It is decent, but it doesn’t do Jack’s character any favours.
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It’d be interesting if Lynda had come back, but it wasn’t shown on screen…
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Absolutely brilliant story. Retroactively makes The Long Game much stronger by driving home the theme so rarely expounded in the older incarnation of the show: what happens to the places the Doctor leaves behind? It also feels to me like the final word in Series 1’s recurring question of who the Doctor is, what he contributes to the universe, and why (metatextually speaking) the show deserves to live. Interesting and very valid questions to ask after a 16 year-long hiatus!
The Daleks are so good in this too. Having had the episode Dalek to set up the threat posed by even one Dalek, this is the first time in the new series that we get to see them as an existential, cosmic threat. Filtered, pulped sifted… still makes my skin crawl to this day. Brr!
And of course, it’s an excellent swan song for Chris’s Doctor, who gets to show all of his dimensions over the course of the two-parter, finally approaching some sort of catharsis after the trauma he endured in the Time War.
So, yeah - one of my all time favs! High marks.
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You are quite right, of course. Lynda with a Y’s death felt genuinely shocking. She was… sweet!
More generally, “Bad Wolf” was OK for me, building to one of THE great cliffhangers of the modern era. Kind of an inversion of the typical DW problem of “great set up, disappointing resolution”. Here, we have “OK set up, outstanding resolution”. I feel that RTD gets away with the deus ex machina here, particularly because it’s well seeded and there are serious consequences. The Dalek Emperor is superb and the showdown leading to “Coward, every time” is sublimely written and so beautifully acted by Eccleston.
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10/10. It’s exactly what I look for in Doctor Who (minus the Doctor/Rose kiss, even though it’s technically not a kiss, it’s still kind of gross) and a high that I’m not sure the show has hit again since. An intriguing setting that for once isn’t the present day. Everyone talks about the game shows being super dated but I think it works fine. I’ve never seen any of the shows they were based on (other than the Doctor Who episode of The Weakest Link, and that was well after I saw this) in any case. They’re all really fun set pieces.
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They’re dated in the sense that they were all current at the time the episodes aired but some of them are now long gone. Personally, that has never been a problem for me since they work fine as futuristic reworkings in the retro style of the originals. “Bad Wolf” is my least favourite part of the double, though, because I’m so much more interested and invested in the story once they get out and engage in the story proper. Doesn’t take away my enjoyment of the ramping tension in the final third of “Bad Wold”, that stunning cliffhanger and the absolute thrill-fest of “The Parting of the Ways”. As a whole, it’s a masterclass in epic finales. Love it to bits! 
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For all the praise that Parting of the Ways gets, Bad Wolf is really good as well. Yes, the game shows seem a little dated, but not horribly. The scenes where it appears that Rose is dead and the Doctor seemingly just in denial are really good. I had forgotten the scenes in the holding cell. In my memory, they went straight from the Weakest Link to Floor 500. And then of course, the last few minutes are so awesome.
DOCTOR: No.
(Everyone looks at the Doctor.)
DALEK: Explain yourself.
DOCTOR: I said no.
DALEK: What is the meaning of this negative?
DOCTOR: It means no.
DALEK: But she will be destroyed.
DOCTOR: No!
DOCTOR: Because this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to rescue her. I’m going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet. And then I’m going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I’m going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!
DALEK: But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan.
DOCTOR: Yeah. And doesn’t that scare you to death.
The whole exchange just gives you chills. This really probably is the best season finale of the modern era. I don’t think there’s any that aren’t as perfect as this one. Series 2 and 4 come close, but this really is the best.
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Also, we get our first mention of Torchwood in Bad Wolf as the answer to a question in The Weakest Link.
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And thus, Series 1 ends on such a high. This is so good. I really don’t have much to say. It is clearly the best of the New Series finales and I think that stems partially from the stakes, but mainly from the performances. Eccleston, Piper, Barrowman, Briggs, all giving it their absolute best. Yes, Bad Wolf is a deus ex machina, but here it just works. I can’t really explain it. The episode doesn’t drag and at the same time doesn’t feel rushed either. The plot makes sense and Part 2 doesn’t feel like a letdown after the buildup of Part 1 like a lot of these do. This is just absolutely great Doctor Who. Goodbye Eccleston, you were… FANTASIC!!!
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Late to the Party, but I really dig this. Series 1 already stands out as an odd-one under the nuwho seasons, not only because its Eccelston only but also it feels so tightly thoughtout (and no I am not talking about the Bad Wolf “Arc”, it’s cool that it got mentioned through the Season but I dont really get why this Arc and to some extent others of the RTD Era are so beloved). Series 1 I do describe as a speed run to get to know the mechanics of Doctor Who, ending of course with a regeneration, as much as I would enjoyed seeing more televised eccelston, if it’s similar to series 2 then I kindly decline it.
One of my biggest issues with a lot of RTDs Finale is that maybe the first half will be pretty solid and then the pay-off being pretty underwhelming, that’s how I feel with Empire of Death and Last of Timelords. With “Bad Wold” basically being a big spoof on reality tv, as well as some other popular tv formats, it does have its own identity and stands on its own in my eyes, unlike Legend of Ruby Sunday for example. And while of course it did age in some regards, I would lie if I didn’t say I enjoyed it quite a lot. It’s very charming!
