pros

the special effects hold up pretty well even 11 years later

the guest characters introductions are handled pretty well

roses reaction to meeting aliens for the first time

rose's disgust to what Cassandra's done to herself

rose's doubts about traveling with the doctor feeling overwhelmed

the phone call to her mum

the doctor's relationship with jabe

the reveal of the time war

jabe's death

the plumber's death it was surprising emotional

the end scene back on earth

it generally felt well written acted directed and scored

cons

Casandra was to camp for me in some scenes

This episode was even better than the first one, as we really got a glimpse into the weird and wonderful side of the Doctor Who universe. Unfortunately, this is something that wouldn't exactly be followed up on so it sort of gave false hopes.

Platform One was very well-designed and atmospheric, which was only added to by the variety of alien species. On emotional aspects the episode didn't too shabby and certainly captured the wonder as well as the morbidity of seeing the destruction of the Earth, and the phone call with Jackie was quite a clever scene.

The plot had its usual problems, though. The switch for the fans being at the end of the hallway, and the whole design of the walkway blocked by fans, was a little too silly, and the Doctor doing that weird walking through them thing was just a bit... no. He's not a superhero. Also found the pop stuff a little doltish and atmosphere-breaking; totally unneccessary.

Unfortunately, this was an episode that gave me false expectations. Mark Gatiss gave us The Unquiet Dead after this, and Robert Shearman did a shining job on Dalek, but for the most part the series would start to go downhill for me starting from Aliens of London. This whole world of weird and wonderful aliens we saw in The End of the World was short-lived: RTD would begin to show his lack of creativity when it comes to sci-fi elements and instead show us a disappointingly generic and uninspired world centered in the estates of London, which is a real shame for me being as the fascinating aliens and planets are one of my main appeals to the show. The plots would become more vapid and uninspired, Rose more unlikable and that emotional element would become more artificial and forced.

I equate it to the feeling of watching a well-made trailer that gets you hyped for a movie, only to feel crushing disappointment when actually watching it (I'm looking at you, Batman v Superman).

Still, not a bad episode on its own.

I loved this episode when it was broadcast and still have a lot of fondness for it now. In 2005 (without the hindsight of the last 11years knowing that the show has gotten bigger both visually and globally) we didn't know what it was capable of and if it would hold up and be a success. Remember that CGI on to was not as sophisticated as it is now but at the time this felt like the show flexing its muscles and showing what it as capable on ( and would go on to do this even more effectively with Dalek! Empty Child later).
Touches like Rose asking why aliens speak English and her being overwhelmed with her first tip away from Earth answered the questions never asked since Ian and Barbara in 1963 so felt reasonable within the episode.
Cassandra felt like a fresh take on a Dr Who villain and was a fun one for the first time.
In hindsight, probably quite risky given they didn't know how the public would receive the new show but I'd say a success.

It was a solid episode. I'd say the main purpose was universe building and it did it well. The plot was intriguing, all be it camp at times.

Learnt some more things about The Doctor, but it sure did have issues this story.

Is your third review out yet?

not yet I got a lot going on at the moment my nan's funeral's in a few days but I will do it as soon as possible it could be a good distraction

The End of the World was the first "look at what we can do" episode that the show tried to pull off. It's done a few - showcases for what the show is capable of in a way. The effects were good, it had a few decent guest stars (Zoe Wannamaker was an inspired choice for Cassandra) and it afforded time to both The Doctor and Rose to help us get to know them both a little better.

But the biggest strength of The End of the World is its storytelling. The plot itself is relatively straightforward in premise - Earth is getting roasted, and it poses a problem of sorts to the cannon fodder cast. But it was the smaller details that made it work - that even that far down the line the whole thing boiled down to money. That the villain had a smart plan involving getting rich through murdering rival shareholders - it was just inventive and quirky. I loved that on top of that she had a back-up plan as well, in which she would have claimed compensation on a fake hostage situation. It was clear villainy, but for something a bit more uniquely motivated than a lot of ideas that villains have.

The pop songs will date the episode in a way, though Eccleston's head-bopping to Soft Cell's Tainted Love might just be worth it, as is Cassandra's joke that Toxic is an old Earth ballad. I can see what they were going for with it and appreciate the passing laughs without getting too caught up on how dated it could make the episode feel.

The episode doesn't hold back when it starts offing cast members. This isn't a show that establishes long term characters we see come back again and again. It will mercilessly kill off good characters, and bad ones. Once again..."look what we can do". It was a sign of everything the show was capable of, and in a way deserving of the New Earth trilogy it eventually became a part of. There's also not really an episode quite like this one done since - Series 7's The Rings of Akhaten redid the alien-crowd vibe but perhaps less successfully (I enjoy that episode for what it's worth).

Finally, the episode gives the shows first real foray into juxtaposition... something RTD seemed to be a big fan of. The contrast between the alien world and the domestic life back on Earth. Series 1 does it the best (2 and 3 were too domestic to make it work so effectively) by drawing a distance between the mad world of the Doctor, and the mundane life of Rose... the scene with Jackie doing the washing whilst Rose looks out over a dying Earth encapuslates so much of what RTD's Doctor Who was all about..."look what we can do".

I spotted The Bad Wolf Meme in this episode the blue guy says something about how this is just like some Bad Wolf scenario when the Satelite is taken over and gonna explode

Going back to the Bad Wolf arc, did this ever appear in TEC/TDD 2 parter?

The Doctor commented that Bad Wolf appeared everywhere they went but I never called a reference to it in those episodes.

The big missile that Jack sits on, vicar, in TDD has Bad Wolf scrawled on it.

Eta More accurate answer from JS!

Don't recall one in The Empty Child, but The Doctor Dances had a mangled German version of the phrase on the side of the bomb:

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/...20100613084445

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doc...nces_(TV_story)

I believe there was a bomb with Bad Wolf written in German on it...
edit - while I was checking this, this point has been answered twice! I'm too slow...

I will have to look again