Rate and Discuss: Rose

[SiHart]

Hurtling back to BBC One, it's Doctor Who!

What are your opinions on the debut story of new Who, Rose?

Si xx

[J.R. Southall]

I thought it was utterly, utterly fantastic. I think people who're perhaps a bit too close to the programme, sometimes misunderstand the intentions and the tone of the episode. It's an introduction - not just to the companion, and not just to the Doctor and the TARDIS, either, but to the concept of the series. And Keith Boak and RTD between them have fashioned a glorious living cartoon strip of an episode, that's funny and thrilling and heartfelt and honest and wonderful, and I absolutely adore it. I watched it four times that first week, and I've seen it four times as many times by now, and it never grows old, and it never grows tired. It's the best re-introduction Doctor Who could have had.

[Andrew Curnow]

By sheer coincidence, Zel picked me up the complete series one boxset from the charity shop today (bargain at a fiver)!! Just off the top of my head, though, I'd say Rose is a superb opener, with the Doctor in particular written and played in the perfect way to make the audience love him. And the London Eye scene still makes me laugh!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

At the time I thought it was quite fun, albeit in a rather shallow way. Didn't like the burping bin or Noel Fielding though, although he improved a lot.

But now it's all just too RTD for me. Reminds me too much of the same repetitive style that I was to get thoroughly sick of over the next 4 years. Even that lift shot got repetitive.

There we go then

[Philipnet]

Dr Who needed a good re-introduction to the World - or rather the World need a good re-introduction to Dr Who.
And it got it!

I thoroughly enjoyed the 45 minutes that Rose was on-air that Saturday evening. Eccleston brought a mystery to the character and a hint of a shadow, Piper gave her character the youthful naivety that the audience had: who is the mysterious stranger and what dark past dose he hide?

[Dino]

A full 10 from me as well.
I really thought we'd never see it again! And it didn't just come back, it became more successful than it had ever been.
Ok, I did try and look for the leaked episode (I never could) but I remember where I was. I was house sitting at my Sisters and minding her dog.
I pretty much got it to bark whenever I whispered "Doctor Whooo".

Was I the only person to realise I was watching Doctor Who until the Micky and Rose restaurant scene? It was when Auton Mickey was saying the word "Doctor" over and over again. It turned on a light bulb in my head and it dawned on me... this was Doctor Who! It was back!!!!
Of course I still know somebody who is still unhappy about the burping bin.

If we compare all the first episodes of the series that introduced the Doctor, Rose still wins over New Earth (But wait, wasn't The Christmas Invasion the proper one?) and The Eleventh Hour.
I'll have to watch both Rose and An Unearthly Child to see which is the better opening episode. But Rose is better than the first parts of Robot, Castrovalva. Twin Dilemma, Time and The Rani and even Spearhead From Space. But then as it was a self contained episode, it's unfair to compare them to the 25 minute serials.

[duncan]

Just a 5 from me.

While I appreciate that this episode was to introduce the show to a potential new audience, I was left rather disappointed by it. It felt too rushed in my opinion. Maybe that's just me needing to get used to the new format, but, opening with a 2 parter may have been better. All the big American drama's normally do that and it works quite well.

I wasn't keen on the burping wheelie bin and the use of the Autons, though good, was short and a bit of a waste of an OK enemy.

It's still an episode that I don't rate even today.

[SiHart]

It was so fast- dizzyingly so. That's my main memory of watching it the first time. The title sequence seemed to hurtle past, and the epsiode itself seemed to start running and never let up.

Of course there have probably been faster moving episodes since, but coming to this after years of the classic series, it felt super quick. Like entering a four parter half way through and having to work out the start of the story, while the rest of it zoomed on!

It probably not the best episode of the show ever. It's probably not got a great plot. But I'll forgive it, because it was a triumphant return. RTD instinctively knew how to reintroduce the Doctor and the TARDIS to the audience, and like at the very start of the show does it through the companion. The Doctor is seen and glimpsed and seems really alien, gradually coming into focus as Rose gets to know him and that works incredibly well.

Lots of great moments throughout- "run for your life", the London Eye bit, the wlak from Rose's flat to the TARDIS, the slow mo run into the TARDIS at the end of the episode as the theme screams in.

A bloody fantastic start!

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

I love that bit where we first hear the TARDIS noise, and Billie turns around knowing she's missed something important - and that blue box has vanished. Just imagine being a kid who knows nothing about Doctor Who and watching that first time round, brilliant!

[Martin Curnow]

I still get the same buzz from watching Rose now as I did when it was first transmitted.

[Anthony Williams]

I re-watched Rose this afternoon for the explicit purpose of commenting on it here. Before I continue, I'd like to give a big YAY! for Netflix, since my stuff hasn't yet arrived here.

