My Review of Doctor Who's 1x13: "The Parting Of The Ways"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

With the BBC running “Time Is Up” adverts for five days straight in the run up to this episode, it wasn’t exactly hard to get excited about this particular season finale. After all, nearly half a million Daleks are out and about in outer space determined to annihilate the remainder of humanity. That’s enough to make anyone want to watch.

The easy part first, the rescue of Rose had the extrapolator from “Boom Town” put into good use as The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack were then able to build a force field to keep the Daleks from killing them or the TARDIS. Of course, the real voice behind the Daleks is the Emperor Dalek and he isn’t exactly in the mood for pleasantries.

Time hasn’t especially been kind to the Dalek race or their Emperor in charge since the Time War, a point that is made all too clear in the space of three minutes. They’ve been forced to keep anominous and have had to wait for this ripe opportunity to strike, an opportunity that you could suggest, was given to them by The Doctor as we are after all are still dealing with the consequences from “The Long Game”. The Daleks are back though and they are an army to be reckoned with.

Being built on human DNA is something we’ve seen before, even earlier on in the season but while that lone Dalek from episode six was confused by its humanity, the influxes of Daleks here are more disgusted with theirs. The Doctor didn’t need to point out that this made them more than lethal but even I won’t gripe about him stating the obvious this time.

With the Dalek fleet making their way to the Gamestation and nearly over a hundred people still on board unable to escape, the next course of action was to build them as an army. I felt bad for Captain Jack here because deep down, he knew all along that things were going to be fatal and out of our trio, he is the only who still gets screwed over at the end. Which is probably why he kisses both Rose and The Doctor on the lips (yes that’s two men for a little moment kissing, just don’t tell ofcom about it) in a totally subtle but effective scene.

Trying to build an army out of cynical and desensitised contestants and Gamestation staff is bad without the likes of Rodrick whinging about his prize money on top of things too. It kind of felt like Captain Jack was being a little excluded here with The Doctor not telling him everything while the latter scrambled with the Delta Wave, dealing with Rose and being goaded by the Dalek Emperor.

Even Jack’s army of inept and mostly afraid humans didn’t last very long. Although I didn’t care about Rodrick dying, I did feel bad for Davish and little crush on his sarcastic co-worker and of course Lynda, whose death was presumably so violent we didn’t even get to see it.

Any hopes of Lynda being a fourth spoke in the TARDIS team got obliterated here but the fact that there was any spokes left is a miracle within itself. Even Captain Jack suffered being hit by the Daleks and killed (like Tara’s death on Buffy’s “Seeing Red”, I didn’t like that scene) but things on the death of Captain Jack are not quite as they seem. I’ll get back to that in a bit though.

As for The Doctor, doing battle with your greatest enemy and having the odds of survival sensationally stacked against you isn’t exactly the best motivational tool in the world but having the Emperor of the Daleks constantly blight you and constantly refer to you as a baddie yourself has got to a head wrecker. With an obviously robotic voice and bigger than a portable aquarium, the Daleks plans of building the Earth into their own image is looking scarily successful.

The Delta Wave which is supposed to save lives will only wipe out both Daleks and humans and while Captain Jack told The Doctor to do what he felt was right, he obviously struggled before admitting it. Of course there was one life that The Doctor was unwilling to sacrifice, why else do you think he tricked Rose into going home.

Rose could’ve left the battlefield at any time before being duped, The Doctor even went out on a limb to suggest it but she declined. Rose is increasingly showing signs of being a noble heroine. Which is why when she was sent home and told to forget The Doctor and live a normal life, she couldn’t accept. You experience the kind of things that she does and normality is no longer an option.

Both Mickey and Jackie have only had a taste of what other lives are out there but Rose has seen so much more. It explains why they can’t accept her refusal to give up on The Doctor but even their at times narrow-mindedness doesn’t prevail their love for Rose and while they don’t approve of her lifestyle, it was great that they helped to get back to the Gamestation by opening the heart of the TARDIS and a whole boat load of complications.

As a human Rose can’t physically withstand the energy of the time vortex but then again, neither can anything else but she holds it long enough to reveal that she’s been the big bad wolf all the time, relaying her messages through time and space and to make a spectacular return, amid an interesting debate from Emperor Dalek of whether The Doctor should be a killer or coward.

