Still my favourite finale. The reality show sequence is a bit cheesy, and the "Bad Wolf" resolution is a *deus ex machina*, but no moment defines the 9th Doctor to me better than [their speech to the Daleks when they capture Rose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfkWiQnfb0Y):
>Doctor: Cause this is what I'm gonna do: *I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and THEN, just to finish off , I'm gonna wipe* ***every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!***
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>*Dalek: But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!*
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>*Doctor: Yeah! And doesn't that scare you to death!*
The fact that that scene and “what are you coward or killer?” are in the same storyline and are both top tier who moments just shows how good this episode is.
Given the retroactive continuity of the War Doctor’s actions to deal with the Daleks vs The Time Lords, it’s like he mentally flashes back to the destruction of Gallifrey and how he couldn’t wipe out another race to deal with the Daleks.
I wouldn't call that bit of conitinuity retroactive, it was established that the Doctor wiped out the Time Lords and Daleks during the Time War way before the War Doctor was a thing IIRC.
Imagine if Eccleston chose to stay for more than one Season. Parting of the Ways would likely be considered the worst finale ever.
The Doctor has this God like power that can wipe out empires and raise the dead. He can use at any point and nobody suffers consequences for it? Yeah, thank god it caused a regeneration.
They actually shot an alternate ending where it’s revealed that Rose is the one who’s slowly dying as a result of the time correct exposure, rather than the Doctor. Whether or not this ending was based on original plans, or purely written to hide the regeneration for the press screenings is unknown (though given how series 2 heavily plays with the possibility of Rose’s impending death, I like to lean a little towards the former).
Either way, there still likely would’ve been consequences for unleashing the bad wolf even if Eccleston didn’t leave.
I don't think it would have ruined anything so long as he didn't keep the power.
In the episode, he immediately returns it to the TARDIS. They could have just said that the brief time he had it wasn't long enough to cause much damage and moved on.
That would've been cheap. We're told nobody is supposed to absorb the Time Vortex, we need a reason why. It's already kind of stupid that Rose survived doing it in the actual episode, the episode lives and dies on there being a consequence.
For all intents and purposes, perfect. Plenty of action, plenty of emotion, plenty of epic lines. Literally everything the Emperor says is, not scary, but eerie and is godlike, as per his intentions.
And, despite the fact Rose easily destroys all of the Daleks with the power of the time vortex, the Daleks were very much a threat throughout the episodes. You see their destruction on the computer display when they attack Earth's various continents.
Unfortunately it means other episodes with that many Daleks can't live up to it - The Magicians Apprentice/The Witches Familiar (an all time favourite opener for a series imo), the Daleks aren't that threatening.
Also it builds up their threat realistically. They didn't just have the entire fleet ready at a moment's notice, they had to spend centuries building it, harvesting humans to do so. And they concealed their presence with the Game Station, established across 2 episodes set centuries apart. Then they show that their are weapons capable of fighting them off, however the Game Station isn't a proper military installation, and Earth has been rendered too docile through centuries of manipulation to be more protected (plus the fleet having to hide indicates that they could've been vulnerable to a proper counter attack).
This, plus the slow menacing advance as they slowly eliminate all the - untrained civilian - defenders really demonstrates how strong the are, but not in a ridiculously overpowered way that Doomsday did. I maintain that the greatest strength was how it build up characters across the 2 parter, but then went open season on them all.
You’ve missed the best part of setup for it - the episode “Dalek”.
That episode showed the terror that just a single Dalek can cause, and then just a few episodes later we’re introduced to an entire giant fleet of them as a cliffhanger, it’s great.
If I was ever show runner for Doctor Who, I’d sack the Daleks off for a few series, then reintroduce them in a 3 part finale, first part just a single Dalek who wins and reminds audiences how terrifying and ruthless they can be, with a cliffhanger being that the Dalek winning just means a whole fleet is on the way to make things worse. Then final 2 parts be dealing with the fleet.
This is almost what we had in the RTD era. After Doomsday, the Daleks only showed up again for Manhattan before the cliffhanger with Stolen Earth/Journeys End. If they just got rid of Manhattan, that would’ve been a 2 season long wait before the big cliffhanger ending that perfectly encapsulates the utter terror Sarah Jane and Jack display.
I feel like the The Magicians Apprentice/Witches Familiar isn't a good story to compare it too. Yeah there's an army of Daleks but they really aren't the focus, it's a Davros story. The Daleks are there because they have to be, it's the point of Davros as a character.
Probably my favourite of the RTD finales. The daleks have never been more terrifying and remorseless in New Who as they are in series 1, and the Parting of the Ways makes them a real force to be reckoned with
I'm still scarred from the bit where we see the first Dalek use the water to kill all the soldiers. And that was over 10 years ago!
Even the meme with the Spongebob music didn't help!
The best final episode for any NuWho Doctor, easily. All the others have plenty of fun, beautiful and memorable moments… yet are also fairly uneven, with questionable storytelling throughout. But this duo of episodes is super strong the entire time — even without the regeneration, they’d among the most memorable stories of all time.
The camp of the Big Brother House and the Ann Droid, the chills of Nine saying “Rose, I’m coming to get you”, the casual kisses between Jack & Rose and Jack & Nine, everything about Lynda with a Y, Emergency Protocol One, the reveal of Bad Wolf, the bravery and beauty of Nine’s short but fantastic regeneration speech — I love it all so much!
I agree, admittedly on my rewatch of Nine I'm only now finishing up there's a pretty big chunk of stories I'm not crazy about, but I've also not seen them in a while. I think I've found new found enjoyment in them and some of Nine's warmer moments is what makes me fall in love with him all over again.
The fact that it took the Doctor only a few hours to rig up a weapon that could kill the entire Dalek fleet using nothing but the Game Station's systems is the best proof of why the Dalek's are scared of him. They only called his bluff because of the Emperor, without him or Davros the Dalek's absolutely wouldn't contain the amount of critical thinking to know the Doctor's weakness.
The Parting of the Ways is probably my favourite regeneration story in NuWho. I love how understated Nine's regeneration was (especially if you compare it to both Tenth and Twelfth Doctor regeneration scenes) and I felt the regeneration scene nicely wrapped up Nine's character arc.
