July 08, 2026
Daleks, Cybermen, and a fateful farewell – Beth Axford reminisces with fans and creatives from across the Whoniverse over the heartbreaking Series 2 finale…
Where were you when the Doctor and Rose Tyler said goodbye at Bad Wolf Bay? Every Doctor Who fan remembers the Doctor’s holographic outline, the sand beneath Rose’s feet and the haunting soundtrack that played over their final seconds together. It was one of the show’s most significant moments, and the story still stands out across the canon after two decades. Daleks, Cybermen, high stakes and heartbreak. Does Army of Ghosts/Doomsday have it all?
Among the fandom, one of the main reasons why this two-part story is so memorable is clear: ‘It has to be the long-awaited battle between the Cybermen and the Daleks!’ says Paul Kasey, Doctor Who creature actor and choreographer.
Comedian and fan Cameron Sinclair Harris agrees. ‘So there I was, glued to the screen, ready for an Earth-shifting finale that would have devastating consequences for our lead duo. And then… “The Sphere is not ours”. The mysterious sphere in the basement opens to reveal… DALEKS!’ The Army of Ghosts cliffhanger had viewers talking all week, eagerly awaiting the second half of the story.
‘I cannot undersell how utterly shook my eight-year-old self was. The stakes were raised immeasurably, and what was once merely just another fantastic episode of television became an Event. Everybody was going to tune in to watch the Daleks and Cybermen finally face off against each other after so many years, and I could not have been more excited!’
The episodes marked the first time in the show’s history that the Doctor’s two biggest enemies properly featured in a story together. The Daleks had been threatening the Doctor from the very beginning, and the Cybermen had been a Who staple since The Tenth Planet (1966), but the pepper-pot robots and silver metal men hadn’t fully come face to face until the Series 2 finale.
Everyone knew of the Daleks and the Cybermen. So to have them brought together was an event unlike any other, and together, they brought the humour that was needed to balance out the devastating consequences of the finale.
‘The reason Army of Ghosts/Doomsday is so rewatchable is the first 35 minutes of Daleks and Cybermen slinging insults and laser beams,’ says animator and writer Hamish Steele. "The Cybermen are superior in only one respect! You are better at dying!" was the clapback of the century!’
Nicholas Briggs voiced the Daleks and the Cybermen for the story. Having an argument against yourself must have made for an interesting day at work. ‘It was quite a challenge doing the Dalek and Cyberman voices in the same scenes,’ he recalls. ‘My biggest memory is of the big confrontation between the two, with the famous 'Pest Control!' line. The Daleks and Cybermen were talking to each other over comms, and the conversation was being overheard by the Doctor and Jackie in another room, too. So, those Dalek and Cyberman lines had to be spoken in all three locations!’ Briggs was present on set in all three places and had to record the scenes from all perspectives. ‘I would choose which voice I was doing at any one time, based on which creature was in shot. When there was a Dalek and a Cyberman in shot, I had to do some nifty control alterations on my ring modulator to get the appropriate voice effect ready in time for each line!’
Paul Kasey donned the Cyber Leader costume for the adventure, and has fond memories of the shoot:. ‘These are not only two of my most memorable episodes to have worked on, but they are also two of my most favourite Doctor Who episodes to date. I still feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to play such an iconic Cyberman in the history of the show!’
The story may be famous for its big baddies, but at its heart, Doomsday is all about Rose Tyler. She was the entryway into the Doctor’s universe when the show relaunched in 2005, bringing the audience along for exciting adventures through time and space. So when the Doctor said goodbye to Rose and her family on 8th of June 2006, a whole generation of children experienced their first heartbreak, and the television landscape was changed forever.
‘Rose was such an incredible companion. We were always in the moment with her, and so this final heartbreak is achingly real for the viewer,’ Doctor Who author Beverly Sanford reminisces. ‘The person you love, sacrificing everything for the greater good... of course, that’s why we love the Doctor, but to see him so vulnerable and broken through the loss is a wound that we never quite heal from.’
By the time of their departure, Rose and her family had become well-loved amongst viewers. Billie Piper won thirteen awards for the role over the course of her stint on the series, and her character helped significantly broaden Doctor Who’s audience. Fans had fallen in love with Rose Tyler, so when it was time for her to leave the TARDIS, they were understandably devastated.
‘For a lot of kids, Doomsday was the first time a TV show broke our hearts. Even with all of Rose Tyler's grim foreshadowing, I had no idea it would be as sad as it was!’ says Steele, who was aged fifteen when the episode aired. ‘I remember coming to dinner, not being able to explain why I was crying so much! I stayed up late rewatching our VHS recording over and over, hoping maybe this time we'd get a happy ending…’
Doctor Who was high in the public consciousness during the broadcast of Series 2, even winning a BAFTA in 2006 for Best Drama. David Tennant had settled into his role as the Doctor, and just as fans had fallen in love with him and his companion, everything changed. In hindsight, it might be a perfect example of the kind of writing fans have come to love about the show: two characters with infectious chemistry, cruelly torn apart before audiences were ready to let go. It certainly kept everyone glued to their screens.
‘Doomsday is one of those special episodes that no matter how many times I watch it, I fall in love with it all over again,’ Sanford says. ‘I know what’s coming, but I still need to go through it, heading for that moment when everything is lost.’
‘It was great, masterful storytelling, really. In that era of Doctor Who, there was such momentum towards that moment and that storyline. It contains some of the most heartbreaking Russell T Davies writing of that time, which lingers for a lot of viewers,’ explains telly expert Scott Bryan. ‘It’s the goodbye of one of the most notable companions, then ends with the introduction of another. It really felt like Doctor Who was at its peak!’
Having the harrowing events take place on our doorsteps really upped the ante for British audiences. ‘Doctor Who tends to feel a lot more real and scary if it is about our modern life and society being under threat, rather than a distant planet. The fact that it was based firmly in our world - in the UK - made it feel all the more real,’ Bryan explains. ‘It also shows us that Doctor Who isn’t really about the special effects. It’s about the storytelling and the writing, and this story was superb at that!’
Firmly rooted in our everyday life, with a huge showdown and an agonising goodbye. It’s no wonder we’re still reposting images of the Doctor and Rose pressed up against the walls of two separate worlds, pining for each other. Fans were heartbroken, but they also found strength in this story: if the Doctor can survive losing his true love, and Rose Tyler can live on in another universe, perhaps the losses in their own lives can be survived too. And in true Doctor Who style, there is humour and levity in the process, proving that even through our biggest battles, some light can be found.
Doomsday may have aired twenty years ago, but it will forever be remembered by audiences - helping everyone suck their demons into the void, face their goodbyes, and carry on adventuring, no matter what they have been through.
Doctor Who: Series 2 is streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and AMC+ in the US.
