Funny, dramatic, beautiful, engaging and wonderful ... Maybe not in that order, but The End of the World has it all.

(This review contains heavy spoilers for the entire episode)

Carrying on from exactly where we left off in Rose; the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) offers Rose (Billie Piper) the chance to choose the TARDIS's next destination: Backwards or forwards in time. Rose chooses to go one century forward in time.

A few seconds later, the TARDIS materializes and the Doctor claims that if she's to step out of the TARDIS, they will be one century in the future. Rose seems unimpressed and the Doctor takes her further and further in time until ...

... They arrive on a space station five billion years in the future. Representatives of the wealthiest species in the Universe have gathered on a shielded space station to watch the Earth being destroyed by the expanding sun.

As the Doctor tells Rose: "Welcome to the end of the world." We go to the cliffhanger screech and the opening titles roll.

All is not well in this future, however. As the representatives gather and exchange 'gifts of peace,' the last Human being alive, Cassandra (Zoe Wannamaker), immediately takes over the party with relics from Earth. An ostrich egg and a jukebox which she claims is an I-Pod. A wonderful scene follows; the Doctor starts dancing to Tainted Love.

One of the tree people, Jabe (Yasmin Bannerman), takes a photo of the Doctor (who gave her the gift of 'air from his lungs,' an intimate gift on her home-world). She discovers who he is and what species he's from and ... Well, I won't reveal that.

The gifts of peace from one of the representatives are in fact incubation chambers for mechanical spiders who soon set about sabotaging Platform One. The heat-shields which prevent the sun's light and head from scorching the station begin to fail and the steward is killed.

The Doctor and Jabe rush down to the engineering section to try and find out what the problem is and, after capturing one of the spiders, the Doctor reprograms it to return to whoever brought it on board. At first, it goes to the Adherence of the Repeated Memes, but they are revealed to be simply remote controlled droids. The real culprit is Cassandra, although she claims to be the last Human being alive, she is simply a stretched piece of flesh attached to a frame that requires constant moisturising. She was hoping to collect an enormous ranson to pay for more treatments to herself.

As she teleports away, the Doctor and Jabe go back down to the engine room to reset the computer control, which has been taking over by the spiders and, with the shields down, the windows of the station are beginning to crack. Rose is still trapped in her room after the Doctor upgraded her mobile phone with a device from the TARDIS which would allow her to talk to her mother - five billion years in the past.

In order to get past the giant fans which block the reset switch; Jabe has to hold down a lever which slows their rate of turn. Due to the temperature, however, she begins to burn away (she is a tree, you know). The Doctor, using some trickery to slow time down, is able to get past the final fan and re-active the shields. Just in time as the sun expands and destroys the Earth.

The Doctor and Rose stand at a window. Rose contemplates that after five billion years of history; no one was looking at the Earth when it was destroyed. The Doctor takes her hand and they go back to present-day Earth. The Doctor tells her that his home planet was destroyed in a war, all his people are dead, he's the last of the Time Lords and he's left to travel alone: "Because there's no one else."

The Doctor asks Rose if she wishes to continue travelling with him, before she can make her mind up, though, she smells chips and offers to buy the Doctor some.

OH! MY! GOD! Was that episode beautiful? We finally get an explanation for why the TARDIS is so run-down, with no Eye of Harmony to sustain here; the Doctor is having to use whatever equipment he comes across to keep her functioning. Billie Piper's acting is very moving at the end when she reflects that no one watched the Earth burn. The Doctor and Jabe's relationship borders on the flirtatious and when Jabe finds out who the Doctor is and that Gallifrey is no more ... It's a touching scene and possibly the only time we've seen the Doctor cry. However, a mere few seconds later he's all business again.

Also up for praise, Zoe Wannamaker. She puts in a bitchy, funny and wonderful performance as Cassandra O'Brien, the last Human. The last pure Human that is. Her conversations with Rose, regarding cosmetic surgery, are both humorous and biting at the same time.

Russell T. Davies's writing is, again, on top form. With Cassandra's line that: "Humanity has touched every star," it's very possible that all the beings in attendance were descended from Earth. As Jabe seems to confirm when she says she is a descendent of an Earth forest.

It's a pity she had to die, too, she'd have made an excellent and interesting addition to the TARDIS crew.

The special effects are absolutely amazing. When the Earth explodes ... Well, it's a million times better than the CGI used in Earthshock at any rate. The space station is also well realized, both internally and externally. No more tin-foil and cardboard sets.

The only down-side, to me, is that Rose never really got to do much. Except for mope around her quarters while the Doctor was meeting aliens, flirting and saving everyone's lives. 

Well, that's another criticism: As a respecter of all life, the Doctor should've helped Cassandra when she was dying. But, as he says, "Everything has its time, everything dies."

All in all, I have to give this episode a 9/10.