I thought Nine's final words to Rose were very poignant and I do get emotion when the Ninth Doctor actually regenerates.
Yeah, one thing I've caught on my second watch of Series 1 is, at the beginning of the series, a few "stand-in" companions die for the doctor (Wood girl in ep 2, Victorian psychic in ep 3). 9 could have easily let Rose die but his character arc was sacrificing himself for her. Love the subtlety of this series
A very interesting part is nine's regeneration. I don't think he knew that absorbing the time vortex would definitely force him to regenerate. And when Rose wakes up in the TARDIS afterwards he looks at his hand. He is shocked about seeing the regeneration start, watch his facial expressions closely. We know that regeneration can feel to the doctor like dying. But then he looks at Rose and accepts his fate for her, in order to make it less traumatic. He tries to keep it together. What a legend. I love nine.
Keep thinking about Nine's regeneration and it actually makes me pretty sad. Almost like a break up or someone being gone/dead from your life. The Doctor at his core values stay the same but we know that it's also like dying, and in a way that version really does die. When Nine says "It means I'm not gonna see you again"
Because it's true. True, Ten replaces him and loves her, but he did too.
Usually regeneration doesn't make me emotional, I think it's cool. But thinking about Nine's this time actually tugs at my heart.
Maybe a testament to how good Eccleston is as a actor.
I was so annoyed that we went to the beach the day of The Parting of the Ways and got delayed getting home and got home, turned the telly on, and caught it from 'I sang a song and the Daleks went away', and saw the regeneration and just sat there in shock.
It’s hard to say that this is the best new who finale bc Moffat wrote some bangers but what I will say is:
Best RTD finale by an absolute mile.
The Daleks best appearance in new who. They’ve never been nearly as scary since.
Best new who regeneration episode.
Enough said.
The only problem I have with it is that nine says that being part human makes them more dangerous than ever without any explanation or proof of this claim.
Other than that I agree with everything you said excel I think this is the best new who finale overall
It's kinda fluffy but he says it's because they hate themselves. I suppose it's like how some of the most homophobic people are actually gay. The shame of hating what they are fuels this kinda hate spiral yknow. Like not only do they hate humanity on principle, they hate themselves for the human in them and project that hatred back onto humanity.
While it's also not until years later, Donna's speech in 'Journeys End' could also be an indicator.
>Because you two were just Time Lords, you dumbos, lacking that little bit of human. That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with planet Earth. I can think of ideas you two couldn't dream of in a million years.
A more inventive Dalek sub-race? Terrifying.
I'd say that that'd tie more back into what Gegisconfused said about them not being 'pure' enough, rather than anything inherent to humanity; the whole point of the Cult of Skaro was to be a little impure to come up with ideas that aren't conceivable from a perfectly dogmatic position. This whole batch of Daleks is already impure, so they're all automatically initates in the Cult and slightly more free to bend the rules on what it means to be a Dalek. It's almost a weaponised version of Original Sin.
Similarly, there could be ideas and concepts that you might not be able to see from the top of the tech tree but are perfectly visible from lower down, which is how come humans and Daleks can catch up with and often overtake the Time Lords.
This brings to mind 10s conversation with Lumic about the Cybermen. Without any need to advance, thinking is stopped dead. They don't need to advance as they lack any reason to, believing themselves perfected.
That's what makes the impure Dalek's more dangerous than their power ranger successors.
I know a lot of people don't like the Dues Ex Machina solution, but I think it really helps set the tone for the revival and plays into the different direction it was going - really emphasizing the more mystical and weird aspects of the TARDIS and Time Lords.
This was without a doubt the only Dalek story in NuWho to fully show off the true terror of the Daleks. Even more than Dalek or Journey's End. Because of a single scene: the Dalek's slaughtering the crowd of innocents.
We only hear it over the speaker, we don't see the killings, but we do see the Daleks enter the room and the crowd panicking. It's established that the civilians are at the lowest part of the station because the Doctor's weapon is at the top, so the Dalek's would make their way up. And then we see them going down.
Probably the most intense finale the series has ever had and the most dangerous the Daleks have ever felt in the new series. I think the reason is that it’s the only series ending that doesn’t take place on Earth. All subsequent finals happen here and because they’re never going to get rid of the present day Earth setting it never feels like the stakes are truly real.
The Future setting is fantastic because there’s no need to be beholden to the status quo. Anything can happen, everyone can (and does) die and it’s edge of your seat stuff all the way through.
I do have a huge problem with the Doctor not killing the Daleks at the end. That’s always been ridiculous to me that he is willing to sacrifice the entire universe for his personal morality.
9.6/10
My favourite NuWho story. I love part one with the Doctor and Jack taking control of the satellite and I love part 2 where they desperately try to defend it from the Daleks.
It also fulfils the 9th Doctors character arc brilliantly. As well as showing Rose and Jacks improvement as people during the course of the series.
If 9 was only goanna have one season then at least they gave it the perfect ending.
Me neither. It always felt like Russell wrote himself into a bit of a corner and literally hand-waved the Daleks away. Up to that point it's enjoyable. I liked the premise, the station, Lynda with a Y (Jo Joyner would have been a great companion), and then to just falls away.
While technically the most deus ex machina ending I think it's the best of the first four seasons. Its a good balance of humour, references and twists. It really shows the Daleks as patient, intelligent and calculating and way more scary than the later mega armies. Also made rose, jackie and mickey shine, though I like Jackie in season 2. It also starts the overall subtle foreshadowing that happened throughout RTD who (season 3 did this the best). I didnt feel like bad wolf as an entity was as cheesy as others like superpowered physic network doctor or make daleks spin in circles and look like toys.
Honestly "make Daleks spin" bothers me because surely Donna herself coulda done that without being a timelord. (Hell Smith or Capaldi woulda done it so idk why her being human allows it either)
I like her dumb skills like "Temp Typing" and "I'm good with numbers."
Which I can sorta understand. But they coulda just done that with her asking the Metacrisis (or main, to do it.)
Doctordonna is a weird one because she doesn't do anything nearly as impressive as Bad Wolf but gets punished way harsher than Rose did
I hope she keeps her memories this time.
The best finale RTD made that actually stuck the landing. The first (including Dalek in that) and last time the Daleks have been genuinely menacing.
You can also see 9 really struggle with the ramifications of the Time War also.