He chooses coward, Rose chooses hero as her borrowed elevation to God like quality (was anybody else thinking “Primeval” Buffy when watching this or was that just me?) has her killing every single Dalek and the Emperor on display Of course her best trick is resurrecting Captain Jack with her “I give life” speech, posing the question of whether or not she was aware he was even dead.

Was either The Doctor or Rose aware that he had been a casualty because if they were and just abandoned him on board Gamestation, then I’m going to be a cheesed off with that one. I’m hoping they weren’t.

As for The Doctor and Rose kiss, it was hardly a sexual one so even die hard fans can’t complain that much about it, now can they? Still though with Rose nearly dying to save the world, The Doctor returned the favour and saved her by absorbing the vortex energy.
Some joking on the TARDIS later and deserved congratulatory speeches later and our ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston morphed into number ten David Tennant. What a way to make an entrance! It’s an impressive debut and a nice way of ending a season finale that delivered left, right and centre. It’s a pity that Captain Jack is on his lonesome though.

Also in “The Parting Of The Ways”

This episode opened with no teaser. It just went straight into the opening credits and the main stuff.

Rose: “Never doubted you.”
The Doctor: “I did. Are you alright?”

More Dalek knowledge here as we learned that the human DNA came from prisoners, refugees and the dispossessed. Even for part machines, doesn’t this make the Daleks little more than shells?

Captain Jack: “I wish I had never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward. See you in hell.”

The Doctor: “I might just save the world or rip it apart.”
Rose: “I’d go with the first one.”
The Doctor: “Me too.”

The half human revelation about the Daleks was from the 1996 TV movie with the Eighth Doctor. Nice use of reference there.

The Doctor: “Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.”

Rose: “No.”
Mickey (re TARDIS): “If that’s what you think, then let’s get this thing open.”

Since we last saw, Jackie has been involved with a guy named Rodrigo. I liked how Russell used the reversed events from “Father’s Day” to help Rose get her mother onside too.

Female Operator: “Am I supposed to say when this is all over, maybe we should go and get a drink?”
Davish: “That would be nice.”

If the Daleks invaded the likes of Australasia, the new American Islands, Europa etc before Uber-Rose saved the day, does that mean that they haven’t been completely eradicated?

Dalek: “Exterminate.”
Captain Jack: “I kind of figured that.”

The trailer for “The Christmas Invasion” only featured clips throughout Season One. I guess that means it hasn’t been filmed yet.

Dalek Emperor: “What are you Doctor – coward or killer?”
The Doctor: “Coward, any day.”

I believe this was the first regeneration standing up. It’s also the first I’ve seen which is a good reminder that I’m still a novice to this show.

Rose: “I want you safe. My Doctor protected from the false God.”

The Doctor (to Rose): “Mmm new teeth, that’s weird. Now where was I? Oh that’s right, Barcelona!”

Standout music: the exceptional score piece in this entire episode from Murray Gold of course.

“The Parting Of The Ways” was certainly a heavily anticipated season finale and like this season as a whole, it succeeded on every level. Hats off to Russell and Joe for their superb scripting and directing and kudos has to be give for the excellent and powerhouse performances from Christopher Eccleston (we’ll miss you mate), Billie Piper (who’s really come into her own), John Barrowman (don’t leave him there) and David Tennant (welcome aboard). Only six months until “The Christmas Invasion”.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x12: "Bad Wolf"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

Lynda (to The Doctor, re Crosby): “She’s just been evicted – from life.”

So reality TV and games shows really are the source of all evil then? I just thought it was Davina McCall’s by now grating fake enthusiasm and Big Brother’s knack for picking more increasingly desperate contestants year in, year out that was fuel to some of the laziest and over hyped pieces of television nowadays. Oh wait, it still is.

After the disjointed escapades of “The Long Game”, I wasn’t particularly thrilled to be revisiting Satellite Five, which is now known as the Gamestation and I was even less enthusiastic about having to sit through half an episode parodying a genre that I’m not exactly fond of either. Thankfully the results aren’t as bad as I fear but they are rather touch and go to be honest.

