The Episodes
1.1 – “Rose”
Expectations were riding high on this one. The series had been off the air for nine years so it needed to make a good impression. At the same time, it was aiming to draw in a new audience so in the space of just 45 minutes it had to tell a self-contained story, introduce a new Doctor and companion and briefly summarise the show for new viewers. No small feat.
The show played it safe by bringing back an old adversary, the Nestene Consciousness along with the Autons. Not the most well-known to the casual viewer but enough to demonstrate that there was respect show to the classic series. It was fast paced, keeping in line with the limited time allocated to tell the story, but at times the almost slapstick humour drew attention away from the characters and story itself.
1.2 – “The End Of The World”
Following on from the relative simplicity of an Earth based episode, The End Of The World sets out to showcase the fact that the new series has a much higher budget than Doctor Who has ever seen before. The story itself is nothing to write home about – a murder mystery, albeit transposed into a futuristic setting. What was interesting to see was the Doctor’s apparent indifference to Rose’s feeling of isolation amongst a ship filled with a plethora of alien species.
The Doctor treated the situation and surroundings as if it were an everyday occurance, but gave no regard to their companion’s obvious distress. In a way, this made Eccleston’s Doctor seem more alien than we had seen for some time. The Doctor almost seemed to regress and struggled to understand human nature despite being around them for so long.
Ultimately, the story tried to cram in too many new species and would have benefited from focusing on one or two. It felt more like a showcase episode for the makeup and effects department and the story seemed secondary.
1.3 – “The Unquiet Dead”
A good old-fashioned ghost story. The dead across Cardiff are rising and the Doctor has arrived to investigate. Rather than ghosts, it’s revealed that there are gaseous creatures taking over the recently deceased and are just in need of help to get back to their own area of space, through a rift underneath Cardiff. Although their motives turn out to more sinister than driven by survival alone…
One thing that Doctor Who has always had a fascination with is shoehorning historical figures into time travel stories. This is no exception as we see Simon Callow play author Charles Dickens. Dickens’ contribution to the story could have been handled by any other character and it felt like it was forced in to get a few “wow” moments from the Doctor and Rose. Notable in this one is the first Doctor Who appearance of Eve Myles, who later returned in her well-known role as Gwen Cooper in Torchwood.
Not a bad horror story though although one that is quite likely to be forgotten after the end of the season as it’s not overly memorable.
1.4 – “Aliens Of London” / 1.5 – “World War Three”
I’ll treat this two-parter as a single story… An alien craft crash lands on Earth and to start off with the episode seems normal enough following the global reaction to it. The premise seems to be an interesting one and something that some day as a species that we may have to deal with. But very quickly it falls into disarray.
The “alien” turns out to be a genetically modified pig, politicians across the UK have been replaced by alien family with sinister motives and the apparent threat never really comes across as something that can be taken too seriously. Truthfully, where do I start with the Slitheen? They really are arguably one of the worst Doctor Who “monsters” we’ve seen since the Kandyman in The Happiness Patrol. As soon as you seen giggling aliens, impersonating politicians with zip-up human disguises with a prediliction for breaking wind, the story really has no chance of redeeming itself. It was a struggle to watch this in 2005, and hasn’t got any easier today.
And that’s probably the key problem with the story – when you think the antagonists are just to be laughed at, everything around it falls flat. The “Scooby Doo” chase scenes make things even worse. Then, the final nail in the coffin for this is the less-than-subtle fat shaming throughout. There really isn’t anything redeemable about this.
1.6 – “Dalek”
Arguably the best episode in Christopher Eccleston’s run, the Doctor responds to a distress call from someone on Earth in the not-too-distant future. Arriving at an underground complex, he discovers a museum filled with alien artifacts including relics of familiar and not-so-familiar foes. Belonging to one of the richest men on the planet, the signal is traced to one of his exhibits and the only living thing in his collection… the last surviving Dalek.
This is a stunning story, with exceptional performances from Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. Eccleston in particular as he manages to convey both anger and confusion at not only the existence of the Dalek, but at its evolution right in front of his eyes. But Billie Piper is the star of the show as she shows the best of what humanity can be. Having no previous experience with the Daleks, she’s just treating it the way anyone else would for the last suriving member of their race.
There really isn’t anything to fault with this story and it’s such a shame that this wasn’t the standard Eccleston enjoyed for the whole season.
1.7 – “The Long Game”
The Doctor takes Rose to the distant future, hoping to show Rose how humanity has evolved and improved itself. However, on arriving they find that it’s not as progressive as it should be and society revolves around and is controlled by information supplied to them by continous news feeds broadcast from Satellite 5. It’s far more than just a news outlet as they quickly discover and it’s this satellite that is the cause of the disruption to Earth’s expected development.
While the idea behind the episode is sound, it suffers from some of the usual elements we’ve seen from other Russell T Davies scripts. Absurd alien names, over-the-top humour,and other tropes that really impact on what could have been a genuinely good episode. In fact, parallels can be drawn between this episode and modern society with elements of the media attempting to control and manipulate society though controlled flow of information, misinformation and guided thinking. At least for that part of the episode it’s just as relevant now as it was back then.
