Doctor Who Series 1 Episode 2 - The End Of The World - Review

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Zoe Wanamaker & Yasmin Bannerman

Written By: Russell T Davies

Directed By: Euros Lyn

 

So, now that Doctor Who is back on the box, and we've been introduced to the new Doctor and companion – it's time to get going properly with its first revived series. With most shows, the first episode of a series is designed to be big, bold and loud, but it looks like Doctor Who's doing the opposite. Just a week has passed since Rose, and already we're going from an invasion of Earth, to its destruction. Can this episode get away with going against the status quo, or is it just a bit too ambitious?

 

Picking up directly where Rose left off, the episode starts with the Doctor trying to impress his new companion by showing her just how far his time machine can go. The TARDIS arrives on Platform One – a space-station hovering above the Earth in the year 5,000,000,000. Onboard, a party is being held by various species from across the universe, as they gather to celebrate Earth's destruction. With the Sun about to expand and reduce the Earth to rubble, mysterious going-on aboard Platform One puts the guests in more danger than they anticipated.

 

First things first, I have to applaud Russell T Davies' brave decision to opt for such a drastic change in setting. As I've said, in the space of just two episodes, we've gone from contemporary 21st Century London to a space-station in the year 5,000,000,000. It was a potentially risky move, but for the most part, it pays off here. This change in setting comes about following an utterly charming pre-titles sequences. As the Doctor tries to show off to Rose while in the TARDIS, you can't help but smile. As they arrive on Platform One, I found it such a nice, heart-warming moment as the Doctor tells Rose - “You never take time to imagine the impossible, that you survive”. It's true that in the news, now more than ever, we see more and more things that could be a “threat”, or could “kill us”. The possibility that we could survive billions of years into the future … it's that kind of optimism and escapism I really love from Doctor Who.

 

It may only be his second outing as the Doctor, but Christopher Eccleston continues to impress in the role. He's still the perfect mix of funny and dramatic, and we're beginning to learn more about what's happened to the character while the show was off the air. At the end of the episode, the Doctor explains that sometime since his eighth incarnation, his people, the Time Lords, fought and lost a devastating war. The Doctor is now the last of the Time Lords. I'd imagine that we'll learn more and more about this war and its consequences in the coming weeks, but for now, I'm liking the fact that they're going into unexplored territory with the character. As for this episode, the Doctor spends a lot of his time with Jabe, a representative of the Forest of Cheem. The Doctor and Jabe make for a great pairing, and Jabe is a really likeable character. Her final scene of the episode is really moving, even more so when you consider that everyone was too busy saving themselves to notice.

 

As the Doctor tries to save everyone with Jabe's help, Rose is left on her own to acclimatize to the very alien environment of Platform One. Taking Rose out of her comfort zone allows her more development, and she is handled far better here than she was last week. We're put into Rose's shoes even more this week, especially if you're a new viewer of the show, and we understand just how out-of-place she must feel. Platform One is a very alien setting, and it's helped by some impressive CGI effects. The exterior shots of the station look amazing, but the standout effects moment is easily Earth's destruction. The scene where Earth gets ravaged by the Sun is a stunning moment, with some truly beautiful cinematography. But while there's some admirable CGI here, the set design and practical effects are a mixed bag. There are some sets here which just don't feel like part of a space-station from billions of years in the future. Also, while alien designs like Cassandra, the Face of Boe and the Forest of Cheem look pretty good, aliens like the Hop Pyleen Brothers and Mr & Mrs Pakoo, feel lazy and poorly made.

 

Along with Jabe, one of the best characters in this episode is the Lady Cassandra. Cassandra is quite a unique design, and I really liked how she was essentially a parody of the current obsession with plastic surgery and looking thin. The character herself isn't quite as interesting or unique as her design, but Zoe Wanamaker does a superb job with the voice, giving Cassandra a true diva-like feel. Unfortunately, Cassandra is also part of the episode's biggest failing. See, The End Of The World spends it first thirty minutes as something of a murder mystery story, but it's so painfully obvious who the real killer is. (Spoiler Warning!) It's obvious that Cassandra is the real killer, because she's the only guest onboard the station that gets any character development. The episode tries to avoid this by making the audience think that the Adherents of the Repeated Meme are the killers, but they too are so bland that this attempt just fails.

 

From a writing perspective, it often feels like the underlying themes in The End Of The World are at odds with each other, and they never quite gel. Sometimes, it feels like this episode wants to be a little light-hearted blockbuster, but there are also moments where it seems to want to show a dark and bleak look at the future. For example, the opening scene I mentioned earlier is such a lovely, hopeful moment, to think that the human race managed to survive five billion years into the future. But later, it's revealed that aliens from across the universe are gathering for a party, to celebrate Earth's death – quite a dark thing to do. For me at least, these two elements just don't go well together. But if there's at least one part of the script that definitely doesn't work … it's the attempts at comedy. Although the laughs from the Doctor often work, the rest of the humour is unsuccessful and ends up falling flat, particularly moments like Cassandra's “ipod” joke.

 

In conclusion, The End Of The World is somewhat uneven, and despite its bigger scope and ambition, it doesn't quite live up to its predecessor Rose. There are definitely things to like here, such as greater development of the new Doctor and Rose, some very impressive CGI work, as well as some pretty good guest characters. But there are also some less successful elements, such as a botched murder mystery, and mixed results for the practical effects and set designs. It's an episode reminiscent of The Robots Of Death (which was a fantastic story, but had a similarly poor murder mystery), and the sheer amount of variety in the alien guests makes many scenes feel like something from Star Wars.

 

 

The End Of The World



6/10