Series 1 (Season 27), Episodes 12 +13: Bad Wolf & The Parting of the Ways

The Controller knows all, but what about the blog?

It's finally time; Doctor Who's return to television with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor has been a spectacular success but one thing still has to be cleared up. Eccleston has decided to leave the series after only one season and the plan to keep it a secret has been spoilt when the BBC leaked the information about his departure. Before Eccleston even reached the telly it was announced that David Tennant would take up the role of the Doctor for the 2005 Christmas special onwards. John Barrowman exits the show during the finale of Series 1 until his return in later series and, of course, during spin off series Torchwood. The episodes draw heavily upon previous stories in the series with the 'previously' trailer at the beginning of Bad Wolf comprising completely of clips from The Long Game (Episode 7).

Synopsis: The Doctor, Rose and Jack all wake up to find themselves inside game shows - deadly game shows. Classics such as Big Brother, The Weakest Link and What Not To Wear become death traps for any randomly selected contestant! Then the Doctor breaks out, along with "Lynda with a Y" (Jo Joyner), they investigate the mysterious goings on inside what turns out to be Satellite 5, one hundred years in the future! When Rose is disintegrated, the Doctor, Jack and Lynda find themselves on a revenge mission which leads them to floor 500, the base of operations. The Doctor meets the Controller who reveals to him that the Daleks are behind the game station's hidden plot and are converting humans into Daleks! The Doctor thought the Daleks were wiped out in the Time War, but, now they're not, the war must continue...

Featuring: The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Rose (Billie Piper), Captain Jack (John Barrowman), Mickey (Noel Clarke), Jackie (Camille Coudri) and The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)

Enemies: Daleks, Anne-Droid, Trin-E, Zu-zana and The Emperor Dalek

Afterthought: The episodes gives a dramatic and exciting conclusion to the series. It however feels filled with plot holes and a few filler scenes which don't add to the episode. The Daleks were once again on fine form and the other robots within the episode successfully showed off the production team's handy work. Eccleston was at perfection all the way through however Rose found herself in a few over clichéd moments!

Verdict:

Story: 3.5/5, Plot holes a plenty but with a brilliant story overall.

Effects: 4/5, Spectacular regeneration, more problems with Dalek's moving parts.

Humour: 3/5, Funny moments.

Mark Campbell: 4.5/5, Everything ends, I just wish he would...

TOTAL SCORE: 15/20

Elsewhere:

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Wolf and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parting_of_the_Ways

Official Site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dth and http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074dv1

David Tennant here we come! Next Time: Series 1 (Season 27) Roundup

The Doctor confronts the 'god' of the Daleks!