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July 25 2008
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Dan Owen reviews
Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday June 18th, 2005
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Well, it took 13 episodes but Russell T. Davies finally wrote a decent episode of Doctor Who. While the guest writers all created enthralling action ("Dalek"), pulp adventure ("The Unquiet Dead") and period horror ("The Empty Child"), Davies seemed content to dredge up family melodrama and silliness ("Aliens Of London", "Rose", etc.) While last week's first part, "Bad Wolf", proved disappointing - primarily through inane use of reality TV "satire" - the finale to the series is a resounding success. In The Parting Of The Ways, The Doctor rescues Rose from the clutches of the Daleks, in a fabulous sequence where the TARDIS actually appears around Rose and a captive Dalek, and meets the real nemesis of the episode - The Emperor Dalek. As 500,000 Daleks plot to invade Earth, The Doctor builds a doomsday weapon to defeat them, while Captain Jack rallies troops the defend the Game Station satellite.
For once, the episode hits its stride early and doesn't feel too constricted by its 45-minute runtime. The finale is a fast-moving affair that has some genuinely emotional moments - such as when Rose is sent back home in the TARDIS to safety. Throughout the show there are some wonderfully tender moments between The Doctor and Rose that the series has been building towards since Episode 1, and in the final moments it's very apparent how much Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper's chemistry has helped towards the success of the show. The special effects are good throughout, although there is some bad CGI shots in all the space scenes (not hideous, but not much better than mid-90's video-game interludes). It's frustrating that bad incidental music again resurfaces to scupper drama in all the action sequences with Captain Jack, but for the most part there's nothing too atrocious to detract from the story. A minor apology is called for to Russell T Davies, too - as it transpires that the BAD WOLF plot-thread actually wasn't answered last week (despite the suggestion of this), and the actual revelation about its appearance throughout the series is more satisfactory. However, as with many episodes throughout the series, the logic of the stories aren't very strong and anyone nitpicking the plots will find many threads to unravel; such as how did The Emperor Dalek escape destruction in the Time War, exactly? Answers are given for questions, but answers are vague at best - which is infuriating for fans who value well-constructed arcs and twists.
Despite the continuing problems with plotting, The Parting Of The Ways is an effective episode because of its two greatest assets: Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. It's painfully obvious that Davies, as a writer, is more suited to character relationships than the specifics of sci-fi and action sequences, so whenever The Doctor and Rose have a "moment" the episode scores very highly. In fact, as the episode concludes and - SPOILER ALERT! - Eccleston's dying Doctor re-generates into David Tennant; the prospect of the series without Eccleston is both exciting yet slightly daunting. Just as it should be, perhaps? Eccleston did a great job, despite a shaky start spent mugging to camera, so it will be interesting to see how Rose's character reacts to a new tenant in the TARDIS (pun intended)... Time will tell... but for now Doctor Who leaves the airwaves a huge success for the BBC and a remarkably entertaining, if frequently frustrating series, that has yet to fully realize its potential... Coming Soon: David Tennant begins his outing as the tenth Doctor in "The Christmas Invasion" this December...
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.E-mail Dan Owen
The following is a list of all the Doctor Who content reviewed to date : 2008 Series 30, Episode 13 - "Journey's End", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 12 - "The Stolen Earth", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 11 - "Turn Left", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 10 - "Midnight", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 8 - "Silence in the Library" (part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 7 - "The Unicorn and The Wasp", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 6 - "The Doctor's Daughter", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 5 - "The Poison Sky" (Part 2 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 4 - "The Sontaran Stratagem" (Part 1 of 2), by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 3 - "Planet of the Ood", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 2 - "The Fires of Pompeii", by Dan Owen 2008 Series 30, Episode 1 - "Partners In Crime", by Dan Owen And the Audio CDs : 2000 04: The Land of the Dead 2000 06: The Marian Conspiracy 2000 10: Winter for the Adept 2000 12: The Fires of Vulcan 2000 14: The Holy Terror 2000 15: The Mutant Phase 2001 16: Storm Warning 2001 18: The Stones of Venice 2002 28: The Chimes of Midnight 2002 30: Seasons of Fear 2002 31: Embrace the Darkness 2002 35: ...Ish 2002 39: ...Bang-Bang-A-Boom!
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Synopsis:
Rose Tyler has seen danger and wonders alongside The Doctor, but
now their friendship is put to the test as Earth plunges into an epic war
with The Daleks...
