Just to get it out of the way first, despite my instinctive dislike of the interminable Doctor-Rose love arc, I have to say that Billie Piper's performance in the rather bleak denouement of Doomsday was very touching and believable and drew out my sense of sympathy for a character I have otherwise found increasingly irritating. It also, ironically, inspired Tennant's best moments yet as the Doctor: brooding, slightly detached, paternal and visibly moved. But my irritation with Rose has not been so much to do with Piper's acting, which has mostly been of a high standard compared to many former companions (just compare her with Victoria, Jo, Adric, Peri and Mel and it's clear Rose, despite her annoyingly 'chavvish' aspects, is generally played pretty strongly by Piper), but with her characterisation and the intrusiveness of her growing infatuation with the Doctor. Well, it had to come to an end sooner or later, and I'm glad it has. Having said that, Piper's emotive performance on saying goodbye to her Timelord in shining armour - her convincing stuttering out of 'I love you', cringeworthy and absurd though this implication is, especially considering the Doctor's an alien - was impeccable. Having said this though, for me still this was all out of place in this programme; not so much her infatuation with Him, but the further implication that the Doctor requited it in some sense. And this was implied here though thankfully the Doctor didn't get to finish his verbal recipocration of Rose's sentiment. Thank God. But his tears afterwards say it all anyway. Maybe ultimately this was a direction the show had to go in eventually, in order to 'grow up' in a sense, but then, Doctor Who isn't and was never meant to be Star Trek or - much as I love it - Blake's 7: that is, the pivot of Who is the seemingly asexual, alien nature of its main protagonist, and RTD's humanisation of the character has been mostly lazy and feckless, arrogant and ill-conceived, and only really on this occasion has proved to work dramatically, with the Doctor's palpable sense of loss and lonliness on the final farewell to the most emotionally demonstrative companion he's ever had. I know RTD can't be entirely to blame for sexualising the Doctor as this was tragically first manifested in the appalling 1996 movie - which also heretically implied the Doctor was half-human - but that's still little excuse. The fact remains, in a far more sexually literate culture than when the series was last on our screens in 89, RTD, his finger ever on the pulse of zeitgeist, felt it was necessary to bring romance into the TARDIS. But the inevitable effect of this move is the dilution of the central character's enigma and alienness. This, in my view, has generally been damaging to the drama of the series. I wouldn't have been quite so prudish had the Doctor requited an infatuation with a Time Lady (as, let's face it, the implication was often there, though infinitely more subtly, between the Fourth Doctor and the second Romana - cue City of Death and the Doctor's mournfulness in Full Circle, after her departure the previous story). Hartnell's flirtation with Camica in The Aztecs aside, there's never really been any other hint of the Doctor's amorousness; even the Fifth Doctor's bond with Tegan seemed pretty one-sided on her part (cue Enlightenment), though, again, he was visibly emotionally drained at her sudden departure in Resurrection of the Daleks.

So what now then? Rose has apparently gone, though the likelihood of her returning one day is left open by her existence in that oh-so-difficult-to-return-to parallel Earth. Time will tell if RTD and the boys will decide to move on from this rather infantile preoccupation with the Doctor's capacity for human romance, with the dawning of the new companion next season: if the same sort of relationship is developed again with a new companion, I will really give up all hope on the new series ever fully rising above the level of sci-fi soap opera. This said, the appearance of Catherine Tate as an Essex-style bride in the TARDIS at the end of the episode was not only totally misplaced after the torrid farewell to Rose, but also I predict indicative of a fast-approaching abomination of a Christmas episode. With a title like The Runaway Bride, I feel Christmas day may be spoilt somewhat by a possible pantomime episode. I reserve judgment till Doomsday.

Talking of which, this episode itself. Well, my love of Who has always been much more down to the scripts, characters and concepts rather than the monsters. The essential theatricality and verbosity of the classic series is what drew me in in the first place; the detail of plots and scripts; the effortless imagination of scenarios; the absorbing, often intellectually-tinged escapism of it all; the suggestiveness of concepts and plot elements rather than always trying to visualise them, often mainly to do with lack of budget. New Who, for the first time, has the cash to show us practically everything suggested, but in a perverse sense this, for me, detracts from the power of the drama dormant in the show, and ironically cheapens it all in a way, to the level of Hollywood or US sci-fi. I think it also makes the writers much lazier, being able to rely more than ever on special effects etc. Doomsday is a good example of this techological complacency in the new series - the only consolation is some well-pitched battle sequences between the Daleks and Cybermen, the kind of scenes I would have loved as an eight year old but that now as an adult I find rather tedious and comic-strip. Doomsday's impeccable visuals (though the flying Daleks I thought didn't look that great) and fast action pace in no way distracted me from a fundamentally facile plot and conceptual laziness. In short, this episode, despite a truly emotional ending, was a big let down after the build-up of Army of Ghosts.

What we get really is one big winding up of the Tyler family saga/parallel Earth Tyler saga in an implausible implosion of scriptural laziness and plot conveniences: now, apparently, it's possible for the parallel Earthlings to simply hop back and forth by pressing big yellow medallions. Just like that. Yes, the Doctor points out how impossible such technology is. To which we get a hackneyed, non-falsifiable explanation from Jake that the parallel Earth has its own Torchwood but that the people's Republic found out what they were doing and seized on it. Mmmm. Ludicrous. As is the fact that their new President is called Harriet Jones. Come on. The Whoniverse has contracted massively under RTD: we now have an almost continually Earth/London/Cardiff-bound TARDIS, a future in which the Earth is controlled by the National Trust (why not International, for crying out loud?), a previous Doctor who has a consciously Salford accent ('All planets have a North'), a series of alien menaces that prowl around the same South London estate, and now even an impossibly parochially related parallel Earth where there's an identical Tyler family and Micky etc. Talk about suspension of disbelief. But I won't go on.

Other criticisms: the cop-out of the Genesis Ark arc, very disappointing - it would have been nice to have had Davros back finally - obviously not going to happen - but instead we get a vague thing about it being of Timelord technology (which even the Doctor finds vague for goodness' sake), and the Ark is basically a sort of TARDIS prison from which inevitably ejaculate millions of CGI Daleks swarming around Canary Warf (my, MI5 have been busy - or should that be MFI). Meanwhile the Cybermen are getting rather clumsy, falling over all and sundry to the Daleks' exterminators like so many empty suits of armour. I've decided I don't like these new models much: they seem to cumbersome and too robotic, the essential menace of the old ones being their obvious organic element. Basically these new ones are robots with human brains. The production team (and possibly Harper) have overdone their stomping noises to the extent that they're actually a bit embarrassing. Their voices are good and quite Troughtonesque, but there's something essentially lacking from them and I can't put my finger on it. At least, not as easily as on a parallel Earth transmat medallion. The focus on the moral and dehumanising aspect to the Cybermen is a brave and fruitful development in the new series, which I applaud; however, the shot of the Cybernised Yvonne shedding a tear of patriotic pride was implausible and clumsy, a perhaps irresistable play on the tear-duct design of the Cybermen's eyes. I hate to say it, but Harper has delivered the kind of direction in this episode and debatably the previous three that seriously poses the question: did your stunning talents die out with the old series? Rise of the Cybermen and Ghosts/Doomsday are not a patch on Harper's classic efforts (two of the best directed stories of all time); only Dalek from last season showed similar flair to Harper's old series' classics, but that was by a different director.

