After the thrilling cliffhanger to Bad Wolf, we're immediately off and running in this series finale. Jack has used the extrapolator from Boom Town to rig up a force field around the TARDIS and The Doctor flies it straight into the Dalek armada, then around Rose to rescue her. It's a badass and confident start and it's about to become more so. Because the Doctor is about to confront the Daleks. His 'Oncoming storm' speech isn't overplayed, but it's delivered with such intensity that if you weren't already sold on this showdown between the Doctor and the Daleks before it, you should be afterwards.

This is such a good scene, but I'm just going to point out 2 things that I especially like. The fact that the Daleks have become insane, and turned into effectively religious zealots, with the Emperor believing himself to be a God is a little weird, but all the better for it. I don't think it really adds anything to the narrative. I know the Doctor says it makes them more dangerous, but you could strip all of it out and the episode would play exactly the same. It's mostly just there for flavour, but I like the way it tastes.

The second thing is how this scene ends. The Doctor has confronted his enemies and instilled some fear within them. He confidently, defiantly returns to the TARDIS, closes the door and then defeatedly rests his head against the door as we can hear the Daleks screaming on the other side. It's a brilliant beat that after a few moments that give the audience hope that he can win, we immediately see that the Doctor is already feeling beaten and any hope we might've had has been stripped away.

We return to what used to be Satellite 5, where the Doctor reveals his plan. He's going to use the tech on board to transmit a Delta wave to wipe out the Daleks. He needs time (3 days) so he and Rose get to work building it whilst Jack takes the remaining inhabitants to mount a defense and hopefully give the Doctor the time he needs. There's a nice scene where Rose and the Doctor are discussing what they can do (like flying back in time a week to stop the Daleks then, but the Doctor explains why that's impossible) and there's an exchange that becomes important later. The Doctor suggests that they could just fly away and leave history to take it's course. Rose immediately refuses and the Doctor realises the idea never crossed her mind. Then the music swells into a more hopeful, heroic score as the Doctor excitedly says he knows what to do (something about crossing his own time stream), then he and Rose head into the TARDIS. The Doctor asks her to hold down something as he needs to quickly go outside. He leaves the TARDIS, stops and turns looking dejected, and with his sonic screwdriver, he sends Rose away. For the second time this episode the Doctor has given the audience some hope, then immediately taken it away.

Rose is on Earth with Mickey and her mum whilst 200,000 years later the inhabitants of the Game Station are battling the Daleks (who are also destroying the Earth at the same time) and the Doctor is building a Delta Wave. It is revealed that it's entirely possible for the Doctor to build the Delta Wave, but not refine it. Therefore he would create a weapon that would destroy all life in it's blast radius (including the citizens of Earth) and not just the Daleks. The Doctor is conflicted about whether he can kill all of these innocents to defeat the Daleks (and thereby save trillions more who the Daleks would surely later kill if he allowed them to survive) or not. Captain Jack gets a nice moment where he reassures the Doctor that he has never doubted him and never will, and will trust him to whatever he thinks is right.

The stuff with Rose on Earth is more interesting to me however (apart from the Bad Wolf stuff, which I think ends up not really being much of anything, especially considering how much it's built up). I love the scene in the chip shop because Rose essentially explains the mission statement for this Doctor and this revival of the show. She explains that the Doctors biggest weapon is how he inspires people to be better and do the right thing. How it's important to stand up and not to give up (calling back to the previous conversation she has with the Doctor in which she never even considers doing anything other than standing up to the Daleks). This inspires Mickey to help her try to open the heart of the TARDIS, which Rose believes will then read her mind and know to send her back to the Doctor. Mickey's mini cooper can't get the job done, but after a great heart to heart between Jackie and Rose (both Billie Piper and Camille Coduri are exceptional here) where Rose tells Jackie that her dad would want her to stand up with the Doctor. Jackie says he wouldn't before Rose tells her how she met Pete, and that she was the woman who was with him when he died. Jackie reluctantly understands why Rose must get back, so borrows a more powerful truck which gets the job done. However when they open the heart of the TARDIS it doesn't just send her back to the Doctor, but empties the entire Time Vortex into her.

So yes this is absolutely a Deus Ex Machina, and I absolutely understand why people may not like it. Especially because I don't think writing Bad Wolf a bunch of times throughout the series and turning Blon into an egg at the end of 'Boom Town' count as adequate setup. But honestly, for the most part I don't care. Narratively it may be a lazy way to conclude the story this way. But, from a character perspective it allows for very satisfying and entirely earned emotional payoffs for both The Doctor and Rose. RTD has always been more interested in character than he is in plot. This has always been both a strength and a weakness of his (here it's probably both). But, I personally like it more than I dislike it in this instance.

Back on the Game Station the Daleks have killed everyone except the Doctor. Lynda's death being particularly awful (in a good way), but Jack is also dead. The Dalek's are confronting The Doctor who has his Delta Wave, but he can't release it if it'll kill everyone. He proudly calls himself a coward and accepts his death. He's going to die anyway, and he'd rather die as a good man (or rather Time Lord). The Doctor we meet at the start of this series would've released the Delta Wave in an instant. Now though, the Doctor has changed from the haunted survivor he once was. Meeting Rose and having his faith in the universe restored has made him a better man, just as he's made others better throughout the series. He's already killed untold scores during the Time War, and he refuses to commit another act of Genocide. Fortunately he needn't because Rose returns.

The story then wraps up with Rose killing the Daleks, resurrecting Jack and saving the Doctor. The Doctor has to absorb the Time Vortex from her to save her life (I'm not crazy about the kiss, but it's not episode ruining or anything). This in turn brings about his regeneration into a very young looking David Tennant.

I'd like to briefly talk about Eccleston now that we're at the end of his tenure, and say that I think he's a truly great Doctor. He's unlike any other Doctor, yet still undeniably the Doctor. Part of me would love to have seen more adventures with the 9th Doctor, but the fact that he had 1 series that gave him a clear character arc is probably one of the reasons I think so highly of him. Other Doctors have continued in the role after their emotional arc had reached it's natural conclusion, and it is pretty much always to their detriment. So as annoyingly brief as his run was, it is probably all the better for that.

His final scene is excellent though. He not only gets a charming, emotional sendoff that shows the actor/character the right amount of respect, but the scene also introduces regeneration clearly. This scene is important because if the Revival messed up this scene and the concept of regeneration, I really think the show would've had a much harder time thriving. So thank you Mr. Eccleston.

All in all a reall good finale. It's not perfect by any means. I think the action sequences are generally pretty weak, the conclusion is narratively too easy etc... But as a culmination of Series 1 and as a sendoff to Christopher Eccleston, this episode is in a word, Fantastic.