Harry -
One of the unmistakable features of the RTD era of Doctor Who is the blockbuster season finale. It started with "Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways", a story that set the bar high with the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack defeating an armada of Daleks deep in space. This time around, it's double the menace as the Daleks and the Cybermen both launch invasions of Earth.
Sarah -
Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long to get the Daleks and Cybermen into one story.
Harry -
The Cybermen-Nazis crossover in "Silver Nemesis" was kind of close.
Sarah -
Please don’t remind me of that.
Harry -
Righto. This one begins with a hard dose of melodrama, as Rose provides a voiceover for flashback scenes of her life with the Doctor, ending by telling us that "This is the story of how I died."
Sarah -
I remember how shocking that pronouncement was the first time I watched the episodes. I thought it was going to be an Adric situation all over again. This time out, my daughter, who was watching it for the first first time, kept asking, “Is Rose really dead?” I, of course, responded, “Spoilers!”
Harry -
After the opening titles, RTD dials it back down to a benign scene of the TARDIS returning to the Powell Estate. Rose and the Doctor, back at Jackie's flat for a happy reunion. Jackie is delighted to see them and share the news that Rose's grandad is about to pay a visit. Rose's face drops and she suspects her mum has lost it because her grandad has been dead for 10 years.
Sarah -
I’m not sure I understand how people came to think the ghosts were loved ones. Jackie mentions that grandad’s ghost smells like his tobacco, but that seems awfully tenuous.
Harry -
The Doctor wrote it off to people sensing what they wanted to believe was there. It did seem slightly bonkers that society would embrace these entities and make them part of everyday pop culture. Where were the skeptics? Where were the scientists?
Sarah -
Right? Were the scientist and skeptics taken in, as well? Where was Neil deGrasse Tyson when the Earth needed him? Speaking of scientists, after a season of breadcrumbs, we finally see Torchwood, which seems to have something to do with the ghosts. Located in Torchwood Tower in Canary Wharf, the Torchwood Institute is led by Yvonne Hartman, who is delighted to have the Doctor turn up on her patch.
Harry -
After all this time I'm still not completely sure what to think of this Torchwood.
Sarah -
It’s a little disappointing after months of build-up, to be honest. And while I’m being picky, doesn’t it seem that the Doctor and Torchwood should have crossed paths before now? It’s been a while since Queen Victoria declared him an enemy of the Crown in 1879. That some slapdash retconning there, RTD.
Harry -
The explanation behind the building of Torchwood Tower was brilliant -- it envelops a dimensional hole 600 feet in the sky. Having used another complicated piece of equipment to study the "ghosts" (two stories in a row without having the plot move forward with the wave of a sonic!), the Doctor traces the energy peak to Torchwood Tower. With an "Allons-y!" the TARDIS takes off with the Doctor, Rose... and Jackie aboard.
Sarah -
Jackie’s not impressed: “If we end up on Mars, I’m gonna kill you.”
Harry -
The crew we meet at the tower seem very serious and dedicated, for a few seconds. Adeola and Gareth slip away for a snog while Yvonne leads a welcoming committee to greet the Doctor with rounds of applause. That clapping scene was rather silly. To that point, Torchwood has been working with the "ghost energy" episodes that have been bringing the shadowy visitors into view. Yvonne proudly takes the Doctor for a tour of Torchwood's storage rooms, where he's taken aback by the alien technology they have collected. One room contains a large, floating sphere that seems to be made of nothing. The Doctor identifies it as a void ship, something designed to slip between universes.
Sarah -
I kind of hate the Doctor in these scenes, with his stupid 3D glasses and Ghostbusters jokes.
Harry -
The Ghostbusters gags were so bad I didn't even want to talk about them.
Sarah -
My apologies for bringing it up. When Yvonne demands to meet his companion, the Doctor pulls Jackie out and introduces her as Rose -- and then proceeds to berate her:
“She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that.”
“And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But she'll do.”
“I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad. Anyway, lead on. Allons-y. But not too fast. Her ankle's going.”
What an asshole. He deserves everything coming his way.
Harry -
This is RTD's writing at its most obnoxious. Back upstairs, the romantic episode has ended in horror with Adeola and Gareth falling victim to Cybermen lurking in a construction area. Adeola begins picking off the rest of the staff, luring Matt to the Cybermen next, just before Yvonne and the Doctor return.