Dealing with the least screen attention parody first, the consistently likeable Captain Jack wakes up to find himself at the mercy of robots Trin-E and Zu-Zana. It doesn’t take a genius to guess who they are meant to be. I ask – could there be a bigger fate worse than death than having to contend with these two?

The androids, who are every bit annoying as their real life counterparts who we have to deal with in “What Not To Wear”, then happily decide that the usually dapper Jack needs a new look. Now I personally liked the naked one as John Barrowman delightfully lets it all hang out. Well as much as you can let hang out for a teatime slot on a Saturday BBC show that is. Damn the BBC and their fears of offending ofcom and the like.

Of course proving that Trinny and Suzanna as androids are just as evil as the real thing, their next assignment seems to be ripping Jack a new face, forcing our bisexual conman to do what I assume, most viewers would like to do to plenty of so called fashionistas out there and use a compact laser deluxe to blast the meddling duo.

How I cheered while watching that particular moment, although Trinny and Suzanna’s demise wasn’t completely in vain. After all, they made good enough for Jack to build a gun and to locate The Doctor.

Which then leads to the Time Lord waking up in the Big Brother house with three contestants left, Lynda, Crosby and Stooed, although only Lynda made anything resembling an impact. The Doctor doesn’t exactly like being watched by millions of viewers and does his best to sabotage and shorten his stay in the house.

If you think that Celebrity Big Brother is a pain to watch, then being a contestant on this reality show bites even more. You’re basically chosen at random and if you’re evicted , you’re killed by a beam and if you win, you just get to live, which is a damn site better than losing but even still it’s a pretty harsh blow to the system. Luckily for The Doctor, his plan works and him and Lynda make a break for it, which luckily for this episode, it means more interesting stuff happens too.

For instance, we learn that this new world is The Doctor’s own doing as upon freeing everyone in Satellite Five, he forgot to set up a replacement government station, so everything has been thrown into turmoil. On a lighter note we got some rather cute flirting between The Doctor and Lynda.

She was definitely wowed by him and The Doctor kept referring her as sweet, but sweetness aside, we seem to be getting closer to the “Bad Wolf” mystery as it finally comes into play big time when Lynda reveals that the Gamestation is owned by Bad Wolf Corporation.

As for Gamestation itself, just like a heightened version of “The Long Game”, the controller who is human but literally so wired up that she’s little more than a human computer makes, controls and packages the programs along with seemingly loyal staff but even the Gamestation is only smoke and mirrors for something much worse, which is a good thing, plot wise.

Elsewhere Rose finds herself on a game even I like called The Weakest Link with a nefarious Anne Droid, a few nervous fellow contestants and a rather slimy bastard named Rodrick who deliberately keeps Rose on the game so he can beat in the end.

Just like with Big Brother, you lose and you die but if you win this game, then you actually get money. Rose may not be an intellect but luckily she isn’t made too dense here either.

Sadly though, things don’t turn out so well for Miss Tyler as after getting one answer too many wrong in the final round, she is killed by Anne Droid’s laser beam. This is the first time in this episode where real emotional content comes into play and this is where the premise gains a bit of credibility. Jack angrily lashes out at executives over his friend’s death while The Doctor just stares numb and despondent until both men and Lynda are arrested.

However they don’t spend an awfully long time behind bars thanks to a little quick thinking and old fashioned fisticuffs leading our trio to fight their way to Floor 500, which thankfully gives us some revelations, one in particular that will make everyone cheer for joy.

For instance remember when I said that the controller only appeared to be smoke and mirrors for something really bad? Well I was right but before it’s revealed, she is conveniently teleported away and killed, which then reveal out mystery assailants and we’ve already seen them earlier on this year.

Before that though, Captain Jack continues his resourcefulness and manages to prove, with some help from Lynda that Rose is still alive, along with everyone else who we saw die in this episode. The not so great news is that there’s millions of Daleks alive in outer space that have her hostage and are planning to use her as leverage to get to The Doctor. I’m glad to see the return of the Daleks and I can’t wait to see what further chaos they have in store for us.