On the good side, there were a couple of scenes which shone in Doomsday both scripturally and directorially: first was the scene of the Cybermen rising again to the chanting of 'We will irradicate all class, sex, race' etc. 'and make everyone the same, like us' - a possible chilling comment on the misguided idealism of Communism?; and the shot of the Doctor gloating through the Dalek's vision, saying 'No wonder you're always screaming'. Doomsday needed many more scenes like these, but sadly, it didn't.

Doomsday was a disappointing climax to the second series overall, though with an affectingly emotive farewell scene. But it was full of cliches, plot-conveniences and cop-outs, and seemed to try and mimick the superior (though over-rated) Parting of the Ways finale to the previous season, but failing ultimately due to lack of believability and originality. Doomsday was the climax to the Tyler soap opera and the Doctor-Rose arc, and so was inevitable, but I do feel it could have been pulled off much better than it was, without so many continuity intrusions from the previous two series and frankly, without the Daleks, who seemed generally superfluous to the plot and weren't done full justice. Is it just me, or are the Daleks rather boring without Davros?

5/10 - on a good day.

So much happened in Doomsday (in truth, maybe TOO much happened) that it’s hard to know where to start this review. The beginning is usually a good place - even though, technically, that was also the end, with Rose’s “this is the story of my death” message being reprised before the opening credits.

An example of how much had to be packed into this episode could be gleaned from the pre-credits sequence – surely the briefest we’d had, and an indication that there was no time to waste!

That was why writer Russell T Davies quickly wrapped up the contributions of the surviving featured Torchwood key personnel (those from this Universe) – although it was a nice touch to later bring in Cyber Yvonne, complete with female voice – I’m assuming that was Tracy-Ann Oberman, and that Nicholas Briggs’ talents (and ring modulators) haven’t quite enabled him to perfect a gender voice change.

The main business of the early part of the episode was the match of the day which everyone wanted to see – the clash between Cybermen and Daleks, which had been set up by the thrilling arrival of Skaro’s finest at the end of Army Of Ghosts.

It’s a question which has been debated by Doctor Who fans throughout the 40 years that both have been part of the public consciousness. Cybermen or Daleks - who would win in a fight? It’s never been a contest for me. The Cybermen are wonderfully large and menacing but they are, by definition, men – and women! – in rubber (or the 21st-century equivalent) suits. The Daleks are more alien and, since they were given “wings”, infinitely more deadly. When a Cyberman first appeared in Army Of Ghosts, it was a thrill – but nothing compared to the Daleks arriving on the scene. That’s still always a move-to-the-edge-of-the-seat moment, and these are few and far between in TV watching.

That longed-for first meeting between representatives of the two great armies – in a corridor, where else? – was an exciting moment but, of course, there was never any question of the Daleks allying themselves to an “inferior” monster – and nor should they, even at a numerical disadvantage of five million to just four!

Even the Dalek voices are greatly superior, much more clearly defined and easy to follow. As in Rise Of The Cybermen/The Age Of Steel, I have an issue with the Cyber voices. A dedicated fan would have no problems deciphering them, as they’re concentrating deeply, and used to the variances in alien voices. I’m sure many more-casual viewers – the vast majority, without whom there would be no TV Doctor Who – would have missed several lines of Cyber dialogue, not that there was much. It’s rare that I can categorically say I prefer one aspect from the old series to the new version but, for me, David Banks’ Cyber Leader voice is greatly superior to Nicholas Briggs’ version.

It’s a little surprising that Briggs was voicing both Cybermen and Daleks – although, to be fair, you certainly couldn’t tell they were the same man. Perhaps Briggs’ Cyber voice may grow on me given time, because I should add that I love his interpretation of the Dalek voice – and the different affectations he brings to each one.

Plot-wise, I thought (and, as always, you have to take the episode time constraints very much into the equation) Doomsday worked really well, though there was no massive surprises, apart from the Daleks’ arrival. From ’way back in Episodes 5 and 6, the widowing of the alternate Pete Tyler meant a “reunion” between him and “our” Jackie was a fairly-obvious route for Davies to take. Pete and Jackie’s meeting wasn’t my favourite part of the episode. I didn’t really buy the leaping into each others’ arms, and this was one of the sufferers of trying to cram too much in, though it was acceptable in terms of plotline. Being a “boy”, at the time, I was rather enjoying the Cybermen-Daleks skirmish and wanted to see more, and all this human stuff rather butted in! Obviously, it would have been great to see extended monster fight scenes, but I suspect we’re talking budgets here, and the money ran out. So we had to make do with a couple of token zappings.

The Genesis Ark being a dimensionally transcendental (or should that be transcendentally dimensional) prison ship for millions of Daleks was a decent idea, and the sight of the Dalek army flying through the London sky with the Cyber army below certainly gave the impression of an epic encounter. However, with the flying Daleks, there was a sense that we’d kind of done that in The Parting Of The Ways, and there was more than a few moments of déjà vu with that great season finale as this year’s denouement grew closer.

That was certainly the case as The Doctor again opted to send Rose away from danger, this time to the parallel Earth to play Happy Families with Jackie, Pete and Mickey (due to time constraints, sadly little more than a bit-part player here). Choosing The Doctor over her mother just emphasised the depth of Rose’s love for him. This time, she didn’t need a series of Bad Wolf messages to find her way back to her Doctor – and that led to the dramatic (as opposed to emotional) highlight of the episode, as our dynamic duo clung onto life by their fingertips (literally) as the monster armies were sucked back into the void, apart from The Black Dalek, of course . . . guess who’s coming back for Series 3?

Although I’ve always felt that Rose wouldn’t die in the conventional sense and would probably end up with the others in the parallel world, it did cross my mind for a moment that Davies was going to allow her to be sucked into the void, and her “this is the story of my death” message was sent from there, where she was trapped for eternity. Killing off Rose in this way would have been an incredible piece of TV, but Davies has said this wasn’t an option. And he was right. The viewer has travelled an incredible journey with Rose and, despite the emotional sledgehammer of a companion’s death, the way she has been written out leaves more than a glimmer of hope that one day she will return . . . and one day, she shall, she shall! If you can get in and out of a parallel world once, you can do so again somewhere down the line in time and space . . .

Rose losing her grip, and letting out a chilling scream as she slid towards her death was as dramatic a moment as I can remember seeing on TV, never mind Doctor Who, for a long time. It really was big-screen stuff. “Daddy” Pete suddenly appearing to rescue her, just as she’d done for him in last season’s Fathers’ Day, was also a perfectly-acceptable exit route.