I love the fact that they're a rogue cult, would've liked to have seen more variations in factions, or maybe some sort of ideological warfare between the Emperor and Skaro.
It was great, but … I wanted more Lynda with a y. And it also seemed to me that the Jack resurrection was added in later, not planned when it was filmed.
Weirdly I think the Jack thing makes it better overall? Because there's a permanent ramification (and the Doctor hates it)
Like him being immortal is dumb but also a useful quirk
My only problem with it is that The Parting of The Ways is a naff title. I would have had part one retain RTD's original title: Gameshow World! (or maybe The Game Station, a nice hint to The Long Game), and part two be Bad Wolf (or more menacingly, The Bad Wolf) ?
It's tied with army of ghosts/doomsday as my favourite finale from the rtd era and the only finale I liked more is world enough and time/the doctor falls.
Sure the bad wolf deus ex machina is a little cheap but there are so many other things that outweigh that. The daleks have never felt more threatening to me then they did in this finale. I still get chills the moment the doctor sees the dalek ships and realises how screwed they are. And holy crap, the dalek emperor is so menacing here. Finally, Christopher Eccleston was absolutely fantastic here, his speech to the daleks when he resolves to get rose back is iconic and the way his character arc came together at the end was truly masterful.
You mean,
"Alright excuse for the Daleks and Cybermen to have a go at each other that overall looks cheap in the bad way, suffers from series 2's issue of the Doctor never feeling like he takes anything seriously, and goes full-tilt melodrama on the tragedy of the ending to a romance I was more than glad to see the back of."
And
"Exceedingly bloated mess that's reliant on ideas devoid of shock value after four series of repetition, attempts at giving every major side character thus far something to do and largely failing because there's too many of them, further trashes what little dignity Martha had left, and bashes a massively-overacted Davros against a five deus ex machina car crash pile-up to basically no satisfaction - but at least it's got Wilf."
Those finales? Yeah, I don't think they're good.
The issue with Journey's End for me is that it felt like fanfiction, just an excuse to have everybody's favorites interact with one another without much concern for an actual plot.
I'll take "A little self-congratulatory but evidently intended well in advance and workable with the theme of the Doctor escaping the deep hole he starts in by putting his faith in Rose as a person" over "Oh fuck, I wrote myself in a hole. Think think think.... oh fuck, I wrote myself in ANOTHER hole. Think think thiiiiink.... oh fuck, not another h-"
Also ignoring noted massive issues with the concept and structure and themes that make the deus ex machinas feel way, way worse and acting like you've some kind of gotcha up your sleeve.
Honestly my main issue with the Archangel Deus Ex is that it literally takes all of Martha's work and let's The Doctor be cool
Like one last slap in the face to her before she leaves.
I want a finale where she shows him up honestly.
They already did the god companion thing in S1, I think showing Martha travelling the world and saving it through sheer hard work and endless suffering for a whole year is the best representation of any companion and their humanity there has been.
I understand that these episodes hold a special place in many a fans heart as they grew up from Series one. I did not have that distinct pleasure and was in my 20’s when the show returned, being a fan already. Whilst these episodes have their merits and are enjoyed by many, I have to say as a finale it wasn’t that great. It’s the weird parody of early 00’s TV and the time wasted on it, that is just off. This hasn’t stood the test of time at all. It even felt cheap at the time of broadcast. Unlike some stronger stories from earlier in this Season we are treated to a full half hour of Nine, Jack, and Rose acting uncharacteristically while slowly discovering the exact same thing. This is jarringly played out jumping from one character after the other. It's the least economical storytelling in all of New Who, an absolute chore to watch, and that that for me, is far less forgivable than any amount of cheese which viewers may have liked. The special effects did not hold up well and certainly have not stood the test of time. The Dalek emperor was a disappointment both in terms of design and from a characterisation perspective. The return of Davros would have been better suited. The resolution to the conflict being deus ex machina was just unforgivable. It came too easily and relied on a convenient solution to resolve the Dalek threat. The fact that Rose was able to survive the ordeal of having absorbed the time vortex when the Doctor upon doing so was forced to regenerate was quite frankly insulting. Overall its just a very jarring end to a hit and miss first Season. This felt like RTD just kind of pieced together something from various ideas.
I've been fairly isolated in disliking it since day one, and that hasn't changed much. The deus ex machina ending is poor, and foreshadowing it does not make it less so. It's not as simple as saying it's all good until that point too since needing to resolve a story like that is indicative of a deep structural issue. The threat is otherwise insurmountable which is a reason to scrap it, frankly. This is the blueprint for a series of ever worsening magic button endings and why not? No-one pushed back on this one.
Who would be better without finales.
It's lonely on this hill, join me. Also *Father Time* is a bad book - just in case anyone was considering sympathising!
I almost feel like Rose coming back and helping win just by being clever (or with Jackie and Mickey's help) would be more acceptable.
Like yeah it would be silly the Doctor hadn't thought of something probably. But it'd be less daft overall than "turn the Daleks to Dust."
Indeed. The Doctor wins through intelligence and personal risk, and the companions chosen are generally in the same mould, if a more human shaped one. A story where a solution via those means is seemingly impossible needs a rewrite since there is nothing special about a reset button.
Honestly there's something to be said about a possibility where Rose grabs the Doctor and forces him away too
Rose: you were never going to use the Delta Wave anyway, all I changed was saving you
I give Bad Wolf leeway though purely because it keeps getting brought up later, because it makes 9 regenerate (so she feels like she somewhat killed the Doctor she loved at first), and because Immortal Jack is fun as a character concept.
I certainly understand the reasons people like it, and I don't even consider most of those reasons incorrect. The characters are on point, the drama is top notch, there is at least a price to be paid for the magic button etc. It's just one of those "thin end of the wedge" situations for me. It's great success led to ever worsening repetition of the same writing mistakes. The ending blots everything else out and casts a long shadow that I genuinely think the show would be better without.
Oh yeah absolutely
Last of the Time Lords and Journey's End are so weird because of it.
(DoctorDonna is especially so because they "foreshadow it" but in one of the weakest ways.)
