1.13 - The Parting of the Ways

This is the second part of the two part season finale. This part is really excellent in almost every way. The only real downside to this episode is the unlikely plot element when it is revealed the Daleks have been controlling human society via Satellite 5 for many generations to supposedly set up an attack on Earth is an extremely convoluted and pretty unconvincing plot when a simple attack could have been simply carried out by a Dalek fleet without all of that effort beforehand.

The Doctor, Rose and Jack are on Satellite 5 as the Daleks attack and they all do their part to try to heroically stop the Dalek Emperor and his fleet. The episode has great drama, great action, great effects, great emotion and great script. The acting of the 3 heroes is great with John Barrowman, Billie Piper and Chris Eccleston all at their best. The Daleks are properly formidable and impressive with great voice performance by Nicholas Briggs.

In addition to the great adventure we also get a regeneration! Eccleston is replaced by David Tennant as The Doctor regenerates at the end of the episode. I was very worried but it turned out Tennant was going to be my second favourite Doctor behind only the legendary Tom Baker. Obviously the excitement of a regeneration adds to the qualities of the episode.

All of that outweighs the unconvincing part of the central plot which would normally drop my rating a couple of points. I feel I still have to take half a point off for this seemingly illogical planning by the Daleks so I rate this 9.5/10 which happily I still round up to ten for this site anyway haha. For the two parter my score is 17/10 therefore 8.5/10.

Amazing acting by Eccleston throughout, he really shines here. His best performance on the show for sure.

The Daleks are incredibly threatening here (for the last time in NuWho really) and the futility of their fight back is very emotive and well done. The regeneration scene is great too.

Fantastic finale and a relatively satisfying conclusion to the 'bad wolf' arc.

My favourite finale of the Davies era. I feel the daleks threat level diminished a little after this. Always love them but this first season of new who made them powerful and intimidating and then somewhat fiddled to much with that later on. Eccleston is on peak form in his last story. Still hope one day some bugger convinces him to do audios or a multi doctor story appearance.

10/10 epic

Parting of the Ways is many things: It's a blockbuster episode, it firmly established the Daleks as a truly terrifying menace, providing fitting conclusion to the 9th Doctor's character arc while being packed from beginning to end with memorable moments.

Starting with Genesis of the Daleks, Dalek stories were focused on or were connected to Davros, who was ultimately the center of the story. "Parting of the Ways" is the type of Dalek story people hadn't seen since Patrick Troughton was the Doctor. The Daleks are menacing, violent, and killers who are driven to destroy even those who represent no risk to them whatsoever because they are driven to destroy that which isn't Dalek or to make it Dalek.

Davies and Director Joe Aherne succeed in making the horror of the Daleks more powerful by making victims people we care about, and it's not just Captain Jack's brave facing his own destiny, it's characters we've only spent minutes with, including Lynda and the couple on Floor 500 that only finally found the courage to tell each other of their feelings for one another minutes before the Daleks arrive. Yet, we still care which is a sign of how well-directed the story is.


The Ninth Doctor's final adventure is one that shows great gallantry in sending Rose home. The scene of the Doctor's hologram speaking to Rose is so definitive of this Doctor. ". I'm dead, or about to die any second with no chance of escape. And that's OK, I hope it's a good death...And that's OK, I hope it's a good death. Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life." The words, as well as there are delivery are powerful. The Doctor faces the same choice as he did in the Time War. Having wiped out Gallifrey, he's given the chance to destroy the Earth to once again to stop the Daleks. It's a torturous decision.

Billie Piper is superb as Rose, playing a gamut of emotions and puts in some of the most memorable moments in the show's history as she "looks into the TARDIS" and faces down the Daleks in one of the most memorable scenes in Doctor Who history.

The regeneration scene is pure class and style, as the Doctor first prepares Rose for the regeneration and after all the struggle and scars of his life, the Doctor leaves with a word of praise for his companion and a smile.

The story isn't without its flaws. For me, the biggest one is having the Daleks having built a religion around the Emperor. I have no clue what the point of this was it. If it was some veiled point about religion creating fanatics, than it's kind of dumb since the Daleks have been fanatics with no religion at all. As it is, it really has no effect on the Daleks.

Others will complain about the dialogue particularly the line, "You need a Doctor." Yet, as cheesy as that was, it seemed perfectly in-character for the 9th Doctor and taken as a whole, I wouldn't change anything about this story, even the so-so moments because it's a master tapestry or if you like a tailored garment that fit this Doctor perfectly. In addition, it's the standard by which all the finales that would follow would be judged.

As a regeneration story, I rank it just below Caves of Androzani. It didn't do everything right, but it did enough, enough to be well, fantastic.