"I'm gonna rescue Rose Tyler right from the middle of the Dalek fleet. Then I'm gonna save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I will wipe every last, stinking Dalek out of the sky!". As far as promises go, few are as big as the one made by the Ninth Doctor at the end of Bad Wolf, upon discovering that the Dalek race was far from extinct and about to invade Earth. Talk about a great cliffhanger.
And now, the conclusion: with Rose held hostage and the invasion already begun, the Time Lord must use all his wits, plus some help from Jack and Mickey (conveniently doing all the work from home like in World War Three) to defeat his archenemies once and for all. Even if it means someone has to die...
In terms of delivering a memorable season finale, Russell T. Davies pulls out all the stops and crafts a tale of epic proportions, filled with emotion, suspense, the odd comic aside and, of course, lots of Daleks screaming: "Exterminate!". The intelligent script brings the Bad Wolf subplot to a head and does its best with Rose and Jack, planting the seeds for possible evolutions in future seasons, while also giving more details about the Time War and its dramatic implications. And as far as villains are concerned, the Dalek emperor is a stroke of genius.
More than anything else, however, The Parting of the Ways will always be remembered as Christopher Eccleston's swansong as the Doctor (save for possible multi-Doctor specials in the future). Not the biggest of surprise, since a slip-up led to his departure being announced long before the episode's air date, but it still comes as a bit of a shock to see him hand over the role to someone else after only 13 episodes. That said, what he did in those 13 shows was quite amazing, and for my money he will always be THE Doctor. I mean, what's not to love about his farewell speech, which neatly sums up the entire season? As he says to Rose: "You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!". Yes, he was.
And now, the conclusion: with Rose held hostage and the invasion already begun, the Time Lord must use all his wits, plus some help from Jack and Mickey (conveniently doing all the work from home like in World War Three) to defeat his archenemies once and for all. Even if it means someone has to die...
In terms of delivering a memorable season finale, Russell T. Davies pulls out all the stops and crafts a tale of epic proportions, filled with emotion, suspense, the odd comic aside and, of course, lots of Daleks screaming: "Exterminate!". The intelligent script brings the Bad Wolf subplot to a head and does its best with Rose and Jack, planting the seeds for possible evolutions in future seasons, while also giving more details about the Time War and its dramatic implications. And as far as villains are concerned, the Dalek emperor is a stroke of genius.
More than anything else, however, The Parting of the Ways will always be remembered as Christopher Eccleston's swansong as the Doctor (save for possible multi-Doctor specials in the future). Not the biggest of surprise, since a slip-up led to his departure being announced long before the episode's air date, but it still comes as a bit of a shock to see him hand over the role to someone else after only 13 episodes. That said, what he did in those 13 shows was quite amazing, and for my money he will always be THE Doctor. I mean, what's not to love about his farewell speech, which neatly sums up the entire season? As he says to Rose: "You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!". Yes, he was.