This story has two distinctive halves; the first one places the characters within fictionalized versions of then-popular reality TV shows, much in the vein of The One Doctor (2001). The second half is a Dalek epic. Bad Wolf is a bizarre commentary on reality TV, while The Patting of the Ways is a momentous high-stakes thriller. The sense of build-up at the end of Bad Wolf is huge, as the script teases the big reveal leading to the season finale. I like the emotional impact of most of the scenes, the way things are tied up and relationships mended and the way the Daleks and the Doctor interact with each other. The solution leading up to the Doctor's regeneration feels like a cop-out, though.
The regular cast is at their very best here, Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in particular. Lynda with a Y is the first memorable supporting character in the revived show, and one of my all-time favourites. She goes from slightly annoying to pretty likeable. Jo Joyner plays her well.
The Doctor once again learns the consequences of his actions, that sometimes his attempts to help make things worse. That gives him the fierce energy he is known for to make things better again. His happiness for finding a way to put things right is shortlived, once he realizes that he has to send Rose away to save her and sacrifice himself instead. In the end, the Doctor chooses to be a coward, rather than a killer.
Rose goes from deadly dangers to being sent away by the Doctor, only to desperately work her way back to save him so he can save her. Jack also puts in a major sacrifice that will end up changing his life forever. Mickey makes his first major heroic action here, which turns him into a true hero in the next series.
The Daleks are back as an unstoppable force and it's great to see RTD revive the Emperor Dalek as well. The body count is high, and they spend less time talking and more time exterminating. This is the way Daleks should be.
The production is wonderful, particularly the beautiful and epic music, the cleverly reused sets and the beautiful Dalek ship design. The special effects also help give this story a sense of scale, which the director captures very well.
The first half builds up the tension and excitement paid off by the explosive and high-stakes second half. It's never boring and high on adrenaline all the timer.
It shouldn't be exciting or interesting to watch fictional characters play fictional reality TV game shows, but there is something oddly fascinating about it. A fascinating story quickly turns ominous, exciting and suspenseful as stakes are raised higher than ever. The moment where Rose is zapped is a gruesome one.
The cliffhanger in Part One and the following episode raise the stakes sky high, while suddenly turning things darker and fiercer. The second half feels properly terrifying and evil, with the central characters putting everything at stake to save each other.
And then we have that ending, leading up to the Christmas Special. It's so sudden, yet so weird at the same time.
This two-parter set the stakes fro modern era season finales in terms of epicness factor and emotional impact. It showed the destructive force of the Daleks yet again, gave the modern era companions a bigger importance than before and showed the new viewers their first regeneration.
This is an exhilarating, high-stakes adventure with a hugely emotional finale and some great Daleks. One of the stronger season finales of the revived era.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
Anne Droid (sew hat they did there?) is voiced by Anne Robinson, who was the real host of The Weakest Link at the time.
This episode is set on the same space station as The Long Game (2005).
The way regular people are executed when they lose these familiar game shows is hauntingly close to The Hunger Games franchise or Running Man.
The Part One cliffhanger is one of the best revival era moments.
The Emperor Dalek makes its first appearance onscreen since The Evil of the Daleks (1967). The Daleks have used human corpses to re-create Daleks, which was also done in Revelation of the Daleks (1985).
The Doctor: "You were fantastic! Absolutely fantastic! And you know what? So was I!"
Score: 104/120
“You were fantastic, absolutely fantastic, and you know what, so was I”
The 9th Doctor has to be one of my favorite Doctors so far, he was brilliant. This last episode was really a great sendoff, I just wish we can see more of him in the future.
Dr. Who Season 1 Episode 13: The Parting of the Ways (aired 2005)
Story: 10/10
Acting: 10/10
Effects: 9/10
Action: 10/10
Rewatch: 10/10
Overall: 9.8/10
THE GOOD: Pretty much everything. This is an amazing series finale filled with action, laughs, stakes, scares, emotions and more. It's amazing how much happens in just 45 minutes, and yet it never drags, or even stops for breath (expect for one scene on Earth). Christopher Eccleston gives off a powerhouse emotional performance, as does Billie Piper, and John Barrowman is great as always. The tragedy of Lyanda with a Y is haunting, and the Dalek Emperor and his plan terrifying. The effects are also spectacular, and the Pat-offs earnt. Murray Gold's score is particularly striking.
THE BAD: Not really much here, just some nitpicks; a). occasional wonky Green Screen, through that's in pretty much every episode, and easily forgiven. b). The ending, where the Doctor and Rose leave Captain Jack behind; a strange decision, but again, you can make excuses; c). The diner scene is funny, but a little tonally jarring. Again, easily forgiven.
FINAL: One of the best Doctor Who Episodes of all time.
One of the things i didn't like is the doctor choosing the coward option. He even said before humans had many colonies and would easily survive. The daleks were a universal threat and evil and all that. I mean i get the MESSAGE, but eh, no. It didn't really fit in with the doctors character so far and i think the writing of it would have been better if he was going to use the delta wave but before he could finish or just before he would use it then rose comes in.
Okay, I could not give two shits about this episode. The Daleks were annoying and I could care less. All I even remotely payed attention to was Rose and the Doctor's relationship. I had a big smile on my face when I saw the second reincarnation of the Doctor. Perhaps he will make me more interested in the next episode.
Shout by TshepisoBlockedParent2023-10-10T01:23:25Z
I didn’t expect The Parting of Ways to hit me so hard. I’ve watched it before so nothing about the content of the episode was technically surprising. But my genuine grief and the ending of Nine story still got me.
This rewatch has definitely made me appreciated Eccelston more than I have before. I’ve always liked Nine but this series made me truly adore him. So coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never see this interaction again was emotional.
This was a perfectly bittersweet ending to Nine’s tenure.