Also in “Bad Wolf”

Although this episode featured the consequences of “The Long Game”, we actually didn’t learn whatever happened with The Editor or Cathica. Not even Adam was mentioned.

Captain Jack: “Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?”
Trin-E/Zu-Zana: “Absolutely.”
Captain Jack: “Ladies, your viewing figures just went up.”

Costumes we had for Captain Jack was a buccaneer look, a hell’s angels, tennis pro. I still liked the nude one, heehee!

Rose: “I just travel; I’m a bit of a tourist I suppose.”
Anne Droid: “Another way of saying unemployed?”

Other contestants on The Weakest Link were Brotch, Flitch, Colleen, Colin and Max. Rodrick was the first to mention “Bad Wolf” for Rose to really piece things together.

Lynda (re being over 100): “You’re looking good on it.”
The Doctor: “I moisturize.”

There are 60 Big Brother houses on Gamestation, in BB504 all the contestants walked and The Doctor took the advice of another Linda and smashed property to be evicted. Surely The Doctor, Captain Jack and Rose weren’t meant to escape the games if the Daleks want to win their battle?

Captain Jack (re talking to Lynda): “I was just saying hello.”
The Doctor: “For you, that’s flirting.”

Captain Jack (re Rose): “You killed her! Your stupid freaking game just killed her.”

Torchwood was mentioned here. What are they, a special ops unit or something?

Davish: “But I have your gun.”
The Doctor: “Okay, so shoot me.”

Other games on the Gamestation include Wipe Out, Countdown (30 seconds to diffuse a bomb, like Alias the reality TV series), Stars In Your Eyes (where you can get literally blinded) and Bear With Me.

Female Operator: “It’s not our problem; we’re just doing our jobs.”
The Doctor: “With that sentence, you’ve lost the right to talk, now back off.”

The Doctor (to Dalek): “And doesn’t that just scare you to death? Rose?”
Rose: “Yes Doctor?”
The Doctor: “I’m coming to get you.”

The chronology is exactly 100 years since “The Long Game”.

With an incredibly dodgy opening half, it’s nice to know that “Bad Wolf” was able to recover itself and even better, that we are finally starting to get some answers as well. The last fifteen minutes is where the real meat of the episode is and I for one can’t wait until next week.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

My Review of Doctor Who's 1x11: "Boom Town"

Written by Russell T Davies
Directed by Joe Ahearne

The Doctor (re Margaret Blaine): “And I was having such a nice day.”

If I could compile a list of things that most viewers would like to see more of in this new series, I don’t think there would be many people out there who would be eager to get a return of the Slitheen or even in particular Margaret Blaine but tough luck as for those who didn’t like the main baddie from “Aliens Of London” and “World War Three” because she’s back.

I wasn’t initially looking forward to round two as I suspect many other people weren’t but obviously learning from a few slip ups earlier on in the season with the Slitheen, Russell T Davies goes a long way to try and offer a more insightful outing for Margaret in comparison to the badly paced 10 Downing Street adventure. It also helps that the farting jokes are thankfully scrapped too.

Managing to teleport herself away from being blown up, Margaret has done her best to not only draw attention to herself but also has retained her desire to kill anyone who gets in her way, except for an intrepid journalist named Cathy, who’s life is spared when she lets slip to Margaret that she’s pregnant and in a moment of weakness, the murderous last surviving Slitheen gives her pardon before a stray newspaper informs The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Captain Jack that Margaret is Mayor of Cardiff and plans to build a nuclear plant in the heart of the city.

Margaret’s attempts of escaping The Doctor and company by being teleported in and out are nothing short of humorous but when forced to confront one of her most dangerous enemies, she finds herself under arrest and a little too eager to lash out.

She accuses The Doctor of persecuting her, one of if not many “point taken” statements from her during the hour. So Margaret had no idea that her nuclear plant was built on top of the scar from the might rift back in “The Unquiet Dead”? Yeah, right and Captain Jack is modest at heart, I don’t think so.

There was some awfully suspicious about how nonchalant Margaret remained when she had to explained how she came about her pan dimensional surfboard or extrapolator as we later found out but first, it’s debate time.

