The Parting of the Ways

We have had wonderful penultimate Series episodes, The Pandorica Opens, Dark Water etc, all brilliant, but all followed up with slightly lesser conclusions. The Parting of the ways is the exception to the rule, it's a glorious finale.

The Doctor rescues Rose, meets the Emperor and discovers the Daleks are insane and hate their own skin. Several lives are lost, Lynda, Broderick, the TV bosses, and seemingly Captain Jack. Rose is satisfyingly heroic and saves the day in a wonderful ending.

The music is glorious, Murray Gold's scores are so good and fit beautifully with the show. The episode manages to maintain and build on its epic feel. We get a re-worked Dalek Emperor, such a good creation. The Daleks now have a true element of menace about them, they're back on good form. Jo Joyner is brilliant and seemed like she was being primed for more appearances, so a big surprise when she was cut down. The effects are superbly done, the mass Daleks look very realistic.

I literally cried at the time watching Chris Eccleston regenerate into David Tennant, I felt robbed, it was a feeling of 'He's brought the series back to life and now he's going, it will surely end?'

The Parting of the ways has the lot, it is a perfect 10/10.

So the Eccleston era ends with an episode that's a little underwhelming, when you consider its overall significance, but a decent enough way to end the season and to prepare for the things to come.

With the Dalek Armada heading for Earth, The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and those remaining on Satellite 5, prepare to mount a last ditch defence to try and buy him enough time for a last gasp plan to come to fruition. Knowing that his plan is likely to be suicide, The Doctor tricks Rose (Billie Piper) into the Tardis and sends her home, but after all she's seen and experienced, she can't leave him to fight alone.

With regards the specifics of this episode, I thought it was alright, but not that amazing. The ending is a bit of a deus ex machina, particularly as it's not the effect that we've seen other people have from looking into the heart of the Tardis. Eccleston is again great and though I did get a little buzz from seeing a super young looking David Tennant at the end, in many ways I'm sorry that we didn't get to see more of the 9th Doctor. (I always wonder why they don't go back now and make more one- off adventures with Eccleston from the time before his Doctor met Rose, now that time and changes in personnel seem to have healed some of those wounds.) I'd also say that there are a few aspects of this episode that drift away to not much, particularly the idea of tension between Rose and Lynda - in fact Lynda is rather short changed by the episode as a whole.

But what of the first season of rebooted who? Generally I think it's a really good start, with some great individual episodes and one excellent two-part story. The effects aren't quite what they would become, but as the show is a hit, it's allowed to invest more and more in that aspect. It's going to get interesting reviewing the show from here on out, as my memory is probably not going to be quite as sharp for the episodes as it has been with this first run. But my recollection is that the show is going to really hit its stride in the Tennant years and I'm looking forward to reliving it.

When I was going to see this episode, I thought: "Oh my God, there's so much mystery here! All is unknown, all is so hard-to-solve... but when I watched it till the end, I was really disappointed! The way Doctor and Rose were solving the situation is smart, yeah, but I asked myself every time: "Why have I watched that episode 12? There are almost no connections with it, except the Bad Wolf idea, which also, finally, was realized TERRIBLY! You had so much potential! You had 12 episodes before! You had a TIME-TRAVELING MACHINE AT LEAST, COME ON! I wanted to see the epic battle (stunning graphics are not necessary, though!), the way Doctor saved the day at the last time, and all I have got is the army of Daleks! For me, it wasn't such a perfect end of the season ("The empty child" became the best episode of the season 1 for many people and me, though!) It was only a common episode and not an ending at all. 6 from 10.

A Brilliant send off to a brilliant Doctor. The Daleks are shown to be more powerful here then they were in Dalek. And that's down to the fact this time there's an entire fleet of Daleks that must be stopped. This is a real tear jerker, and the episode will have you on the edge of your seat. It's that brisk with the pacing, and it aligns with the scaryness and the power that the Daleks have. Even shooting at the Tardis and it hits it, but that was part of the trick from the Doctor. Bad Wolf can still be seen from anywhere, and the seasons arc throughout remains one of the most successful arcs this show has ever had. And the final send off to the Doctor is chefs kiss, Christopher Eccleston was a brilliant Doctor. And in comes David Tennant, I think he's going to "Barcelona" haha, his words not mine.

The Daleks are confronted by the Doctor in the best way, he's not dealing with their mess, he's their to solve it. He's not wasting any time, and Jack being immortal was a decent and interesting route to take as he's always been a delight on screen. Both the Doctor and Captain Jack's energy is a breather and they all collectively make these episodes so much better and stronger with the writing, the stakes and the storytelling.

And the Doctors end speech will always be an Iconic scene. It mastered it's true identity and extended the genre in many ways, superbly done and the episode feels abit less rushed and less dated for that reason with excluding the game series.

Merit does have to go to the Daleks really taking centre and showing their brute force for the first time with a fleet, so that'll always remain Iconic for that reason too.