If "Rose" was a low-key story that gently introduced the viewer back into Doctor Who, "The End of the World" pitches them headlong into the crazy worlds that Doctor Who can take us to. Following on directly from the end of "Rose", it can be seen as 100,000 BC to "Rose"s "An Unearthly Child", taking us from the familiar to the incomprehensible. The plot is a whodunit in space, but this merely the skeleton for the story. We are taken to the year 5.5/apple/26, when the Earth finally meets its end, with an audience of the far-future’s rich and famous come to pay their respects. This includes an alarming array of aliens, creatures that evolved from the trees of the Brazilian rain forest and Lady Cassandra, the last human- a piece of skin stretched over a frame with eyes and a mouth. This evocative mix of Olaf Stapledon and Douglas Adams is a wonderful setting which Russell T Davies populates with some memorable characters. Jabe, one of the trees, actually plays the role of companion for most of the story and works very well with the Doctor. This is helped by a wonderful performance by the very talented and very sexy Yasmin Bannerman- her fate shouldn’t leave a dry eye in the house. Cassandra is a CGI creation, deliciously voiced by Zoë Wanamaker. Davies also makes minor characters such as the Steward and Raffalo come alive.
However, while this is going on, there is a deeper purpose. This is about Rose starting her journey with the Doctor- we sense the shock that Rose feels when confronted with. At the same time, we start to get to know the Doctor a bit more. The manic bonhomie is mixed with tragedy, for it is here that we find that the Doctor is alone and Gallifrey has been destroyed. The sequences where the enormity of the Doctor’s loss are revealed are beautifully written and performed. The story also deals with the emotional consequences of time travel- when Rose speaks to her mother thanks to the Doctor’s jiggery pokery with her phone, she realises that she is talking to someone whose fossilised remains will shortly be vapourised. The destruction of the Earth is followed by a scene showing a very ordinary London street that is full of life. Everything has its time and everything dies- but not yet. Together with Rose, we want to continue this journey, after we’ve had some chips! The regulars are wonderful in this, with Billie Piper effectively conveying Rose’s confusion at being thrust in this alien environment. Eccleston shows the pain the Doctor is hiding (we see a single tear on his face) and his compassion (comforting Jabe’s companions) but we see a ruthless side in his allowing Cassandra to rip apart.
"Rose" was as kinetic as 21st Century television usually is, but it is clear that Euros Lyn is in a different league to Keith Boak. "The End of the World" is flawlessly directed with Lyn conveying scenes of jollity, such as the Doctor dancing to "Tainted Love" and scenes of great tension and managing to make them work together. Lyn is helped by a very impressive production, with the various aliens being excellently realised- The Moxx of Balhoon is a very minor character, yet the effort put into his realisation is phenomenal. The CG spacecraft and robot spiders are things that 20th century fans could only dream of, yet Lyn does not allow them to overwhelm us.
"The End of the World" proves that Doctor Who is funny, scary and completely bonkers- which is why we love it!
NEXT: "The Unquiet Dead"
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2 comments:
Yes, RTD did a great job on this one. The comparison to 100,000 BC as the second episode is very good, but RTD improves on the original by setting in the future instead of the past.
He didn't really -improve- on the original by going into the future; he just reversed the trend and showed what this 2005 version was truly capable of. 100,000 BC is excellent for its time: well-written, very atmospheric and extremely gripping. So, too, is this one. But consider: the program would go into the future for what could be considered its second story, should one lump 100,000 BC with Unearthly Child. And they did that with The Daleks. That's kind of hard to top, even if you haven't seen the Old Series.
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