The End Of The World (2005) Review

"Welcome to the RTD Window Of 'We're In Space'.
Most memorably used by Bernard Cribbins in 2010."

The End Of The World is a nice eye-opening first adventure in this new era.

WRITTEN BY

Russell T. Davies, current showrunner, settling in.

PLOT

For her first trip, the Doctor takes Rose Tyler five billion years into the future to witness the final destruction of Earth alongside the contemporary rich people. While they're there, a conspiracy is unveiled to murder the dignitaries.

ANALYSIS

There's an interesting undercurrent of cynicism going through this story, as it seems RTD is trying to both awe us with beautiful 21st century visuals and special effects whilst also keeping the story firmly grounded and keeping the audience and the show's new protagonist painfully aware of their mortality. Time travel isn't an instant fix-all device.

A very firm "this Doctor isn't your daddy's Doctor" kind of approach is taken, similar to what Colin Baker's era attempted, but actually woven into the story rather than in your face. The Ninth Doctor isn't flowers and sunshine - he's certainly kindly and clearly invested in open-minded people like Rose and Jabe, but does not hesitate to put Cassandra out of everyone's misery.

Cassandra in this case represents the absolute opposite of the Doctor - the Doctor appreciates the time that he's been given and wants others to enjoy and take the most out of their limited lives, whilst Cassandra has spent her years on meaningless endeavours and now purely exists to suck the joy out of the room, like the physical embodiment of entropy and decline.

If I had to nitpick something from the episode, I'd have to say that I slightly resented the Doctor getting Cassandra to reveal the entire plan to the audience. It's not that it was clunky, per se, but it just felt like classic Who would actually have gone with Cassandra trying to use herself as a hostage rather than have her say "oh, this was something I was going to do, but I guess now I don't have to, byeeeeee."

CHARACTERS

Christopher Eccleston puts in another terrific showing as the Ninth Doctor. He's rather cheerful in the first half of the story, grinning like a cheshire cat at every one of Rose's bewildered reactions. And it all feels genuine - I would be very surprised if the actor didn't enjoy filming at least to some degree.

Billie Piper is incredibly charming as Rose, wandering about in a comfy hoodie and jeans amongst aliens whilst actually acquitting herself rather well to the situation. I actually quite admired her reaction to the TARDIS telepathic field - she's naturally upset at being kept out of the loop and interrogates the Doctor, but also maintains a respectable distance and admits that she's not capable of dealing with the situation without his help.

Yasmin Bannerman puts in a remarkable showing as Jabe. Despite the inherent absurdity of her character - a walking, talking evolved tree that just happens to look like a human female with breasts and all - she manages to give Jabe some pathos and genuine likability, making us feel for when her so-called ending comes, too soon. But Jabe doesn't get to come back, because "everything ends", and I like that RTD understands that, at least at this point.

Zoe Wanamaker's a bit of a cheesy, OTT villain, but I really enjoyed her deliciously evil performance. I think it provided just the right amount of levity for the episode.

Finally, Simon Day's Steward wasn't that much on the script, but Day stood out with his deadpan delivery and very convincing demeanour as an overwrought manager. It's a shame he got killed of so soon. The best actors manage to make silk purses of out of pig's ears.

NOTES

*I love the cluttered look of the console room, and all those sticky papers with Gallifreyan notes on them taped to the monitor. They did a great job making the room seem worn and lived-in.

*The fact that RTD made the end of the Earth itself such a mundane and trivial event was brilliant in of itself, and an amusing counterpoint to all those alien invasions.

*Technically, this is the first appearence of Captain Jack Harkness. I find it pretty amusing that the only influence the Face of Boe has over these events is requesting for some hot water to bathe in.

*I like the intrigue over the Doctor's origins and how RTD built up the fact that the Time Lords had all died between the classic and new series. It's a great way to make him more mysterious.

*The CGI spiders bumping into the camera a la the Zarbi is just awesome.

*There's something wonderfully natural about the slight awkwardness between the Doctor and Rose as they sit and talk. They're so different and both clearly slightly scared that the other will want to run off.

*It's slightly odd how carefree Jackie is in this episode, given that it seems to be taking place on the day after the Auton attack(given that she's not worried at all over where she is).

*There's a wonderful variety to Murray Gold's music this first series. From Rose's melancholy piano theme to... a homage to 50s sci-fi films? You don't get experimental stuff like that later on.

*What compelled Rose to rant at Cassandra like that, and admit that she was from Earth as well? I mean, sure, she was a "bitchy trampoline", but I'm still not clear on what actually made Rose lose her cool.

*How does Rose not get blinded when the sunfilter starts descending? Or does the filter being above her mean she can't still see through it?

*This is a cliche, but really - why would the switch be on the other side of those dangerous venting rotors?

BEST QUOTE

"Everything has its time and everything dies." - The Doctor

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The story picks up directly where the previous episode, Rose, left off. Which is neat, and probably necessary as part of introducing the show to a new generation.

2) The Doctor reveals that the Time Lords have been killed off between the events of The TV Movie and Rose, as a result of a terrible war.

CONCLUSION

Not an episode to rewatch often, but it's a surprisingly layered story.