Parting of the ways on the other hand is the big Heart of this Story and dare I say better than the first Part, which is probably a rare thing for an RTD Finale. I love the use of the Daleks here, seeing a new Version of the Dalek Emperor is lovely and Eccelston gives a stellar Performance. I probably would repeat many points but people such as @BillFiler, @sircarolyn and @Intodrkness who already made perfect points about the Deus ex machina here.
I do want to add this by saying the Regeneration itself is superb and easily one if not the best of nuwho. While I liked many other Regenerations that later come, and I do enjoy the “Glow” Effect the first time, after a while it gets tiring. I feel like how it goes with Eccelston is the perfect ideal for a regeneration, it’s a great mix between being accepting of the upcoming change but also being in some state of shock of it happening “so soon”. 9 trying to reassure Rose is the cherry on the Top then.
Overall it’s a highlight of this Series, it’s not my favorite or even second favorite, but I think it’s very easily RTDs best Finale with a fun first half and an excellent second, that while suffering from some of his bad habits doesn’t have the most egregious examples of it.
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I rewatched Bad Wolf earlier today. Man, those game shows are outdated. Weakest Link is still around, though you’d need the Rajesh Rangandroid now, Big Brother is… Sort of around? It’s in the public consciousness, and I think the Celebrity version is still going on… Anyone heard anything from Trinny and Susannah recently?
I think having the Doctor be the set-up for everything that went wrong is great. I think it would have worked better, though, if the audience didn’t know already that it was Satellite Five.
By removing the opening which recaps The Long Game and starting with the Doctor waking up in Big Brother, learning it’s Satellite Five along with the Doctor from Lynda, then the audience would have a small chance to work out for themselves, as Lynda is speaking, that this is the result of The Long Game.
If I remember correctly, on TV the Doctor hasn’t revisited a planet we’ve seen on-screen before this, although Six did visit a planet visited by Three and Jo off-screen.
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Thing is, although they may be out of the public consciousness now, television has a habit of returning to successful formats and giving them a reboot or a refresh. It’s completely believable that, like Gladiators is enjoying a renaissance, that What Not to Wear gets revived in the far future.
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In Germany - I don’t watch it, but when a new season is on, people talk about it 
- variations of the big brother theme are very common, like Jungle Camp (in which “celebrities” have to do disgusting stuff in the jungle) or other, compared to Big Brother more specifically themed shows , like “The Biggest Loser” (a Big Brother-like show where losing weight in competing groups and psychological drama are the themes). Then there are shows like “Shopping Queen”…
Maybe it helps not knowing the originally intended concrete references— still very relatable for me to see TV going the route shown in the episode in the future. 
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Ha! Love that Germany has a version of this which is called that. The UK version is called I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. Never knowingly underplayed and it has featured Colin Baker and John Barrowman.
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I try to ignore the past involvement of these two DW alumni in a show I find so distasteful. As a professional academic and champion of biodiversity (especially the unloved inverts), this show is so harmful. It’s basically “Vengeance on Varos” made real, with added sensationalist disgust and mistreatment of animals that are vital to our ecology but misunderstood by so many. 
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I absolutely get this. The use of live animals has never sat comfortably with me. We’ve only ever watched the series with Colin and John (and the first Covid Wales one out of curiosity and the presence of Ruthie Henshall). Sadly it gets the ratings despite constant criticism from all angles.
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Apologies if I seemed judgemental. It’s a personal bugbear of mine. The ratings baffle me too. Philip Martin was rather prescient in many ways!
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Don’t apologise. You’re the professional. Trust me, anything related to teaching usually winds me up something chronic.
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I had my phone nearby while I watched The Parting of the Ways so I ended up sort of live-blogging that to myself, whereas Bad Wolf is some excited notes from just after I had watched:
Bad Wolf
- giggles like an excited child ahhh this is so much fun. The freaking Ann-droid! I wonder how it felt at the time because it is baked in 00s nostalgia now but obviously that wouldn’t have been nostalgia at the time
- Turns from fun to scary so well
- Not the most scared I’ve ever been of the Daleks, that would be S4 ending but Eccleston is so good at turning from scared to defiant LET’S GO DOCTOR KICK THEIR BUTTS
The Parting of the Ways
- 9 with his head agains the door re-experiencing trauma 
initially irked by him sending Rose away against her will but the things he’s seen, and so recently, it’s no wonder
- Liked Jack’s characterisation, liked him more in this story than the others so far, thought the kisses were sweet, though markedly different from Rogue so I think marking the Rogue/Doctor kiss as a first of some sort is fair. It’s cool that it’s not literally the first time though! Like, imagine being too progressive for your marketing line to actually work 
- Not as into Dalek stuff, good interesting concept but I’ve watched sooooo many Daleks in classic who stories I’ve been watching recently that it’d have taken even more to make me sit up at this moment in time 
- Oof what a depressing shot of concrete London
- Billie Piper 
- Omg the tow chain and the mini Mickey and the Tylers doing some top tier merging of everyday and heroic and I love them 
- Oh my god it’s like when they cut through the door to get to Ian!
- The Doctor’s look when he heard Linda scream 
- The Doctor’s exclamation when he realises Rose sees what he sees was really nice, he turned so caring from scared 
- Whoopsie sorry Jack
- You were fantastic, Nine, I’m so glad I decided to spread out this rewatch so I could keep you for longer
- Hey, Ten, let’s do this!
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