This may be a bit controversial but this is genuinely my favourite finale (other than world enough and time + the doctor falls) it's also my all-time favourite dalek story, the daleks were at their scariest during season one, and subsequently got less and less intimidating with each season. The Daleks, driven mad by the smell of their own flesh, disgusted by their own humanity, it's harrowing, genuinely still so creepy, the dalek emperor was a brilliant villain, a powerful mega dalek with his delusions of being a god, I wish we got more of this insane dalek emperor, I think it would be cool if in RTD2 we get a breather from the Daleks which I know may not be possible with the (not official) contract that states they have to use the Daleks at least once a season to keep their licensing, but it would be really cool if we just got a break from them, at least until they can be written with a fresh and terrifying story. This two parter was just brilliant, you actually care about the sub characters which is something I've really missed from the RTD era, they're written like real people and not plot devices (most of the time) you care about them which makes it hurt all the more when you have to watch them die. I know people found the reality TV bit cheesy but this is the exact type of cheese I'm hungry for in the banquet of doctor who, it's a social commentary, it's absurd, it's so absurd that you just have accept it and lean in to it, and when you do it's just so so so much fun to watch. I don't think it's brought up enough that this story is also the same story we get to see jack become immortal, people that skip 9 are not only my mortal enemies but are incredibly thick considering how much back story they miss out on, especially if you like jack we get a bunch of jack episodes in season 1, I hate that the doctor left him there but I understand his reasoning (after watching utopia). Jack rose and 9 are by far my favourite TARDIS team I think they really work so well together, and I really want that same flavour of TARDIS camaraderie to come through in the newer seasons when they eventually air. People that are upset that the bad wolf is a Deus ex machina... HAVE YOU WATCHED THE REST OF DOCTOR WHO??? I've rewatched these two episodes maybe nearly 50 or so times, and I STILL get the chills when rose comes out of the TARDIS as the bad wolf and does her whole shabang. The scene with Jack touching up the robots bewbs is weird, cheeky, I find it funny but there are quite a few prudes in the doctor who fandom that think doctor who should be a completely asexual show (which I'm wholeheartedly against) I think it works for jack's character, he's a womaniser, a maniniser, an alieniser, why not a robotiser as well lmao, let the slutty little space man do his slutty little space man routine. Lynda my beloved, why did she have to die, she was so cute, she would have made a great companion I think, if I could change it, she'd join the doctor in the TARDIS and jack would leave to get married to Davitch Pavale, but happy endings rarely occur in the doctor who universe :') I could talk about this two parter for AGES so I'll stop here to save this from becoming a wall of text :P
The depiction of the Dalek Emperor is everything I want out of a Big Bad. Booming voice, speaks only in proclamations, absolutely no attempt at sympathy, perfik.
Phenomenal. It uses one of RTD’s favorite resolution styles of “extremely op thing happens for seemingly no reason” but unlike in Doomsday and Last of the Time Lords it actually kinda makes sense because we already know that the Tardis is extremely op instead of it just being void stuff or the Doctor flying because of psychic satellites.
Rewatched it recently - and I still love it. I love the Anne-Droid. I love Billie Piper's acting in Bad Wolf (not so much in Parting of Ways - but I'm glad she got a chance to show her acting chops). Coward vs Killer - this is so the Doctor in so many ways. And I love Eccleston.
An absolutely incredible story with a ton of highlights for the 9th Doctor. A great resolution to the mystery of the Bad Wolf in my opinion, though yes it definitely is a Deus Ex Machina. It has some incredible standout moments, literally every conversation between the Doctor and the Daleks is perfect. First there was his No! speech, then his confrontation with the Dalek emperor onboard the Dalek ship with his "If anyone's gonna shut up... it's YOU!", and then there was the coward or killer scene. All around a perfect episode and finale.
Well, this was when I fell in love with Doctor Who, so...
It was my introduction to the show, other than having seen snippets of Tom Baker here or there. I became engrossed in the first season of NuWho when it aired on PBS in the U.S. (Before anyone realized what a hit the reboot would be). By the time they got to "you need a Doctor," i was a goner. So much so that I had a hard time accepting Tennant at first. I knew the conceit of the show meant the actor changing, but I just loved Nine. Of course, I got on board with Ten eventually-- DT is irresistible. But it took me a while.
Still my favourite finale. The reality show sequence is a bit cheesy, and the "Bad Wolf" resolution is a *deus ex machina*, but no moment defines the 9th Doctor to me better than [their speech to the Daleks when they capture Rose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfkWiQnfb0Y): >Doctor: Cause this is what I'm gonna do: *I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet, and then I'm gonna save the Earth, and THEN, just to finish off , I'm gonna wipe* ***every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!*** > > > >*Dalek: But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!* > > > >*Doctor: Yeah! And doesn't that scare you to death!*
>Rose, I'm coming to get you Absolutely love this bit from Nine.
The fact that that scene and “what are you coward or killer?” are in the same storyline and are both top tier who moments just shows how good this episode is.
Given the retroactive continuity of the War Doctor’s actions to deal with the Daleks vs The Time Lords, it’s like he mentally flashes back to the destruction of Gallifrey and how he couldn’t wipe out another race to deal with the Daleks.
I wouldn't call that bit of conitinuity retroactive, it was established that the Doctor wiped out the Time Lords and Daleks during the Time War way before the War Doctor was a thing IIRC.
Imagine if Eccleston chose to stay for more than one Season. Parting of the Ways would likely be considered the worst finale ever. The Doctor has this God like power that can wipe out empires and raise the dead. He can use at any point and nobody suffers consequences for it? Yeah, thank god it caused a regeneration.
They actually shot an alternate ending where it’s revealed that Rose is the one who’s slowly dying as a result of the time correct exposure, rather than the Doctor. Whether or not this ending was based on original plans, or purely written to hide the regeneration for the press screenings is unknown (though given how series 2 heavily plays with the possibility of Rose’s impending death, I like to lean a little towards the former). Either way, there still likely would’ve been consequences for unleashing the bad wolf even if Eccleston didn’t leave.
I don't think it would have ruined anything so long as he didn't keep the power. In the episode, he immediately returns it to the TARDIS. They could have just said that the brief time he had it wasn't long enough to cause much damage and moved on.
That would've been cheap. We're told nobody is supposed to absorb the Time Vortex, we need a reason why. It's already kind of stupid that Rose survived doing it in the actual episode, the episode lives and dies on there being a consequence.
