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Doctor Who - Rose

Rose Tyler investigates.
Rose Tyler investigates.

First came the announcement. In September 2003 it was revealed to us all that Doctor Who was returning, this time in the not inconsiderably safe hands of Russell T Davies. Julian, the most Whovian of my friends, claimed he couldn't think of a better man for the job. He went on to say the same thing about every major member of the cast and crew announced over the coming months. At that point I'd had minimal exposure to Who (my mum hated Sylvester McCoy, so I sadly missed out on my formative Doctor's adventures) but I felt that changing as the build up to the new series began. I started to do some serious swotting up, and then waited impatiently for the new series to begin. I was excited. Stupidly excited. Sci-fi was on its way back to primetime BBC and I was there to witness it.

And then the episode Rose happened. And on that day I fell completely, irretrievably in love with Doctor Who.

It's easy to forget, when we're sat here still soaking everything up from the series 2 finale, that Rose was quite a remarkable episode. It seems to have been banished into the shameful pit full of other much-maligned RTD scripts, and a lot of people have completely forgotten just what it did. It did a lot.

For a start, this is a completely new show. Forget, for a moment, that this was essentially season 27 of Who, because in reality this was series 1, episode 1. Year Zero. A blank sheet. And, as such, it needed to be written as a new show, re-introducing The Doctor, his life, his ethos and, of course, his companion. All of which was set to the tune of several hundred invading Autons, the first of the reprised enemies to make an appearance.

And that was a great deal to be done in 45 minutes of television. A great deal. And, as such, corners had to be cut somewhat. In this episode, the biggest corner cutting was done with the Autons and this is probably the source of the episode's (and, in a wider sense the whole show's) biggest problem.

The phrase Deus Ex Machina can clearly fuck off. It's now been used so much in the fan community it has become almost meaningless, with everybody spouting it off hoping to sound clever with their favourite Latin phrase. It was one of the main criticisms leveled at this episode because of the fact that The Doctor already had a ready made solution to the Auton problem which seemingly came form nowhere: anti-plastic (which isn't even a Deus Ex Machina, but never mind). However, anti-plastic was the key to sawing a huge chunk of exposition and plot away from the Auton storyline, and it's what allowed RTD to concentrate on other, more vital, areas of his story. It was needed, it was an entertaining and well executed idea (aaaanti-plastic!), and it was a very clear pointer to how the new series would differ form the old: same stuff but faster.

Mickey, the big twat.
Mickey, the big twat.

Within the first 20 minutes we've been fully introduced to Rose, her mother Jackie and her boyfriend Mickey. After those 20 minutes we have pretty much every last piece of information about these characters that we need. Rose is kind but drifting along in life, tied back by her mother who won't stop living her live through her, and a boyfriend who's infuriatingly simple and hum-drum. She's clearly frustrated with both situations, as is clearly witnessed in the scene after her place of work is destroyed by a lunatic. It's obvious, with us not even half way through the episode, that this girl is aching to be out of there and living a very different life. This introduction is all nicely backed up with a wonderfully creepy run-in with The Autons, and a spine tingling first encounter with The Doctor. "Run", he says, as Rose is whisked away from imminent death, the first taste of what will soon be her new life and the escape from her old.

So, halfway through and we know Rose and her family intimately. In the next half we need to develop a relationship between her and The Doctor, which needs to be strong enough to lead to her buggering off with him, and we also need to find and vanquish the Nestene threat. Too much to do with not enough time? No.

In one of my favourite scenes from the first series, Rose goes along to meet Clive, the Doctor enthusiast. He's been collecting photos and records of The Doctor's various appearances through time and acts as a very good device to introduce this man to the audience. He's clearly a time traveler and even regeneration is hinted at, all of which is carefully laying down the information the audience will need, with a heavy suggestion that the Doctor's life is most certainly not always peppered with smiles and fun and that trouble is never far behind.

