Rose (TV story)

Comment down your problems with the first episode of the revival series.

Gets offended whenever the Doctor insults humanity as a whole

This can be found in “Rose” “Fathers Day” and a bunch of others that use the phrase “stupid ape” or any other insult to humanity that can be self explanatory

I truly believe that even the worst episodes have something good about them, so I thought I would start this little series of positivity where everyone can mention one thing that they like about an episode. It can be a scene, quote, character, plot point, or even just a particularly nice visual image or piece of music. Anything you like. I'm starting with the new series and hopefully, if I manage to keep it going that long, I'll do the Classic series next.

So, first episode. Let's go.

One thing I think this episode did particularly well as what is essentially a pilot episode is that very first shot of the TARDIS. They could have done this grand spectacle - it's the TARDIS, it's iconic! - but they didn't, and I am grateful for it. The way the camera pauses and the music changes as Rose runs past it was just enough to excite the old fans and signify the importance to any new viewers who were totally unfamiliar.

Hey there everyone! I'm rewatching the entirety of Davies Era Who, and I decided to review the first three episodes of the first series that I just finished rewatching. In this ridiculously long review, I'm going to talk about each episode for a bit without spoiling any of the story, then give a grade between F and S (like a tier-list). So with that being here are my reviews.

Episode 1: Rose

• Rose was the very first episode of the Doctor Who reboot in 2005, and serves as an introduction to the Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) and his future companion Rose Tyler. It also introduces us to some side characters for this run; Rose's boyfriend Micky and her mom Jackie. The characterisation for all of these characters is excellent and exemplary for the show as a whole. Maybe I just find it so impressive because I was forced to watch the planks of wood that are the Thirteenth Doctor's companions, but either way it's still good characterisation we get given. The Ninth Doctor, in this episode and especially the next one, has an edge of darkness and coldness to him at times, which makes perfect sense after the Time War. He and Rose play off of each other immensely well here. Another thing I also really appreciate about this episode is how simple and straightforward the plot is. After the muddiness that is many of Moffat's scripts in later seasons, rewatching this episode was almost refreshing in comparison. So is it perfect? No. Mickey is kinda annoying here compared to later episodes and there are quite a few cringe-worthy moments to be found here and there, but to be honest I don't care that much. This episode served as a great premier to a fantastic run of Doctor Who, and while it might not be as good as some later episodes in the run, it's still a really good one. (B+)

Episode 2: The End of the World

• The End of the World picks up right where Rose left off and follows Rose's first space adventure. This episode is for some people 'the problem episode', that might scare off newbies to the show. And I really can't argue with that assessment. To be perfectly fair though, I don't think this episode is bad overall; in fact I think it's slightly above average. However I also feel that the world is so off-putting and weird at first glance that newcomers would definitely not be so sure about this one. But I also think that despite some problems with this episode (the laughable villain, the weird pacing, some really bizarre problems with the design of the ship; like frick who's idea was it to put the giant fans in that place) is still pretty decent and ties in very nicely to the rest of the season. While Rose really has nothing to do with the plot, it's ok because she's going through her own thing of coming to grips with this future world and reflecting on whether going off with the Doctor is a good idea. This episode further characterises her in even stronger ways than the previous one, and by the end was actually gets to see her and the Doctor bond together in a natural way. (They showed us why they grow to appreciate each other, not tell us they have with clunky dialogue. Take notes Season 11.) The scene where the Doctor refuses to show mercy for the villain is also very important for his arc this season; in retrospect, we can see how much he's changed as a person since then. The ending scene also gets me every time. Overall this episode has a lot of strong stuff and is pretty fun overall, if knocked down a little by its problems. (B-)

Episode 3: The Unquiet Dead

• WHAT THE HECK. I have no memory of this episode being so good. When did this happen? Again, maybe it's just because of how sick I am of Moffat and Chibnall Who, but dang. This is honestly one of my favourite episodes of Series 1. There's some clunky storytelling here and there that stops it from being one of the all-time best episodes, but man was it still great. I absolutely loved nearly every aspect of it, in particular the characters. Rose gets even more meaningful characterisation, and by this point you can tell who she is. Charles Dickens was... well, amazing. I absolutely adored his inner conflict and struggle. There was so much heart in this episode and it absolutely brought me joy. The story is engaging and intriguing as well, once again showing us more of the dire consequences of the Time War and its general effect on this Universe. The pacing is good, the jokes don't feel out of place at all, the setting is great; man how come I didn't realise what a masterpiece this was before? This was such a welcome surprise, and I can't wait to check it out again in the future. (A)

Well those were my thoughts I suppose. Maybe I'll do this again when I'm done watching the next couple of episodes. For now, I'll let you know that season is definitely one of the best of the reboot, as well as this era being one of the best in all of Doctor Who. It's infinitely superior to the Moffat Era and the Chibnall Era in every way, and an incredible television experience.