Outwith death doing them part, this was really the only way Rose could leave her Doctor, and made for some emotionally-charged scenes, with them pressing their faces against each other from opposite Universes especially touching. And I preferred that moment to the “projection” of The Doctor to Rose in the parallel world. Again, this idea was too similar to The Parting Of The Ways, but you could forgive Davies that (could forgive him anything really – the man is a legend for bringing this great show back to us!) as it offered further opportunity to tug at the heartstrings some more, as the final goodbyes were said. And, though the two lead actors didn’t need much help, Murray Gold’s score really accentuated the moment once again. It was another tough writers’ call whether The Doctor would say the “l” word after Rose had and, again, Davies got it right – though the tears of a Time Lord said more than any little word ever could.

The only thing about the episode which really totally surprised me was the closing scene, and I wonder how late a decision the inclusion of Catherine Tate was, in what was effectively a trailer for the Christmas Day (as it almost certainly will be) episode. My instant reaction was “wrong call” and that it spoiled the moment but, thinking about it, leaving the series on a question mark rather than a full stop might have been a smart move. A difficult one to assess.

The natural ending was The Doctor alone in the TARDIS, devastated at the “loss” of a loved one, although that was pretty much the conclusion to The Girl In The Fireplace (for a different blonde – one who actually did die!). In fact, in retrospect, Steven Moffat’s excellent episode might have been better moved to Series Three. There were too many similarities between The Doctor’s reaction to Reinette and Rose’s departures.

None of the supporting cast got much of a look-in here, but there was plenty of good stuff from David Tennant and Billie Piper. Both probably had their best episodes of the series.

I thought Tennant was superb in Doomsday – especially in terms of an emotional acting performance. Totally believable, his “projection” scenes were not quite as iconic as the ninth Doctor’s hologram when it appeared before Rose after sending her back to Earth in The Parting Of The Ways, but it was still moving. The TARDIS is in safe hands, and I can’t wait to see how he deals with life after Rose . . . and runaway brides!

And then there was Billie. What can one say? If she didn’t get a BAFTA last year, she probably won’t get one this year, but Rose has been an amazing character (probably the best-ever in Doctor Who, and I say this as a Sarah Jane devotee) and Billie Piper has brought her to vibrant life from Day One.

In many ways, this whole show could easily have been called Doctor Who and Rose Tyler – because it’s always been a team of two equals. From that very first eponymous episode of Series One, Rose has been just as central to proceedings to The Doctor. So many great moments – being chased by Autons; that “run for your life” first meeting with The Doctor; displaying her gymnastic prowess to save the Earth (for the first time) from The Nestene Consciousness; kissing Mickey goodbye and running into the TARDIS; watching the Earth about to die from Platform One; her first encounter with a Dalek; kneeling by the side of her dying dad; hanging from a balloon in the middle of an air raid during The Blitz; dancing with Captain Jack atop an invisible spaceship beside Big Ben; looking into the TARDIS and the TARDIS looking into her; turning the Daleks to dust as The Bad Wolf; being chased by gun-toting Santas and a spinning Christmas tree; her “my monsters were bigger than your monsters” tete a tete with Sarah and the realisation that she hasn’t been The Doctor’s only companion; being trapped inside a TV set by The Wire; being split up from The Doctor on The Impossible Planet; being attacked by a giant scribble . . . and then there was Doomsday!

If ever a scene epitomised how much Rose has developed since that first episode, it was that eye-to-eyestalk encounter with The Black Dalek, as she told it why she and her friends should be kept alive, and faced the monster with no fear. She could have been The Doctor in that moment, and Piper played it to perfection.

I think she has an extra gleam in her eye when she tackles these heavyweight scenes, and she certainly relishes the action scenes, such as being gradually sucked into the void. She also “does” emotion, and her tears at the end were thoroughly believable. It was a rather-extended goodbye, but very worthy of the character and the actress.

She won’t be a hard act to follow, she’ll be an impossible act to follow. Sometimes, you don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone, but Doctor Who has survived the loss of great characters dozens of times before, and the show will go on. As it always has done.

Although it didn’t quite match the promise of Army Of Ghosts, mainly because of all the plots strands having to be hurriedly tied together, I still greatly enjoyed Doomsday, and I’ve loved this whole series. Having written this review – as all others from the new series – on one viewing of each episode, I’m looking forward to watching all 13 again to see how it all dovetails together. And to see if how much analysis I’ve got wrong!

Russell T. Davies and his team have done it again. “Doomsday” encapsulates everything that is good about the new series. My Dad will hate the mushy stuff, but with 95% of the episode nothing but top-drawer action, this episode truly has something for everybody. Quite simply, it is magnificent. Flawless, even.

So how can you top last year’s masterpiece, “The Parting of the Ways”? How can you go one better than 200 Dalek ships – that’s half a million Daleks – invading the Earth of the far future, the departure of a companion and a regeneration? You do the only thing you can – you take one of your own childhood fantasies, and you make it happen. Daleks vs Cybermen; “Stephen Hawking vs. the Speaking Clock”; whatever you want to call it. This kind of episode is exactly the sort of thing that fans have always dreamt of; the sort of thing that casual viewers of the show automatically assume has happened before, but in reality, even in the ‘expanded universe’ of books and audio dramas, has never, ever occurred*.

The Cybermen’s idea to form an alliance and “…upgrade the universe” together is quickly rejected by the Daleks, who interestingly come across as the bad baddies, if that makes sense. If you have the Doctor vs the Daleks or the Doctor vs the Cybermen, then it’s easy, a story of good vs bad. When you have (as the show’s unprecedented FIFTH** Radio Times cover of the year proudly proclaims) Daleks vs Cybermen, then it’s heel vs heel. Baddie vs baddie. Who’s side do you take? Many people choose to go for the underdog, but even with millions of Cybermen against four Daleks, I’d still class these relatively newborn Cybermen as underdogs any day of the week. The Daleks just electrify every scene that they are in; they raise the bar just that little bit higher; and, in “Doomsday,” they absolutely kick ass!

“This is not war! This is pest control!… You are superior in only one respect. You are better at dying!”

The banter between these two cybernetic races is a joy to listen to. From the Cybermen’s mockery of the Daleks’ “…inelegant design”, it’s very difficult to believe that there isn’t just a little bit of human emotion left inside them. The Daleks, on the other hand, are always emotional – genetically bred blobs of pure hatred. That’s why they come across as more evil than the Cybermen. Because they are! Cybermen are just automatons, doing what they have been programmed to believe is right. Of course, one could argue the same point about the Daleks, but at the end of the day Daleks can feel.

And the Daleks aren’t the only ones kicking ass. In her final episode, Billie Piper gives her best performance yet as Rose. In just forty-five minutes she shows just how far she has come since we first met her as a bored teenager in “Rose.” In the opening moments of the episode, she saves the lives of Mickey and Raj (at least temporarily) by making her knowledge of the Daleks and their Time War immediately clear. In the same vein, we get to see Mickey – an older, wiser, braver Mickey who has crossed the void (something the Doctor said was impossible) - try and save the Earth. Arguably, he has changed and grown even more than Rose has since we met them both. I knew that “The Age of Steel” wouldn’t be the last we’d see of him; he may have found himself a happy home with his alternate Grandmother, but with things left open with Pete Tyler and the Cybermen there were simply too many loose ends that just had to be tied up, and inevitably Mickey would have to play a part in that. So I called that one, but my prediction/hope about the resurrection of the Time Lords was wide of the mark – but only just. As the Daleks wheeled out “…all that remains of the Time Lord homeworld…” – a device they call the “Genesis Ark” – I thought I’d been blessed by some strange prognostic power, but alas, it was not to be.