As we got to know this new Doctor a little better, Christopher Eccleston's portrayal started to worry me just a little bit. He was obviously a man with polarised emotions, veering from deadly serious and grumpy to over excited and eccentric. He's the same man we've known for over 40 years, but Eccleston's 'eccentric' acting did strike me as a little hokey, with his joyful gurning actually making him look mentally unwell at times (in specific the scene with the Doctor and Rose walking away from her flats). However, all of that is quickly forgotten when he launches into his "That's who I am" speech, which still sends wave after wave of tingles down my spine every time I watch it.

As the final act kicks in and pace reaches almost breakneck speeds, things do start to fray at the edges, thanks in no small part to a certain director called Keith Boak. The now infamous first block of shooting was riddled with scheduling and production problems, with whole scenes apparently having to be re-shot at great expense, and the blame for this seems to be firmly with Boaky. But, for me, his greatest crime was totally sucking out all tension from the closing ten minutes of this episode. As the Autons move on London and close in on Rose's mum, Jackie, the Doctor is held in place by a single shop dummy, helpless and trapped after his failed attempt at diplomacy with the Nestene Consciousness (a big vat of molten plastic). And this lasts FOREVER. For minute after minute nothing actually happens. Autons converge on Jackie, Rose sits on the floor with a petrified Mickey and the Doctor continues to be vigorously bummed by a plastic man and all the while the Nestene blob laughs his molten arse off.

Chris Eccleston as The Doctor doing some ACTING.
Chris Eccleston as The Doctor doing some ACTING.

But this is Rose's episode, and in the end it was inevitable that she would save the day. And she does - with a Buffy-like monologue and an agile swoop towards the Doctor, she simultaneously knocks the anti-plastic into the heaving mound of Nestene Consciousness and allows the Doctor the distraction he needs in order to dispatch with his assaulter. I can just about forgive the staggering shitness of the build up and the cringeworthly uselessness of the Doctor, because I know Rose needed to be put in a position where she, and only she, could save everyone – after all, it was a key moment for her character. I just wished it had been done a little better.

At the time, I was convinced that this was one of the best episodes of anything I had ever seen. In fact, I still am convinced. At the time, it was one of the finest things I'd ever witnessed. Apparently, around 7 million of the 10 million viewers thought something similar.

Actually, the viewing figures are worth mentioning, I think. In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Mark Gatiss was talking about the up-coming debut and wistfully commenting on how wonderful it would be if the show got 4-6 million viewers. In fact, 6 million was the absolute maximum anyone would dare hope for. Now-a-days, hack newspapers are declaring a disaster if the show gets anywhere near as low as 6 million. Funny how expectations change so rapidly.

In conclusion, Rose did a hell of a lot of things right. It set up our characters and situation with pitch perfection and, at the same time, forcefully and empathically rammed Who back into the mainstream public's consciousness. A lot can be said against it, but for me, even over a year on, it's still a perfect example of an opening episode to a series, and I make no apologies when retrospectively awarding it five of our finest stars.

5 Stars

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Comments

I still think the series hasn't fully lived up to what was setup in 'Rose'. The 'that's who I am' speech and Rose's visit to Clive's really setup the Doctor as this powerful, important and almost mythical figure that seems pretty ridiculous now. Maybe some of this will come back in series 3 with the introduction of a new companion.

I also liked the pace of this episode. Yeah, people get pissed off that the Autons were short-changed, but it wasn't about them, it was about bringing people into the Doctor's world. It IS a shame the end was screwed up a bit. RTD said he wanted the Doctor to be pushed right to the edge by the dummys but the shots just didn't happen, or they couldn't do it for safety reasons or something.

By performingmonkey
July 23, 2006 @ 5:17 pm

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They couldn't have had a big blue/green safety net?

By Somebody
July 23, 2006 @ 7:04 pm

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Yes, 'Rose' is great stuff, as the first episode I can't imagine how it could possibly have been done better. The only thing that irked the fanboy in me was that Clive knew nothing about past regenerations, it would've fitted the line "I think it's a title passed down from father to son" perfectly.

Did Boak do that awful cliffhanger at the end of Aliens Of London where the Slitheen takes 10 minutes to raise his arm then ?

By Andy M
July 25, 2006 @ 11:00 am

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"Yes, 'Rose' is great stuff, as the first episode I can't imagine how it could possibly have been done better. The only thing that irked the fanboy in me was that Clive knew nothing about past regenerations, it would've fitted the line "I think it's a title passed down from father to son" perfectly.

