Dr. Who 27x13 - The Parting of the Ways

[taq22]

As much as the Daleks are tradition, they have become like the Borg for me, just no longer shocking. Watching some of the old episodes they seemed much more....well evil!

 

I was sad to see Lynda die:( Why couldn't Rose have resurrected her too!? For that matter, what about the Earth and all? Maybe she did and we just didn't see it.

 

I think with the daleks we get used to them as we have got older hence why they dont seem as shocking, I watched the resurrection of the daleks and i cant say they seemed any more or less evil than the daleks in this episode. To be honest I loved the fact that they actually did the daleks in a different way.

 

I think you will find rose actually restored all the people that where killed and not just captain jack

 

I dont think all the daleks are destroyed, remember the three that ann droid disposed off, it didnt actually destroy them but transmatted them so they still could be floating around somewhere.

 

No I think they just aren't as shocking and evil in Parting of the Ways as they once were and still are in the Big Finish stories, especially Dalek Empire. I also reckon that the Daleks were made too seem less evil to accomodate the Nation Estate, who for some obscure reason wanted the Daleks to be less evil and ruthless. Perhaps that's also why the ending of Dalek was also quite lame. I hope that we see more evil in future episodes.

[weareborg]

did anyone think it was very emotional, stupid really seeing as you know the doctor wont die as such, thought the emporer dalek was brilliant.

 

and wowwwwww what power the tardis really has, Billy's acting was top notch a credit to her, I think she has a brilliant future as a actress not only in dr who.

 

Great! Billie Piper is from my home town! I used to go to the same school as her. BTW, it was a great episode!!

[GeneralLee]

Being a fairly recent convert to the Doctors' Universe, and after now having watched all of this seasons episodes, and many of the older ones now...

 

Alll I gotta say is...

 

WoW!!!

 

This episode rocked! I'm going to watch it again, and then later, definately convert this one to a DVD again. I'm just about speechless about it, but man oh man, what a TEARJERKER!!

 

:p

[sardion2000]

I think the reason people weren't as impressed with the Daleks this time around is because we all aren't 8 years old anymore ;) I found this iteration to be great and hopefully they will be back. I'm not so sure about the next Doctor but then again I said the same thing about Eccelston too.

[tbone574]

I liked Eccelston, I think it's a shame they didn't keep him around longer.

 

Honestly I think whether or not I like the new season is going to hinge on this new fellows believability.

 

But anyawys time will tell I suppose.

 

 

[Robotdoll]

I'll start with the good bits.

 

Ultimately, this season has been much more character driven than anything else. So it's fitting that the final episode would have so much of that, and still have lots of carnage and destruction as well to keep the kiddies happy.

 

The kiss - (someone has to bring this up) I think it worked perfectly. They set up the fact that Jack is, let's call it "gender-comfortable" so the kisses for both the Doctor and Rose were tender and perfect. (listed to barrowman's comment on Confidential as well - he played it exactly as he meant it)

 

 

 

I'll reiterate some of the comments I've heard already:

 

rushed - I think this could have gone on a bit longer - carried over to the Christmas special at least. But of course unlike American productions, they were finished with filming before the series even aired, In America, they get word the show is renewed while they're in production, and can change things as needed, allowing for such things. In the UK the show is filmed as a complete unit (no pun intended) and they get news of a repeat after the fact. They went back and filmed the regeneration scene (albeit a quick one) but couldn't do much more.

 

The fact that the show will get two new seasons should free them up quite a bit next season to have a real cliffhanger between series.

 

Deus ex machina (literally here, go look up the etymology of the term) - The idea of the "heart of the TARDIS" fixing things was a little too pat. But it's been done before, and well. In a George Pal film called "The Power", George Hamilton sees the words "Don't run" all over his world, in papers, on signs, etc. He assumes it's his enemy telling him it's useless to fight, but in fact he has as much power as the enemy, and it's his own subconscious leaving him messages, telling himself to stand and fight. She took the words "badwolf" and used them as the trail of breadcrumbs.

 

The regeneration - as mentioned, a bit rushed, and they seem to be going for a Colin Baker type regeneration, more hit the ground running type of thing. I'm not sure I like that, but we'll see where we go. Since we'll not see them for six months, they may choose to skip the whole "what just happened, why are you different?" scene and they'll already be past that. I expect we'll see the show rebroadcast with the last episode playing just before the Christmas episode.

 

 

Now, let's look at the plot holes and anal-retentive continuity issues...

 

OK, the Doctor has the power of the vortex in his body for maybe thirty seconds, all he does with it is release back into the TARDIS, and it's enough to revege his time-hardened body to the point of regeneration. Rose has it for god knows how long, eliminates the entire Dalek fleet, resurrects Jack (and one would hope fixes the Earth too) and she's fine and dandy. Yeah you could make the case that the vortex protected her, but c'mon...

 

Excuse me...gunfire in the TARDIS? See "State of Temporal Grace" (Hand of Fear). I know they know about it, since it was mentioned in Confidential.

