"Doctor Who" The End of the World (2005)

Director:

Euros Lyn

Writer:

Russell T. Davies (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

2 April 2005 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor takes Rose on her first trip through time to the year five billion, where they join a group...

Plot Keywords:

Fantasy Episode | Alien | Time Lord | Tardis | Companion

Cast

Christopher Eccleston	...	Doctor Who
Billie Piper	...	Rose Tyler
Simon Day	...	Steward
Yasmin Bannerman	...	Jabe
Jimmy Vee	...	Moxx of Balhoon
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Cassandra (voice)
Camille Coduri	...	Jackie Tyler
Beccy Armory	...	Raffalo
Sara Stewart	...	Computer (voice)
Silas Carson	...	Alien Voices (voice)

Runtime:

45 min | 45 min (50 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:TV-PG

Trivia:

This is the second time in as many episodes that the Doctor gets to rip the arm off something.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Rose and Cassandra are shot intermittently from behind, looking out of the Space Station window; from behind Cassandra's lips do not move at all, though we still hear her speak.

Quotes:

Cassandra: [about a large vintage Wurlitzer jukebox which was wheeled in] And here, another rarity - according to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers - play on!
[a henchman presses a button on the jukebox, which starts playing Soft Cell's "Tainted Love"]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Doctor Who Confidential: New New Doctor (#2.1)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Toxic

A Fantastic Performance

It's at this point you realise you're watching something entirely different from the show envisaged by Sydney Newman in the early 1960s that ran up to 1989 . For instance there's Hollywood standard special effects and a pumping soundtrack featuring Tainted Love by Soft Cell and Toxic by Britney Spears and other references to popular culture . Plus there's a scene where Jade a tree woman asks The Doctor if Rose is his prostitute ? Cue lots of middle aged men falling off their chairs then phoning everyone they know self righteously proclaiming that this proves DOCTOR WHO is not a children's programme

This is by no means a flawless episode because due to the format it only lasts 45 minutes and watching it on its initial broadcast I found myself missing the old format of four or six 25 minute episodes because this would lead to more scope for stories and The End Of The World suffers from a fairly threadbare plot , basically a whodunnit where it's fairly obvious who done it

But

What makes this story so enjoyable watching it in April 2007 is for mainly one reason - Christopher Eccleston's performance . A lot of fans criticised his performance at the time for " Being about as alien as a junkie from Manchester " and it's true that Eccleston plays the title character in the way he's best known for , namely a brooding , introspective , angry man and if you've notliked any of his previous roles you won't like Eccleston as The Doctor but I would say it's definitely as good as any performance by any actor as The Doctor . There's two scenes that really stick out . One where Jade realises he's a Time Lord and a tear runs down his cheek and the chips segment at the end . To quote the man himself " Fantastic "