Hello :) I know this is a bit early but I'm going on holiday next week, and won't have access to my laptop and this cite is super difficult for me to use on mobile, so enjoy :)

In case you're not familiar with the Target range, it's basically the where a writer (be it a writer from the actual show, or another writer) will create a more detailed novelization of a televised episode. This month's book review will be on the novelization of Rose.

Holy hell, I loved this novel. I loved the amount of thought and detail put into this book by the amazing Russell T. Davies, and I loved the extra information that's given to us in it.

However,

I'm a sucker for accuracy, and some of the lines in this book kind of pissed me off. Thankfully a few of the important ones like my own username and "...you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So may I suggest that you shunt off?" were spared but there were a few that I still think about months after having read this book. For instance, Davies starts off by going into detail about Wilson, the Caretaker at Henrik's, but in the episode, Wilson is actually the chief electrician. Honestly this one is totally fine and I can definitely look past it, as Davies gives us a spectacular backstory to a character we don't even get to see on screen, but the one that really does bother me comes up when Rose starts thinking about "...a man, some drunk, [who] had called out to her from the shadows, by the bins. He'd asked her what year it was.". If you recall at the end of The End of Time Pt.2, the 10th Doctor memorably says to Rose Tyler "I bet you're going to have a really great year," , but in Davies novel, the Doctor says, "This year is going to be great.". Honestly, I couldn't really say why this bothers me, it just does, and I can't really blame Russell for not remembering the line, it was one line, from one character, from one episode that he wrote 10 years ago. In an interview with Steven Moffat (Happy Birthday Steven, btw), Russell said that he actually go back a read any of the original scripts for Rose as he didn't want to just be writing a transcript, and include more details and ideas.

Other than that, I only have good things to say about this book. There was a lot more information about characters who either didn't have very much screen time, such as Clive, or who only had their names dropped, such as Rose's ex-boyfriend, Jimmy Stone. I really liked the part where Rose goes to talk to Clive about the Doctor, we get to learn a lot more about why Clive had been researching him, and how much information he'd actually gathered.

If you're thinking about getting into Target Novels, I would definitely recommend this as a starter. It gives you a good view of how Target Novels work, and how much information and ideas that end up getting scrapped in the actual episodes due to time, budgeting or effects. All in all, this was a read and I'd give this novel 9.99 TARDISes

Mine was S1 E1 Rose. How about you?

I don't write Doctor Who and it's not my place to boss Chibnall around but I think Doctor Who would benefit from officially canonizing the loose nature of its canon. What I mean by this is having the Doctor in an episode directly mentioning plotholes in Doctor Who and conflicting aspects of the mythos and explaining that those are competing realities. I've seen this concept mentioned in spinoff material and recently by Davies in relation to his eighth Doctor Time War story.Officially canonizing everything to the extent that it's legally possible without having to go into great detail would be a really neat way to get the most out of almost sixty years of stories. Before anyone says The Timeless Children already makes everything canon I would just like to preemptively say that it does not. A story like Scream of the Shalka makes no sense in the context of a pre Hartnell Doctor in the primary universe of the show, nor do the Peter Cushing movies.

Now, we all know how important Rose is, and I've got a special place in my heart for it, but I gotta say, the novelisation is better. It's got more diverse characters, all those little character expansion moments that the old Target Books had, plus, it feels like good old RTD giving us one last treat. Thoughts?

This is a Ranking of all series openers including the first episodes of part 2 of both series six and seven. How would you rank these stories?

1. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon

2. Spyfall

3. Deep Breath

4. The Eleventh Hour

5. Rose

6. The Pilot

7. The Woman Who Fell to Earth

8. Partners in Crime

9. Asylum of the Daleks

10. The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar

11. Let's Kill Hitler

12. Smith and Jones

13. The Bells of Saint John

14. New Earth