NuWho Review: Series 1 Episode 2 “The End of the World”

 By: Russell T. Davies

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

            Man does The Doctor know how to treat a girl – taking her to see the end of her planet! Maybe he thought it would be better than fireworks over the Thames...



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- It was great fun to see all of the alien species on board Platform One – and reassuring when I saw that they weren’t all stereotypical aliens (you know, the ones that look like Casper the Friendly Ghost on a starvation diet). The different gifts that they all give one another makes a nice touch that also sets in place different cultures with little effort.

- And that brings us to our villain for the week. Lady Cassandra is a face on a piece of stretched-out skin that somehow still manages to put lipstick on every morning. Grotesque in appearance and making herself annoying by constantly calling out “Moisturize me!”, Cassandra is definitely one of the boo-hiss villains of Doctor Who. But, ‘the last pure human’ is apparently more than just a once-pretty face as is revealed when her gifts to the other guests turn out to be a small army of robotic spiders that hack their way into Platform One’s computer system. (Talk about the worldwide web!)


- While this villainous subterfuge is going on, Rose is feeling rather unsettled about the whole Earth Death thing and so goes to collect her thoughts somewhere private. It is here that some of the better parts of Rose’s character begin to assert themselves. If you’ll remember from my last review, I accused Rose of being a bit thick and, while that may still hold true, here we are introduced to what could be called the sympathetic, kind side of her. While looking for a quiet place to think, Rose comes across the plumber Raffalo with whom she holds a friendly conversation. While this may not seem like much on first glance – given the context (a culture where those like Raffalo must ask permission to even speak) – these action makes Rose seem quite sweet, especially after her rather neutral introduction last week. It also makes the implied death of Raffalo in the next scene actually mean something to the audience..

- That blue make-up reminds me of Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory...

- On a side note, The Doctor getting a parking ticket for where he left the TARDIS just made me chuckle. So did Rose’s realistic indignation about said TARDIS getting inside her head and translating everything (The Doctor’s bewilderment at her reaction is priceless).

- Another nice touch is Rose’s souped-up phone and the call to Jackie, whom I’m liking more and more each time I see her. 

- Of course the mood is ruined by the death of the Steward. I’m not sure whether to cry or burst out into hysterical laughter by his final ‘scream’. Does that make me a bad person?

- Unfortunately, the plot descends at this point into a rather obvious WHOdunnit (pray pardon the pun) before the breakneck pace leading to the reset switch picks up again. Between the lack of mystery and the rather convenient intercom exposition, this episode is not particularly layered or complex. However, while the plot might leave much to be desired and won’t have you scratching your head in wonder, the wonderful special effects and soundtrack more than make up for it. 

- Also, one of the best tension-building sequences exists within this episode. I’m speaking, of course, of the sequence when the shields are failing, the guests are panicking, Rose is about to be burnt alive, and The Doctor has to make his way through the cooling turbines to find the ‘reboot’ switch. While not a true cliffhanger (we all know that The Doctor will eventually save the day) this set of scenes will still have you on the edge of your seat and chewing anxiously at your nails, particularly when people start dying and you realize that The Doctor won’t be saving everyone.

- Beautiful moments in this episode you'll want to take note of: 

1. When Jade speaks to The Doctor about his home planet and a single tear slips down his cheek. After last week’s comments about the Time War and now this week’s revelation that something awful happened to The Doctor’s people, interest is piqued to know the whole story.

2. The very ending of the episode, after the shields are put back up and Earth dies – Rose makes the bitter-sweet observation that, amidst all the panic, no one even saw the moment when the Earth ended. “All those years of history…” They were all so busy trying to save themselves that the death of a planet happened without them even noticing.

3. When The Doctor takes Rose back to Earth. After the frankly depressing observation from Rose that no-one even noticed when Earth exploded, the episode desperately needed something to keep it from ending on a low note. The Doctor and Rose going back to the thriving Earth was just what we needed. Not only do we get the beginning of the explanation about what happened to The Doctor’s planet and people, but we get an endearing end where he and Rose put the past (future?) behind them and go out for some chips.

          Over all, this episode serves as a nice introduction to the ‘alien’ side of Doctor Who, as well as dishing out humorous cracks about pop culture and another reference to “Bad Wolf” (please remember this – it will be important). I give The End of the World a 3/5 because, despite a rather threadbare plot and occasional cheesy moments, it did deliver on both visual and emotional strength.


What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?