Instead of trying to kill Margaret there and then, The Doctor decided to take her back to her home planet where she would be executed once she stepped foot home. Everybody, though more so Mickey thought that this was exactly what she deserved and at the risk of sounding narrow minded, I have to admit that I agreed with him.

Any way you cut it, Margaret and whatever is left of the Slitheen are killers. Cold blooded and mostly merciless, they kill simply out of greed. Unlike the Daleks or even the Cybermen, programming here cannot be blamed or excused for the actions of this species. As a child, Margaret may have been forced to kill but as an adult, it is her choice and no-one else’s. The Doctor and anyone else have the right and duty to stop her, even if it is through murder in the end. If they are executioners, The Doctor and company do it to protect lives and because often they don’t have a choice in the matter. The killings that Margaret has done with her race and by herself are not.

The Doctor and Margaret’s dinner conversation is certainly an eye opener. While they are plenty of times in which the Time Lord has been reckless, he is still better than Margaret and her attempts of using the extrapolator on the TARDIS to open the rift proved that while Margaret may be a capable of change, deep down her desire to do harm is powerful and rules any possible hope of doing good.

I hope for The Doctor’s sake that her being turned into an egg and returned to a better family could shape Margaret into a better alien, but I remain sceptical for the time being.

The peril aside, I loved the four team unit we had in this episode. Jack easily fits the ensemble like a glove and The Doctor and Rose are on their usual fine form too. Mickey, however also gets some great moments as his isolation from Rose is brought to the fore. When I first encountered Mickey, I didn’t particularly care for him but Noel Clarke has really improved as an actor.

This episode kind of tore me because as much as I love Rose and understand her desires to broaden her horizons, I sympathised a lot with Mickey. Their arguments about The Doctor coming first and not him was true and Rose got a harsh lesson when Mickey abandoned her after Margaret’s rift antics. Even Rose now thinks that Mickey deserves better.

Also in “Boom Town”

The “Previously On” bit just recapped on the Slitheen and nothing at all about Jack.

Captain Jack (re Rose/Mickey): “So sweet, how come I never get any of that?”
The Doctor: “Buy me a drink first.”

Character bits: Cathy works for the Cardiff Gazette, has a boyfriend named Jeffrey who is a civil servant and she is three months pregnant. I liked the personal stuff in this episode.

Cathy (re Mr Cleaver): “He was decapitated.”
Margaret: “It was a very icy patch.”

The Doctor (re Margaret): “She’s climbing out the window, isn’t she?”
Idris: “Yes.”

Margaret as a Slitheen has a very strange way of crying. It’s like her eyes go inwards or something. It looked cool enough.

Margaret: “This is persecution. Why can’t you just leave me alone? What have I ever done to you?”
The Doctor: “You tried to kill me and destroy the entire planet.”
Margaret: “Apart from that.”

Captain Jack (to The Doctor): “Like she’s not going to try and escape.”
Margaret: “Except I can never escape The Doctor, so where’s the danger?”

The “Bad Wolf” symbol was written in Welsh this time in Margaret’s office. The Doctor and Rose also at last decided to acknowledge it; except for The Doctor blowing it off was stupid.

The Doctor: “Would you like to come out to dinner? My treat.”
Margaret: “Dinner and bondage? Works for me.”

As a Slitheen, Margaret would’ve been boiled to death for her execution. Her real name is Blon Fotch Passameer Day Slitheen and as a female of her kind, she shoots poison darts from her nails and exhale poison. Very nifty!

Mickey (to Rose): “I can’t even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I come running.”

Jack got called “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “cheesy” by Mickey and “Fly Boy” by Margaret. We didn’t learn anything new about the guy, though there was something of a nudity crisis with him.

The Doctor: “My TARDIS, the best ship in the universe.”
Margaret: “It’ll make wonderful scrap.”

The Doctor (re Mickey): “Do you want to go find him? We can wait.”
Rose: “No need. He deserves better.”

The chronology has been six moths since “Aliens Of London” and “World War Three”.

A little bit of a let down compared to the breathtaking previous two episodes (though almost anything would be); “Boom Town” is still a rather solid episode. Although I could happily do without ever seeing the Slitheen ever again, the pacing and execution of events in the hour was good.

Rating: 7 out of 10.