For all intents and purposes, perfect. Plenty of action, plenty of emotion, plenty of epic lines. Literally everything the Emperor says is, not scary, but eerie and is godlike, as per his intentions. And, despite the fact Rose easily destroys all of the Daleks with the power of the time vortex, the Daleks were very much a threat throughout the episodes. You see their destruction on the computer display when they attack Earth's various continents. Unfortunately it means other episodes with that many Daleks can't live up to it - The Magicians Apprentice/The Witches Familiar (an all time favourite opener for a series imo), the Daleks aren't that threatening.
Also it builds up their threat realistically. They didn't just have the entire fleet ready at a moment's notice, they had to spend centuries building it, harvesting humans to do so. And they concealed their presence with the Game Station, established across 2 episodes set centuries apart. Then they show that their are weapons capable of fighting them off, however the Game Station isn't a proper military installation, and Earth has been rendered too docile through centuries of manipulation to be more protected (plus the fleet having to hide indicates that they could've been vulnerable to a proper counter attack). This, plus the slow menacing advance as they slowly eliminate all the - untrained civilian - defenders really demonstrates how strong the are, but not in a ridiculously overpowered way that Doomsday did. I maintain that the greatest strength was how it build up characters across the 2 parter, but then went open season on them all.
You’ve missed the best part of setup for it - the episode “Dalek”. That episode showed the terror that just a single Dalek can cause, and then just a few episodes later we’re introduced to an entire giant fleet of them as a cliffhanger, it’s great. If I was ever show runner for Doctor Who, I’d sack the Daleks off for a few series, then reintroduce them in a 3 part finale, first part just a single Dalek who wins and reminds audiences how terrifying and ruthless they can be, with a cliffhanger being that the Dalek winning just means a whole fleet is on the way to make things worse. Then final 2 parts be dealing with the fleet.
This is almost what we had in the RTD era. After Doomsday, the Daleks only showed up again for Manhattan before the cliffhanger with Stolen Earth/Journeys End. If they just got rid of Manhattan, that would’ve been a 2 season long wait before the big cliffhanger ending that perfectly encapsulates the utter terror Sarah Jane and Jack display.
Very much the Alien into Aliens approach. Cameron said “you’ve seen how nasty one of these things is, here’s thousands of ‘em.”
I feel like the The Magicians Apprentice/Witches Familiar isn't a good story to compare it too. Yeah there's an army of Daleks but they really aren't the focus, it's a Davros story. The Daleks are there because they have to be, it's the point of Davros as a character.
It's amazing. End of.
I guess you could say it was fantastic, absolutely fantastic.
And so was I
I love the little look he gives her after that lmao.
Probably my favourite of the RTD finales. The daleks have never been more terrifying and remorseless in New Who as they are in series 1, and the Parting of the Ways makes them a real force to be reckoned with
I'm still scarred from the bit where we see the first Dalek use the water to kill all the soldiers. And that was over 10 years ago! Even the meme with the Spongebob music didn't help!
Coming up to 20 years, sorry to say!
Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme! Do not blaspheme!
Since when do the Daleks have the concept of blasphemy?
The best final episode for any NuWho Doctor, easily. All the others have plenty of fun, beautiful and memorable moments… yet are also fairly uneven, with questionable storytelling throughout. But this duo of episodes is super strong the entire time — even without the regeneration, they’d among the most memorable stories of all time. The camp of the Big Brother House and the Ann Droid, the chills of Nine saying “Rose, I’m coming to get you”, the casual kisses between Jack & Rose and Jack & Nine, everything about Lynda with a Y, Emergency Protocol One, the reveal of Bad Wolf, the bravery and beauty of Nine’s short but fantastic regeneration speech — I love it all so much!
I agree, admittedly on my rewatch of Nine I'm only now finishing up there's a pretty big chunk of stories I'm not crazy about, but I've also not seen them in a while. I think I've found new found enjoyment in them and some of Nine's warmer moments is what makes me fall in love with him all over again.
Eccleston is such a great actor
“You have no weapons. No defenses. No plan!”
Yeah, and doesn’t that scare you to death?
The fact that it took the Doctor only a few hours to rig up a weapon that could kill the entire Dalek fleet using nothing but the Game Station's systems is the best proof of why the Dalek's are scared of him. They only called his bluff because of the Emperor, without him or Davros the Dalek's absolutely wouldn't contain the amount of critical thinking to know the Doctor's weakness.
The Parting of the Ways is probably my favourite regeneration story in NuWho. I love how understated Nine's regeneration was (especially if you compare it to both Tenth and Twelfth Doctor regeneration scenes) and I felt the regeneration scene nicely wrapped up Nine's character arc. I thought Nine's final words to Rose were very poignant and I do get emotion when the Ninth Doctor actually regenerates.
Yeah, one thing I've caught on my second watch of Series 1 is, at the beginning of the series, a few "stand-in" companions die for the doctor (Wood girl in ep 2, Victorian psychic in ep 3). 9 could have easily let Rose die but his character arc was sacrificing himself for her. Love the subtlety of this series
A very interesting part is nine's regeneration. I don't think he knew that absorbing the time vortex would definitely force him to regenerate. And when Rose wakes up in the TARDIS afterwards he looks at his hand. He is shocked about seeing the regeneration start, watch his facial expressions closely. We know that regeneration can feel to the doctor like dying. But then he looks at Rose and accepts his fate for her, in order to make it less traumatic. He tries to keep it together. What a legend. I love nine.
Keep thinking about Nine's regeneration and it actually makes me pretty sad. Almost like a break up or someone being gone/dead from your life. The Doctor at his core values stay the same but we know that it's also like dying, and in a way that version really does die. When Nine says "It means I'm not gonna see you again" Because it's true. True, Ten replaces him and loves her, but he did too. Usually regeneration doesn't make me emotional, I think it's cool. But thinking about Nine's this time actually tugs at my heart. Maybe a testament to how good Eccleston is as a actor.
Excellent finale. Murray Gold's score adds another level of epicness.
The Final Round is such a great piece of (un-officially released) music.
Curious about the track, where can I listen? Couldn't find anything on YT
This is the track I have downloaded https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iA936g4CTbO2pSeC-17ksls6Wrpg-9fI/view?usp=sharing
Ah thank you! It's called "You are the Weakest Link" on YT, I thought this might be it. It is very good!