So unfortunately “The Long Game” went from being a potentially good story with political overtones, to another big bad monster story with some dubious special effects and corny dialogue.
1.8 – “Father’s Day”
Doctor Who has always warned us about the dangers of time travel and interference. And “Father’s Day” answers the question “what if…?” in one of the most brutal and heartbreaking ways possible…
While talking about the possibilities of time travel, Rose asks the Doctor if it’s possible to go back to see the moment her father is killed by a hit and run driver. While she knows she’s not allowed to save his life, she just wants to be there so he doesn’t die alone. Reluctantly, after warning her of the consequences, the Doctor agrees. But against all warnings, Rose saves her father and creates a rift in time, putting the entire human race at risk. Rose is torn between her personal feelings and doing what is right to save the future.
This is easily one of the most emotionally powerful episodes of the season. While it disregards the time paradox theories, it gives a great insight into Rose’s character and shows a more compassionate side of the Doctor as well, something that wasn’t too evident from the earlier episodes. It may be an old episode now but it’s still one of the best of the modern era.
1.9 – “The Empty Child” / 1.10 – “The Doctor Dances”
Another two-parter, and a trip back in time to World War II. There was a lot to take in with this episode – a mysterious alien object on Earth, a new regular character in the shape of Captain Jack Harkness, and one of the most chilling antagonists we’ve seen in the series. A child-like creature roaming London attacking children and adults alike was simply terrifying and harked back to classic Who and the monsters of old.
The subtle hints throughout to the identity of the child were handled wonderfully but the fact that for the most part the threat was unknown right until the end of the story kept you on the edge of your seat. And that’s why the story worked so well. John Barrowman was a perfect fit for the show as Captain Jack and was a great addition to the TARDIS crew, and it’s no wonder why he became such a fan favourite.
The only real disappointment with this story was the ending. It was pretty clear that the script ran under time so the end scene in the TARDIS with the Doctor dancing with Rose was added in to make sure that the episode filled out the 45 minute time slot. Maybe that time could have been better used for character development or building back story for some of the other supporting cast in the episode?
1.11 – “Boom Town”
This is probably the first time we really see how the modern series differs from the original run. The episode is a direct sequel to “Aliens Of London” / “World War Three”, but also follows up on “The Unquiet Dead” as well. Low on energy, the TARDIS returns to Cardiff to recharge by tapping into the rift that we first saw open up in the 1800s. While sealed in the past, there’s sufficient traoes of the rift still accessible so the Doctor has a short layover…
From a production point of view, it’s an opportunity to have a relatively low-cost character episode filmed on location in and around Cardiff Bay. Locals will recognise plenty of places including the impressive Wales Millennium Centre which houses the Donald Gordon Theatre. But I digress…
The episode features the return of the Slitheen, more specifically the last of them. She has positioned herself as the Mayor of Cardiff and through yet another scheme is attempting to escape Earth, while putting most of the planet in danger. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse chase, her capture and what essentially becomes a brief tour of Cardiff Bay as we learn more about the Slitheen and the returning Mickey.
To be honest, the episode doesn’t really go anywhere and while it is intended to create empathy for a race we felt were malevolent it’s hard to when the same slapstick approach was taken for most of the story.
1.12 – “Bad Wolf” / 1.13 – “The Parting Of The Ways”
This is another one of those stories that left me with mixed feelings if I am completely honest. As with “Boom Town”, we’re revisiting an earlier episode but for the most part it misses the mark completely. A story set in the distant future, there are far too many contemporary references which dates it quite badly. The idea that the Earth of the future could be captivated by deadly updates of modern gameshows is – frankly absurd – and seemed to be an excuse to parody them and have as many cameo guest appearances as possible. Instead of scenes meant to instill terror, they were cringeworthy at best.
The rest of the story follows a few plotlines. The return of the Daleks and their imminent invasion of Earth, the conclusion of the “Bad Wolf” phrase that has been seen throughout the season and reasoning behind it, and the station where the games are held – the same one that was seen a hundred years earlier. After the Doctor “saved” the station from its alien control, Earth became obsessed with gameshows.
As I said, this was something of a mish-mash of elements. The existence of the gamestation seemed pretty implausible, but this was countered by the genuinely welcome threat of the Daleks. However, the resolution with Rose made little or no sense. Having her absorb TARDIS energy shouldn’t give her almost god-like powers of life-and-death, let alone the ability to send messages throughout space and time.
It seemed as if the Bad Wolf messages were planned throughout the season, with no coherent idea in place for how they got there. Something needed to be figured out quickly and Super Rose happened to fit the bill. It also seemed to be a quite weak ending for Eccleston’s tenure as the Doctor. If the Doctor was able to absorb the energy from Rose to save her life, why didn’t he use the same technique to transfer the energy back to the TARDIS? So much in the finale made no sense.
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That’s it for all of the episodes, but what did I think about the series overall? Keep reading to find out…
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