doctor (and, later, the Doctor and Rose kissing), the Doctor sending Rose on a one-way TARDIS trip to safety, the Anne Droid's final stand against the Daleks, the tow truck of doom, the Doctor's great farewell scene, etc.

Sadly, I can't give the episode a thumbs up because, in the end, it makes absolutely no sense.

Let's start with the Dalek invasion of Earth. So...the Daleks have been guiding humanity's development and converting the dregs of society into Daleks for at least a hundred years, but they're only just now getting around to taking over the planet? What was their motive for taking it over when they already essentially controlled humanity? Sure, it'll make a nice homeworld for the Daleks (Skaro being destroyed in Remembrance of the Daleks, of course), but why wait so long to claim it?

The Bad Wolf being Rose ruined the character in ways that I can't even begin to put into words. After decades of pyromanical time-travelling teenagers, American botany students with fanciful names, mathematical geniuses from the planet Alzarius, Time Lords, cavewomen from the future, UNIT agents, etc., we finally get a *normal* companion for the first time since the days of Sarah Jane Smith, and easily the most down-to-earth and relatable companion since Ian and Barbara. So what does Russell T. Davies do? Turn her into the Dark Phoenix (of X-Men fame). And how was "Bad Wolf" supposed to be a warning anyway? Clearly, the Doctor and Rose had no idea what it meant in any of the previous 12 episodes. If I have the power of a god and I'm sending a warning to myself and a close friend, I don't choose to send said warning in the form of two cryptic words that I *know* my friend and I didn't comprehend or notice previously. In other words, Rose knew the Bad Wolf warning was a failure...so she decided to send it out anyway.

Finally, poor Christopher Eccleston, the Doctor of our age, was reduced to spending most of the episode working on a technobabble device that ultimately doesn't even come into play. At least he gets to reel off some great lines before regenerating, but that still doesn't excuse the Ninth Doctor's virtual absence from the final part of his last adventure.

I adored Bad Wolf and thought it was the very best television episode of any series ever. I suppose Parting of the Ways had a lot to live up to, but it's not as if asking Russell T. Davies to write a coherant script starring the Doctor that doesn't trash Rose's character is asking for the stars. He's done it before and I have no doubt that he can do it again. But it's a shame that, for whatever reason, he couldn't do it for the Ninth Doctor's swan song.