“If these are gonna be my last words then you’re gonna listen... The God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him!”

By this point I thought Rose was a goner; gunned down by a Dalek Supreme. Once again, I was wrong. My fiancée could have been forgiven for thinking that there was something wrong with our sofa – I wasn’t behind it, I was on the edge of it, constantly jumping up and down. It was like England vs Portugal all over again, but whereas with watching England there’s always a winker like Ronaldo to spoil things, you can always have complete faith in the Doctor to save the day. Well, almost always. Just as things couldn’t getter any bleaker for Rose; for Mickey; for Earth, the Doctor waltzes in and has a bit of a chinwag and a catch-up (much to the Daleks’ annoyance) and then goes on to reveal a few important facts. Firstly, the Doctor doesn’t have a clue what this “Genesis Ark”, which is a bit of a worry.

Secondly, it is confirmed what many fans suspected – the Doctor was actually a soldier in the Time War, out there on the front line. The Doctor actually put his moral scruples aside and fought. Whether this was the eighth or ninth Doctor we still don’t know, perhaps we never will – a little bit of mystery never goes amiss in this series!

“I was there at the fall of Arcadia… some day I might even come to terms with that.”

As I mentioned in my review of “Fear Her,” the writers have been much braver this year about acknowledging the show’s past, not only on TV, but now it seems, the books too that got us through the 90s. Russell T. Davies could have made any old planet name up and stuck it in that sentence, and either way ninety-nine per cent of the audience wouldn’t have been any the wiser, but he didn’t – he wrote Arcadia, and put a few smiles on the faces of Doctor Who readers worldwide.

Thirdly, my ears weren’t deceiving me in the opening minutes – “Dalek Thay…” – these Daleks have names! According to the Doctor, these four Daleks form “the Cult of Skaro” (the first time the Dalek homeworld has been mentioned in the new series!); Daleks whose mission it is to think like the enemy, so much so that they even have names. Now this small part of the episode – which to be honest, didn’t affect the plot at all; these could just as easily have been four generic Daleks – opens up so many storytelling possibilities, and will no doubt form the subject matter of many a future novel, audio or even TV episode, especially considering the Dalek Supreme’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it “emergency temporal shift” before his army is sucked into the void.

“Doomsday” is certainly an appropriate title for this episode; “Armageddon” could have been another. The scenes of destruction, especially when seen from the Doctor’s purview in Canary Wharf, are absolutely staggering. When the Daleks actually open the “Genesis Ark”, and millions of the blighters come flying out of that old Time Lord prison ship (“ahh… so that’s what it was”), the Mill manage to top last year’s epic finale, at least in terms of the visual effects. Millions of Daleks flying through space is one thing, but flying through the air above London? Swarming around Canary Wharf like insects? The visuals are simply mind-blowing, and in terms of the storytelling, the stakes have never been higher. This isn’t some far off invasion in the distant future. This is here and now. This is war on Earth. Today.

“Cybermen will remove sex and class and colour and creed. You will become identical. You will become like us.”

I mentioned earlier that I think Daleks are more evil than Cybermen, as well as much more dangerous. Whilst I believe that to be the case, I think that the Cybermen are a much more frightening monster than the pepper pots from Skaro. Why? A Dalek will just gun you down, or maybe ‘mind probe’ or torture you a bit first if you’re very unlucky. Cybermen, on the other hand, take you, dissect you, remove all that is human, and turn you into a unthinking, unfeeling monster. It’s the whole Darth Vader / Borg kind of idea, only the Cybermen came first, and the Cybermen are worse. In “Doomsday,” we experience the horrors of Cyberconversion through Tracy-Ann Oberman’s character, Yvonne Hartman, the despicable face of Torchwood. Her ultimate fate is superbly written and portrayed. As she is taken for Cyberconversion, you can see the mortal dread on her face, and it’s made worse by the fact that she knows exactly what they are going to do to her. “Oh God. I did my duty! Oh God!” – you almost feel sorry for her. In the end, when she actually overcomes her Cyber conditioning to gun down her fellow Cybermen and give our heroes that little bit of extra time, you’re practically cheering her on as she bleeds an oily tear from her cybernetic eye.

“How rich? I don’t care about that. How very?”

I knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it any less dramatic. The widowed Pete Tyler is back in our universe, face to face with the widowed Jackie Tyler. Had they not ran into each other’s arms for a proper, cheesy, Hollywood kiss the rules of poetics would have needed seriously revising. Even this absolutely epic, dramatic scene – a scene that has been in the making since “The Age of Steel”; no, earlier, since “Father’s Day,” really – is infused with just that little bit of humour. “There was never anyone else,” says Jackie as the Doctor, Rose and Mickey all bite their lips and try not to laugh.

“What is it with the glasses?”

Davies rattles off the exposition about “void stuff” in about thirty economical seconds and the die is cast – everyone goes back to “Pete’s World” to live happily ever after. Mother, father, daughter, daughter’s ex. Only daughter isn’t happy about that. Daughter immediately pushes the button and sends herself back to our world – she is willing to lose her mother and her father - who have miraculously just been reunited after years apart - to stand by the Doctor. To stand by the man she loves.

“…the last story I’ll ever tell.”

The explosive end to “Doomsday” gives ‘edge-of-the-seat’ a whole new meaning. Watching the Doctor and Rose hang on for dear life as the Void sucks in Daleks, Cybermen, as well as everything and everyone touched by the “void stuff” is gut-wrenching in the extreme.

“This is the story of how I died.”

They couldn’t...? To kill her would have been bad enough, but to send her to Hell with a million Daleks and Cybermen would have been much too much. But for a minute there… David Tennant and Billie Piper both deserve a BAFTA on that one scene alone! Their faces. Their blood curdling screams as Rose’s fingers slip and she is sucked into… the arms of her Dad. Pete Tyler makes the last minute save. Rose survives. But…

That touching, soulful new composition by Murray Gold plays and the Doctor and Rose each find themselves staring at a plain, blank white wall – a whole universe between them. A whole universe that, thanks to the sealing of the breach, can never be crossed again. Rose is inconsolable, but at least she has her family. She has Mum and Dad. She has Mickey. She even has Mickey’s old Gran. If, at some point before she met the Doctor, somebody told her that she would be rich beyond her wildest dreams, living with her Mother and her long-dead Father, with a baby brother or sister on the way, she’d have thought them mad – but she’d certainly have wanted to believe them. The Doctor may have been cruelly ripped away from her, but she has everything else that she could have ever wanted. As for the Doctor; as for the lonely God…

And so we come full circle. There’s a beautiful symmetry in Rose sitting up in bed, just as she did in the first scene of “Rose” way back when. Only this time she’s had a dream. She has to follow a voice.

