The End of the World [TV/2005.4.2]

★★★☆☆

  Even after all this time, The End of the World's honest and wide-eyed presentation of having all of time and space to travel has seldom been bested. From its opening moments with the Doctor promising Rose future civilisations and worlds just beyond the TARDIS doors, leaving viewers thirsty for those beautiful and evocative vistas and setting their imaginations wild, you can tell that Russell T Davies wanted to make sure audiences -- and children -- believed that this show could go anywhere. In that respect, it's a resounding success. One could say that the double-act of Rose and this episode cemented the initial success of the new series (alongside The Unquiet Dead, with that episode detailing the past); the show was visibly bursting at the seams with creativity and a vigorous energy which hadn't been seen in the television show for a long time. 

  Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston must, as always, be commended for their full commitment. Without Piper's real performance as a young woman from 2005 who's overwhelmed by the sight of aliens and the death of her planet, and Eccleston's portrayal as a man who's also lost his planet in an unspeakable war, this would simply not have been half as powerful. Watch as the Ninth Doctor drops a single tear at the mention of his tragedy -- this is a thoroughly broken man, and we see a side of the Doctor we haven't seen on telly in ages. It's one of RTD's strengths as a writer, making each and every one of them feel so real. 

  It may be cheesy, but The End of the World is such a comfort watch. A vital one, too, to the mythos at large in the context of the Ninth Doctor and Rose. This episode shouts to the world that Doctor Who is never obsolete, and never without a sense of humour -- 'Toxic' by Britney Spears, anyone?