 

Now, looking forward...

 

I'd like to see all the alternate scenes and "fake endings" they allegedly filmed for this episode. Aintitcool claimed there was a scene of Jack revealing himself as The Master shown at one press screening...but of course, even that story could have been a plant to keep us guessing.

 

I'm still keen on seeing more work of David Tennant - does anyone have copies of his recent Quatermass series?

 

I'll be curious to see what Chris Eccleston does next. I'm sure it'll be something British, and he'll do a fine job of separating himself from the Doctor.

 

 

 

[petra1989]

 

I'm still keen on seeing more work of David Tennant - does anyone have copies of his recent Quatermass series?

 

 

He will be in the new Harry Potter series as Barty Crouch Jr. If you have read the books you know that is a character that is the complete opposite of the Doctor.

[Ruk]

As others have said, the deux ex machina ending was a bit much for my tastes.

 

The idea of the Tardis/Rose being Bad Wolf isn't that bad... but her having the power to wave her hand and the Daleks just vanish was too much in my opinion.

 

If I'd written the script, I'd have her appear as she did, and then SHE/Tardis starts the Delta wave device, doing what the Doctor couldn't, and pulling the doctor and Jack inside the tardis to safety at the last minute. No magical powers really beyond the scope we've seen before, and the Doctor would still have to save Rose from overexposure to the heart of the Tardis.

 

The destruction of life on earth doesn't seem to matter since the Daleks had already bombed it to bits by that point.

[CC]

Part of the problem with this is that at any point in the future when things seem really bad, all they need to do is have somebody open the TARDIS panel and suck in the vortex or whatever. ("Sure, it might kill you, but at least you'll be able to wipe out the enemy/resurrect him/etc.")

 

I rather enjoyed the episode up to that point.

[mcant]

Loved the episode

 

The doctors total ruthlessness is appropriate for a time traveller - the logic of humans have colonies so destroying life on earth is an acceptable cost to eliminate daleks was correct but definately falls under the heading of taking the long view!

 

 

As for one of the bad wolf references being Verbal, it came from a precognitive and I would assume all the other clues, graphiti etc was spread by precognitives

[petra1989]

Deus ex machina (literally here, go look up the etymology of the term) - The idea of the "heart of the TARDIS" fixing things was a little too pat.

 

If RTD keeps up his good ideas, That should come back and kick Rose hard later down the road. Look what happen to Tegan when she got the Mara in her head. Even though that was an accident, it did mess her up for awhile.

 

I would like to see what it does to Rose later. If she had all the power running through her and she just forgets, then I am disappointed.

[Antilles]

Hello again everyone, been stuck in the vortex for a while again. But I just had to add my comments about the final episode. It was so damn hot in my house Saturday night I could hardly bear it but I enjoyed it all the same. I was eager to get some answers to what weve all been discussing for months, Bad Wolf, The Time War and who might be that mysterious Dalek voice in this weeks previews. Rose being Bad Wolf really surprised me, I was expecting it to be something nasty but that was pretty cool how RTD played that all through the series, and you have to admit, it got us all tongue wagging and theorising which was thoroughly enjoyable on its own. I hope something in series 28 along those lines keeps us intrigued.

 

The kissing thankfully wasnt too bad and wasnt prolonged so that was good, although I still didnt see the necessity for it but I suppose were in the 21st century after all. (gawd that sounds so wierd saying that coz I used to imagine as a kid what it would be like in the 21st century which still sounds so futuristic lol).

 

I watched with several young people who had never had any Dalek experience at all and they thoroughly enjoyed it which really made me happy to see that. For me, the Daleks have been just as good as they had been in the past but I still cant make up my mind whether Im glad or sad to not have Davros show up.....yeah I think Im glad, although if they had a really good CGI or whatever of the 'Genesis' Davros then Id have been overjoyed as he was thoroughly twisted and evil, even Michael Wishers voice was scary to me as a kid.

 

The TARDIS playing a part was essential I feel as Ive said before its just as much a part of the show as the other characters and is more than just transport, much more.

 

My own feelings about what Rose done was she restored life and destroyed evil through the power of the TARDIS, now, whether that means throughout time I dunno and may lead to a story bringing back the Time Lord race and Im sure were definitely going to bump into the Daleks again in the future, ya cant keep a good bad guy down.

 

Eccleston was good, but Im glad its over with him, I havehigh hopes for Tennant as Ive seen him in other shows and have been impressed. They do need to bring back some of the classic Who characterisation, clothes, voice etc. Im a northener myself but just didnt sit well with Ecclestons accent for the part, but I suppose it could have been worse.

 

Looking forward to the future, Christmas cant come fast enough now.

 

So, all you new (and old) fans, you all still interested in a compressed history of Dr Who stories week by week (here in Nites) until the new series? Im totally up for it and would like to get some deep discussions about the history of the series and its stories and see how you new fans take to the old stuff as well youve taken to series 27.

[petra1989]

That sounds like a great idea. I would like to learn more about the pre-Pertwee episodes. I never got to see the real early ones.

