I believe it was Harlan Ellison that once said that it's much easier to criticise a bad film, because there are more things to write about. In which case, this review of В“Parting of the WaysВ” would be extremely short. This is an episode that will definitely divide fans because it flies in the face of every single convention that's been touted by traditionalist Doctor Who fans since 1963. Russell T. Davies said he wanted to write a space opera in which anything can happen. He has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.

This episode reaches the blackest depths of despair, and finally achieves the greatest heights of emotional triumph. So first В– the Daleks. There was never any reason to be afraid of them in the old series. As Jon Pertwee once said, run up a flight of stairs and you've got them beat. One of RTD (and Rob Shearman's) greatest achievements is to make the Daleks the genuinely scary menace they were meant to be.

From the very first opening salvo, you know that none of the people on that Station are going to make it. RTD promised a bloodbath and that's exactly what we got. The bloodthirsty violence during the siege very much reminds me of 'The Caves of Androzani'. It's not a matter of whether anyone will survive В– more a matter of seeing how many horrible ways RTD can kill people. It also brings home (as if there needed to be any doubt) just how horrifyingly dangerous the Daleks truly are. The slaughter of the survivors on Floor Zero, and Lynda's death via explosive decompression, will probably give me nightmares for weeks.

Fortunately, RTD contrasts that with Rose's reluctant return to the 21st Century.Which gives the audience a breather from all the bloodshed occurring on the station. It's also an opportunity to see just how much Rose has changed since she first entered the TARDIS. Her remark В“There's nothing here for me anymoreВ” is deeply hurtful to her loved ones, but also contains an element of truth. And as for that В“so-called controversial kissВ” between Jack and the Doctor, I would think we've come far enough that such an action should be seen for what it truly is В– an expression of caring and love from Jack to two people that are very important to him. I'm thrilled to hear that Captain Jack will be back in Series 2. John Barrowman's charisma and sense of fun made Boom Town and Bad Wolf lots of fun to watch. The TARDIS just wouldn't be the same without him.

But the capper to an already spectacular episode is THOSE two sequences. The revelation of who Bad Wolf actually was, was a major surprise to me. I thought the Bad Wolf was an evil malevolent entity, instead it was a В“goddessВ”, sending messages of hope and salvation throughout time and space. It borrows heavily from the Buffy fourth season episode В“PrimevalВ”, but at the same time is solidly based in Doctor Who lore. But is it plausible, based on what we thought we knew about the TARDIS? Every Who fan knows the TARDIS is a living machine, but never until know have we realised the sheer power encased within it. This isn't just a case of Rose saving the Doctor. It's a united effort by the two В“womenВ” in his life that love him the most В– both Rose and the TARDIS, to save him and provide him with redemption. And it works beautifully.

Then there was that regeneration sequence. I've played that moment over and over a dozen times now, and it still brings me to tears. This is the Ninth Doctor's final heartfelt farewell, and Christopher Ecclestone pulls it off beautifully. Thanks to Rose and the TARDIS, he was finally able to find redemption В– defeat the Daleks without compromising his love of life and antipathy towards bloodshed. But the cost is his life. In that moment of regeneration, it is not death, but salvation and exultation that we see.

And what an entrance for the new Doctor! I'm amazed that lines that when read in isolation, can (thanks to David Tennant and RTD), encapsulate such humor and charm, and also give us a brief glimpse into what this new Doctor will be like. After Ecclestone's emotional farewell, I laughed out loud in sheer absolute joy at the Tenth Doctor's first appearance. Onwards to the Second season!

The vanquished Daleks behind them and the TARDIS speeding on, Christopher EcclestoneВ’s Doctor regenerates into David TennantВ’s, Rose Tyler looks on aghast, and we all count the weeks to The Christmas Invasion. So ends The Parting of the Ways, a parting with Captain Jack Harkness perhaps, but not yet for Rose and the DoctorВ…