“Here I am at last, and this is the story of how I died.”

My sister called it right – a metaphorical death it was. Satan lied. Officially dead in our world, Rose begins her new life in another as she stands in Bad Wolf Bay, staring across a beach; staring across a universe at the fading projection of the man she loves, who is ”…burning up a sun just to say goodbye.” As always, Davies’ dialogue is beyond perfect. Rose asks the Doctor if he can come through to her world, and he bluntly replies, “two universes would collapse.” Rose says, “So?” It just sums it all up; Rose and the Doctor… love in general.

“I love you,” says Rose, overcome by emotion.

“Quite right too,” says the Doctor with a smile on his face, doing his best Han Solo impression. “And I suppose, if there’s one last chance to say it, Rose Tyler…” and then he’s savagely ripped away by the currents of our universe. Heartbreaking! The Doctor stands in his TARDIS alone, a single tear running down his cheek. He never told her. In Doctor Who terms, “Doomsday” is the King of all tearjerkers. It is quite simply, the end of an era.

“Will I ever see you again?”

“You can’t.”

And then suddenly, the Doctor looks up and a strange, disgruntled woman (Catherine Tate) is in the TARDIS wearing a wedding dress. Once again, humour crops up even at the most dramatic moment and rounds off the season in a much more upbeat fashion. Rose and her family may be gone, but the Doctor will go on, just as he’s always done. The same old life.

And what about us, the fans? Life after Billie? It’s almost as daunting as thinking about life after Eccleston, but look what a star David Tennant has proven himself to be. I hope he stays in the role for years and years and years. He’s superb. The world of Who marches on and we have “The Runaway Bride” to look forward to at Christmas, and then Freema Agyeman’s new companion Martha Jones next spring, along with the return of the Ice Warriors, Shakespeare, and I’m sure the Dalek Supreme will turn up again at some point. And if I remember right, the Face of Boe still has a secret to tell…

* I’m 99% per cent sure! I still haven’t quite got through all the books yet!

** Including “The Christmas Invasion” cover in December 2005.

This was a pretty good episode. The problem is that last week's episode demanded a follow-up that was great, even epic; and while Doomsday tried, it wasn't able to make it. (I found it ironic watching the accompanying Confidential after writing this bit, and hearing the production staff use the same word - epic - without managing to achieve it.)

So... Daleks vs. Cybermen, with Earth caught in the crossfire. Given that the Cybermen could barely slow down four Daleks, this shouldn't be much of a battle. (Which is about what I figured; these Daleks have been portrayed as nigh-unstoppable death machines with probably centuries of refinement, while these Cybermen are the first-generation products of a near mirror of present-day Earth. Unless the Daleks have an unexpected weakness or the Cybermen an unexpected strength, it's not much of a contest.) Only somehow, it works. Despite Cybermen getting mown down left and right as the Daleks press through to get out of the Torchwood building, despite the gratuitous appearance of enough Daleks to burn the planet down to bedrock, there's still a scope and frisson there as hordes of Daleks swoop down out of the sky to attack massed formations of Cybermen. Give the production team credit for taking something that should have been a blowout and making it involving.

Torchwood itself turned out to be surprisingly insignificant after last week's buildup. It provided a setting for the main story events. It provided a bunch of camo-uniformed extras to fire ineffectively in the battle in the warehouse. And that's about it, really. Yvonne gets verbally slapped by Jackie for bringing the deluge, but no further reflection on Torchwood's role in the matter. Dr. Singh gets a moment of heroic sacrifice. And Yvonne gets a redemptive moment that feels utterly right even if it's not terribly logical. But no one from Torchwood tries to grab any of the hi-tech equipment they've hoarded over the years and fight back on something resembling equal terms. No one steps forward to help (or hinder) the Doctor and his friends, who run around the building as if they own the place. I'd expected Torchwood to play a bigger part than 'toybox for the Doctor,' really.

The Genesis Ark was another disappointment. This is the last legacy of Gallifrey, the only thing remaining of the Time Lords besides the Doctor himself and his TARDIS - and all it does is spit out a horde of Daleks? I'd hoped for something more uniquely Gallifreyan, myself; something on the level of the Hand of Omega, maybe, something that would have added real weight to the use of the Time Lords as the source. ('It's bigger on the inside'? Come on, RTD, you can do better than that.) A mysterious, powerful artifact from the depths of history, used in a creative and awe-inspiring way? That's epic. A mysterious and powerful artifact turned into a plot device for producing Daleks? That's a let-down. We've already seen a Dalek army pulled out of a hat once in a season finale, and the impact was a lot smaller the second time around. There's no sensawonder here; or rather, it was strangled the moment the Daleks started flying out.

A powerful, ancient Gallifreyan artifact could also have been used to add some much-needed epic to the story's resolution. I mean, come on; 'void energy' that tags all the inter-universal travellers so that they get sucked back in when the Doctor opens the breach? Pop, and the problem's gone, no-muss-no-fuss and really easy cleanup? (Well, all right, there's the casualties and battle damage in London...) It's too simple. It's too convenient. It's too *easy*, and this is the single biggest flaw in the main plot. What's 'epic' about the Doctor pulling the stopper and having all the bad guys spiral down the drain, with no further effort on his part? The characters really needed to work for the ending to give it epic magnitude, and clinging to a bar over the Void doesn't count; that scene would make a good capper to an episode of work setting up the ending, but there was no real setup for it to cap. (Unless you count the Doctor's gurning around with the glasses for two episodes; since that could have been anything, I don't. Real foreshadowing should tell us something about what's going to happen, and the glasses didn't tell us anything.)

Ignoring the literary merit of the resolution for a moment, it also has large gaping plot holes. The whole purpose of a void ship was to shield the occupants from the effects of the Void; so why, then, were the Daleks tainted with void energy? If the void energy caused the Cybermen to be sucked in when the breach was opened at Torchwood, how were they able to march out of the breach into Torchwood in the first place? And if the Void's pull was strong enough to yank Rose away from her handhold, how in the heck did Pete avoid getting pulled in when he appeared, much closer to the breach than she was? I'm sorry, but this just reeks of a cheap gimmick the writers pulled out of a hat - to magically get rid of the Daleks and Cybermen, not to mention set up a massive dramatic scene - without taking the time to think it through.

Imagine if the Genesis Ark had revealed something that the Doctor had to try and take back from the Daleks, instead of just dumping out enough Daleks to raise the threat to 'deus-ex-machina required' levels. Imagine if Torchwood personnel had stepped forward and helped in the fight, because they've trained with the hi-tech equipment and can do something useful instead of firing ineffective guns at nigh-invulnerable enemies. Imagine if there was a solution to the situation that required the Doctor to put in more than a couple minutes of 'open the Barrier, boom they all go away'? (Even the delta wave in last season's finale, which never got used, required more work and more thinking about the consequences than this did.) Extra points if this solution involved whatever came out of the Genesis Ark, so that more parts of the plotline tie together. Any of these would have made for a more involved, and thus for me more entertaining, story than what we actually got - which was fun but shallow.

