Today has been a lovely, lovely day. Work-wise I have a software release going out tomorrow, and by quitting time today I had effectively cleared out my bug list. Theatre-wise I got some very good casting news today, and it's something I'll probably be talking a lot about in a couple months. I spent more than a little time doing a happy dance around my home office. This evening my wife and I went out for a celebratory dinner, and had a delicious Indian meal. I am a very satisfied boy right now.

I also watched the final Ninth Doctor episode this morning, so let's talk about that.

The Parting of the Ways

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

How much do I love this season finale? Well, it features a kiss between the Doctor and Rose, and it didn't even bother me. 

The episode kicks off with the Doctor living up to his promise to rescue Rose from the Daleks. swooping her up in the TARDIS and then bringing her back to the broadcast satellite in order to prepare for the impending Dalek invasion of Earth. Unfortunately, it is a hopeless cause. Even if the Very Clever Weapon that the Doctor devises "works", the end result will be that it not only destroys the Dalek battle fleet but it will also wipe out all life on Earth. He knows this, and Jack knows this. Rose, not so much. She has absolute faith in the Doctor. And then this happens.

The Doctor tricks Rose back into the TARDIS and sends her back home, rather than let her die. It's a gut punch, with both Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper turning in pitch perfect performances. The battle goes poorly. All of the station residents die. Captain Jack Harkness dies. Ultimately the Doctor is unable to push the button and destroy the Earth. All hope is lost.

But of course Rose can't let it go. She looks into the Heart of the TARDIS, becomes the Bad Wolf, and then this happens:

The thing that makes this climax work so well is that, although in theory it is all about huge stakes with the very existence of Humanity hanging in the balance, it ultimately comes down to a very personal moment between the Doctor and Rose. In future seasons it seems like Russel T Davies continually tries to amp up the stakes to ludicrous levels, but they never work quite as well during his era as this finale right here. 

This story right here exemplifies everything that Doctor Who can be, and gives Eccleston the sendoff he so richly deserves for masterfully bringing back the character and thrusting him into the twenty first century.  Only thirteen episodes, and there is not a single moment in which he was not brilliant in the role. In many ways, Christopher Eccleston did the same thing for the modern series that Patrick Troughton did for the classic -- they both stood up in front of a skeptical audience and proved that Doctor Who was still relevant and exciting, still had new stories to tell, and even though the Doctor might be different he is still absolutely the same in all the ways that matter. 

Tomorrow I begin my month-and-a-half with the Tenth Doctor, which I am very much looking forward to, but tonight I am happy to have gotten to spend a few weeks with the Ninth Doctor again. It's been too long since I revisited these episodes.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Ninth
Companion(s): Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness
Episode(s): The Parting of the Ways
Steps Walked: 7,470 today, 2,633,047 total
Distance Walked: 4.04 miles today, 1,368.96 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 483 total
Weight: 251.56 lbs (five day moving average), net change -55.74 lbs