I have always found the best part of Doctor Who the regeneration scenes. Even if you were losing your favourite Doctor, the excitement of a new actor taking the role and how the changeover would be portrayed always made a satisfying end to a season. It also made the wait until the next one even more unendurable. This time round itВ’s the same again, although it all seems so rushed and I didnВ’t want Ecclestone to go. Not yet. Although I am with the critics who wince at EcclestoneВ’s grinning and gurning, I have warmed to him as the series progressed, and think he excels in this episode and the previous Bad Wolf. There is less of the folded arms and wide grins and more of the type of acting IВ’ve been expecting. IВ’m thinking of his portrayal of the Doctor as the ultimately lonely traveller; he knows heВ’s going to inevitably lose Rose at some point, in these episodes realised either through sending her home in the TARDIS, or by her apparent untimely death. Ecclestone conveys what heВ’s thinking remarkably well in such moments, just by the look in his eyes. Unfortunately, however, he canВ’t resist giving one last big, cheesy grin before he vanishes from our screens.

In many ways, this is the most satisfying episode of the entire run. It lacks the emotional depth of FatherВ’s Day or perfect plotting and suspense of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances adventure, but wins out on the excitement factor of the relentless Dalek presence, Joe AhearneВ’s superb direction, a suitably menacing soundtrack and of course the brilliant Billie Piper. Rose here proves herself the perfect associate (as the DaleksВ’ so neatly put it) of the Doctor, leaving her past behind perhaps now for good to travel on into the future to save him. There is also the repetition of deaths and rebirths that echoes throughout Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways that prepare us for the regeneration (Rose thought dead but then discovered alive, Jack dead and then resurrected, Rose telling her mother how she witnessed the death of her father, the Dalek rebirth at the expense of the human race and so on). Finally, The Parting of the Ways works because it is, for children at least, suitably scary. I know В‘watching from behind the sofaВ’ is an old chestnut, but even before sheВ’d peeked out from the sofa, the sound alone of the Emperor DalekВ’s voice was enough to scare my six year old daughter out of the room.

Humour doesnВ’t threaten to swamp this episode as much as others penned by RTD. The TARDIS materialises and its crew emerge to face a chorus of В‘exterminateВ’ from a party of Daleks, only to remain safe behind a handy force field. В‘None points!В’ quips the Doctor. Minutes later, when the Doctor is flippant with the Emperor DalekВ’s newly found godlike status, we get a metallic chorus of В‘blasphemy!В’ from the metallic hordes. Rose enduring some inane dialogue between Mickey and her mother about pizzas is amusing as well as contrasting with the world thousands of years in the future that she feels more connected to. Thankfully gone are attempts at satirising Reality TV, replaced by the unsavoury realisation that the Daleks are harvesting the Big Brother/Weakest Link winners and losers for their own ends. I also join the critics who dislike the Reality TV subject; it isnВ’t witty enough as a parody of these shows even if the timing is right (Big Brother running at the moment, The Weakest Link conveniently repeated before the Bad Wolf episode) and it isnВ’t convincing enough to work as good science fiction. This type of thing would work well maybe in the pages of 2000 AD, but not really in Doctor Who.

These gripes aside, RTD does finally get to prove himself as a worthy Doctor Who writer. Even if he does have to start three of his episodes with a space station in the far future overlooking Earth (the modern equivalent of the old overused В‘gravel pit in SurreyВ’ setting), he manages to find the right mix of straight sci-fi and traditional drama when he moves on to The Parting of the Ways. Although he canВ’t resist having Captain Jack kiss the Doctor full on the lips, he also has the Doctor plant a huge smacker on Rose, although this is more of a В‘kiss of lifeВ’ than anything untoward. His camp jokiness, aside, Captain Jack emerges in these episodes as a worthy addition to the cast after taking something of a backseat role in Boom Town. His presence is now necessary, as he takes the role of the heroic gunslinger to the DoctorВ’s В‘thinkingВ’ role, and Jack becomes the В‘killerВ’ while the Doctor eventually confesses to being the В‘cowardВ’.

There are other memorable moments too; the Doctor sending Rose home in the TARDIS (EcclestoneВ’s poignant pause before doing this is perfectly timed), Rose seeing the hologram of the Doctor and thinking this will be the last time she will ever see him, the В‘deathВ’ of Captain Jack and the sight of the Daleks drifting into view outside the space station, coming to exterminate Lynda, and EcclestoneВ’s final scene, preparing Rose for what is to come. The regeneration scene I thought was handled just right, and as EcclestoneВ’s head moulded itself into TennantВ’s I almost thought I saw the face of an Auton appear in between, bringing the series full circle.

