So this is the end for Christopher Eccleston. After just
thirteen episodes, I have reached the end of the ninth chapter of my marathon.
I think that this is an important episode for two reasons, it has to end the
season off in the right way and it also has to give Eccleston the ending that
he deserves. With the Daleks not appearing until the end of the previous episode
it means that they hit the ground (or air) running from the very beginning and
its great to watch.
The Rose I’m coming to get you line from the previous
episode is rather cheesy in my opinion. It’s the only thing that Christopher
Eccleston does wrong in the two episodes.
The effect of the rockets hurtling towards the TARDIS in a
game of chicken is a great moment and shows that this wasn’t a cheap episode. The
Dalek being exterminated inside the TARDIS isn’t something that gets the credit
it deserves. People might moan on about the temporal grace thing but that’s nonsense
anyway and it’s a great moment. A funny moment comes when the Anne Droid
destroys a Dalek. It’s quite impressive that RTD managed to find time to put a
gag in.
There isn’t a moment when the visual effects disappoint. The
shots of the fleet surrounding the Gamestation and the millions of Daleks
approaching it are some of the finest in Doctor Who history. This is the sort
of thing that they would have killed for during the 60’s and 70’s but thanks to
technology being cheaper its now achievable.
The Daleks are quite interesting in this story because they aren’t
pure Daleks because they have human genes in them. They start talking about god
of all Daleks and blasphemy which isn’t something that I would have expected
the Daleks to go on about. The Oncoming Storm is the Doctor’s name on Skaro and
it’s a great name and it fits the current Doctor. The Doctor shows no fear in
front of the Daleks but has a harder time of doing this in front of the Dalek
Emperor. This is the same Dalek Emperor (supposedly) that was seen way back in
the 1967 story Evil of the Daleks. The Daleks are unstoppable and its difficult
to see how they could be defeated. It’s the first time for an awfully long that
they have come across like this. There’s a great scene where some Daleks pop up
into Lynda’s view of space and with a chilling silence they smash the window
and as a result kill her. It’s another impressive visual.
Rose has gone back to being annoying again. The jealous
looks that she gives when Lynda is showing some signs of friendship towards the
Doctor. It’s all about her and to show how annoying she has become I actually
found Jackie to be perfectly normal. The scene with her, Jackie and Mickey show
is one that is saved by Noel Clarke and Camille Coduri and almost ruined by
Piper. Rose admits to Mickey that there is nothing on earth for her right in
front of him. I think I have joined the Anti-Rose group because that was a
horrible thing to say.
The Doctor does his best to try and protect Rose by fooling
her into the TARDIS and sending it back to her time. It is perhaps the most
selfless act that the Doctor has done ever. The hologram scene with the Doctor
is a great scene because it’s the first goodbye really and it’s quite sad. Even
a cynical person like me found it slightly moving. It’s when the Doctor changes
which way he is looking which makes the scene work.
This episode sees the Doctor and Jack kiss in what would be
Jack’s final scene with the Doctor and Rose. It’s interesting in 1996 when the
Doctor kissed a woman and the furore it kicked up and in 2005 there didn’t seem
to be much drama which is a good thing really. This was probably the case
because its wasn’t sexual but just friendly. It’s typical that just when Jack
stops being annoying that he leaves the series. Obviously going off to be in
his own series but it would have been nice for him to travel with the Doctor a
bit more.
Rose ends being the one that causes the Doctor to regenerate
which is probably another reason why people dislike her. I think that it was a
clever way to get into the regeneration scene and shows that the Doctor is
willing to sacrifice his life for his companion. I haven’t gone soft again on
Rose but to be fair to her it is perhaps the only good thing that she does in
the whole two episodes. She has seen into the heart of the TARDIS which is a
great idea and its achieved rather well.
The regeneration scene is rather good and quite sad. I think
that I know when the show has worked when the regeneration has a moving effect
on me. In just thirteen days, Christopher Eccleston has done what William
Hartnell did back in 1963 and set the benchmark for what the Doctor should be
like. In a recent interview, Eccleston says that he is in David Tennant, Matt
Smith and Peter Capaldi and I understand that because without his superb
performances there wouldn’t have been future series. David Tennant’s first
scene seems quite tame in comparison to other post regeneration debut scenes
but we would have to wait until the Children in Need special to get a glimpse
at what the Tenth Doctor would be like. For the record I am going to skip that
and I will explain why in tomorrows entry.
One final thing about Bad Wolf. Why Bad Wolf? Why those two
words, they could have been something far less subtle and as a result it would
have made a bit more sense. Oh well, now I have finished the Eccleston era, I don’t
have to worry about it. It’s weird to think that I am at the tenth Doctor era
and at the beginning of April I was watching the Seventh Doctor and I will be
ending it watching the Tenth Doctor. The Eccleston era has been a triumph and
it shows that Doctor Who was ready for a 21st Century audience 
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