To me, that line was enough. It was the first episode and as such I don't think an over abundance of regeneration comments would be needed. Eccleston's comment to the mirror was enough.

What 'did' bother me ever so slightly about the Clive stuff, though, is that it ignored the way time travel is meant to work in Who. Even though all those sigtings were in the past, they wouldn't exist until The Doctor has done them in *his* time. Since he'd just regenerated in Rose (or so we're led to believe) he wouldn't have had time to appear in all those places.

By Cappsy
July 25, 2006 @ 12:55 pm

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>Since he'd just regenerated in Rose (or so we're led to believe) he wouldn't have had time to appear in all those places.

Are we? I had the impression that he'd been hanging around for a while in that form before encountering Rose.

By Tanya Jones
July 25, 2006 @ 1:31 pm

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Almost everything gives that impression... except for the line where he comments on his appearance. Are we really to believe that, if he has been travelling on his own in that body for a while, this is the first time he's encountered a mirror?

By Seb
July 25, 2006 @ 1:37 pm

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It's a debatable point. There's the bit where the Doctor looks in the mirror and reacts as if he's seeing his face for the first time, but then there's also the evidence of the Ninth Doctor in various places (Dallas 63, Titanic) *without* Rose.

By Ian Symes
July 25, 2006 @ 1:38 pm

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> It's a debatable point. There's the bit where the Doctor looks in the mirror and reacts as if he's seeing his face for the first time, but then there's also the evidence of the Ninth Doctor in various places (Dallas 63, Titanic) *without* Rose.

I haven't rewatched the episode, but isn't there a bit near the end where he goes away, then comes back and says "did I mention it also travels in time?"

He could have done his other adventures then.

By Jake Monkeyson
July 25, 2006 @ 2:36 pm

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I don't think there's any question that the mirror comment is meant to suggest a new appearance. But then, he must have had a BIT of time to check himself out - to get into trouble, die, come back, and pick up the threads of the Nestene invasion plot, etc., etc.

It's just a gag, innit? Still...

Couldn't the Dallas/Titanic/whatever adventures have happened in the same series gaps that the spin-off novels fill? Which is to say, after Rose joined him. (She might just not have been in the pics; or you could write a million storylines where she's left somewhere for a bit while while the doc takes a wander.)

> Even though all those sigtings were in the past, they wouldn't exist until The Doctor has done them in *his* time.

Ah. Yes. Well, if these are the rules, then fair enough. Though I suppose we could say that that's only true for the perspective of TARDIS travellers; given the scene is show through Rose's view of Clive (neither of whom had experienced anything but a sngle timeline at that point), you could argue that there's only one timeline visible to them, and that incorporates any and all Doctorial changes.

Or something. Yeesh.

(Let's face it, the time stuff is just an excuse to keep moving around. Father's Day has very different rules to the norm. And why would the Doc have to miss his people and planet when he can just pop back to pre-destruction time? It's the same old thing - you go for the poetry, not the logic.)

Hey, after he blows up the building at the start of 'Rose' he bounces around in the TARDIS a bit - maybe then?

By Andrew
July 25, 2006 @ 3:49 pm

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Unsure of how Time Travel in Doctor Who 'works' but is it not also plausible that the photos were taken in Rose's future (ie. the Titanic, Dallas adventures are just missing adventures from Series 1) and she's just out of frame?

Anyway. Haven't seen this episode since it was shown but remember being distinctly underwhelmed. Thought the stuff with Mickey was terrible, particularly the dustbin bit.

By Pete Martin
July 25, 2006 @ 3:53 pm

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>Couldn't the Dallas/Titanic/whatever adventures have happened in the same series gaps that the spin-off novels fill? Which is to say, after Rose joined him. (She might just not have been in the pics; or you could write a million storylines where she's left somewhere for a bit while while the doc takes a wander.)

Whoops. Too slow.

By Pete Martin
July 25, 2006 @ 3:55 pm

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And why would the Doc have to miss his people and planet when he can just pop back to pre-destruction time?