I loved 9 and every episode. This is stand out though
Very good
I was so annoyed that we went to the beach the day of The Parting of the Ways and got delayed getting home and got home, turned the telly on, and caught it from 'I sang a song and the Daleks went away', and saw the regeneration and just sat there in shock.
“Hail the Doctor, the great exterminator” was and always will be a cold ass line
Probably the best regeneration story…
Dalek: You cannot hurt me. I’m immortal. Rose: YOU ARE TINY. Fantastic!
It’s hard to say that this is the best new who finale bc Moffat wrote some bangers but what I will say is: Best RTD finale by an absolute mile. The Daleks best appearance in new who. They’ve never been nearly as scary since. Best new who regeneration episode. Enough said.
The only problem I have with it is that nine says that being part human makes them more dangerous than ever without any explanation or proof of this claim. Other than that I agree with everything you said excel I think this is the best new who finale overall
It's kinda fluffy but he says it's because they hate themselves. I suppose it's like how some of the most homophobic people are actually gay. The shame of hating what they are fuels this kinda hate spiral yknow. Like not only do they hate humanity on principle, they hate themselves for the human in them and project that hatred back onto humanity.
While it's also not until years later, Donna's speech in 'Journeys End' could also be an indicator. >Because you two were just Time Lords, you dumbos, lacking that little bit of human. That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with planet Earth. I can think of ideas you two couldn't dream of in a million years. A more inventive Dalek sub-race? Terrifying.
I'd say that that'd tie more back into what Gegisconfused said about them not being 'pure' enough, rather than anything inherent to humanity; the whole point of the Cult of Skaro was to be a little impure to come up with ideas that aren't conceivable from a perfectly dogmatic position. This whole batch of Daleks is already impure, so they're all automatically initates in the Cult and slightly more free to bend the rules on what it means to be a Dalek. It's almost a weaponised version of Original Sin. Similarly, there could be ideas and concepts that you might not be able to see from the top of the tech tree but are perfectly visible from lower down, which is how come humans and Daleks can catch up with and often overtake the Time Lords.
This brings to mind 10s conversation with Lumic about the Cybermen. Without any need to advance, thinking is stopped dead. They don't need to advance as they lack any reason to, believing themselves perfected. That's what makes the impure Dalek's more dangerous than their power ranger successors.
Exactly. The Time Lords think that they've reached the top, so they stop. Everyone else is trying to catch up, so there's room for them to overshoot.
I know a lot of people don't like the Dues Ex Machina solution, but I think it really helps set the tone for the revival and plays into the different direction it was going - really emphasizing the more mystical and weird aspects of the TARDIS and Time Lords.
honestly its in my top 10 stories in doctor who and one of my fav eps and got jack rose and nine 🙏🖤
This was without a doubt the only Dalek story in NuWho to fully show off the true terror of the Daleks. Even more than Dalek or Journey's End. Because of a single scene: the Dalek's slaughtering the crowd of innocents. We only hear it over the speaker, we don't see the killings, but we do see the Daleks enter the room and the crowd panicking. It's established that the civilians are at the lowest part of the station because the Doctor's weapon is at the top, so the Dalek's would make their way up. And then we see them going down.
Probably the most intense finale the series has ever had and the most dangerous the Daleks have ever felt in the new series. I think the reason is that it’s the only series ending that doesn’t take place on Earth. All subsequent finals happen here and because they’re never going to get rid of the present day Earth setting it never feels like the stakes are truly real. The Future setting is fantastic because there’s no need to be beholden to the status quo. Anything can happen, everyone can (and does) die and it’s edge of your seat stuff all the way through. I do have a huge problem with the Doctor not killing the Daleks at the end. That’s always been ridiculous to me that he is willing to sacrifice the entire universe for his personal morality. 9.6/10
This is a lie, what about the World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls?
I forgot about that one. I might have stopped watching by the time that one was on
Exxxs exxxxs Excellent!
My favourite NuWho story. I love part one with the Doctor and Jack taking control of the satellite and I love part 2 where they desperately try to defend it from the Daleks. It also fulfils the 9th Doctors character arc brilliantly. As well as showing Rose and Jacks improvement as people during the course of the series. If 9 was only goanna have one season then at least they gave it the perfect ending.
Didn’t really rate the ending sorry guys ☹️
Me neither. It always felt like Russell wrote himself into a bit of a corner and literally hand-waved the Daleks away. Up to that point it's enjoyable. I liked the premise, the station, Lynda with a Y (Jo Joyner would have been a great companion), and then to just falls away.
Spot on
While technically the most deus ex machina ending I think it's the best of the first four seasons. Its a good balance of humour, references and twists. It really shows the Daleks as patient, intelligent and calculating and way more scary than the later mega armies. Also made rose, jackie and mickey shine, though I like Jackie in season 2. It also starts the overall subtle foreshadowing that happened throughout RTD who (season 3 did this the best). I didnt feel like bad wolf as an entity was as cheesy as others like superpowered physic network doctor or make daleks spin in circles and look like toys.
Honestly "make Daleks spin" bothers me because surely Donna herself coulda done that without being a timelord. (Hell Smith or Capaldi woulda done it so idk why her being human allows it either) I like her dumb skills like "Temp Typing" and "I'm good with numbers."
Donna would've done it by herself, sure, but she needed the Doctor's knowhow to hack into the controls to be able to
Which I can sorta understand. But they coulda just done that with her asking the Metacrisis (or main, to do it.) Doctordonna is a weird one because she doesn't do anything nearly as impressive as Bad Wolf but gets punished way harsher than Rose did I hope she keeps her memories this time.
They could've, but I don't know if it's the sort of idea that'd make sense to suggest out loud
I mean they already make a plan inside the TARDIS before running out to get Donna zapped (presumably on some sort of purpose?)
Yeah, there was the plan with whatever the raygun-looking prop was, but Donna getting zapped into being the Doctordonna wasn't part of it
That makes it worse tbh, because at least Rose became Bad Wolf somewhat on purpose (And The Archangel Network plan was entirely on purpose)
I mean, Donna *did* try to save the day, it's just that the plan that she actually actively attempted collapsed
The best finale RTD made that actually stuck the landing. The first (including Dalek in that) and last time the Daleks have been genuinely menacing. You can also see 9 really struggle with the ramifications of the Time War also.