Some things didnВ’t work so well. The Doctor is disappointed when the Emperor Dalek professes no part in the Bad Wolf scheme and we then expect something really startling. The real explanation is a little messy; when Rose picked the letters from the BAD WOLF CORPORATION logo to scatter them into the past, I half expected them to rearrange themselves into another word, an obvious anagram and explanation IВ’d missed. But Bad Wolf is Rose, empowered by the energy of the Tardis, a trick weВ’d been half expecting since this power was revealed in Boom Town.

This rather too neatly solves everything. The Earth is saved and the Daleks are destroyed. Even dead Captain Jack is resurrected. For the purposes of the storyline, the DoctorВ’s regeneration is induced. Most surprising was the death of Big Brother survivor Lynda, groomed as a potential new assistant in Bad Wolf where The Doctor and Rose are separated for most of the episode. Lynda В‘with a YВ’ asks to be taken away on the DoctorВ’s travels and he is initially keen on the idea. During their scenes together I almost forget about Rose and wonder how Lynda will interact with TennantВ’s Doctor. When The Doctor and Rose are reunited, Lynda is forced into the background, even receiving a couple of jealous looks from Rose and her chances of a future with The Doctor slip away. I wonВ’t write Lynda off entirely, however, as Captain Jack has already been brought back from the dead. Perhaps he needs as associate tooВ…

But letВ’s not quibble. I enjoyed it all, would watch it all again and again rather than face more repeats of Only Fools and Horses Christmas specials, and have now camped down for the long wait until Christmas, safe now in the knowledge that Billie Piper is staying on, at least for one more season, and that RTD and his team have pulled it off. LetВ’s hope it doesnВ’t go to their headsВ…

Series end, so excuse me if I get a bit indulgent....

A colleague of mine has a young relative who has been watching this series. Apparently, his latest 'trick' is to open the letterbox of his front door and intone "Are you my mummy?"

The children shown on 'Doctor Who Confidential' visiting the Blackpool exhibition were as thrilled to see a Slitheen as they were a Dalek...Seeing their happy faces, I was reminded of my younger self, visiting the Longleat exhibition soon after I had 'fallen' for this wonderful programme; that moment had happened with 'Castrovalva' episode one; so the Fifth Doctor is *my* Doctor....

Point is...this season has been totally 'inclusive' and we have a new generation of fans out there; and I think that is terrific. Personally, I agree with Tom Baker that no-one has ever 'failed' as the Doctor. Peter, Tom and Patrick are my particular favourites, but every Doctor has a following and this will continue...which is well cool. So....for a lot of people, Chris Eccleston will be *their* Doctor. Even if Chris might currently feel a bit ambivalent about his time on the programme, I hope (and believe) that he knows this. So I want to say...thanks, Chris. You did us bl**dy proud.

Ahhh....Billie. Obviously I should be getting around to the episode I'm supposed to be reviewing, so I'll keep this short....*Superb* performance. Throughout. Reached a peak here, but there weren't any troughs! Give her a flaming BAFTA...what a star.

Oh yeah, 'The Parting Of The Ways'....Beautiful. Classic. Ten out of Ten, again...Might sound silly, but I'm still feeling quite emotional about it all, so just some disjointed thoughts about the episode...

Captain Jack...Excellent. We see a man here doing the right thing because he is fundamentally decent. Brilliant performance by John Barrowman, who has really excelled in the role.There were a lot of great 'Jack moments' in this episode. "We've got a fully functioning force-field...try saying that when you're drunk.";his rousing call to arms; his kissing his friends goodbye; his 'death'....I'm pleased it's not the end of the Captain. I've just got my fingers crossed that, as we didn't actually see the 'extermination effect' on Lynda, she might've somehow survived too...and maybe 'hooked up' with Jack? She was such an appealing character and I loved the moment when she and the Doctor get really awkward and completely fail to kiss...Awwww. And the look on Roses face! Green monster time, which is pretty apt in this show! (Okay, I thought Jo Joyner was gorgeous, too...)

The script was rammed with quotable lines, but I particularly liked the scene when Roses 'loses it' in the Cafe and and gives her "He takes a stand..." speech about the Doctor. When she talked about her Dad too...very rewarding stuff. Mickey and Jackie coming through when push came to shove was also a lovely touch.