Sarah -
I totally forgot Freema Agyeman was in this story. I now recall Martha will mention that her cousin died at Canary Wharf, but she didn’t mention it was her twin cousin.
Harry -
Twin cousins, how rare is that!
Sarah -
It was surprisingly common in American sitcoms of the 1960s and 70s, but not usually so much in Doctor Who.
Harry -
Hah!
Sarah -
I was excited to see Martha -- or her twin cousin, or whatever -- and then angry all over again in anticipation of the Doctor being a complete dick to her in series 3. Just when I thought we were almost into the frying pan, we go straight into the fire!
Did you bring any gin? I need to calm my nerves.
Harry -
Steady on, Sarah, we haven't finished with Rose yet.
Sarah -
Not yet, but soon, my friend, soon.
Harry -
Separated from the Doctor and Jackie, Rose winds her way to the room with the void ship. There, a happy reunion awaits because what's an RTD blockbuster without happy reunions?
Sarah -
Mickey Smith, defending the Earth! I was so happy to see him after all this time. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but it felt so much longer.
Harry -
I totally forgot he was in this one so it was a great surprise when he revealed himself in the room with the void sphere.
Sarah -
Mickey explains that the Cybermen were nearly beaten in his adopted parallel Earth but they managed to escape to Rose’s Earth. Rose reminds him that the Doctor says it was impossible, to which Mickey replies, “Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong.” That’s right, Mickey, tell it like it is!
Now, really, where’s the gin?
Harry -
We should pause to enjoy a few sips now, because the story is about to go turbo wild.
Sarah -
Brace yourself!
Harry -
The newly-cyberized staff override the safety mechanisms and send Torchwood into the ultimate ghost shift, bringing millions of Cybermen through to this Earth. Meanwhile, the void sphere suddenly activates of its own accord. Watching on camera, the Doctor wonders what the Cybermen are about to hatch, but the Cyberleader informs him that the sphere is not of their design. They merely followed it to this world. At that moment, the sphere opens and from within it emerge...Daleks! Kolossal! It's the ultimate invasion, and an amazing cliffhanger.
Got to hand it to RTD, he does a good blockbuster.
Sarah -
He had to outdo last season, and more than met the challenge.
Harry -
Unlike the swarms of Cybermen who have arrived on Earth, the sphere contained only four Daleks. They are a unique group who have individual names and call themselves the Cult of Skaro. They have brought with them a device called a genesis ark, and with it a new mystery: who or what is inside?
Sarah -
I’m amused the Daleks have finally reached the appropriate level of development to begin forming cults. I guess it was inevitable.
Harry -
One of the most memorable scenes from this story is the glorious trash talking between Cybermen and Daleks. The relentless, dispassionate logic of the Cybermen crashing against the psychotic hate of the Daleks, it's mad fun.
Sarah -
It’s absolutely the best thing in the story.
Harry -
Well, it's fun to watch. For the Doctor and his friends it's the ultimate nightmare. The world is under siege, Torchwood is in chaos, and Yvonne and Jackie are marched off for cyber-conversion before the Doctor can save them.
Sarah -
Poor Jackie. Has she not endured enough? Now she faces being upgraded again? Yes, yes, I know that was alternate reality Jackie, but we had to live through it and that was more than enough.
Harry -
Did we mention this was a blockbuster? Because, zapping through the void, here comes Pete Tyler and the rest of parallel Earth's Scooby Gang! What a scene!
Sarah -
Jake and Pete arrive just in time to save the day...sort of.
Harry -
It's too late to save Yvonne, who goes forward to receive cyber-conversion while declaring that she did her duty for queen and country.
Sarah -
Poor Yvonne.
Harry -
We barely got to know her. At least Big Finish has come through for her.
For Jackie, it's a lucky escape. The Cybermen become distracted by the Daleks and she sneaks away down a stairwell.
Sarah -
Go, Jackie, Go!
