The Parting of the Ways

The Parting of Ways might very well be my favourite of the New Who series finales, even after all this time. I don't think any other run manages to so elegantly seed the ideas of "Bad Wolf" throughout the series and pay it off so well with the creation of the Bad Wolf entity. In just a few short minutes they tie in content that would be drawn on in the future and it feels like most other series are simply trying to imitate to varying degrees of success in the series that would follow Eccelston's short but memorable run.

Everything about this episode really holds up well. It's great pay-off to the big ending of the last episode. There's good action as the Daleks just plow through all these defences that had been carefully set up by our characters, cementing their sense of threat we first saw in the Dalek episode.

Even the Time War content is paid off nicely, with it being sort of implied the Doctor is just doing his last-minute, desperate manoeuvre to once again just try to wipe out the Daleks rather than letting them wipe out everything else.

Some of the effects are a little dated, but with fantastic acting all around, especially from Billie Piper who really sells her transformed state, and obviously Christopher Eccleston who gives us a memorable farewell, I'm easily sold on what we get in terms of effects and enjoy this story from start to finish. It's a classic story of the Doctor up against all odds, and prevailing against brute force and despair. A very important episode to the franchise, and a brilliant send-off to a short lived, but much loved Doctor. Absolutely part of the must-watch run of episodes in series one, a run that kicks off from Rose and pretty much includes every episode in between. For all the faults of the first series, the entire thing is very watchable and all comes together pretty nicely as an introduction to the world of Doctor Who.

This is a classic for Russell T Davies, finishing off the first series, and the 9th Doctor's era as a whole in style. RTD's efforts typically go into shaping the series and the characters but here you can see what he is capable of when all of his energy goes into writing. Its magnificent. Various threads from throughout the series are used for maximum impact here - Bad Wolf, the Time War, Rose talking to Jackie about her father, the heart of the TARDIS, Satellite 5, Mickey's doomed relationship with Rose. It all comes together and feels like a satisfying whole. Hey - even the Face of Boe gets a mention as a quiz question.

RTD's genius is the way he mixes pop culture (Big Brother, What Not to Wear, The Weakest Link) with high drama (holocaust-like charnel houses) whilst making the whole story hang together in a natural way. Oddly the pop culture elements have aged very well, though you'd have to imagine they would be streaming on demand rather than watching scheduled TV by this point in the future.

The Doctor messed up in The Long Game and now the Daleks have taken hold of Satellite 5. And what a show they put on. The thousands of Daleks filling the screen is quite unlike anything the show has managed to produce up until this point. Its a huge payoff to Dalek earlier in the series - and genuinely chilling stuff. We're led to think Lynda is going to be the new companion - awkwardly trumping Rose's affections but no - Lynda dies in horrific fashion at the hands of the Daleks and Rose gets The Doctor's dying kiss.

Whilst a huge battle breaks out in and around the satellite, loyal Rose attempts to get back to the fight - and eventually saves the day, despite The Doctor trying to keep her out of action. The scenes with Jackie and Mickey back on Earth help keep the whole story grounded and relatable. Clever old Russell, keeping non-fans and fans alike enthralled. Though he must have had an eye on fans when the script appears to reference the 8th Doctor TV movie as the Daleks are revealed in this instance to be half human (the Daleks respond with "BLASPHEMY!").

Captain Jack, Rose and The 9th Doctor make such an incredible team. I always feel joyous when I get to the bit where Jack is brought back to life, but then so disappointed when he gets left behind. I wish we could have had more of that team.

Of course, I also wish we'd gotten more of Christopher Eccleston in the role too. After whetting our appetite he bows out following the best series of the show to date (in my opinion it is ever so slightly better than Tom Baker's season 12). He carries so much humour, emotion and pathos in this story - it is a triumph of acting. Thank you Chris, for everything.

Now... who's this new guy?