Then there's the Jackie 'n Pete show. By the end of Age of Steel, I really respected Pete Tyler; coming across as a weak opportunist at the start, then turning out to be using that as a cover for gathering intelligence, and finally having the wisdom at the end to realize that Rose's clutching after a lost father wasn't leading anywhere good or healthy - and closing the conversation off when Rose pushed things too far. So I was impressed - though not particularly surprised - to see him show up as an authority figure in the alt-universe. Unfortunately, that led to The Reunion that had been telegraphed in letters of fire at 150+ dB. If the 'void energy' magical resolution was poorly set up and foreshadowed, this went to the opposite extreme, with the idea pounded in with a sledgehammer. I suppose it's another complement to the actors and the production staff that it turned out to be an 'awwwww' moment after all, and made me feel good about it despite my annoyance at how blatently it was set up. I just wish it hadn't been so pat; that it hadn't felt so deliberately manufactured.

And so we come to the part that's probably going to get the most argument - the departure of Rose Tyler.

Just to be clear where I stand: I thought she was a good companion, had some classic moments, but the attempt to set her up as 'the Bestest Companion EVAR' (to quote a friend) didn't just fall flat for me, it grated. The Doctor has had many companions over the years. There's been a few he's formed a special bond with - Jo Grant. Romana II. Sarah Jane. Ace. But they were never given the 'always and forever' tagline, repeated ad nauseam like an infatuated teenager with a crush. One of the best lines of School Reunion was the Doctor's 'I have to go on' - and that holds true for the Doctor and the show. So especially in Rose's later appearances, I alternated between cheering for her moxie in rallying the station crew in Satan Pit, or applauding her for putting together the pieces on Magpie's television operation before the Doctor manages to (only to get trapped because she wasn't ready to handle the situation, drat) - and groaning at cutsey-cute moments where she and the Doctor act like they've stepped out of a John Hughes high school comedy from the 80's. I was, frankly, relieved to see her go while I still liked her, before she wore out her welcome any further. All I hoped for is that she would get a good exit...

...which Doomsday *wasn't*. I give credit to RTD for trying to subvert expectations about Rose dying. But when you open an episode with a character going 'This is how I died,' you'd better darn well have a good payoff to justify it. This didn't qualify. The idea of a metaphoric 'death' can be powerful when used right; but it takes a delicate, sure touch to avoid becoming faux-Romantic teenage-angsty melodrama. Did this example work for me? Sorry, no. (One example that did work for me was The Princess Bride, because it was handled with a light touch, and the actual 'I died that day.' line was almost tossed off and not unduly stressed.) Did she lose everything that made life meaningful to her? Judging the family attachment by how hard she tried to save her alt-parents in Age of Steel, and how much losing Mickey seemed to hurt her at the end of that episode, I'd hardly think so - and so likening her loss of the Doctor to Death came across to me as an artificial and overblown attempt to raise the stakes on the ending. It's a cheap, lazy form of emotional manipulation, and it really put me off.

Looking back, it's almost surprising how much I did enjoy the episode. I think the key was a lot of nice moments that had little impact on the overarching plot. The Doctor's angry speech to the Cyber Leader - "You're in their homes, you've got their *children.* Of course they're gonna fight!" The shot of the family huddled in terror as the Cyber Leader spoke - "Do not fear. Cybermen will remove fear." The Cybermen and the Daleks talking smack at each other: "Daleks have no concept of el-e-gance." "This is obvious." Mickey's growth, and his vastly increased comfort with the Doctor. ("So he's sending the Daleks and the Cybermen straight to hell. Man, I told you he was good.") The problem is that these moments are like cotton candy; tastes good for a moment, but doesn't last and too much of it without a solid meal underneath doesn't sit well. What it feels like is the writer had these moments in mind combined with a couple of big story events (in particular the hanging-over-the-void scene), and then tried to come up with plot devices to make them happen. ("Hey, I want to see an army of Daleks fighting the army of Cybermen, but where am I going to get one? I know, I'll make a Time Lord artifact that's a prison ship...") The problem is that when you come up with these ideas solely as plot devices, and don't take the time to develop them into part of a real story framework, what you get is flimsy storytelling.

I think the key phrase for this episode, for me, is 'entertaining in spite of itself.' In the end, it was still fun to watch, but there were too many points where the plot took very sloppy shortcuts to get a particular scene or a particular resolution, and only some top-notch work in the actual direction/production/performance was able to save the moment. (Which is probably why the epilogue failed for me; the performance wasn't able to carry off a plot/character moment that I disagreed with.) That's why the episode was also ultimately disappointing; if the same talent had been applied to ideas and plot points that had some thought and depth to them, this could have been a truly great episode. As it is, it couldn't live up to the promise of the prior episode, and that's a shame.

Possibly the cruellest Doctor Who adventure ever filmed, certainly the most emotional and easily one of the best.

With all the hype building up around this last story I thought it could not possibly manage to live up to everything that was expected of it but to my surprise (and boy was I surprised throughout this story) it achieved something far greater than the explosive finale I was expecting, it managed to subvert all of my expectations and proved that the show can achieve more than what we have already seen. Emotionally and psychically, Doomsday never stopped pushing until I was quite exhausted in the finale few minutes. Thought Parting of the Ways was hard work? What until you get to the last five minutes of this story!

This story is not really about Daleks crossing Cybermen and having a bloody battle, it is about the classic Doctor Who approach and Russell T Davies’ Doctor Who approach colliding to see which is more important to us now. I think to Russell’s credit (both in strength of writing the script and driving the series) that Tyler family drama overshadows everything else in this story. Can you believe that? The fricking Daleks are firing away at the Cybermen, an awesome sight to be sure but the first moment to give me chills was when Jackie was confronted with her dead husband. Was does the drama lie within Doctor Who these days? Is it between robots shooting away or is it genuine human drama? Is one for the kids and one for the adults? It pleases me to announce that the marriage of the domestic approach (the Tyler family trying to stay alive and save the world) and the action adventure approach (the Daleks pouring from the Genesis Ark and declaring all out war on the Cybermen) works beautifully and blended together makes a superb, dramatic feast of a story which sees season two go out on a massive high.

Firstly lets deal with the Daleks and Cybermen which was an idea that could have sunk the show had it not been pulled off well. I thought one or the other would be belittled by this script but when it comes down to they seem about as powerful as each other. I should hate the bitch off between the two species (I kept getting flashbacks to Rose and Sarah-Jane!) but I just kept making handbag gestures! Simon and I both loved it when the Dalek swung around and said, “This is not War! It is pest control!”

The Cybermen are the ones, which come out as the best tacticians, not just because of their scheme to automatically plant themselves all over the world (“This isn’t a war, it’s a victory.”) but because they can see the potential in an alliance between the Daleks and themselves. Their line, “Daleks and Cybermen, together we could upgrade the universe” is absolutely terrifying because when you think about it, yep, they have a point. Unfortunately (and very true to character) the Daleks are the most prejudiced race in the universe and cannot even imagine joining forces with anybody to subjugate the human race. So here is a chance for the show to prove just how bloody exciting it can be these days with lots of shoot-outs and explosions! Who doesn’t love that?