Because it was a Tiiiiiiime Waaaaar (*said in ominously spooky voice*). The Time Lords didn't just get killed in one time and place, they got completely obliterated from existence, from all possible timelines - the Daleks are established, after all, as pretty much the only other race to have achieved mastery of time (I think). That's the way I saw it, anyway. Just how that explains why the Doctor (cos his parents would have been killed, innit) and his TARDIS (no-one to build it, innit) still exist, of course, I wouldn't care to speculate...

By Seb
July 25, 2006 @ 4:31 pm

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> Just how that explains why the Doctor (cos his parents would have been killed, innit) and his TARDIS (no-one to build it, innit) still exist, of course, I wouldn't care to speculate...

Well quite. :-)

By Andrew
July 26, 2006 @ 1:13 pm

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Well, he's a Time Lord. He can do ANYTHING*.

*Within the boundaries of the pre-watershed timeslot, of course.

By Cappsy
July 26, 2006 @ 1:19 pm

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Doctor Who used to be a father of course, until he never was a father.

By Geoff
July 26, 2006 @ 3:08 pm

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When was he never a father, then? All I know is that he had a grandaughter in the 60s and he's been mentioned as being a father in New Who.

By Cappsy
July 26, 2006 @ 5:13 pm

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Well from what I gather from all the comments above, the time war stopped the doctor from ever being a father. Or did it only eradicate actual Time Lords and people originating from Gallifrey? What actually defines a Time Lord?

By Geoff
July 28, 2006 @ 10:42 am

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Well, not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords, cf. Invasion of Time.

By Andy M
July 28, 2006 @ 12:01 pm

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I think it's pretty impossible for the new series to stick strictly to classic continuity, especially regarding time travelling 'rules' and Time Lords. However, I don't think RTD got the Clive scene right in 'Rose'. The problem is, he obviously didn't want to use images of previous Doctors - a) because new viewers only know Eccleston, b) it hardly helps going all fanwanky when it's supposed to be a reboot, c) seriously, who wants to see McCoy at the Kennedy assassination? So he basically had to say 'fuck it'. A wanky explanation that's being bandied around is that when you see an old image of the Doctor you always see the current incarnation. Of course, that throws the multiple Doctor stories out the window (RTD admitted he hates them).

Another thing I hate is the CRAP CRAP Photoshop job they did of Eccleston at said assassination. It might have been better if RTD had thrown in Rose saying that it looks fake, because it bloody did.

By performingmonkey
July 28, 2006 @ 1:28 pm

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It is a bloody rubbish Photoshop jobbie. Even RTD admits it on the commentary - and it was sent back loads of times. Fuck knows how bad the first version was!

A pity RTD doesn't like multi-Doctor stories, though. Although by the time it becomes sensible to do one, RTD will be long gone, I think.

By John Hoare
July 28, 2006 @ 2:33 pm

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An absolutely ATROCIOUS photoshop job. I haven't seen the episode Rose since first broadcast... is it just my memory telling me that they used the exact SAME bloody image of the Doctor's face for each of his appearances in time?

Dear Photoshopping Jobbers,
Thanks for your fourth attempt at making Christopher Eccleston look like he's actually at the Kennedy assassination and other places. Just a quick reminder that Doctor Who is an actual programme that will be on television for real. Do you think you could try again with this in mind?
Kind regards,
RTD

By Geoff
July 28, 2006 @ 3:17 pm

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> A pity RTD doesn't like multi-Doctor stories, though. Although by the time it becomes sensible to do one, RTD will be long gone, I think.

I had a great idea for a multi-Doctor story called The Time War. Potentially a Christmas special. It's essentially a flashback thing with Ten telling the story of the Time War to Rose (as was, it'd be Martha or someone now), with lots of sequences starring Eight. At the end, Eight is killed somehow (probably by the Dalek Emperor) and regenerates into Nine. I've not filled in all the details and that, but it's a feasible multi-Doctor story that could be done now.

