Rose

Series 1, Story 1/10, 1 x 45min episode, 26th March 2005, Writer: Russell T. Davies, Director: Keith Boak, Producer: Phil Collinson, Executive Producers: Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner & Mal Young 

So cast your mind back 18 years... 

You might have seen an advert rather like this: 

"D'you wanna come with me? 

'Cause if you do then I should warn you... 

...you're gonna see all sorts of things. 

Ghosts from the past... 

Aliens from the future... 

...the day the Earth died in a ball of flame. 

It won't be quiet... 

...it won't be safe... 

...and it won't be calm. 

But I'll tell you what it will be - 

...the trip of a lifetime!" 

Or one-time pop star Billie Piper might have told you... 

"I've got a choice... 

Stay with my mum, my boyfriend, my job... 

Or chuck it all in for monsters and danger... 

...and life or death with him. 

What do you think?"

Well? What DO you think? D'you wanna go with him...? 

Of course you do! Travel back in time now, as we revisit the return of a legend...

The title sequence's great; the initial blue hue evoking the Tom Baker titles. 

The theme might take some getting used to but it has the main melody right. 

Much better than any attempt since about '86, in my opinion.  

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i like it the best of the modern themes (anything since 1980!) 

Daniel @Yetaxa_95 · They've aged really well. Still my favourite titles of the new series (although I prefer the 2008 arrangement of the theme). 

Here we go... 

Great initial shot of the Moon and Earth. 

Looking good. 

Ah. Now it's all gone a bit CBBC with cartoony colours. 

There's lots of energy, though and to be fair this montage nails the banality of Rose's life. 

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan ·  I know exactly how Rose feels doing the same thing every day. 

Okay, much better, we're into a creepy basement. 

Michael Bater @GreenLeftie ·  It's where Rose keeps the EU make up mountain she uses. 

50dw50 @50dw50 · almost time for Mr. Norton's semi-regular unintentional cameo... 

Autons! Brilliant. :-) 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  I adore the Autons, great monster, I wish they had been a bit more blood thirsty in this one. 

"Derek, is this you?"

This is easily several, not just one, up on the mistakes the TV Movie made: 

Straight into weird scares, no continuity. 

Feels dangerously low budget so far, though. 

"Run!" 

Ladles and Jellyspoons, the introduction to your new Doctor! 

He's obviously very different from (most) previous Doctors. 

Dresses very differently for one thing. 

Love "Wilson's dead." Cold. 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  wilsons dead and so are they cows that made my jacket!

This new Doctor's got swagger and the right amount of "outsider" about him. 

"Nice to meet you, Rose, run for your life!" 

Good job she follows his advice... 

...as he blows the roof off. 

Rose runs home, past an old Police Box... 

It's immediately clear Rose's mum & boyfriend are holding her back. 

Jackie's a funny character, Mickey's a clown.  

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  I initially found Jackie and Mickey annoying... but liked them by time of S1 finale and in series 2. :-) 

Mickey chucks the Auton arm in the bin, so that's the last we'll be seeing of that. 

In the morning, Jackie discourages Rose from looking for a new job, telling her to go after compensation instead. 

Rose hears a scrabbling at her catflap... 

It's that northern bloke in the leather jacket again! 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  with the invention of the war doctor his costume does not seem that original.

With hindsight, yeah, but this was a real shake-up at the time.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"Well what do you do that for?" 

Bonehead. 

She hauls him inside... 

...where he's soon on the receiving end of Jackie's best flirting. 

Seems clear that he's not long regenerated as he's not entirely used to his physical appearance. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  I liked that they included that bit... we didn't get to see a regeneration but at least they acknowledged it. :-) 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  he can still taste Clara's tea on his lips 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  Just a thought... if DWM had done regeneration in The Flood would that mirror scene have contradicted it/still been included?

At a stretch - that being him never seeing his reflection before now - I guess it could have been possible but in reality the strip regeneration was always scuppered because RTD decreed he could have no other companion than Rose. For the 9th Doctor's Big Finish stories to work you do really have to turn a blind eye to this line, as it seems clear enough that RTD's intention was that he'd not long regenerated (and directly from Paul McGann's 8th Doctor!).

"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien." Is this trying just a bit too hard to make Heat readers forget it's Doctor Who? 

Oh dear, terrible mugging with the Auton arm! In the best tradition of Pertwee being throttled by the Nestene in Spearhead from Space, to be fair. 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 · That was the first time the new series made me cringe. It wasn't the last :)

...and I'm not taken with this incidental music at all. Hope it settles down as the series goes. 

For all this nitpicking, though, it's totally engaging. It's better now it's the dialogue between Rose and the Doctor. 

Not convinced the lighter, jokier stuff is something Eccleston pulls off convincingly, but maybe it's the point that it's forced. 

Paul Cooke @paulpcooke ·  He did gurn rather a lot, I thought.