What impressed me most was the scale of the fight. I thought that everything would be contained in Torchwood, which would have been more than adequate for four Daleks and a bunch of Cybermen to tear each other to pieces. Personally, after Russell’s comment in one confidential that because he thinks of budget all the time it limits his imagination I did not think he had it in him to bring the fight out onto the streets. So when the Daleks start pouring out of the Genesis Ark and swooping over London and the Cybermen stomp through the streets in swarms and start firing at each other my chin had hit the floor. Make no mistake people, this is event television and no mistake but even better than that, it is event Doctor Who. And thanks to the talents of everybody involved it is visually stunning, worthy of a movie on a television budget and that might sound like a throwaway phrase but when you think about it it means something very special about the efforts the technical crew put into this show.

We have all known for a while now that it was going to be Billie Piper’s last appearance in Doctor Who. This ex-pop singer who we cringed at the thought of appearing in our favourite show to start off with who has won our hearts, won awards and won the respect of the public through her intimate and definitive portrayal as Rose Tyler. What Billie has achieved is no mean feat; she managed to bring a human element to the show like no other whilst still maintaining the role of the companion, asking the right questions, fighting the monsters, etc. She managed to make Rose a extremely rounded character, one who loves adventuring, has a strong moral sense and has a strong sense of curiosity and yet still manages to be flawed, getting viscously jealous, remarkably selfish at times and a bit smug too. It has been a pleasure to join her as she has learnt all about the Doctor, the Daleks, the Time Lords, etc and made our favourite hero a very happy man indeed. Her chemistry with both Chris Eccleston and David Tennant has sparkled, making that transition of lead actor was only possible because Billie was so secure in her role to make the crossover almost effortless.

And lets not forget all the other elements that Rose has brought to the show, namely Mickey, Jackie, Pete and the Powell Estate. Together they have given the series a sense of family and place on Earth for the Doctor to return to. From the start of series three the show is going to have to totally re-invent itself again into something entirely new, making these first two years a unique block of Doctor Who all of its own. Jackie has always been a delight, her down to Earth attitude and willingness to stick her oar in with the awkward questions that nobody wants to ask marked her as one to watch and enjoy. Mickey is an absolute babe who made the transition from coward to hero realistically over two years, Noel Clarke’s performance improving each time he appears to a point in this episode where he is giving the performance of the show. And Pete, whilst the least seen completes the family unit here and brings everything full circle in a very satisfying manner.

Honestly, could there have been any other way for this bunch to leave? It feels different from the beginning of the episode, before Jackie’s insistence that Rose is kept safe has seemed like an overly protective mother but with these two alien races standing between them suddenly her protestations seem very real and serious. As Jackie is dragged away by the Cybermen screaming, “You promised me!” Simon covered his mouth in shock and whispered “Oh God that’s horrible.” Rose standing up to the Daleks is one of her all time best moments, as she steps right up to its eyestalk and does not batter an eyelid and negotiates their survival. There are lots of scenes where Russell plays about with the possibility of Rose’s death (where the Daleks and Cybermen are shooting across the room especially) and it almost seems a shame that he doesn’t go through with his (apparent) promise. It would dismiss all ideas of ever seeing this character again. But what we get is much, much crueller, so emotionally cruel it reminded me strongly of Jaime and Zoe having their memories wiped at the end of The War Games (having all their adventures with the Doctor taken away from them bar one). The solution to the Dalek/Cyberman war is ingenious and allows Rose to save the day and be separated from the Doctor at the same time, the way it all falls into place is inevitable but brilliantly dramatic. All these stuff about hanging on for dear life as the Daleks and Cybermen are sucked into the void is a fabulous SF conceit and allows them to pull off an almost-death for the character as she is sucked inside in slow motion (with an almost agonisingly painful scream from David Tennant). It probably would have been easier for Rose than being saved by her father and forced to live her life in another universe, trapped and isolated from the man she loves. Billie’s performance when she realises she will never see the Doctor again is devastating, slapping the wall screaming “Take me back!” is a new emotional high for her character. The coda to this adventure that sees her with her new family (Jackie, Mickey and Pete all holding hands in a tender scene) travelling across the world to follow the Doctor’s voice is beautiful, it is lovely to see that these people will all have each other and will be there to heal Rose’s bruises. How would you fit everything you have to say in two minutes? The Doctor and Rose’s goodbye really tugs at the heartstrings, tears flow and we finally hear those words that we knew all along. Tennant and Piper have always clicked well but this is electrifying.

After re-watching Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel I was awed by Graeme Harper’s astonishingly visual direction but less convinced by his ability to capture the emotion of the situation but Doomsday elevates him to a true A-List Doctor Who director. His ability to marry the emotional and exciting here makes for an intoxicating brew, he provides the gob smacking visuals that we crave but still leaves room for the actors to have their moment and prove why they are such a vital part of the show. There are so many little touches that I love; the lighting shift as they jump universes, seeing the Dalek and the Cyberman from each others point of view, the tear of oil that slips from one Cyberman’s eye, the Doctor’s slow motion scream, the entire sequence on the bridge, the Cybermen marching in formation around the corner shot from such a high angle…and how the show drops the pace entirely to give the characters adequate time to say goodbye. The last five minutes proves without a shadow of doubt that Harper is just as good at human drama with some glorious location work. Murray Gold’s music during these sequences is all the better for being understated and it is easily his best work on the series to date, Rose’s choral theme is used to superb emotional effect.

So there you have it, the end of a rather impressive era. It sucks that we will never see these characters again but it pleases me to see them go out in such style and in such a satisfying manner. The Tyler family were a great contribution to the Doctor Who mythos, they allowed us to see stories that we have seen a million times before in a brand new light. Jackie’s mouth will be missed, Mickey’s growth too. But most of all I will miss the exciting and warm partnership between the Doctor and Rose.

This is the first time I've cast a review of anything to anywhere, but I think 'Doomsday' just about merits that dubious honour. You see... much as I waited patiently for a movie versions of 'Starship Troopers' and 'Judge Dredd', I've been subconsciously waiting for a Daleks/Cyberman confrontation ever since I scribbled the said scenario on the back of a school book, way back in primary one. Good it was too, brilliantly cataclysmic, in a stick men versus peperpots with the space between filled with energy beams and jagged explosions, kind of a way.

Actually... it was crap! But what lay behind it shone through in the way that only a child can impart. This was the war to end all wars. An epic confrontation on a cosmic scale. And that's where that particular war has since languished, locked, seemingly for evermore in a child's drawing. It would never actually happen... would it? I mean... the show was eventually cancelled, and the budget would never have allowed for it, and no producer would ever have been so audacious anyway.

Until now. Suddenly 'Who' was back, with a budget, a quantum leap in effects technology and a fanboy at the helm. So, it was, I suppose, only a matter of time.

And did it live up to expectations.

Well... yes, and no, but ultimately... yes!