By Ian Symes
July 28, 2006 @ 3:30 pm

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My idea was sort of Remembrance Of The Daleks (where the 7th Doctor goes back to where the 1st one was knocking about in the first episode) meets Back To The Future 2, with the 8th Doctor saving the 10th Doctors life in a way that caused him to regenerate into the 9th, with the background of the Time War, and the Black Dalek (potentially now the only Dalek in existence) going back to try and scupper the 8th Doctor wiping out The Daleks and the 10th Doctor hot on his heels to further scupper that plan.

It seemed like a marvellous idea at the time, but I was *dead* pissed.

By Michael Lacey
July 28, 2006 @ 9:24 pm

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I also had an idea for a Solaris meets The Prisoner episode where the baddies had no fronts on their heads, and they were just gushing blood down their tuxedoes. Worryingly, I was completely sober when I thought of that one.

By Michael Lacey
July 29, 2006 @ 2:34 am

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What I would adore is a 5th/11th Doctor story. Don't get me wrong, I love Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, but in terms of acting ability and sheer likeableness, Peter Davison beats them by miles. I've just finished watching The Caves of Androzani, and he's stunning in it.

I can't see it ever happening, though.

By John Hoare
July 30, 2006 @ 4:04 am

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Well, Sylvester McCoy was great in his contribution to the abysmal feature film, and I'd love to see him playing the Doctor again in that guise. I agree with whoever said he was like a retirement version at that time, and in some ways reminiscent of William Hartnell. That would be lovely.

By Patrick
July 30, 2006 @ 2:45 pm

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Caves Of Androzani is definitely Davisons finest hour, but I don't think he has that many good stories

By Michael Lacey
July 30, 2006 @ 3:53 pm

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Technically, the only past Doctor that could return is McGann because we never saw how old he looked when he regenerated. None of the others would make sense because they're so much older (or dead, in the case of Doctor's 1-3). The Time War story is a great idea. I don't think RTD has finished with the Time War yet, so it would make a great finale to season 3, sort of wrapping the whole thing up in a three season arc.

By performingmonkey
July 30, 2006 @ 7:56 pm

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None of the others would make sense because they're so much older (or dead, in the case of Doctor's 1-3)

Three words : The. Dark. Dimension.

By Seb Patrick
July 30, 2006 @ 8:01 pm

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Yes and Dimensions in Time. Unless it's not to be counted as canon.

Also which was the multi-Doctor story that had the first Doctor after Hartnell's death? The makers of that seemed to think that any old bloke would do to represent the first Doctor.

I agree that multi-Doctor stories are very problematic and, on the whole, have been shit. If they're going to do one for the new series they have to be really careful. Even if we decide all the Doctors can only appear under the age they were when they regenerated (something we won't be able to agree on), I can't see a problem with them using McCoy, as he doesn't look that much older now than he did for the TV movie. There won't be a McGann appearance though, as that Doctor's image is part owned by The Americans.

By Patrick
July 30, 2006 @ 8:38 pm

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I think the joke is that, in the history of Who - and as shown with School Reunion's companion subplot - Davies and his merry band are the first group who could genuinely do a brillant and touching multi-doctor story...and are also the first to not want to.

If they can do a Dalek deal, I wouldn't believe the McGann problem to be completely insurmountable...but you'd have to really want to do it. And *sniff* they don't.

Like original cybermen, I suspect we'll have to just learn to live without...at least until 10 or 15 years down the line when a whole new team is brought in.

By Andrew
July 30, 2006 @ 11:08 pm

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Well. You say they don't want to. And maybe they don't, right now.

But Sam Raimi didn't want to put Venom in the third Spidey film, either. And let's not forget that RTD has flat out lied about a lot of stuff in the past two years - "The Daleks won't be coming back after the end of series one." "Rose will be in series three". And so on.

So, you never know. The problem, I suppose, is that a multi-Doctor story just wouldn't resonate with large chunks of the "new" audience, and I suppose they have to be respectful of that fact. Sigh.

By Seb Patrick
July 30, 2006 @ 11:19 pm

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Surely Richard Hurndall was a dead ringer for Hartnell, not just some old feller? I can't really remember much but I do remember being impressed by the likeness.

By Michael Lacey
July 31, 2006 @ 12:03 am

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