Doomsday

It is easy to ignore the fact that in todays easily taken forgranted world of multi channels and the internet, we are probably in the middle of a sci fi/ fantasy film and tv golden age.

Any comic or cult tv fan should be doing cartwheels at the moment as all those ideas which only ten years ago were the stuff of dreams become a reality.

These past few years have been saturated with new Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, sci fi and superhero films. Now not only are we enjoying a full second series of Doctor who but we are also getting so many wish lists ticked: return of Sarah Jane, Cybermen and finally that ultimate fan boy dream: Daleks v Cybermen.

It may seem an obvious idea and it may seem curious now that such a thing doesn’t ever seem to have been seriously considered in the past, but that is most probably because it is a very dangerous idea in that it promises much more than it can probably deliver. Really apart from a good shoot out, there isn’t a whole lot of mileage in the idea, much as the Alien V Predator film proved, its hard to tell a story about two protagonists who are both bad guys. But you cant blame the production team for pulling out this particular trump card and for the most part the Daleks V Cybermen scenes came across as very well executed, but probably really in need of an extra episode and a feature film budget to do full justice to the scale of the idea. Really though the Daleks and Cybermen were pretty much the background story, the real star of the show was Rose and Russell T Davies did us proud with a beautiful exit for this most special of companions.

The story in essence touched many of the same bases as last years Parting of the Ways 2 parter (sic), we had the slightly frivolous opening, followed by a slowly building mystery, all out war and finally the revelation that the Doctor and Rose must once more be parted to save the world. Thankfully the BBC’s publicity department can be congratulated on this occasion for keeping Billie’s departure under wraps for sufficient time, thus allowing her departure to carry its full dramatic weight and not be diluted over 13 episodes of anticipation and speculation as Eccleston’s was last year.

In her final appearance Rose bowed out with one of the best departure scenes ever written for a companion, it is astounding to think how casual the exits of many previous companions have been, and Russell showed how to do it properly. It was unashamedly emotional and anyone out there with a heart who has enjoyed Billie’s performance must have been struggling to hold back a tear. I must admit I have not been totally convinced Billie’s heart has been in it this season, in some stories you got the impression she was marking time a bit, but for her exit she was back 100%. The whole Tyler family reunion thing could have come across as a bit twee and convenient, but it worked and I think brought everything full circle in a most satisfying way. While I have sometimes accused the new series Doctor of being perhaps a little too human, here I could quite happily make that concession and allow him those tears as we realise that the two friends will never see each other again and the Doctor must once again continue his lonely voyage. It was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever witnessed on television and was impeccably scripted and played. Although I am sad to see Billie go, I hope that the character never returns as any future cameos will only tarnish this great exit.

I was vehemently critical of the Rise of the Cybermen 2 parter on these pages several weeks ago and I am glad to say several parties involved in that story redeemed theirselves here. Firstly the superb Shaun Dingwall got some material finally deserving of his talent. Father’s Day was my personal favourite of season 1,due in no small part to Shaun’s portrayal of Pete, I was so disappointed then when Age of steel gave him very little to do and he seemed to walk through the story like a spare part. In Doomsday he got to show some real grit and while much more weary than the old Pete, he got to once more play the hero as we saw the scene when Rose rescues Pete in Father’s Day mirrored as he too snatches his daughter from the jaws of death.

I had also found Graeme Harper’s direction on the first two parter a bit lacklustre and at times amateurish, but this story was much improved and more in line with the work of his new series contempories. The Cybermen weren’t at their best in ROC/AOS either and came across as very clunky and toy robotish, while I am still not totally won over by the new Cybermen, their movement was a lot better in this story and the way they were shot gave them much more physical prescence. The biggest drawback on the new Cybermen however is the voice and the light up mouth, they are big hulking creatures, but the voice for me at least goes against that impression and weakens them. I know the production team are trying to evoke the whole sixties thing, but to me it feels laboured and the monotone delivery is too similar to the Daleks. They also came across a bit like cannon fodder for the Daleks. The story really did need that extra episode after the genesis arc opened to portray the full extent of the Dalek Cybermen invasion/war and its effect on the planet as a whole. We were still denied the Daleks actually being seen on terra firma. The shots of the arc opening and the Daleks flying over London were terrific stuff, as were their brief face offs with the Cybermen, but we really wanted to see much more. The battle had barely begun before it was time for the denouement.

And what a denouement it was, there were some liberties taken with logic particularly in the notion that thousands or millions of Daleks and Cybermen could be pulled into the breach so tidily with the Doctor and Rose hanging feet away from them and not even getting nudged, but the epic edge of the seat nature of it made that easily forgivable. For a moment as the realisation that Rose could possibly die for real seemed a possibility, we saw the full extent of the Doctor’s emotional anguish. David Tennant’s characterisation has at times been a little too flippant for my liking, but in these final scenes he proved he has the full dramatic range needed to portray a really great doctor and I hope he will tone down the smart arse aspect of the character down a bit in season 3.

And so that was it, another 13 weeks of Who gone far too quickly, and while a backlash against the series seems to have developed in some quarters, hopefully this episode will silence any critics, far from running out of steam as some seem to suggest, this story proved that when they put their minds to it Doctor who can still weave that magic. The season hasn’t been perfect, but has built on many of the strengths of last year while discarding some of the weaknesses. There hasn’t been any episode anywhere near as embarrassing as Aliens of London or Boomtown, and even some of the quieter stories such as Fear Her or Girl in The Fireplace have been far more memorable than the likes of The Long Game. The season arc has also payed off better than last years Bad Wolf and while the Torchwood references were sometimes a little overbearing, one can see with hindsight in stories such as School Reunion or the Girl in the Fireplace that the signposts were there for the Doctor and Rose’s parting. I think next year possibly needs to see a move away from earth, I have started to hear a lot of comments made that a series about space and time travel seems to end up on present day earth with alarming frequency. Impossible Planet proved it could be done, so more alien planets please.

I wasn’t quite what to make of the ending, obviously it was designed to surprise the audience who probably expected the episode to go out on a melancholy shot of the Doctor. It certainly did its job in providing an unexpected twist, but somehow fudged the cliffhanger with the puzzled exchange between the Doctor and the Bride not quite hitting the mark. We all know now that Catherine Tate is not the new companion, but I wonder how many people would have fell for the idea, if they had kept the announcement of Freema Agyeman back for a bit longer.

So all in all a hearty well done to all involved in this story, and particularly to Russell T Davies who when he pulls out all the stops can create some truly astonishing television, he is not too great at atmosphere or plotting , and has a sensibility which veers too much towards camp for my liking, but when he imagines Doctor Who as a sweeping blockbuster epic with action and emotion to match, nobody does it better.