Harry -
An epic battle ensues. Cybermen vs Daleks with all of humanity trapped in the middle. The Doctor eventually lets us all in on the business with the 3-D glasses. They reveal a kind of "void stuff" that the Doctor posits can be sucked back into the void. However, it means that after being reopened, the void and the gateway to parallel Earth will close forever. Rose is suddenly faced with a choice: join her Jackie and Mickey with parallel Pete on the other Earth, or stay with the Doctor, "forever". It never seemed to have sunk in with Rose that "forever" means two totally different things to Earthlings and Gallifreyans.
Sarah -
Despite the Doctor trying to explain it to her about five thousand times. Seriously, was he not clear enough or is she completely delusional? The swings between competent, empathic Rose and bat-shit crazy girlfriend Rose is frustrating.
Harry -
This gin is getting perilously low.
Having made her choice to stay with the Doctor, Rose bids tear-soaked farewells to her family and Mickey, who then zap away to parallel Earth.
Sarah -
They’re better off without her.
Harry -
The Doctor and Rose brace themselves, throw open the void and watch as the Cybermen pour back through. In a panic, the Daleks initiate emergency temporal shift and vanish as well. But disaster strikes when Rose is thrown into the void... and is rescued by Pete a split second before she would have died.
Sarah -
So much for being better off without her. I like that alternate reality Jackie and Pete decide to stick together. That’s very sweet. I want Jackie to have a happy ending.
Harry -
It was nice that Jackie was able to have everything in the end. Typing out that rapid fire sequence gives a clear view of how everything unfolded, but in real time it happened so quickly. Everyone was stunned. Rose worst of all, as she collapses in tears.
Sarah -
I really am the worst person ever. I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes at the whole thing. Can you imagine having to live with her after all this?
Harry -
They couldn't even find some words to try and console her. The RTD Doctor-companion-relationship experiment comes crashing to an end, in blockbuster style.
Having saved the world, once again, the Doctor is left alone, once again. For that segment of fandom for whom "shipping" the Doctor and Rose was a huge thing, this would have obviously been the show's darkest moment. The Doctor has lost so many friends over time, but RTD built this one up to be different, and way more emotional.
Sarah -
The lonely God is alone again. While I don’t want the Doctor to react with, “Oh well, Adric’s dead, let’s move on, he wouldn’t want us to linger.” I could do with much less drama than we get here.
Harry -
Yes, we've yet to hit that sweet spot somewhere between "cold fish" and "emo tears".
Sarah -
This leads us to their final(ish) meeting at Bad Wolf Bay.
Harry -
Final(ish), damn you RTD!
Sarah -
Rose has a dream where she hears the Doctor calling, so Rose, Mickey, Jackie and Pete head off to Norway to follow the voice.
Harry -
As one is compelled to do from time to time.
Sarah -
The Doctor has found a way to transmit an image of himself to talk to Rose. We learn that Jackie is pregnant and Rose is working with parallel Torchwood. Rose learns that she’s officially listed among the dead from the Battle of Canary Wharf.
We end with the Doctor telling Rose that they can’t see each other again. She tells him that she loves him and he responds with “Quite right, too. And I suppose, if it's one last chance to say it, Rose Tyler…” as he vanishes.
Harry -
So many shipping fantasies shattering into a million pieces.
Sarah -
OK, maybe I’m not completely heartless. It is a touching moment and all that, but what made me the most emotional is the sudden appearance of Donna Noble in the TARDIS!
Harry -
What an emotional swing! I don't think we could have handled another minute of this blockbuster. Our last bottle of gin certainly didn't.
Overall, RTD delivered a blockbuster for the ages. I loved the war between the Daleks and Cybermen. Torchwood got an appropriate introduction before essentially being destroyed. It shall rise again in another place, at another time. As for the shipping, I was done with it before I knew shipping was a thing.
Sarah -
Bring on the next adventure, Old Boy! I’m ready.
Harry -
Goin' to the chapel and we're... gonna get married!
Sarah -
Best Line: “This is not war. This is pest control.”
Favorite Moment: The Dalek-Cybermen trash talk.
Lasting Image: I want to say Donna, but that doesn’t seem sporting. I guess I’ll go with the beach scene as I’ll never be able to delete it from my brain.
6/10
Harry -
Best Line: same!
Favourite Moment: same!
Lasting Image: the Doctor and his 3-D glasses.
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #178: The Runaway Bride...
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