Doctor Who Series 1 Episode 13: The Parting of the Ways

Director:

Joe Ahearne

(Strange, Ultraviolet, This Life)

Screenplay:

(Casanova, The Second Coming, Bob & Rose, Queer As Folk)

Cast:

Synopsis: Rose Tyler has seen danger and wonders alongside The Doctor, butnow their friendship is put to the test as Earth plunges into an epic warwith The Daleks…

Well, it took 13 episodes but Russell T. Davies finally wrote a decentepisode of Doctor Who. While the guest writers all created enthrallingaction (“Dalek”), pulp adventure (“The Unquiet Dead”) and period horror(“The Empty Child”), Davies seemed content to dredge up family melodrama andsilliness (“Aliens Of London”, “Rose”, etc.) While last week’s first part,”Bad Wolf”, proved disappointing – primarily through inane use of reality TV”satire” – the finale to the series is a resounding success.

In The Parting Of The Ways, The Doctor rescues Rose from the clutches ofthe Daleks, in a fabulous sequence where the TARDIS actually appears aroundRose and a captive Dalek, and meets the real nemesis of the episode – TheEmperor Dalek. As 500,000 Daleks plot to invade Earth, The Doctor builds adoomsday weapon to defeat them, while Captain Jack rallies troops the defendthe Game Station satellite.

For once, the episode hits its stride early and doesn’t feel too constrictedby its 45-minute runtime. The finale is a fast-moving affair that has somegenuinely emotional moments – such as when Rose is sent back home in theTARDIS to safety. Throughout the show there are some wonderfully tendermoments between The Doctor and Rose that the series has been buildingtowards since Episode 1, and in the final moments it’s very apparent howmuch Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper’s chemistry has helped towardsthe success of the show.

The special effects are good throughout, although there is some bad CGIshots in all the space scenes (not hideous, but not much better thanmid-90’s video-game interludes). It’s frustrating that bad incidental musicagain resurfaces to scupper drama in all the action sequences with CaptainJack, but for the most part there’s nothing too atrocious to detract fromthe story.

A minor apology is called for to Russell T Davies, too – as it transpiresthat the BAD WOLF plot-thread actually wasn’t answered last week (despitethe suggestion of this), and the actual revelation about its appearancethroughout the series is more satisfactory. However, as with many episodesthroughout the series, the logic of the stories aren’t very strong andanyone nitpicking the plots will find many threads to unravel; such as howdid The Emperor Dalek escape destruction in the Time War, exactly? Answersare given for questions, but answers are vague at best – which isinfuriating for fans who value well-constructed arcs and twists.

Despite the continuing problems with plotting, The Parting Of The Ways isan effective episode because of its two greatest assets: ChristopherEccleston and Billie Piper. It’s painfully obvious that Davies, as awriter, is more suited to character relationships than the specifics ofsci-fi and action sequences, so whenever The Doctor and Rose have a “moment”the episode scores very highly.

In fact, as the episode concludes and -SPOILER ALERT! – Eccleston’s dying Doctor re-generates into David Tennant;the prospect of the series without Eccleston is both exciting yet slightlydaunting. Just as it should be, perhaps? Eccleston did a great job, despitea shaky start spent mugging to camera, so it will be interesting to see howRose’s character reacts to a new tenant in the TARDIS (pun intended)…

Time will tell… but for now Doctor Who leaves the airwaves a huge successfor the BBC and a remarkably entertaining, if frequently frustrating series,that has yet to fully realize its potential…

Coming Soon: David Tennant begins his outing as the tenth Doctor in “TheChristmas Invasion” this December…

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