Following on from a great opening episode is tough, but this episode manages it pretty well. It’s never been a favourite of mine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. From the opening scene, the dynamic between the Doctor and Rose is further solidified- ‘you think you’re so impressive’ ‘I am so impressive’- they’re having fun together, even though neither really knows the other. That lack of knowing forms the basis for most of the character-based conflict, which takes a more important role for the majority of the episode than the metal spiders running around in the background do. It’s a way of showing Rose’s impulsivity- rushing off with a stranger- and then the culture shock of suddenly being dropped into this alien situation- ‘the aliens, they’re so alien. I mean you look at them, and they’re alien’.

Why would the Doctor bring Rose to watch her planet explode on her first proper trip with him? It makes no sense, except, right there at the end we learn his planet has exploded too. That tells us more about the Doctor, his want for connection, the need to have someone somewhere understand what it’s like to be the last one, and Rose says it herself when confronting Cassandra- if anyone onboard Platform One is the Last Human then it’s Rose, not the bitchy flap of skin.

The darkness Nine shows after saving the day, (everything has its time and everything dies) is the first real hint of the Doctor being dangerous that we get in the revival - obviously the previous episode had danger, but that wasn’t him, it was the aliens, yet here, that darkness comes to the fore and shows another side to the Doctor that I think Nine portrays fantastically throughout his short run.

As with the previous episode and a lot of series one, the side characters here feel developed- with such a large cast this time, it’s less-so here, but Cassandra and Jabe are used very well to show that a connection to Earth isn’t simply a human-thing, and that not all humans have the best in mind for the Earth. Jabe, the beautiful tree lady, spends most of her time flirting with the Doctor which makes for some great lines. Knowing what we know from future series’, I wish the Face of Boe had had more to do, though it is his dodgy plumbing that allows more of the world to be explored- Raffalo’s conversation with Rose is short, but it gives an insight into the post-Earth future. We also get the first Bad Wolf namedrop here from the Moxx of Balhoon, who I can only assume is Doctor Who’s answer to Star Wars’ Max Rebo, in a blink and you’ll miss it comment that even BBC iPlayer’s subtitles get wrong.

Overall, I think The End of the World is a solid second episode, and throws a lot of information out to a new audience without being overwhelming, whilst exploring these new characters and their dynamic. Having the early episodes be so character-centric is, as Nine would say, fantastic.