(Switch to 'Smug mode') I was convinced that Rose was Bad Wolf, but kept quiet, even to my friends who have followed the series. Billie really *shone* in the scene when she was 'at one' with the Time Vortex. (To the Dalek Emperor; "You are tiny..." Go, girl!)

I don't know whether all the kissing (Jack/Rose/Doctor) will go down well with everyone, but context was everything here. The Doctor *knew* the implications when he 'absorbed' the Vortex, thus saving Roses life...and I am a complete sucker for self-sacrificing gestures. (Fifth Doctor fan, see!) I found it very touching when the Doctor and Rose kiss and, in effect, he signs his own death warrant. The Ninth Doctor 'returns the favour' as Rose had saved in his life in the very first episode. There is clearly a deep love that has developed been these two and I have not got a problem with that...I think this Doctor always knew he wasn't going to last long, you know.

The final scene...awesome. Superbly done. That final shot of Chris smiling (not gurning, thank you very much!) and then...BAM. We have a new Doctor. Goosebump time. So...

Cheers, Chris. You know what? You were fantastic.

Hello, David. Welcome aboard. I think you are *going* to be fantastic. Just those few moments at the end seemed so *right*, y'know?

Thanks to all and sundry for making me feel like a kid again of a Saturday evening. There are so many other moments I could go on about because I think this was a bit of a masterpiece...but I think I'll s*d off before I turn into a complete 'luvvie'!!

Liked it when the "Ann-droid" got blown up, by the way....Don't diss us Welsh, eh, Russell?! (Not being at all serious. I'm sure Miss Robinson got the joke!)

It's gonna be an extra cool Christmas this year... 'See' ya in December!

The new era of Doctor Who seems in many ways just to have begun. Only 13 weeks ago the 9th Doctor ran onto our screens with his Leather Jacket, his manic grin and his love of the Fantastic. Now the 9th Doctor is all finished on TV, but itВ’s hardly an end to this new world. Russell T Davies Doctor Who (it is his, more than anyone else) has amazed us over the last few months В– and now we have a show that is popular, loved by the media and trendy В– three things that Doctor Who of the past only rarely achieved.

Christopher Eccleston has been at the forefront of this revival. His portrayal of the Doctor was bang up to date, yet still the old Time Lord we know and love. His performance over the season has been universally excellent В– it has been a thrill to watch him beat the Monsters and put the world to rights. ThereВ’s been talk that if Eccleston only wanted to do 1 season, then he should have not been allowed near the TARDIS, that another actor would have been better for longevity purposes. I, for one, would have much rather seen 1 brilliant season of Ecclestons Doctor, than none at all. His Doctor can stand alongside previous Doctors with no shame В– his Doctor has been another wonderful ingredient in the exquisitely tasting cake that is Doctor Who.

A massive part of this new series has been Rose В– and as befitting the season as a whole Rose has plenty of impact in the finale. It can be strongly argued in fact that this season Rose has been as dominant as the Doctor, if not more dominant. This hasnВ’t been a problem, as Billie Piper is the single biggest success story of the season. I am delighted she is doing another full season. Best Actor/Actress this year В– definitely Billie Piper as Rose.

The final episode offered thrills, spills and a huge amount of emotion. It felt like the end, but also a new beginning. It was epic in all kinds of ways.

I was astounded at the scope of the story on offer here. CGI showed the Daleks in all their magnificence, but Russell Ts story was full of the emotional drama of the one, or the small group. The episode was brilliant because it focused on a small group, and how they were trying to save the world against this powerful aggressor.

Both the Doctor, Rose and Jack had a huge part to play in this salvation В– each extremely heroic in their very unique ways. It was wonderful how the Doctor sent Rose back, to save her. He cared that much about her. It was even more wonderful that Rose demanded a return to the future (the scene with the truck pulling the TARDIS console was tacky, but so very Doctor Who) and achieved it. She cared so much about him. As she turned into Super-Rose it was glorious to see her saving Jack aswell, destroying the Daleks, and saving the world. It was magnificent that the Doctor saved Rose, but sacrificed one of his lives in the process. It was a stunning regeneration scene, rivalling the 5th/6th Doctor transformation for its impact and self-sacrifice.