Where do you start? For me, this worked - perhaps as all 'Doctor Who' should - on several levels:

Can I start with the obvious? The visuals were incredibly impressive - not at all creaky - and I watched "The Mind Robber" last week! ( Mind you, I don't share the view that they didn't all work in episode one of the new series either ). The exteriors of the space station were easily up there with the best.

I was completely enthralled by the slow tracking shots of the shuttles ( were they shuttles? ) arriving in the glare of the sun. And what a spectacular end to our (?) planet! Those scuttlings spiders!! Cassandra!!! The Face of Boe - so brilliant because he (?) was so briefly used. The Moxx of Balhoon didn't get much to do before being turned into goo! One minor criticism - and it is - in the words of an old teacher "carping", what happened to the reflection of the metal spider's legs in the glass table top? I may be mistaken here, but I have only watched this once.

Which neatly brings me on to the editing: Fast paced ( and I thought "Rose" was a lightning speed introduction ) and clearly demonstrating a real 'jois de vivre', a real zest for the programme. The denouement wasn't as rushed as Rose - though the despatch of the 'villain' was as equally easy and as equally quick. I loved Cassandra drying out and splattering the room but couldn't help but wondering what happened to the 'brain' in the jar underneath. Presumably "she" died of a loss of face!

Which, even more neatly, brings me to the script: The fact that Cassandra started life as a "he" was as inspired as Rose's "I'm talking to a stick!" line. Brilliant, quite brilliant! 

Yet again Russell T. Davies demonstrates his skill at combining the ordinary with the extraordinary - the comedic with the deadly earnest: As with last week's episode, where Rose is suddenly and unnervingly surrounded by eerily creaking shop dummies which stalk her through Henrick's basement, or where Chris Eccleston's 'Eric Morecambe' routine with the Auton's hand suddenly becomes deadly serious as it grabs Rose/Billies's face ( am I alone in momentarily confusing fiction with reality here? To me this was curiously effective, the thought of suffocation raising gut fears - and I'm old enough to remember those plastic daffodils! I haven't seen them since 1971, either. But I digress ).

This week we are treated to Rose's encounter with a blue plumber wherein we see a mix of the ordinary; social comment about prejudice - the plumber asking permission to speak - reminiscent of the signs in Bed and Breakfast windows of my youth reading " No Coloureds " (see also "Remembrance of the Daleks").

Throwaway lines about Cassandra to the effect "I'm going to have a word with Michael Jackson over there" serve to ground the programme further in the here and now. In the face of all the wonders we are treated to, who could not be moved by Rose's sudden, but understated, realisation that she has left her world behind to travel with a complete stranger? To be utterly reliant on him? Someone with potentially no way back. And how strange to talk to your mother on your mobile about the mundane when she's been dead for five and a half billion years? Very real concerns in a fantastic environment. Brilliant! Quite Brilliant!

As I say, this worked on several levels; the spectacular and the very ordinary - the alien and the very human. 

I disagree with comments about the incidental music in last week's episode, I didn't find it intrusive. Look and listen to the 'online' section of the chase sequence from "Rose" over Westminster Bridge and down onto the Embankment - this captures the fast pace brilliantly ( and is emminently hummable! ). This week's served to do the same with equal finesse. The part where the Doctor was trying to close the sun screens was suitably tense.

As to the players; Goodness they excelled: From Chris Eccleston's tear at the "premature" destruction of his home planet in the ( now twice mentioned ) war, to Jasmine Bannerman's incredibly sexy performance as a tree! Characterisation at a genuine level is beginning to emerge - yes, I think that her destruction was just a little ( in fact quite a lot ) too sentimental to be true, but, hey, you can't have everything ( are Timelords fireproof? Move over Emperor Ming! ). 

Chris and Billie are brilliant, the visuals are brilliant, the script is brilliant - the return to Earth to buy fish and chips was inspired - I enjoyed the music and above all I enjoyed the ride. News of a second series and a Christmas special has made the ordinary life of an ordinary bloke a little bit more special. Sad perhaps, but appreciatively true.

If Episode one bent the rules a little as a pre-cursor to brillance, then episode two had to excel. With reputations hanging in the balance with this second offering from Russell T Davies, I was on the edge of my seat before Graham Norton had finished waving his hands in mock enthusiasm.

Putting my feelings for Christopher Eccleston's recently announced departure on hold, for the time being, I expected a lot and was renumerated ten-fold.

The effects ridden tour-de-force that is The End of the World showcases everything that is great about this 21st Century, BBC Who-niverse:

You see, Mr Davies and co. have realised that if the setting is supplied by post-production via special effects, then characterisation is the key and quite simply - it oozes out of this episode and most importantly, it works!

CGI starships and stations, believable, organic-looking alien make-up, fantastic, on-screen chemistry between The Doctor and co-star, Yasmin Bannerman (Jabe) and a do or die ending - make terrific television.