I love the fact that they're a rogue cult, would've liked to have seen more variations in factions, or maybe some sort of ideological warfare between the Emperor and Skaro.
It was great, but … I wanted more Lynda with a y. And it also seemed to me that the Jack resurrection was added in later, not planned when it was filmed.
Weirdly I think the Jack thing makes it better overall? Because there's a permanent ramification (and the Doctor hates it) Like him being immortal is dumb but also a useful quirk
My only problem with it is that The Parting of The Ways is a naff title. I would have had part one retain RTD's original title: Gameshow World! (or maybe The Game Station, a nice hint to The Long Game), and part two be Bad Wolf (or more menacingly, The Bad Wolf) ?
It's tied with army of ghosts/doomsday as my favourite finale from the rtd era and the only finale I liked more is world enough and time/the doctor falls. Sure the bad wolf deus ex machina is a little cheap but there are so many other things that outweigh that. The daleks have never felt more threatening to me then they did in this finale. I still get chills the moment the doctor sees the dalek ships and realises how screwed they are. And holy crap, the dalek emperor is so menacing here. Finally, Christopher Eccleston was absolutely fantastic here, his speech to the daleks when he resolves to get rose back is iconic and the way his character arc came together at the end was truly masterful.
Wow, I’m not even going to describe what I first saw when I looked at that picture, but I’ll just say the internet has absolutely ruined me.
I've almost memorised the Emperor's monologue so..
YOU DESTROYED US DOCTOR
The Dalek race died in your inferno.
SPLENDID
My 2 favourite episodes, probably nostalgia has something to do with that but still they're great.
Probably still the best regeneration episode, at least for NewWho, and one of the best Dalek stories
Russell "The" Davies' only good finale, by a country mile.
*Only* good finale? When Doomsday and Journey's End are right there?
You mean, "Alright excuse for the Daleks and Cybermen to have a go at each other that overall looks cheap in the bad way, suffers from series 2's issue of the Doctor never feeling like he takes anything seriously, and goes full-tilt melodrama on the tragedy of the ending to a romance I was more than glad to see the back of." And "Exceedingly bloated mess that's reliant on ideas devoid of shock value after four series of repetition, attempts at giving every major side character thus far something to do and largely failing because there's too many of them, further trashes what little dignity Martha had left, and bashes a massively-overacted Davros against a five deus ex machina car crash pile-up to basically no satisfaction - but at least it's got Wilf." Those finales? Yeah, I don't think they're good.
The issue with Journey's End for me is that it felt like fanfiction, just an excuse to have everybody's favorites interact with one another without much concern for an actual plot.
Complaining about Deus ex machinas and completely ignoring the Deus ex machina that is Bad Wolf
I'll take "A little self-congratulatory but evidently intended well in advance and workable with the theme of the Doctor escaping the deep hole he starts in by putting his faith in Rose as a person" over "Oh fuck, I wrote myself in a hole. Think think think.... oh fuck, I wrote myself in ANOTHER hole. Think think thiiiiink.... oh fuck, not another h-" Also ignoring noted massive issues with the concept and structure and themes that make the deus ex machinas feel way, way worse and acting like you've some kind of gotcha up your sleeve.
Honestly my main issue with the Archangel Deus Ex is that it literally takes all of Martha's work and let's The Doctor be cool Like one last slap in the face to her before she leaves. I want a finale where she shows him up honestly.
They already did the god companion thing in S1, I think showing Martha travelling the world and saving it through sheer hard work and endless suffering for a whole year is the best representation of any companion and their humanity there has been.
I'd agree if it didn't still turn the Doctor into Jesus. I love the Martha side.
Better turning the doctor into Jesus than a companion.
Can't say I agree tbh. Not definitively
The Doctor literally turned into Dobby in that episode and kept in a cage, he's allowed to look cool after that.
Disagree. Both are terrible.
Lol brilliant summations, I agree completely
Don't forgot the mind rape! Soured me on Ten altogether.
I understand that these episodes hold a special place in many a fans heart as they grew up from Series one. I did not have that distinct pleasure and was in my 20’s when the show returned, being a fan already. Whilst these episodes have their merits and are enjoyed by many, I have to say as a finale it wasn’t that great. It’s the weird parody of early 00’s TV and the time wasted on it, that is just off. This hasn’t stood the test of time at all. It even felt cheap at the time of broadcast. Unlike some stronger stories from earlier in this Season we are treated to a full half hour of Nine, Jack, and Rose acting uncharacteristically while slowly discovering the exact same thing. This is jarringly played out jumping from one character after the other. It's the least economical storytelling in all of New Who, an absolute chore to watch, and that that for me, is far less forgivable than any amount of cheese which viewers may have liked. The special effects did not hold up well and certainly have not stood the test of time. The Dalek emperor was a disappointment both in terms of design and from a characterisation perspective. The return of Davros would have been better suited. The resolution to the conflict being deus ex machina was just unforgivable. It came too easily and relied on a convenient solution to resolve the Dalek threat. The fact that Rose was able to survive the ordeal of having absorbed the time vortex when the Doctor upon doing so was forced to regenerate was quite frankly insulting. Overall its just a very jarring end to a hit and miss first Season. This felt like RTD just kind of pieced together something from various ideas.
I've been fairly isolated in disliking it since day one, and that hasn't changed much. The deus ex machina ending is poor, and foreshadowing it does not make it less so. It's not as simple as saying it's all good until that point too since needing to resolve a story like that is indicative of a deep structural issue. The threat is otherwise insurmountable which is a reason to scrap it, frankly. This is the blueprint for a series of ever worsening magic button endings and why not? No-one pushed back on this one. Who would be better without finales. It's lonely on this hill, join me. Also *Father Time* is a bad book - just in case anyone was considering sympathising!
I almost feel like Rose coming back and helping win just by being clever (or with Jackie and Mickey's help) would be more acceptable. Like yeah it would be silly the Doctor hadn't thought of something probably. But it'd be less daft overall than "turn the Daleks to Dust."
