Cast: Cassandra (Zoe Wanamaker), Jabe (Yasmin Bannerman), The Moxx of Balhoon (Jimmy Vee), The Steward (Simon Day)

Crew:
Writer: Russell T Davies, Script Editor: Helen Raynor, Director: Euros Lyn, First Assistant Director: Lloyd Ellis

Synopsis: The Doctor takes Rose on her first voyage through time, to the year five billion. The Sun is about to expand, and swallow the Earth. But amongst the alien races gathering to watch on Platform One, a murderer is at work. Who is controlling the mysterious and deadly Spiders?

'The End of the World' Background and Summary: Russell T Davies took the deliberate step of creating a make or break alien extravaganza as the second episode to sharply contrast with the homely and contemporary nature of the first episode. By way of laying the cards on the table the episode serves to illustrate the far end of whimsical fiction which the new series will reach. Perhaps more significantly the climate of this story was effected by the previous week's news frenzy caused by the announcement that Christopher Eccleston would not reprise the role of The Doctor - Something that rather overshadowed what should have been a very positive week following the commissioning of a second series plus a Christmas special. By the time of the broadcast of The End of the World however the 'scandal' had died down and there can be few people whose actual enjoyment pf the episode was marred by the news - particularly when taken in context this was now merely the second of 27 confirmed new episodes to be enjoyed over the next couple of years.

The reaction to the episode was very positive and its generally accepted to be better than Rose. The special effects and high alien-count did much to boost the general high-quality science-fiction feel of the episode although in truth the plot revolving around a woman killing to fund a face-lift is about as far-removed from Classic Doctor Who as one might imagine. The thin plot has to be put down to the format and despite more great dialogue and witty lines the short nature of the episode was still the biggest negative factor. Length aside, The End of the World delivered feature-film quality effects, high drama, great characterisaion and some lovely sentiment. With the first episode focussing purely on Rose and her emotions, the second episode touched a little on this as it explored for the first time the realistic reaction of a companion who has been abducted through time. However the main focus was the Time Lord himself and The Doctor's character had an emotional rollercoaster during the course of this episode: arguing, laughing, crying, even seemingly romantically attached to Jabe, and ultimately feeling such anger towards the villain of the piece that he failed to act to prevent her gruesome death.

The big revelation that the Doctor is the last of the Time Lords was an interesting move on the part of Russell T Davies. Presumably this twist is not designed to follow the continuity of the book The Ancestor Cell speificially but more to create a new sense of mystery around The Doctor which had been eroded by countless stories exploring Gallifrey. The loss of a home planet recreates the aimless wandering which drove the first and second Doctors and once again makes him a law unto himself rather than being either direct by, or answerable to, the Time Lords. As episode two ends with a resolution to the conflict between Rose and the Doctor it can almost be taken as the end of a two-parter, abeit one where the emotional story spans the episodes, rather than the adventure story. The End of the World finishes on a poignant note where the series began - rooted on contemporary Earth - and leaves The Doctor and Rose apparently comfortable with each other, their secrets shared, and ready to take on the universe. Episode three would be the first story not written by Russell T Davies and therefore the first story to really find its feet away from the necessary introductions.

Classic Series Influences and References:

• The collection of alien representatives echoes The Curse of Peladon (1972)
• The Doctor fixing Rose's mobile phone to work through time recalls a scene from The Three Doctors (1973) in which the Doctor modifies the Brigadier's walkie-talkie to work from inside the TARDIS.
• The Doctor expands on the explanation of how all aliens speak English first mentioned in The Masque of Mandragora (1976)
• Casandra's brain in a jar is very remniscent of The Brain of Morbius (1976)
• The Doctor mentions the unsinkable Titanic in Robot (1974). In The Invasion of Time (1977) he says he is not responsible for its sinking. In The End of the World however he confirms he was there and ended up clinging to an iceberg however in the previous story Rose its stated that the Doctor prevents the Daniels family from boarding the Titanic before its maiden voyage.