Dan Owen reviews

Episode 13: "The Parting of The Ways"

Director:

Joe Ahearne (Strange, Ultraviolet, This Life)

Screenplay:

Russell T. Davies (Casanova, The Second Coming, Bob & Rose, Queer As Folk)

Cast:

The Doctor: Christopher Eccleston
Rose Tyler: Billie Piper
Captain Jack Harkness: John Barrowman
Mickey Smith: Noel Clarke
Jackie Tyler: Camille Coduri
Lynda: Jo Joyner
TARDIS (voice): Laura Fraser
Rodrick: Paterson Joseph
Female Programmer: Nisha K Nayar
Male Programmer: Jo Stone-Fewings
Anne Droid (voice): Anne Robinson
Android: Alan Ruscoe
Daleks (voices): Nicholas Briggs
Dalek (operators): Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg & David Hankinson

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...

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...

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Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.