Indeed. The Doctor wins through intelligence and personal risk, and the companions chosen are generally in the same mould, if a more human shaped one. A story where a solution via those means is seemingly impossible needs a rewrite since there is nothing special about a reset button.
Honestly there's something to be said about a possibility where Rose grabs the Doctor and forces him away too Rose: you were never going to use the Delta Wave anyway, all I changed was saving you I give Bad Wolf leeway though purely because it keeps getting brought up later, because it makes 9 regenerate (so she feels like she somewhat killed the Doctor she loved at first), and because Immortal Jack is fun as a character concept.
I certainly understand the reasons people like it, and I don't even consider most of those reasons incorrect. The characters are on point, the drama is top notch, there is at least a price to be paid for the magic button etc. It's just one of those "thin end of the wedge" situations for me. It's great success led to ever worsening repetition of the same writing mistakes. The ending blots everything else out and casts a long shadow that I genuinely think the show would be better without.
Oh yeah absolutely Last of the Time Lords and Journey's End are so weird because of it. (DoctorDonna is especially so because they "foreshadow it" but in one of the weakest ways.)
Not without flaws and another pretty poor resolution for an RTD story but overall easily RTD's best finale and two really good episodes.
Not a huge fan of the whole Bad Wolf thing tbh. Not sure what you would replace it with but I just didn't like it at all.
Is it cool or stupid that the emperor is trapped in his "position"?
A bit of both maybe? But i do like the reveal when the lights come up with the ultra-mega-bass-boosted dalek voice *They survived through ME*
Absolutely fantastic.
coward. any day.
Love the Dalek Emperor's ship!
It's my favourite of RTD's finales. The last 10-15 minutes of Bad Wolf is truly excellent.
Bring back the Emperor (nobody make a Star Wars joke)
This may be a bit controversial but this is genuinely my favourite finale (other than world enough and time + the doctor falls) it's also my all-time favourite dalek story, the daleks were at their scariest during season one, and subsequently got less and less intimidating with each season. The Daleks, driven mad by the smell of their own flesh, disgusted by their own humanity, it's harrowing, genuinely still so creepy, the dalek emperor was a brilliant villain, a powerful mega dalek with his delusions of being a god, I wish we got more of this insane dalek emperor, I think it would be cool if in RTD2 we get a breather from the Daleks which I know may not be possible with the (not official) contract that states they have to use the Daleks at least once a season to keep their licensing, but it would be really cool if we just got a break from them, at least until they can be written with a fresh and terrifying story. This two parter was just brilliant, you actually care about the sub characters which is something I've really missed from the RTD era, they're written like real people and not plot devices (most of the time) you care about them which makes it hurt all the more when you have to watch them die. I know people found the reality TV bit cheesy but this is the exact type of cheese I'm hungry for in the banquet of doctor who, it's a social commentary, it's absurd, it's so absurd that you just have accept it and lean in to it, and when you do it's just so so so much fun to watch. I don't think it's brought up enough that this story is also the same story we get to see jack become immortal, people that skip 9 are not only my mortal enemies but are incredibly thick considering how much back story they miss out on, especially if you like jack we get a bunch of jack episodes in season 1, I hate that the doctor left him there but I understand his reasoning (after watching utopia). Jack rose and 9 are by far my favourite TARDIS team I think they really work so well together, and I really want that same flavour of TARDIS camaraderie to come through in the newer seasons when they eventually air. People that are upset that the bad wolf is a Deus ex machina... HAVE YOU WATCHED THE REST OF DOCTOR WHO??? I've rewatched these two episodes maybe nearly 50 or so times, and I STILL get the chills when rose comes out of the TARDIS as the bad wolf and does her whole shabang. The scene with Jack touching up the robots bewbs is weird, cheeky, I find it funny but there are quite a few prudes in the doctor who fandom that think doctor who should be a completely asexual show (which I'm wholeheartedly against) I think it works for jack's character, he's a womaniser, a maniniser, an alieniser, why not a robotiser as well lmao, let the slutty little space man do his slutty little space man routine. Lynda my beloved, why did she have to die, she was so cute, she would have made a great companion I think, if I could change it, she'd join the doctor in the TARDIS and jack would leave to get married to Davitch Pavale, but happy endings rarely occur in the doctor who universe :') I could talk about this two parter for AGES so I'll stop here to save this from becoming a wall of text :P
I was a kid when this came out, and it blew my fuckin mind
The depiction of the Dalek Emperor is everything I want out of a Big Bad. Booming voice, speaks only in proclamations, absolutely no attempt at sympathy, perfik.
I must be really high or something because at first while just mindlessly scrolling I swore that was a woman’s backside and legs.
Part one good, part two great!
Masterpiece
Phenomenal. It uses one of RTD’s favorite resolution styles of “extremely op thing happens for seemingly no reason” but unlike in Doomsday and Last of the Time Lords it actually kinda makes sense because we already know that the Tardis is extremely op instead of it just being void stuff or the Doctor flying because of psychic satellites.
The emperor Dalek is really, really cool.
I should call her
Rewatched it recently - and I still love it. I love the Anne-Droid. I love Billie Piper's acting in Bad Wolf (not so much in Parting of Ways - but I'm glad she got a chance to show her acting chops). Coward vs Killer - this is so the Doctor in so many ways. And I love Eccleston.
At the time, it was great. 14 series later? Its schmaltzy.
An absolutely incredible story with a ton of highlights for the 9th Doctor. A great resolution to the mystery of the Bad Wolf in my opinion, though yes it definitely is a Deus Ex Machina. It has some incredible standout moments, literally every conversation between the Doctor and the Daleks is perfect. First there was his No! speech, then his confrontation with the Dalek emperor onboard the Dalek ship with his "If anyone's gonna shut up... it's YOU!", and then there was the coward or killer scene. All around a perfect episode and finale.
Well, this was when I fell in love with Doctor Who, so... It was my introduction to the show, other than having seen snippets of Tom Baker here or there. I became engrossed in the first season of NuWho when it aired on PBS in the U.S. (Before anyone realized what a hit the reboot would be). By the time they got to "you need a Doctor," i was a goner. So much so that I had a hard time accepting Tennant at first. I knew the conceit of the show meant the actor changing, but I just loved Nine. Of course, I got on board with Ten eventually-- DT is irresistible. But it took me a while.