my retrospective review

pros

opening theme it is by far my favourite opening for the show it just irrigates me how after Steven Moffatt took over he changed it over and over again

open montage I think it’s a generally set up the average life she lives and why she would later be tempted to join the doctor

the doctor I like how the episode was written so people like me who didn’t really know much about the show wouldn’t be to confused as we basically meet him for the first time with rose

the villains they not the best villains to appear in the new series but they not the worst and they sort of work for the first episode

the tardis control room I love the way it looks it’s by far my favourite in the series

the character’s they come across realistic and entertaining to watch

the diversity it feels right that they reflected Morden day Britain with rose and mickeys relationship

the writing I feel that Russell t Davies is put down to much his story arcs are usually good and a lot of his episodes including this one are generally entertaining

the acting I generally think the acting his well done except maybe in noel’s case and you could easily argue that’s because of the writing

direction I really enjoyed the directors work he really did something with it that stood out

the music it’s probably the most consistent and well done music I ever heard on television thanks to Murray gold and his team

cons

the wheelie bin attacking mickey even at the time I first saw it I found it ridiculously irritating

the mickey duplicate through a combination of the writing acting and directing it was just weird how she didn’t know something was going on with him even if she was distracted by thoughts of the doctor

mickey his the only character that irritated me through out the episode which I would put down to the way the character is written

Very good pilot for the new series.

Great choice to bring the autons back as the first villains, worked perfectly with the episode and was a good example of the Doctor Who universe and what to expect.

Great introduction of The Doctor, and did some not boring exposition for those who knew nothing about him. And set up his character very well.

Rose, don't like her as a character because she is a terrible person, and that was in full effect from the start of this episode. And an issue i have with RTD's writing of Rose is, to make the audience like her, he makes her actions seem like they are good and puts the blame on others. (Mickey)

But this was a great pilot, good pace, well written story, good dialogue simply isn't much wrong with this story.

A promising start. It did a very good job of introducing people to the Doctor Who world, and he handled the Doctor's role very well, giving him a vibe both mysterious and humorous in a way that made you want to keep knowing more.

I found the conspiracy theories of the Doctor a nice flair that certainly gave a modern edge to that enigmatic, almost unnerving side to him. The episode would have benefitted from doing more of this, I think, as it was very engaging.

The episode was a bit too focused on the mundane and the ordinary side of life on Earth, which at the time I gave it the benefit of doubt that it was mostly just the pilot but unfortunately became a staple of this era. I understood the aim was to make people feel like Rose was a real character and to contrast our world with the Doctor's, but I feel like this was done far more than neccessary, at the expense of exploring a little more about the Autons or even developing Rose'a character. Too much soap opera there and I never enjoyed what often came across as a stereotype of the working class.

The Autons were quite cleverly used as the first monsters in a modernised revival of the show and props to them for using the old sound effects. A shame they weren't as scary as before, but I wouldn't say the creators are to blame.

Never been a huge fan of Murray Gold (string me up) and his music here isn't an exception. The pacing was good, but I wasn't too keen on the dialogue. I think it tried to hard to be snappy and witty like Buffy, but came across as obnoxious and forced.

Also worth mentioning the belching wheelie bins and plastic Mickey saying "pizza". That stuff was a little too cringey and unneccessary.


Quoted because you worded it better than I could, but it wasn't until a few episodes into S1 (the Slitheen two-parter) that I really started to dislike her.

Overall, a flawed episode that should be let off the hook for some things for being the first, but definitely a promising start to what I think was RTD's best season.

I started to dislike her after the unquiet dead episode 3. This episode, she didn't make a good impression but there were some aspects i liked about her. The End of the World, had her good and bad moments. Then the unquiet dead, and she never did anything to get out of my bad books.

I could just about put up with her in those first three episodes, though she had her bad moments, but once the Slitheen two-parter came and she acted like a teenager who'd just come back late from the club, pretty much blaming Jackie and Mickey for everything, it all went down hill from there for me.

I have watched Rose in the last few days and I still rate it as a good episode, albeit not a perfect one.

As an episode that had to launch the New Series, it was never going to be perfect. It had a lot to pack in, introducing both a New Doctor and companion, explaining the TARDIS and all that entails and then having to introduce two semi-regular characters in Jackie and Mickey as well.

I think that was all well handled and the way the TARDIS was gradually introduced was good as well.

It is very much Rose's story and The Doctor initially seems quite peripheral but like the TARDIS he is brought gradually into it.

The Autons make a welcome return and for us classic who fans who watched their initial adventure it was good to see them smash out of the shop windows rather than just hearing them as they did before.

I agree the wheelie bin scene is a bit silly and the Auton Mickey was a bit daft, especially as Rose doesn't really seem to click that Mickey is different, even when he weaves all over the road with his car!

One thing that scene did achieve on initial viewing for me was how far the effects had come even since the TV Movie in '96.

As I said, though, the episode wasn't perfect but it did what it had to do. There are far better episodes in Series 1(far worse too) and I certainly prefer it to a lot of episodes in recent series.

The nigh on impossible task. Resurrect a dead dodo in a TV landscape that had long given up on family drama as part of the Saturday prime time entertainment schedule.

It was destined to fail. The show had long become a TV joke. Along with 'Crossroads' Doctor Who was one of the go to references for cheap wobbly set TV.

A flash in the pan pop star in the latter stage of a dying manufactured career. One of the endless manufactured droids that arrived on the coat tails of the Spice Girls. Not exactly ideal for the underground, mainly male Doctor Who fans.

What? The guy that wrote 'Queer as Folk' Are you sure? The tabloids are going to have a field day with that. A gay Doctor in a pink Tardis.