I'm not a fan of RTDs episodes for a number of reasons. Too camp, too breakneck, too many undeveloped second hand ideas, too much misplaced humour, too many references to popular culture thus instantly dating the show, too much wonky science. But, what he has brought to the show is a human dimension , more adult in nature to any of its previous incarnations. Thus, 'School' may have on the surface, seemed like a crap Aliens invade a school episode, in actuality, it's merely a hook to hang an examination of what being the Doctors companion entails, his effect on the individual on an emotional level, and how one adjusts to a now savagely mundane life when the ride is over. This for me, is the redeeming strength behind RTDs writing and the show is at it's best when this kind of approach is taken, and 'Doomsday' is a perfect example of this. Its not a so much about a cataclysmic battle for the Earth, as it is the wrenching apart of two people very much in love. That said, the cataclysmic stuff was well handled, given the time and budgetary constraints of television. RTD tied up the various plot threads well enough, and some of the Dalek/cyberman banter was almost comedic, the sequence when they confronted one another had them display all the maturity of two five year old bullies having a spat in the playground. In fact, lets be honest, the Daleks pretty much stole the Cybermans thunder. Suddenly the metal warriors and their emotionless intonations seemed a bit dull, when compared to the hysterical simple minded screeching of the Doctors, it has to be said, greatest enemies. (hearing both races intoning their respective, 'Exterminate', and 'Delete' warcrys continuously during the battle scene two thirds in smacked of an insanity I really appreciated!) The Genesis ark was a well implemented twist and when Pete Tyler turned from the window to state that the Earth was a lost cause, I actually agreed. I'm pretty certain, I could pick holes in the plot from now till tomorrow, typical of RTDs scripts. But, you know... I'm not going to. Story wise it was fast paced, ambitious, did everything it needed to do and ultimately entertained me enough to make any real nit picking seem churlish. So there!

As for the direction... Well, take my hand and as the room goes all misty around us lets travel back to the early eighties to witness Peter Davidson on the verge of cacking it! Directorially speaking 'The caves of Androzani' was a revolutionary piece of work, as far as Who was concerned. Dr who was a largely studio bound show, a show that's method of production involved wheeling in giant cameras to capture the action via a succession of mid shots. (I recently watched an episode of Earthshock and was struck by just how basic the direction was). Anyway, along came Greame Harper and his wides and mids and close-ups and tracking shots and zooms and jump cuts and hand held camera techniques and even the occasional shot that might actually have been storyboarded (phew!... I'm out of breath now). Thus the two stories he helmed passed into Dr Who legend, and to be fair, deservedly so. They were different, and they were good!

So, thus armed with that knowledge, quick... take my hand again and lets cartwheel back through time to the present day and Lo and behold, all these years later, fanboy RTD well remembers Harper, and look, he's tapped him to direct, possibly the biggest show in Who's history and the result is... sadly, unremarkable!

Time has moved on, and the techniques previously described are now de riguer in television drama. Harper is now just another competent director in a sea of competent directors. That said, it was by no means badly done. The bridge battle, albeit brief, was well handled, as was the long moment immediately after the final closing of the rift, and to be fair, choosing to shoot the doctors final farewell to Rose via intimate close-ups was a perfect directorial choice. I just wish the action had been tighter, the main battle in the base was particularly sloppy, and smacked of a succession of second unit shots of well... anything it seemed like a good idea to film any old way, flung together. Joe Ahearn's shoot em up sequences in 'Dalek' had a narrative tightness, I felt was lacking here! I don't want to be too unkind however as overall Harper did a decent (occasionaly nice) job, and considering the complexity of the episode and the constraints of television, perhaps that's the most we could have reasonably expected.

I found the performances fine, the actors involved having had enough time to grow into their respective characters so as to negate any serious slip ups. I'm still, however, unconvinced by Tennant, in the same way I was unconvinced by Eccleston (though admittedly both choices looked good on paper). Too much bug eyed overacting, too much bizarre vocal inflection, too much self important smugness, and while Eccleston angry Northern gravitas occasionally impressed, tennant seemed lightweight in comparison. Yet when reigned in, his comic timing and delivery can work well (the sequence when he passes off Jackie as Rose to Yvonne and her soldiers, outside the Tardis in 'Army') and I do like his more sober and thoughtful version of the Doctor as typified in the closing moments of 'Girl' and his conversation with Ida during the lowering sequence in 'Pit'. Thankfully he was pretty much in this mode for the duration of Doomsday, and I have started to come around to his portrayal. Hopefully He'll settle down in series three, because I do want to like him, I really do, and during the final moments of this episode, I think I did!

Piper has, to my mind, given a considerably more naturalistic performance then either of her co stars, which is quite a feat considering her lack of experience. She's no different here and as, to a certain extent, she's been the lynchpin of the entire relaunch, I don't know if the show will remain as strong without her. despite the Dalek Cyberman mayhem, the farewell sequence on the beach remains the single best moment in the episode (perhaps any of the episodes, full stop) and an entirely fitting goodbye to the character. Some will undoubtedly scorn the fact that she didn't get zapped into oblivion, but it was never going to happen and this humility to the central characters ultimately demonstrates why RTD, despite his failings remains an asset to Who in general.

Quite frankly, I loathed Murray Golds synthesised, drum machine led, 'Mickey mousing' the action, scoring for season one. Though there were glimmers of something going on every once in a while (his 'Dalek' theme, Ecclestons regeneration music) but overall, I thought his contribution more of a hindrance then an asset. So I'm pleased to say, there's been a complete turnaround in season two. With the drum machine seemingly confiscated and given the service's of an orchestra, he's come up with some genuinely exciting action cues, giving the series a welcome sense of scale. His use of thematics has been intelligent and surprisingly subtle on occasion and he's managed to intensify and enhance the shows more emotional scenes with sensitivity and skill .Listen to the score during the last ten minutes of 'Doomsday' and you'll know what I mean.

So to sum up... the producers set themselves up for a fall with this one, and I'm happy to say, despite occasionally teetering on the brink, they managed to just about pull it off, which is praise indeed. An ambitious production, that ultimately extolled the virtues of having the confidence to occasionally 'go for it'. While the action, could perhaps have been better, the part of my brain that remains six years old wasn't disappointed, and it worked for the thirty nine year old bits as well. Okay... so when I watch it again, I'll switch off before the last fifteen seconds, and imagine the Doctor standing, head bowed before the Control console as the Tardis spins off into the void, but I do realise why it ended as it did... life goes on, and so does the show.

I could go on about the effects, the cyberdising of Yvonne Hartman after a promisingly sassy and authoritative introduction in 'Army', the happy ending for the Tyler clan (which I liked), Mickey's assertiveness and the doctors goofy 3D glasses actually being relevant to the plot. But I'm in danger of boring myself, so I'll spare you!

I will however, leave you with a final twist. I have absolutely no idea If I ever really draw an aforementioned Dalek/Cyber war when six years old. Maybe I did, I certainly should have done, and if I had... I'm sure it would have looked like one of the scenes in Doomsday.

And I cant think of a better compliment to give then that!