The signature woozy smeared light has dated badly, and is more annoying than JJ's lens flares. Of course it's not the only thing about the episode that's aged badly *cough cough Noel Clarke cough cough*

Xander @Rednax42 ·  Apparently it was a "Pro-mist filter" on the camera. I remember TV pros complaining at the time. Maybe it was an attempt to distance the relaunch from the "video look" of the classic series?  

KrynoidPodCast @KrynoidPodCast · I found it 'distanced' me a bit from the action somehow. I suppose I wasn't used to Doctor Who looking like that. 

But then there's a moment of magic... 

...the little speech about feeling the Earth move under your feet, and the first taste of the Bad Wolf music. 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 ·This was the moment that I knew this was the same show. Absolute magic. 

And like that, he's gone... 

Nice bit of reality as Rose scolds Mickey about cleaning mugs, that's a more healthy bit of reality-grounding. 

Then Rose goes on the internet and looks up terribly photoshopped pictures of the Doctor in Dallas, 1963. 

Mickey owns Bumblebee! Cool!  

Love Mark Benton's conspiracy nut. 

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan · I love his subconscious nod to the TARDIS with his blue shed. 

The windows are the wrong shape. And the door. And...

"When disaster comes, he's there!" 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 · All these pictures of a pre-Rose ninth Doctor are very unconvincing. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · Shame he didn't have anything on past Doctors... would have been nice nod if had pictures in background or something. :-) 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  its fun to see 9 in the alternate costumes. So when did he get time to do all this if he is a new doctor? 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 · I've wondered that. But then it's something that only fans would obsess over I suppose. 

11thDoctorAdventures @11thDoctorComic ·  He had a very busy day! 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  and never passed a mirror! 

Paul Cooke @paulpcooke · This episode is obviously meant to be his first adventure, so where do these lot fit in? Wonder if it was season 2, before Eccleston quit? 

jamieGroovement @jamieGroovement ·  I always thought they were adventures he hadn't had yet, considering first time looked in a mirror. 

March Phorwards @DaftPhully ·  I'd have prefered that story arc.  

Paul Cooke @paulpcooke · "RTD did timey wimey, not just Moff!" shock 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  I like the theory that they are adventures he had between leaving and then coming back for Rose at the end. :-)

Time to take out the trash... 

Some ropey green screen with the Auton bin, and then it burps!  

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i like this scene and i don't care! 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 · This was the second cringe worthy scene in Rose! Good for the kids I'm sure but it doesn't work for me. 

Very uneven in tone this, it was starting to get good but then it goes sub-CBBC for a few moments too, though that seems to mostly be the direction, to be fair (e.g. the flat, ordinary, square-on shot framing and tone of the scenes with Mickey and the bin).  

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i am not sure the director and the producers saw eye to eye 

It might have something for all the family, but not necessarily all at the same time. It's a bit like lumpy gravy or cake mix, this. Needs all it's elements blending together a bit better. 

The Doctor turns up to fire a cork into Auton Mickey's head. 

As you do. 

Even pulling Mickey's head off doesn't do the trick, because (duh, Rose!) he's an Auton! 

As the headless body thrashes after them, Rose empties the restaurant... 

...and they scarper through the kitchen to the alleyway outside. 

The TARDIS! 

Go in, go in! Let us see the inside!   

At first, it's too much and she has to go back out to check out what she can't believe...

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 · Her first entrance to the TARDIS, and ours, was wonderfully done. Great work from the director here.

More to do with the script than the direction, I'd say. Hard to get what's scripted here wrong, even for Keith Boak.

It's orangey brown with green lights. Oh. 

I'm not a massive fan of the "organic" look. 

Whilst it's been said in the past that the TARDIS is in some ways "alive", it's still supposed to be a machine. 

It looks okay, and I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I'd hoped for better than this. 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i was just pleased they had not made more radical changes, i am quite nostalgic for it now 

David Cann @drwhofan_194 ·  Love this console room :) 

11thDoctorAdventures @11thDoctorComic · I think it worked better when it was less dim and like in that Series 1 trailer where it was more white- I liked it there. I'm fond of all the New Series ones, just less fond of the coral version. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  I preferred the later console rooms, and like Capaldi's current one (a mixture of classic and new). but looking back I like the 9/10 console more now its a past console room, then I did when it was current. 

It *is* bigger on the inside though. Great dialogue here.  

The Doctor hadn't given a second thought to what has happened to the real Mickey, which goes down like a led balloon with Rose. 

But now she gets her first taste of TARDIS travel, even if it is only travelling in space, not time, as the Doctor tracks the Nestene signal using Auton Mickey's melting head. 

He's lost the signal... 

...close to whatever the Nestene Consciousness is using as a transmitter dish, but no cigar. 

"How comeS you sound like you're from the north?" Awful forced fake dialect in Rose's scripting there. 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  your from da norff mary poppins 

Love his childish glee explaining that the police box is a disguise. 

Pete Lambert @other_pete ·  "Anti-plastic! I'm allergic to latex!" 

Lovely shots of Eccleston framed by the London Eye. 

Ian Robinson @ChorleyRobbie ·  It’s a halo - he is a God, come to Earth to save us. 

Darth Marenghi @DarthMarenghi ·  Christ metaphors? What are they, then? :p 

Paul Cooke @paulpcooke ·  The Second Coming. The start of RTDs Messianic Doctor that culminated in Tennant.

"Fantastic!" 

Everyone loves them running across the bridge. 

The Nestene Consciousness is decent CGI if slightly cartoony. Shame it wasn't a cephalopod though! 

I AM TALKING! 

But the Nestene has detected the anti-plastic... 

...and takes exception to the TARDIS. 

It thinks the Doctor's time machine is a weapon... 

...and sends the signal to activate its Autons. 

Rose phones her mum to warn her troubles on the way, but she's off to the shops. 

And now the Spearhead From Space homage! Shop dummies breaking through windows! 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 ·  If you're going to re-use an iconic image from the shows past then that's rather a good one to choose. 

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan · one of RTD "must see" post it notes. The. Autons. Must. Break. Through. The. Glass. 

The proper Auton gun sound FX! Brilliant! 

11thDoctorAdventures @11thDoctorComic ·  Shame the gun hands aren't so good. Bit basic here. 

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan · you really feel for Clive when he is killed.

50dw50 @50dw50 · after those bank adverts he deserved all he got!

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan ·  I dunno what was worse. Those or that "comedy" series with Robson Green. But first death in NewWho isn't bad.

"TIME LORD!" Oooh. 

Julian and Sandy @BonaTweetette ·  yeah, it takes us all like that at first.

Cameron Yarde Jnr @CameronYardeJnr · Hey now! :-D

So they've turned Jackie into the screamer so that Rose doesn't have to be? 

Rose talks to herself though; awful, awful, weak lines about "having the bronze". Worst line in the episode.

Some great close ups of the stunt performers here. 

11thDoctorAdventures @11thDoctorComic · Chris' stunt double looks like a teenager there!

Oh noes, the Consciousness has swallowed the Hexachromite! I mean Anti-plastic. 

Wonder if he borrowed the anti-plastic off of the Doomwatch lot?  

Jackie is saved as the Autons all fall to the ground, lifeless... 

...and the Doctor and Rose scarper in the TARDIS, Mickey in tow. 

"You were useless in there!" 

Yeah, they better not make a habit of the Doctor just standing by while Rose saves the day. 

Invited aboard the TARDIS, Rose declines. The numpty. She won't get a second chance. 

Oh wait, she does. 

"Did I mention, it also travels in time!" 

No, actually, that's a whole episode with no time travel, but to be fair, that was such fun overall that we didn't even really notice! 

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 ·  Another great line from the ninth Doctor. I still have a DW mug that says that line each time you pick it up!

Matt Badham @mahdaBttaM ·  Best. Mug. Ever.

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 ·  A great mug yes, but in 10 years I've never figured out quite how I'm supposed to travel in time with it...

Xander @Rednax42 · The end of Rose seemed to set the S1 template of others (not the Doctor) solving the problem of week

Yeah, by about The Long Game that was starting to wind me up, but once Father's Day was over with it did seem to get better. 

There seemed a real danger of this becoming The Rose Show where the Doctor was just an ineffectual taxi driver who takes her to other times and places for her to save the day every time, because RTD seems to love her just that little bit too much. 

She's the audience identification point, fine, and needs to take centre stage for the first episode - it's An Unearthly Child again, after all - but in imagining himself being whisked away by the Doctor and making Rose his proxy, RTD's in danger of putting himself before the Doctor, which would be a massive mistake. 

The companions are there for us to identify with, but the Doctor is the centre of the show.

Nyssa Ainley @TeganZAce ·  I have always found Rose annoying!

Be careful what you wish for, though, because I'm not so sure what came next - a boastful, messianic Doctor, who trades on his reputation - was necessarily an improvement...Ooh, a next time trailer! Like it. Looks far more impressive! Well that was a solid start, everything's in the right place.

Even out the tone, a bit of polish to the production values, play to your strengths script wise & this could be a hit! ;-P

Lee Mahon @Lee_JM75 ·  A solid start yes, if hugely uneven, but all the right elements are there. I was so relieved that it wasn't, you know, shit.
50dw50 @50dw50 · i find it incredible that it was 10 years ago! 

Matt Badham @mahdaBttaM · The whole Eccleston era is really strong.

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan ·  it really is amazing. I remember seeing it like it was yesterday.

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · Only time I've seen Rose was when it was first shown in 2005... but I remember it well. :-)

Xander @Rednax42 ·  Given its 10 years on, I'd love to read/see a proper behind the scenes warts-and-all doc about the relaunch.

Darth Marenghi @DarthMarenghi ·  Wait another 10 years LOL.

TTFN! K.
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