[dingding100]

So' date=' all you new (and old) fans, you all still interested in a compressed history of Dr Who stories week by week (here in Nites) until the new series? Im totally up for it and would like to get some deep discussions about the history of the series and its stories and see how you new fans take to the old stuff as well youve taken to series 27.[/quote']

 

Dude,

 

I am soooooo up for this!

[coolcat13]

OK had a long weekend of work . I really did not know what to think of this last episode some parts were utterly magnificent and others slightly dissapointing .

The genetic change in the Daleks and thier sudden Diety worship was quite amusing . I think people should realise that these were indeed hybrid Daleks and not 100% Dalek in fact the half human comment by Rose about summed it up .

 

I think that they are trying to resolve these stories to quickly .This was clearly a rushed ending that would have been better served with a third or even a fourth part .

 

I was a bit dissapointed with the all powerful takeover of Rose by the Tardis and the time continuim but it still wasnt that bad .It would be even better if during that scene one of two consequences occur

1 The TimeLords are brought back into existence

2 The Master who was swallowed by the TARDIS winds up bieng released because of the actions of Rose >>>subplot maybe Jack winds up as the master ???

[adamomega]

Having the Master back would be cool, but it'd need way too much explaining. I'd still like it if they actually made the Master the Doctor's brother like they were going to before the original actor died back during Pertwee's era.

 

I'd also like to see regenerated Romana come back, but that's just me. ^_-

 

What I really think they're going for with the destruction of all the Timelords is to make the Doctor a lot more unique. By having him being the sole survivor, he has that aspect that makes Superman so interesting...he can't ever truly go home. Adding more Timelords to the mix only would hurt that in the long run. But hey, this is a time travel series.

 

[Ignatius]

I also felt that the tardis coming in at the last minute and "fixing" everything was far too convenient, and that the episode was rushed - they could have done a better job if they'd split that last episode over 2, giving Jack the chance to lay more anti-dalek traps, giving Rose more time to put the "bad wolf" clues together. Giving Jack more time debating the existance of daleks with the civilians (in fact, if he'd managed to conscript them all, they could have made it a longer fight)

 

Having said that, I still enjoyed it immensely :)

 

The bit of the episode I found most touching though was the Vortex/Rose calling the doctor "My Doctor" - this entity has carried the doctor from one end of time and space to the other (and even beyond and outside it.) It just seemed really endearing that the tardis should think of the Doctor as "My Doctor"

[dsw182]

 

I'm still keen on seeing more work of David Tennant - does anyone have copies of his recent Quatermass series?

 

 

I didn't find him that convincing in his Quatermass role and didn't seem that believable. However, several of the other actors in the adaptation didn't seem to be that engrossed in their parts either so it's probably not a good example.

 

BBC4 are repeating it every so often.

[TV Man]

I think that they are trying to resolve these stories to quickly .This was clearly a rushed ending that would have been better served with a third or even a fourth part .

 

I agree with this assessment. When you have a continuing story arc throughout the season, why rush things? They could have axed one of the weaker one episode stories and made the finale a three parter.

 

As for the resolution of Bad Wolf, I agree with those who think it was an easy way out. I would have preferred something on the sinister side (like the return of the Black Guardian, or The Master, or even Davros commanding a competing Dalek army). But as it stands, it struck me as weak and easy. Which makes me think what are the chances they had to change the Bad Wolf ending because of the Eccleston leaving situation?

[Ulysses]

. . Rose being Bad Wolf really surprised me, I was expecting it to be something nasty but that was pretty cool how RTD played that all through the series, and you have to admit, it got us all tongue wagging and theorising which was thoroughly enjoyable on its own. I hope something in series 28 along those lines keeps us intrigued.

 

The TARDIS playing a part was essential I feel as Ive said before its just as much a part of the show as the other characters and is more than just transport, much more.

 

 

Eccleston was good, but Im glad its over with him, I have high hopes for Tennant as Ive seen him in other shows and have been impressed. They do need to bring back some of the classic Who characterisation, clothes, voice etc. Im a northener myself but just didnt sit well with Ecclestons accent for the part, but I suppose it could have been worse.

 

 

I think EVERYONE guest totally wrong with bad wolf, i know i was kinda shocked who and what it was in the end but like you said it got alot of us guessing, nice one RTD

 

As for ecclestone, i thought he was brilliant all the way through the series, and was nice seeing take a different angle on the dr who character, as that was kinda gamble that RTD and the BBC did. I did see CE on the top gear show last week, he didnt seem overly happy about playing the doctor from what i seen of him on there (man he has a crap car if you ask me).

 

I am not so sure if Dr Who should move back to the classic look etc etc, I think RTD needs space to work with the doctor who character and allow him to develop it how he sees it, what i mean is i dont want to see dr who fail like it did in the late 80's. As long as RTD sticks to the basic concept then I think he will do a grand job and keep this revival going.

 

Finally i am mighty impressed with this whole season, and well pleased its back and alot better all around :cyclops: