Series 1 in a lot of ways hasn't aged well, particularly it's first few episodes, but Dalek was when the show started to hit it's stride and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances is really where the show begins to demonstrate it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of Classic Who. Carrying on from the cliffhanger ending to The Empty Child we get one of the cleverest and funniest cliffhanger resolutions and it just never loses its momentum. The second half of the overall story is just clever twist after clever twist with some of Moffat's wittiest dialogue and some great back and forth between the two leads and their new ally Captain Jack. This character was a very welcome, albeit short-lived, addition to the team. I've mentioned before that the Child itself is a fantastic villain but I also couldn't help noticing how eerily similar it is to the villain from The Holy Terror, similar idea, similar motive and even the ending itself is a less tragic version of the ending of The Holy Terror. Doesn't take away from my enjoyment, far from it, before the phrase "everybody lives!" would be abused to the point where death means nothing in the show anymore, Moffat gives us one of the show's most feel good climaxes with Eccleston putting in one of his best performances as the Doctor and marks a significant leap in his recovery from the Time War. People debate whether Dalek or this two parter is Series 1's best, while Dalek is utterly brilliant I have to give the edge to this story, it's a complete package of everything I love about Doctor Who and Moffat's earliest writing

Review #13

The great con part 2

This episode was a nice conclusion to the story. The doctor rose & Jack are all together This time and fight off the Gas Mask Zombies. We get a shocking Reveal that Nancy is actually the mother to the empty Child or as his real name is Jamie. It has a good ending and for the first time Everybody Lives! 10/10

Just this once, everybody lives!

A great second part for this story, Rose and The Doctor are reunited and their stories from the previous episode come together to solve this problem. The Doctor and Jack have a lot of fun back and forth, Jack realizes his wrongs and makes the ultimate sacrifice (though he is rescued).

The mystery of the empty child has a satisfying conclusion and in the end everybody who was infected gets to live, a happy ending for all

2025 Rewatch (Post the same review for all parts)

• This story is still a classic, even after 20 years. It's such a high-concept horror thrillride
• Moffatisms galore. You can hear him in his scripts, and I dare say they become a little distracting
• The simplistic use of the gas mask is such a brilliant idea, weaponising something already creepy to make it worse
• Jack seems much rougher around the edges under SM's writing, and I dare say more likable. There's a better twinkle in his eye. It's a shame SM never wrote for him again
• That old woman with the regrown leg is an absolute icon

Disclaimer: This Review is the exact same, as with my Review on the Episode "The Empty Child". This is because I consider this Two-Parter not only ONE Story, but also consistent in its Quality, which is why I didn't see the Need to write two separate Reviews.

Honestly, is there anything i can add to this? It’s such a perfect story, when I revisited series 1 last year in order, I was fairly bumped out by the first couple of episodes, but episodes like this make this series easily one of the best of the revival (and I say that who tends to prefer classic in many ways). This two parter is wonderful, as many pointed out Florence Hoath who played Nancy was such a good guest star in this “serial”. The Doctor and Rose might have some of their biggest dynamic in here and the addition of jack is lovely (I haven’t seen much of Torchwood yet, but this might just be my favorite use of jack so far).

The ending with 9 embracing the fact that everybody lives in such a time is just stunning, easily my favorite moment of his Doctor. For me nothing can beat “Dalek”, it’s just sooo good, but this is a very close call. Yet another showcase why Eccelston, even through he may seem like a major departure from the previous actors who played the part, still is and always will be an excellent choice. There is a lot I just love about it, really I have a hard time of thinking any negative I have with that Story, just so good!