My suspension of disbelief at the impending doom of Platform One was complete, I was gripped by the goosebump inducing, heart-poundingly simple idea that the Doctor WOULD NOT MAKE IT.

Ecclestone shines as The Doctor, more so in this episode than its predecessor 'Rose', he is charming, thinks on his feet and fleetingly becomes his previous selves, most noticably when grilling Rose on how she feels about being 5 million years in the future. It was as if the Sixth Doctor's persona had wrestled this Ninth incarnation to get to the podium - argumentative and sulky.

The Doctor performs 'jiggery pokery' upon Rose's Nokia Mobile phone and though it is a touching and grounding conversation, the subtle reference to Rose's past (the call seems to have been placed before her encounter with the Autons) is all important - she must leave her past behind to get on with it.

Not only did we get a pre-credit sequence, a la Bond, but we got an Epilogue which counterpointed what it was to be human and revealed in full that a war had left the Doctor without a home to return to.

It is this single statement that left me a little disappointed, for if there are no other Timelords, then we can never go to Gallifrey, or see other TARDISes. Will the Master return and will we ever see another Castellan or Keeper of the Matrix?

These questions unanswered are a bitter pill to swallow at the end of what I consider to be a proper and auspicious start to the new series.

The week prior to the transmission of this episode was dogged by the news that Christopher Eccleston would not be reprising his role as the ninth Doctor for a second series. But even without this external influence, the episode was still a disappointment. I don’t wish to sound like some unfairly overcritical fan boy, but ‘The End of the World’ was a below average story which would have been better suited to the format of a novel than a 45 minute television episode. Let me point out that I am in no way opposed to the new series, despite an initial apprehension at hearing of some of the people involved in it. However, after seeing the first episode ‘Rose’ I was won over and convinced that the cast and production team were on the right track, so please don’t take this review to be unfairly severe.

So what exactly do I object to in the story? Well, this was to be the first ‘futuristic’ adventure; escaping the mundane confines of modern day earth and allowing imagination to run wild. In this sense it succeeds, at least for the first ten minutes or so. The introduction to Platform One and the myriad alien ambassadors assembled there is wonderfully handled with a subtle hint of menace as ‘gifts’ are exchanged amongst the different species. It then proceeds to go downhill as Rose and the Doctor descend into unnecessary sentimentality leading to a phone call back in time to Rose’s mum. While all this mushy ‘character development’ is going on in one room, the mystery is unfolding elsewhere...

However, most of the potentially suspenseful scenes are clumsily handled and consequently rather dull. For example, the scene where the “plumber” discovers the intruders in the vent shaft is crude and predictable, as is the sequence in which the Doctor has to negotiate his way through several giant rotating fan blades. But worst of all is the sequence in which Rose is trapped in a room into which unshielded sunlight is gradually filtering. The special effects in this scene are excellent, as is the performance by Billie Piper, but the whole thing is ruined by Britney Spear’s ‘Toxic’ belting out in the background. I’m in my teens, so perhaps my perspective is an immature one, and maybe the inclusion of this song appears young and trendy to the show’s makers; but to someone of my age it feels like watching an embarrassing relative trying to be cool. 

Despite all this, the episode did manage to wield some dramatic impetus. But at what price? The destruction of Gallifrey and the entire Time Lord race (except of course for the Doctor—and probably the Master). In what is clearly meant to be an emotional scene, the Doctor confides in Rose that his home world has been destroyed in a war and that he is the last of his people. It would be rather obvious if it turned out that the Daleks were responsible for this, but since the Doctor didn’t answer when Rose asked with whom the Time Lords had been at war, it seems likely that it was the Daleks. No doubt this revelation is being reserved for dramatic effect in the first Dalek episode. This is the kind of damage usually inflicted upon the Doctor Who universe by the novels. Many writers of dubious literary talent rely heavily on shock tactics (e.g. lets kill off an assistant, wipe out a species, make the Doctor gay, etc) and indeed Gallifrey has already been destroyed in the books. But I for one was perfectly happy to ignore this addition to Whovian chronology, but now the same disaster has been thrust upon us in the television series. So, are we never to again see Gallifrey in all its’ emerald splendour? Apparently not.

These are my criticisms of the episode, but it had its good points too. The special effects were terrific and the aliens equally impressive. I do however think it a shame that the much anticipated Moxx of Balhoon (wonderfully realised and performed) was amongst the gathering of aliens shunned aside in favour of the intrusive sentimentalism which dominated the story. All in all he only appears on screen for about twenty seconds. Nevertheless, when he was on screen he looked wonderful, as did the rest of the aliens. Platform One itself was also convincingly created and made a visually impressive setting. My only fear is that the failings of the script and direction might make the BBC reluctant to utilise any more such imaginative settings for the second series. 

