Seriously, guys. A matte painting. Something.
Speaking of the TARDIS itself, I must say, I do actually like the Corral console room. Call it nostalgia, but as it carried us through both the Eccelston and the Tennant eras of the show, it does hold a special place in my heart. The design itself is nice, a mix of organic-looking bits and technology that really gives the feeling that the TARDIS isn't so much a vehicle as a living, breathing being...more on that later this season.
But back to the plot, as Rose rightly chides him for being a bit smug in his machine making a bunch of noises with no payoff, the Doctor decides to not throw her off the TARDIS for giving him lip and save us four seasons of irritation and instead takes her to the far future of...an observation room on a space station with a stunning view of the Earth five billion years in the future. After the opening credits sequence (which, again, I like the time vortex effect and the theme song - no surprise there), the Doctor and Rose head out to meet the aliens coming to watch the Earth burn.
Yes, it seems that the sun's expansion has progressed to the point where the Earth will be consumed. But with the money to have a series of satellites protecting it having run out, it's going to burn and the affluent of the galaxy are coming to watch. As you do. When the "good and the great", as the Doctor puts it, show up to the party they are all aliens of some description. The most human-looking among them are some tree people. This was, by Russell T. Davies' own admission, a showcase for all the show could do technically with practical effects.
Which...isn't unimpressive for 2005, but also nothing really to write home about, either.
Now, I'm not someone who absolutely demands good special effects. Doctor Who has a long history of having really, really bad costuming and special effects (such as the Myrka in Warriors of the Deep or the unnecessary use of blue screen in Underworld, for Classic Series examples - and we'll have plenty in New Who to point and laugh at), and if the story is good then it's easy to look past all of that. Some of the designs are good. In particular, I like the bird-esque people. Then you have things like the Trees...which are...iffy.
Also, an early bird cameo by Jack...I mean, the Face of Boe.
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| "OH MY GAWD! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FAAAAAAAAACE?!" |
After the arrival of Theresa from the Fable games cosplaying as a cast member of Dynasty - the ever so flat Lady Cassandra - Rose is understandably a bit overwhelmed by everything and ducks out. The Tree Lady takes a photograph of the Doctor on the way out to follow her, scanning his DNA and declaring it to be impossible. Also, in the background, the obviously not the villains villains known as the Adherents of the Repeated Meme are giving out obviously not evil spheres that are obviously not evil.
Rose, meanwhile, has a short scene with a plumber where she gets further culture shock and the realization that maybe it wasn't a good idea to go off into time and space with a man she barely knows. After bits of the definitely not evil spheres opening up to reveal definitely not evil robots, Rose talks to the Doctor, who explains the telepathic field of the TARDIS and dodges questions about who he is and where he's from.
Rose gets a bit indignant at this, being rather the nosy parker.
After the Doctor gives Rose the superphone upgrade and she calls her mother, the shit begins to hit the fan in a big way. The obviously not evil robots bring down the sun filter and burn the Steward for the first death of the episode. The Doctor knows that trickery is afoot and teams up with Tree Lady (her name is Jade, sure, but it's rather pointless) to go check out the engine room while Rose chats with Cassandra.
We cut between the Doctor and Jade mucking about through the engines and Rose talking with Cassandra. Cassandra gets in some lovely Eugenics jabs and we get what I can only assume is a commentary by Russell on plastic surgery. Rose decides to be a complete asshole out of nowhere to Cassandra, who so far has been stuck up and gotten reference wrong but has been really rather cordial all things considered. And so...
Rose Tyler is Awful Count: 2
I mean, we know that she's obviously the villain. But Rose doesn't, so...asshole.
The big scene of the Doctor and Tree Lady running around involves the Doctor scanning a thing while the Tree Lady makes vague references to the Doctor being a Time Lord and being the last of them. And if you don't like it, then buckle up, because we have about four seasons of this to get through and it doesn't get any better.
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| I don't have a joke here, I just like the makeup job on the Steward. |
And yes, I'm aware of Russell's reasons for the Time War and all of it...namely that he thought stories set on Gallifrey were boring. But that's a discussion for another time.
Rose, after leaving Cassandra, gets the backhand from the Adherents of the Repeated Meme and locked away in the gallery where she can be burned alive when the Sun Filter descends. Yay! Unfortunately, it descends very slowly instead of how the Steward's did because main character shields. After locking the filter in place, the Doctor runs back for the reveal of the being or beings that are totally the villains...the Adherents of the Repeated Meme!
...who are robotic pawns of the actual villain, Cassandra.
I know, right? I totally didn't see that coming except that I did.
Cassandra gives her villain motive rant (it's money, as even the Doctor is tired of) before teleporting out. With the shields about to go down with the Earth about to be destroyed right on their front doorstep, the Doctor heads down to the engines that - for some reason - have the reset switch guarded by gigantic fan blades as though it were designed by a Bond villain.
Tree Lady holds down the switch to slow the blades, even though it vents heat through it (for some reason), so that the Doctor can get through. The shields malfunction and people are surely going to start roasting...especially when Tree Lady burns horrifically and the fans return to normal speed...causing the Doctor to do some kind of trick that slows time just long enough to get through and raises the shields, saving the day in literally the last ten seconds. This is a trick, by the way, that is never used again even in situations where it would be immensely useful. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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| Christopher Eccleston's actual reaction to reading Aliens of London/World War Three |
But the day is saved, the Earth explodes, and Rose is saved from being put out of my misery. Naturally, the Doctor's a bit pissed and comes back into the gallery with great vengeance and furious anger, finding and reversing Cassandra's teleport feed and condemning her to die because apparently extreme heat doesn't make skin dry out - it makes it explode. It's a shame, really. It would have been nice to see her get away, maybe so she could come back in a later episode and be a recurri-
...oh. She's back next Season.
...in an episode that is kind of lame.
Great.
But with the Earth gone and the day saved, Rose is forlorn as she looks at the crumbled bits of Earth. The Doctor takes her by the hand and they return to Earth of the present. Also, I do have to note that Rose does show an emotion that is not jealousy over the Doctor when Cassandra is about to die, even asking him to save her. So...
Rose Tyler is Awful Count: 1
I'm nothing if not fair.
The Doctor now exposits about the Time War and his place as a Time Lord, the Last of the Time Lords (and episode that, thankfully, we have a while before we get to). The Doctor offers Rose a chance to go home and she considers...but soon the pair are heading off for chips before going on their next trip in time and space.
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| "We only have five billion years 'til the shops close..." |
The End of the World is not a bad episode. It's not anything particularly special, though, either. The plot is very stock, even to the point where the Doctor hangs a nice lampshade on it all in one line. It does have some good humor (my personal favorite is Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" being used as a traditional mourning ballad) and we get set up of the arc that would carry the Doctor through the Eccelston and Tennant eras and even into Matt Smith's era.
There are few flaws to be found, I admit, and most of them are a product of the writing so I can blame Russell for that. It does do the job of showing the companion's reaction to a culture and setting very different from their own, and it does the job well. The worst that can be really said about it is that it's average.
Next time, however, the TARDIS makes a break for the other end of the timeline...namely the 1800s. Charles Dickens and ghosts? At Christmas? It's more likely than you think...
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