Christopher Eccleston? Well to be fair, that could be interesting.

Oh god! It's going to be awful. It's going to change so much just to fit in this age of mainly PO-faced navel gazing US sci-fi. Hardly Saturday tea time family viewing. It's going to crash and burn.

Hang on… What's this?

It's fast and funny with a little bit of darkness just creeping out now and again. It wasn't afraid to be a bit silly here and there. A slab of pure Brit-Pop TV. Ideal for the times. It didn't beat the new viewer around the head with endless back stories about things they didn't know or care about. What the new viewer doesn't know the new viewer doesn't miss.

No Timelords, no Gallifrey. Just the Doctor on his own in his TARDIS.


Even after all these years I find it hard to be critical of 'Rose' as the sheer amount of things the episode had to do in order appeal to an older audience as well as grabbing a new one is eye watering.

RTD's master stroke was not throwing every element of classic who at the show, especially in its first series. I doubt any other writer and fan of the show would have had such patience. By doing this over several series, he was able to build new mythologies around classic characters. So much so in fact, that by the Time Lords and Gallifrey physically appeared they had gained mythical status within new and old fandom. All created by the odd mention here and there.

'Rose' and series one could have been an embarrassing disaster. A bodged UK sci-fi show that was axed after one series. Piilloried by critics with viewers turning off in their droves. This very Who forum would be a few classic Who fans that have the one and only series of the laughable relaunch on DVD. And only then for the sake of the collection.

**double post**. DS playing silly buggers by being slow for post to appear.

Great post. A classic episode of Doctor Who? Looking back 11, my god, ELEVEN, years...no, probably not. In the first block, this and the Slitheen 2 parter, they were feeling their way.

A clever, fun way of introducing the show to a new generation, and reacquainting it to the older viewers? A complete, and hugely important, success.

Great post

You've summed up how I also feel about the first episode and about the the way RTD brought back the show so masterfully. He perfectly balanced telling new viewers (me) what it was all about and giving them plenty to be interested about, whilst also showing Classic who viewers that it was the same show.

I feel that the main reason for the show being revived successfully was down to someone as dedicated and talented as RTD being at the helm. Had it not been the right man at the right time I very much doubt we'd be here talking about an upcoming tenth series.

Obviously that first episode was all important, and he absolutely nailed it. (Plus those 'do you want to come with me' promo's were great for attracting attention also.)

Summed up my own thoughts better than I could have. Agree with everything in your post Camera.

Re: other posters mention of Rose being flawed, I actually think that one of Russel's strengths and he does it again with Gwen in Torchwood - we're all flawed ( except me) but can still be likeable and good people. Don't like it when to dictates people are either angels or demons.

P.S. Is your username linked to the bbc 8th Doctor novel?

My problem there is Rose's flaws, and the flaws of RTD's characters in general, aren't correctly addressed so much as excused or outright ignored. Like we were supposed to forgive her disturbing treatment of other people simply because she was the main character. Giving a character flaws is very important to making them well-rounded, but I find it difficult to sympathise with Rose because I felt it was handled so tactlessly.

Some people point to somebody like the Twelfth Doctor being unlikable, but for me the difference is the show doesn't pretend he's perfect and it doesn't expect us to wave his flaws away. It knows he can be a rude and socially inadept man, but we see where such behaviour comes from and we see the manner in which it effects the people around him. That not only makes him a more interesting and in-depth character to me, but a more sympathetic one too.

But I never felt that Rose got off the hook either. As late in S1 as Boom Town Mickey still calls her out as an uncaring selfish bitch. S2 does dodge this to some degree but
iifes like that. I don't expect all people in real life who aren't Snow White to meet an end a la Alan Bradley, so I prefer it when flawed people can still be ultimately portrayed as for the most part decent but not succeeding to be 100% perfect. And I should know from experience, after met fair share of screw ups

Its not about having flaws, its the fact he glosses over them like they don't exist, and in the instance of Rose, to make her seem likable feels the need to harm other characters metaphorically speaking.

Sorry no. I have since become aware of it though. That and the pretty awesome Scottish Band.

You could argue that Rose was testing the waters. Figuring out what worked and what didn't and seeing what stuck. But that seems a massive disservice and an under-estimation of an episode that had a phenomenally difficult task.

It wasn't a new show so couldn't be given the full benefit of the doubt. It wasn't a continuation of a show that had last been seen on strong legs either. It was not able to depend upon being something new, and it couldn't depend on being old either. So what did it do? It opted to simply be something different.

Whilst by Doctor Who standards (especially in terms of the recurring elements of the RTD era) Rose could be seen as a fairly basic episode it was actually an exercise in patience. It didn't play any big guns, it didn't go around the universe, nor did it introduce anything in terms of heavy continuity. It worked a blank slate out of something pre-existing, and that sounds very Doctor Who! It nailed it. Basic though it seems in concept, it made an ultimately popular character out of a one-hit-wonder popstar and proved she had great acting skills. It transformed the character of the Doctor into someone largely new, with renewed mysteriousness. It subtly worked in an old enemy for the sake of returning fans, even if to just acknowledge that the show had a past.

Far from perfect (we can all do without the burping bin), and not a patch on episodes that came later on, Rose was an episode that used its phenomenal strength to just hit the ground running and kept everyone engaged enough to compel them to stick around. It has patience and opts to not jump the gun by throwing everything at the screen, but does enough and reinvents itself enough too (if also having to distance itself from what came before as well) with such success that people stuck around for more than a week. Not to play down the merits of stronger episodes since, everything we've seen since Series 1 does owe itself in some small part to this episode. It might not be the peak or anywhere near it, but it did its job and had a fair bit of fun along the way.