From this first extra-terrestrial excursion it would seem that Russell T. Davies is less concerned with exploring alien worlds and indulging the escapist magic which made the original series so enduring, but rather with looking at our own modern day culture from different perspectives. This is all very well for a show like Star Trek, but for me it just doesn’t feel like Doctor Who. Doctor Who has enough depth of character and dramatic power as it is. It doesn’t need tearful phone calls and pretentious philosophising to make us pay attention. ‘The End of the World’ wasn’t an awful episode, but it was disappointing and certainly wasn’t as good as ’Rose’ had been the previous week. Fortunately though, the preview of Mark Gatiss’ ‘The Unquiet Dead’ was brilliant. It looks likely to be both atmospheric and scary, and hopefully a worthy addition to the classic gothic horror stories. Sadly, ‘The End of the Word’ must be ranked along side less successful stories such as ‘Four to Doomsday’ and ‘Terminus’. To be fair though, had it not been for the revelation about the destruction of the Doctor’s home world I would probably have enjoyed it more.

It's taken me (and obviously a few others) time to get over the joy (and shock) of the last few days. Much has been said about Chris's decision to leave so suddenly after the start of what we've all been waiting for for 15 years, however, after watching The End Of The World tonight, it surely is time to put all bad feelings to one side. The show is back, will go on to a second series and will feature the Doctor!

As a lifetime fan, the continuation of the series must take priority. Actors come and go, regenerations take place and new actors take up the role. The series is not what 'original' fans remember Doctor Who to be. It is updated, it is new and it is 2005. We need to move with these times and salute the fact that the series has returned at all. After watching Rose last week, I was a little unsure of the pace of the episode and also of Chris's portrayal. The End Of The World is moving me in an altogether different direction. I CAN see the Doctor in Chris, all the little mannerisms and wit of previous incarnations brought together for perhaps the first time. I've just said to my wife that it's such a shame that he has decided to leave. He has the potential to perhaps be the greatest of them all. Enough of that, on to tonight's episode.

Again, the pace of the episode caused me concern.. Being so used to 4 or 6 episode stories, the general feeling of rushing and cramming everything into 45 minutes was again apparent in the first 5 minutes of the story. I guess this is something that again we will have to get used to.

Reading the latest edition of DWM today, it previewed TEOTW and told us to keep our ears open for future plot strands. Well, surely the biggest revelation about tonight is that Gallifrey has been destroyed and the Doctor is the last of the Time Lords. Have I missed something here? Or is this linked in to the last Eigth Doctor novel to be released in June. Time will tell.

I thought the aliens in TEOTW were excellent, but a little disappointed that there was little dialogue from the Moxx of Balhoon who looked superb. Pity he got fried in the end! The same could be said about the Face of Boe. These two had featured in DWM and in the TV clips prior to transmission and I was looking forward to seeing how they would develop. Still, again I guess you only have 45 minutes per episode and limited time on camera unless you are one of that episodes main characters.

The comedy aspect concerned me but the timing of it in Episode 2 was spot on. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing how all the separate 'secret' plot strands fit together, and I hope we get to see the demise of Gallifrey whilst Chris in in the role. His emotion when Jabe spoke to him about who he is and also when he told Rose he was the last of his kind was tingling. 

Overall, a great second story. Still can't quite believe it's back but that will take a few weeks to get used to.

A good start for Chris. 11 Episodes to go, lots more to see and learn. I now find myself waiting with bated breath how the change will happen either in Ep 13 or the Xmas special. Until them lets give him the benefit of the doubt - he IS the Doctor.

This episode takes the new viewer deeper into the Doctor's world, introducing elements of the Tardis and himself while in the company of a host of colourful characters. Unfortunately it does this around a rather flimsy storyline. Cassandra's plot is rather silly, but what can you expect when you are flat.

However, it had some great elements. Seeing the new (old!) Tardis in action was excellent - the Doctor pumping away extra hard to get further into the future was a great touch. The idea of the National Trust owning the Earth and returning it to a 'classic' form was spot on. The current debate on heritage and the role of people in it has been answered in emphatic form. Finally, some good alien creations - particularly the trees, but a number of the also rans were no so convincing (a tribute to classic Who?). I'm sure others will comment on Cassandra. It would be interesting, however, to ask other reviewers if, were they to get so flat, would there be any other bits they might like to keep apart from a mouth and eyes. 

But the bombshell - gallifrey gone (?) (planet not website, of course). Tears in the Doctor's eyes - when does that happen? Rose asked the question we all did - so who was this war with that wiped out the Time Lords? As an episode to set us watching for further answers - why, when and whether all other Time Lords were really all killed (we have quite a list of errant ones for a start), it will keep us watching. Have we been given a mystery that will become clear during the current series? Or, is the new Doctor being established with a new mysterious personna that will remain opaque as with the first Doctor? Time will tell.