The End of the World - Doctor Who
For their first trip through time, the Doctor asks Rose where she wants to go. She says about a hundred years into the future; however, when they get there, the Doctor declares that it’s boring there and takes Rose forward five billion years, to the end of the Earth.
Although I enjoyed the episode, I spent large parts of it feeling as if I’d fallen into Douglas Adams and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. So, at least it felt like Doctor Who. (Douglas Adams wrote several episodes of the Old Doctor Who.)
Things I noted throughout the episode:
1. Rose spent entirely too much of this episode needing to be rescued. (Probably to keep her out of the way, since it required technological know-how to save the day, but still.)
2. Rose’s relationship with her mother is warm and real. They’re not perfect Hallmark mother/daughter, but real ones, with some snark and complaining along with the love. And I enjoyed how the Doctor had exactly what he needed to make Rose’s cell phone work across time the way he did.
3. And they have blue Oompa-Loompas! (Actually, all the support staff was blue. Racial commentary?)
4. “Five billion years, and it still comes down to money.”
5. Although he mostly comes across as rather manic (as a good Doctor should), there’s a lot of grief in Doctor Nine. Of course, having his entire planet destroyed “before its time” and being the last of his race will do that. (Do we ever get more details, or does it stay on deep back story?)
6. And we finally find out the Doctor’s a Time Lord. So, when do we find out his lost planet is Gallifrey?
7. And I love the ending. He’s lost his planet, she’s watched hers destroyed (five billion years in the future, but still), and they assuage their grief by going out for chips. Yep, two of a kind, they are.