The Daleks were big here В– really big. The re-introduction of the emperor Dalek was a master stroke. Turning it into a God allowed the episode to address huge issues relating to beliefs and ideals. The Daleks might have been servants/drones to the super being, but they have never had such a strong motivation as they did here. Russell Ts story was grand in so many ways.

I struggle with Science, always have and will. When DW was more scientific before (eg Season 18) I didnВ’t get it. As a result I didnВ’t get the Bad Wolf scenario at all. The clues written everywhere was a pretty cool idea, but the resolution stumped me. The making of the jigsaw to me was far more interesting than the finished picture. All that Time Vortex creating Super Rose, and the Daleks being wiped out В– no, didnВ’t understand the why at all. What I do know is that it looked brilliant, that I cared about these wonderful characters, and that they succeeded because they were selfless and heroic В– thatВ’s classic Doctor Who, and I really couldnВ’t care less about the scientific mumbo jumbo explanations. This new Doctor Who doesnВ’t lose the viewers with its technobabble В– it focuses instead on characterization and the interaction between those characters. ThatВ’s the main reason for its success.

So the season ends, and the 9th Doctor is now the 10th Doctor (nice cameo by David Tennant В– promising). Russell T gave us a speech for his demise that was totally appropriate. Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor has been Fantastic В– the whole series has been Fantastic in fact. It has exceeded my expectations on virtually every level. The reaction of my friends and family has been amazing В– and itВ’s wonderful to see the magic of DW (that I have felt all my life) have an impact on them.

I look back at DW 2005 with a huge dollop of affection. I donВ’t recalll any other Series of Doctor that has been so chock full of brilliant moments, wonderful scenes and brilliant characters. I love the old Doctor Who a great deal, but I have to admit that this new show is superior in so many ways. Wonderfully aswell, it has always been totally, definitively Doctor Who В– the same show, but better, that I have loved all my life.

With the recent announcement of a 2nd and 3rd Series we have so much more to enjoy of new Who. I am sure that David Tennant will continue the grand tradition of Who В– and be excellent too. HeВ’s stepping on board a cruise liner, majestically sailing through the oceans of the world, dazzling so many people with its grandness. I look forward eagerly to all the wonders it will pay a visit to.

Doctor Who fans have never had it this good, ever. TV has never had it this good В– the stunning adventure continues. 10/10

It sounded as though Russell T Davies had gone absolutely barmy. Big Brother. What Not to Wear. The Weakest Link. And Daleks? And yet it has resulted in one of the best episodes of the year, a cutting satire that reminds you of the extremes reality TV can be taken to and a gripping build up to the final, climatic episode. I was astonished at how excited I got during this episode, at the beginning I was groaning, halfway through I was roaring and at the end I was positively glowing. If anybody was still unconvinced that RTD is the man to bring Doctor Who back on the screen than surely this episode has put that to rest.

I think a lot of this episodes success is down to Joe Ahearne’s outstanding direction. To be fair to the man, he has not delivered a single bad shot and has already wowed us with his dramatic flair (Father's Day) and his visual eye (capturing the locations of Cardiff beautifully in Boom Town). This had to be Ahearne’s trickiest episode yet and the one that could so easily fall flat on his face if he didn’t get the atmosphere perfect. And he has done it in the only way possible, playing the reality TV gone mad deadly straight so that the viewers are on the edge of their seats willing the participants to survive. It could have been so easy to camp it all up and poke fun but instead RTD and Ahearne take the very simple premise of you lose you die to the extreme and the result is nail bitingly tense. I loved it.

After Dalek had aired I exchanged several e-mails with a friend discussing the merits (or otherwise) of trimming Jubilee down into its TV counterpart and losing its disgusting humour. I said, and maintain, that something defining was lost in that transition, that Jubilee’s unique brand of sick humour was what made it so unique. You were laughing at the macabre events taking place (such as the insane President of the English Empire receiving a gift of a midget from the American people who he wants to shove inside another Dalek casing and pretend he has his own Dalek army. Alas, midget is too small and he has to cut his arm off to fit him inside!) but you weren’t sure whether you should be laughing because it is all so gross. I love it when a story can have that effect on me, making me feel uncomfortable enough to squirm. Bad Wolf had a similar feel to it. Clearly the idea of game shows like The Weakest Link being run by an Anne Droid (brilliant name) who kill off its contestants when they lose is an absurd idea and very funny but when played as seriously as this (look at the first actress to be voted off, she is absolutely shitting herself!) it becomes something worth getting worried about. This brand of confliction kept me riveted throughout. The only game show that didn’t leave me in a cold sweat was What Not to Wear but that featured one of my favourite sequences on television ever (where the unbelievably horny Captain Jack, stark bollock naked, pulls a gun out of his ass!)…and to be fair it was certainly the funniest of the lost, provoking shrieks of delight as the man was stripped off his clothes (we’re a very sheltered bunch!).

I have for a long time now been despairing at the state of the TV schedules and the overload of trashy reality TV that has been forced upon us. I asked a friend at work the other day what on Earth did we have left that could possibly be analysed. Celebrity toilets? Public executions…you vote for the method? Reality TV seems to me to the laziest excuse for television, a cheap way of filling up the screen time and making stars out of complete nobodies who do not have a shred of talent (unless you really think that Jade Goody is worth listening too?). Drama’s (Doctor Who) recent win against reality TV (Celebrity Wrestling) has proven that the public have grown out of these childish excuses for television want something that has had a bit more effort out into it. They want plots. They want characters. They want television that you have to watch rather than any old dispensable rubbish you can switch over halfway through. It cracks me up that Doctor Who is providing that service whilst also sending up reality TV. And Bad Wolf shows you just how far it can go if you let it. Look at I’m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here…you may as well be executed after serving a poor term on that show…your career is as good as over! The sad truth of that matter is that reality TV as portrayed on Doctor Who is far more entertaining than your standard reality far because people are being killed off. I think it would dangerously addictive if this were reality. I think we should stop this cancer before it spreads! Gosh, I do have a flair for the melodramatic but you get my point, the potential for this to get out of hand and be hugely successful is there. Never underestimate how far people will go to be entertained...how many people used to attend public executions in good Queen Mary’s time?

I haven’t experiences build up frenzy this good since the good old days of DS9. Russell T Davies sure knows how to whet your appetite for next week. It’s a shame that the Daleks involvement was spoiled in the teaser last week (although I’m sure that couldn’t be helped, what with the ratings to worry about and all) as he has constructed this script very skilfully to conceal their involvement until the last possible moment. He has been building up this episode and its surprise re-appearance of the Daleks since The End of the World and it is very rewarding for the constant Bad Wolf references to finally get explained. He even manages to salvage something from The Long Game, answering some of my criticisms about the Doctor’s suddenly rush to leave in that story, explaining how and why the Jagrafess was installed AND (most brilliantly of all) clarifying what that incomprehensible (at the time) title meant. Very, very clever, considering how impressed I have been with his plotting and climaxes (oo-er) I should have known better to have doubted him. See Cornell, this is how it should be done.

Eccleston has really hit his stride now and is delivering flawless performances week after week. It is a shame he should be cut away from Barrowman and Piper so much considering this is their penultimate episode together but that cannot be helped in a script that requires each of them to face a different challenge. I love that sense of danger he portrays now, with each successive episode the ninth Doctor is becoming the scariest Doctor of the lot and not because he is wrestling people next to a vat of acid (nowt wrong with that anyway) or cyaniding them to death but because he constantly acts as though he has got nothing to lose. As the last surviving member of his race there is a bitter, resigned side to him that cannot abide evil in the universe and will snuff it out through whatever means necessary. So when he says he will escape the Big Brother house, you believe him. When he rushes to save Rose from the Anne Droid, you believe he will. When he stands in front of thousands of Daleks and tells them he will bring them down no matter what you bloody well believe him! He’s one mean mamma and not somebody I would ever want to cross. No other Doctor has seemed quite so determined to do things his way and considering his status as the last of the Time Lords he appears quite reckless. I like that a lot, Eccleston finally has a hook and runs with it. Its shame we wont be seeing more of this dangerous Doctor as I fear this nasty streak could be taken to real extremes and provide some great drama (although the sight of him facing off with a Dalek with a bloody great bazooka was scary enough!).

Billie Piper and John Barrowman continue in their periphery roles as companions with their usual panache. It shocked me how well the Doctor and Linda (with an I) were getting on in this episode, for a while it felt as though he had forgotten Rose and was willing to pick up anyone as a companion as long as she was sweet. I can see how Rose could be written out of the series now; she has served her purpose as the new companion, adjusting newcomers to this madcap life of the Doctor’s and dealing with all the family issues that come with it. I don’t want that to sound like faint praise because I think Rose has been the key to this series’ success and Billie Piper has been infectiously good in every episode. The only fresh place they can take her now is to deal with the Doctor’s regeneration which I have no doubt Piper and RTD will handle with their usual aplomb. Captain Jack on the other hand can stay a while simply because we haven’t had this sort of dynamic with the Doctor before, a charismatic action man who deals with much of the comedy and action and leaves the Doctor to do all the clever stuff. Barrowman is extremely confident with his characters identity and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of this sweet macho man. Certainly his scenes in this episode are brimming with confidence and his chemistry with the Doctor is highly entertaining. Plus, you know, you see him starkers.

This episode is one of the most visually stunning of the series so far with some excellent lighting and visual effects. The controller was another of RTDs whacko ideas that he pulls off, bleached in blue light, with fluorescent cables hooked all over he body, this is a highly disturbing image. Each of the game shows looks utterly authentic and snaps you into the banal and colourful world of reality TV with ease. The exterior shots of Station One are amazingly complex and the awe inspiring vista of Dalek ships with leave shivers crawling down your back. Boom Town was obviously the money saver for the last two episodes and it looks like it was money well spent. I love the retro look of the robots too, it matches the old fashioned Daleks and their colourful spaceships…it almost takes you back to the sixties when they were at the height of their power. And the final shot is certainly an eye opener; surely we have never had such a convincing picture of Dalek firepower painted for us before…?

Anything that didn’t work? I’m not sure about Jack waving that huge bazooka thing about…looked a bit too camp for my liking. And the Daleks behave rather like how you would expect them to rather than acting with the newfound menace from Rob Shearman’s tale. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NEGATIVE!!!!”…hmm, looks like they are back to their old, campy selves.

But considering the list of hurdles this episode had to leap over it is amazing that it turned out as good as it did. Dark, dangerous and electrifyingly climatic, this is the most surprising episode of the year.

I was very worried about this episode due to its reality television content. I hold the view that reality television is an extremely tacky form of programming, and though I may watch the occasional reality programme, on the whole I disagree with it. So upon learning that this episode would feature the Weakest Link (more a game-show than reality), Big Brother (the programme responsible for the reality craze) and What Not To Wear (fashion according to two badly dressed females) I didn’t hold high hopes for this episode. This wasn’t helped by HEAT, one of those tacky celebrity magazines, declaring that Russell T.Davies has written the episode especially for them. That, for me, was not a very good recommendation for the episode. But I still decided to tune in and see it for myself instead of relying on reviews and friends comments.

The episode wasn’t tacky which can only be a good thing. BUT that didn’t stop it having a few problems that did rather spoil my enjoyment of the show. For a start that Big Brother house looked far too small. It seemed to consist of the diary room, a small living room and the eviction corridor. What about everything else? The bedrooms, kitchen, dinning air, bathroom? The set felt very small and actually felt like a studio set, was that the point though? I doubt it. The Big Brother house may look weird and bizarre but rarely does it looks like a television set. But this one did. Seeing as they got permission to use the theme tune, the name/format, and the logo couldn’t they also have got permission to film in the real house? When this episode went into production the current series of Big Brother hadn’t started so surely it could have been possible? And couldn’t they have filmed on the real set of the Weakest Link instead of that very small and obviously fake one? The real one would have been much better and an audience watching the contestants could have been a sinister addition. An audience sheering at the apparent death of a contestant would have unnerved the audience and heightened the tension. Instead the Big Brother & Weakest Link sequences looked cheap, as if the budget had run out.

The robots looked dreadful, simply dreadful. They reminded me of some lego creation rather than a scientific creation. I think it would have been better to use Anne Robinson and others and just made them up to look slightly robotic. And in the Weakest Link the contestants could have been killed by a laser coming from Anne’s eyes, far better than a gun in the mouth. A nice close up to a pair of red burning eyes and then a laser shooting out and killing the contestant. Much more sinister and scary. Instead we got pathetic and cheap looking robots that ruined the sequences for me. Sure it would nice to have Anne Robinson, Davina McCall and those other two doing the voices but it would have been either better if they had actually appeared in person. But would the budget have stretched to that?

I find it extremely hard to believe that reality television will be with us, or make a come back, that far in the future. In fact I would go as far as saying it is highly unlikely, unrealistic and therefore unbelievable. It was just a cheap ploy to make yet another and unoriginal attack on the state of television in the modern age. This would have been better achieved by setting the episode in the present day rather than thousands of years into the future. Having the twist of shows killing of their contestants isn’t a new idea and is in fact a rather boring one. I have written several essays and articles regarding the state of television and reality television. In each of them I note that it won’t be long until someone tries to televise a life death, more than likely in America first. So its already well documented and whenever anyone attacks reality television they use that argument, amongst others, to describe why its so bad. So this was another element I didn’t real like. A more in-depth look at the Long Game’s manipulation of news would have been far interesting. In that episode they barely touched on the subject, it was just mentioned really, and the Doctor returning to find the news still be manipulated for a far more evil purpose would have been much more interesting and slightly more original. A twist could be Satellite 5 creating false news stories to hide the bigger one, such as the survival/return of the Daleks.

Moving on to the Doctor and once again Davies feels the need to reduce him, in parts, to that bloody smiling idiot. He had a great big grin smacked across his face during parts of the episode that totally ruins any tension or suspense. What’s the point of being scared if the Doctor is smiling? What’s the point of wondering what’s coming next if the hero of the piece has a smile bigger than the M25 across his face? I really wish this annoying habit of having the Doctor walking around with a massive grin on his face, and thereby ruining any tension or suspense in the scene, is dropped in the next season. Another trait I hope is dropped is the Doctor suddenly stopping what he’s doing and exchanging small talk about how he loved this programme or some other trivial matters that only make him look stupid/silly instead of alien.

This episode carries on the theme set up during the previous one of having to face up to the consequences of your actions, of having to pick up the pieces, to clear up the mess. This is something that Doctor isn’t real good at. When a mystery is solved or an alien invasion stopped he disappears in the TARDIS and doesn’t hang around to clear up or deal with the consequences. Due to this Margete escaped and able to try and destroy the World (and as an added bonus Cardiff) to save herself. In this episode because of the Doctor’s rash actions in The Long Game satellite 5 closed down and the Earth government and economy collapsed something that shouldn’t have happened. It could be argued that because of the Doctors actions during The Long Game the events of Bad Wolf took place.

And are we closer to finding out who or what Bad Wolf is? I don’t think we were told during that episode, we were? Instead it seems that several others join the list of suspects. Those are the Daleks, Linda, Captain Jack and whatever saved the Daleks during the time war (Davros?) and was heard during the trailer for the next episode. By introducing Linda the producers are hoping we’ll think she joins the Tardis crew but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s killed off during the battle with the Daleks, something that happens for “shock factor”. The flashbacks to remind the reviewers all the Bad Wolf references were good but I’m now wondering whether we’ll ever find out who or what Bad Wolf is about what it all means. Is it really that important or just a coincidence? Have they really managed to manipulated the Doctor for all this time, since he met Rose? Have they really managed to foresee everything that the Doctor has done over the past 11 episodes? And since it started when Rose joined could it be Rose herself or even dippy Mickey, annoying Jackie or dangerous Adam? Or could it be the Tardis or heaven forbid the Doctor? I guess we’ll have to wait until next week.

Performances were pretty good with Captain Jack being much better than in previous episodes. As ever Billie Piper was better than all the others and her reaction to realising that being voted the weakest link was death was truly great television. Christopher Eccleston was good when not playing the grinning idiot and the guest stars were average really. They were better than in some previous episodes but still lacked character and felt rather two dimensional, a problem with most of Davies scripts.

And with the end of the episode we’re left with a massive Dalek fleet preparing to invade Earth, we presume, Rose in the hands of the Daleks and The Doctor & Captain Jack preparing to do battle and rescue Rose. The trailer for next week looks extremely interesting and seems to suggest that the Daleks are now religious! I await next week’s episode with egger anticipation. Makes a change from dread.