whobadparting

BAD WOLF / THE PARTING OF THE WAYS by Russell T Davies

Story 10

Synopsis:
The Doctor finds himself in the House, transmatted in. He watches as a Housemate is evicted, which kills them. He breaks out, taking Lynda, another Housemate with him. They are found by Jack, who escaped his own near-death, and find themselves on the Game Station, fka Satellite Five. When the Doctor shut down the news, anarchy took over, replaced by deadly game shows. They all find Rose, but she loses her game, and appears to die. They storm up to Floor 500. Jack finds the death beams are in fact transmats. The Doctor realises the Game Station is emitting a cloaking signal. By cancelling it, he reveals a fleet of 200 Dalekships. They have Rose, as a hostage, but the Doctor swears he'll defeat them. He takes the TARDIS onto the Dalek's main craft, placing Rose and him and Jack inside a forcefield. He meets the Emperor Dalek, who has a religious complex. Back at the Game Station, the Doctor realises he can send a Delta Wave signal that will destroy the Daleks, but it will also destroy all the humans on Earth. He tricks Rose into entering the TARDIS, and sends it back to Earth, 2005. Jack organises the remaining Game Station staff into a defence team to slow the Daleks down. But their weapons prove useless. The Doctor races against time to perfect the Delta Wave. Rose refuses to give in, and Mickey and Jackie help her. She sees Bad Wolf written again, and thinks of looking into the TARDIS' heart to send her back to the future. It finally works, and she looks into the Time Vortex. The Daleks kill everyone on the Game Station, last killing Jack. The Doctor has his chance to launch the Delta Wave, but can't. The TARDIS appears. Rose has been changed by the Vortex into the Bad Wolf. She zaps all the Daleks, and brings Jack back to life. The Doctor knows it will kill Rose, so he takes the energy into himself, then returns it to the TARDIS. He takes her away, just missing Jack. The Doctor says the force of the energy means he's going to change. He thanks Rose. Then he changes.

Review:-
So, after 16 years, or 12 weeks, the final battle of the Time War. The Last Time Lord against rather many more than the last Dalek... but it all starts in a riddle.
From Japan in 1336, the TARDIS is attacked, with Rose, Jack and the Doctor dispersed to join strange game shows, lethally changed from Rose's time. The Doctor is soon on the case, and looking for escape, especially when he realises that the choice is victory or death. He even brings along a friend, always striving to help people along if they deserve it.
Rose reacts badly to her fate, although she sobers up when she realises the consequences. It's amusing that Rodrick helps her survive because she'll guarantee him winning.
Jack's makeover scenario is problematic - What Not To Wear isn't about competition, so presumably any and every programme is perverted to a gruesome purpose. He makes the best job of escaping, and is straight on to finding the Doctor and Rose.
The Doctor takes a gamble on eviction, and finds himself on the Game Station - Satellite Five, 100 years on from The Long Game. His realisation that his removal of the news company led to anarchy and disaster is a powerful moment. As he and Jack race to rescue Rose, it is nicely dramatic that they seem to fail. The Doctor realises someone close to him has died because of him (kind of), and he goes nuclear to take control. The scenes with the Station Controller are useful explanations, and Jack's discovery of the TARDIS leads to the idea that the Station is broadcasting a signal. Stopping the broadcast reveals the answers to a lot of questions. Jack also shows that Rose must still be alive. All the time, the story builds, the tension builds.
The Dalek stratagem for dealing with the Doctor seems sound, but seemingly pushed too far, the Doctor vows revenge, and to rescue Rose.
So, the 2nd half of the story gives us a rather swift rescue of Rose, and then a slow build as the Doctor tries to find an answer : the Delta Wave. His chat with the Emperor Dalek answers a few questions but not all, and the race against time element presents the Doctor as clever scientist using technology to save everyone. When he dupes Rose into going into the TARDIS and sends it away, it must be clear that he expects to fail. Jack seems aware of the odds, that his efforts are a suicide squad to buy time. Probably had more of the players heeded his call to arms, it would have made little difference. But if the Doctor was able to save the day, it would be worth it. Jack fills the role that in the old series would have been taken by the Brigadier.
Meanwhile we have Rose's subplot, as she can't adjust to life fixed in "the present" back with Mickey and Jackie. Mickey seems happier than when we last saw him, and Rose goes on to win Jackie over. The idea that a jammed switch is causing the problem is an old, old idea, and the use of vehicles to release it is moving, especially when it seems it will fail.
The revelation of Bad Wolf leads into the big finish, as the Doctor is unable to destroy the humans to destroy the Daleks, and he is saved at the last by the returned Rose. Not for the first time, the audience has to believe that the Doctor has inspired someone else to change themselves for the better in order to solve the problem they face, although this is a very extreme example, and surely the Doctor didn't send Rose away so she could work out how to get back and save the day? It is a somewhat convenient solution to the Daleks, to the otherwise shockingly emotional death of Jack, and the need to regenerate the Doctor. The power of the Vortex has been discussed before, but rarely used as an answer (see The Time Monster, perhaps) to a problem. Still, it makes the Doctor ill in a telegenic way, and he at least is able to explain to Rose (and the audience) what's going to happen. It's very subtle that Jack just misses the departing TARDIS, as he will be unaware of what happens to the Doctor. The regeneration effect is a bit bells & whistles, but never mind. The outgoing Doctor gets a lovely last line, and the newcoming Doctor seems ready already.

On the whole, this was a decent conclusion to the series, albeit with some reservations. But it's been a thoughtful series, and it's delivered in the ratings. Surely nobody expected the revival would go as well as this? Thank goodness it has.

Disclaimer: I have watched this story.