Anyway, Rose is a fantastic episode to re-boot the series with. Yes, it's full of what we now see as RTD-cliches, yes it's very fast-paced, and yes, it's very bright. But at the time, it was just so FRESH. I know I saw it before it was broadcast. But even then, it filled me with excitement. We were thrust into a world that was both old and new. What we saw was clearly Doctor Who, and it clearly left off from Survival - in the world of council estates and the like. The Doctor is extremely well written here, and those who thought Eccleston wouldn't fit were soon eating their words (myself included).

However, I want to mention my one big bugbear. Do those who constantly praise Rose as ZOMG-SHE'S-THE-BEST-COMPANION-EVER never see that she's an absolutely brazen hypocrite here? She castigates the Doctor for not noticing Mickey's head melting on the TARDIS console, but she didn't exactly notice that her boyfriend had been replaced by a very plastic-looking Auton. Her self-absorbency continues throughout the series, and it really shows here. Sorry, but we should've had a more sympathetic companion to start off the series with.

Overall, yes, Rose had a simple plot. Yes, it was fast. Yes, it was different. But by God yes, Doctor Who was back!

7/10

Ant x

[Perry Vale]

I didn't like it very much back then, and numerous rewatchings haven't changed my opinion. Terrible music, that horrible 'soft' look to the picture, and very little story.

That said, Piper is good from the off, and Eccleston (surprisingly) handles the physical humour really well, IMO. Really like the scene with Mark Benton in the shed, and the long walk scene with The Doctor/Rose, but very little else really.

5/10

[Stuart Wallis]

Overall, yes, Rose had a simple plot.

It needed to be, since it was launching what for quite a few was a totally new series, and was relaunching it for many others who may not have wanted to have been bogged down by a quarter-century of continuity they'd at best only half-remembered. In that respect it works. Perhaps the simplicity works against it in hindsight, but it did the job at the time.

Burping bin - no. Prattish Mickey - no, thank goodness he improved. The moment Rose enters the TARDIS and exits to have another look at the exterior - a definite yes.

7/10

[Larry]

from the announcment in 2003, that Doctor Who, was coming back there wre many times over the next 18 months that I worried what if this stinks but come the end when Rose, dumped Mickey and ran into the TARDIS, all my doubts were blown away. Ok, Rose, wasn't the best episode but as an episode that re-introduced Doctor Who, after a 16 year gap it did the jop perfectly and the best compliment I can give it is that IMO, it's one of the best season openers. Certainly when I compare Rose to The Eleventh Hour, there is a big difference in the overall quality of production and writting but it's still a very enjoyable story.

[MacNimon]

A really enjoyable episode, which I think remains the best season opener of the new series. It was fun, had great performances and was the perfect introduction to the series for newcomers.

[Rob McCow]

We re-watched this the other day; Si's been ill so there's been a lot of Who on in our house!

First off, it has a fun and engaging storyline. Rose is such a fabulous character from the get-go and we're drawn in to her life, her world and her concerns. Even if this wasn't Doctor Who, she'd still be a shining character. She'd work in any situation. She's not gimmicky either, the only skill she displays is a fair ability to swing on a rope. Instead she's tenacious, brave and inquisitive.

There's a fair amount of feeling sorry for Rose too, but it doesn't dominate her character or come across as mawkish. She's trapped in a dead-end, but the extent of her self-pity is a brief look at her alarm clock, or a lack of interest in her Mum's proposals to find work. She doesn't come out and state that her life is miserable and hopeless, but that world is shown to us. This is in spite of a loving, charismatic mother and a devoted boyfriend.

The episode also does a great job of introducing the Doctor - not in his own right, but to facilitate Rose's story. Eccleston is astonishingly good, he's funny, goofy, serious and alien all at the same time. He's a Doctor who loves life, in spite of the burdens he carries. We know now that he's lost everyone in the Time War and it seems to have affected his character in all kinds of ways. He's more ruthless and more dangerous, as the series brings to light in future episodes, but it's all on display here. He's got no time to treat the Nestene Consciousness kindly. He simply tells them to 'Shunt off!' before deploying his anti-plastic.

It fits in with his goofy persona without being too schizophrenic, because he comes across as very driven and bursting with energy. He puts the same energy into exploring Rose's flat as he does battling the Autons.

There are a few bits that don't work. Although the direction is brilliant in places, there is virtually no air of menace to the Auton attacks. The moment the shop dummies come to life should have made the audience jump a lot more, but instead it comes across flat. Similarly, the sequence with the wheelie bin could have been very unsettling, even with the burp!

The other thing that I picked up about Rose is the tone. The lighting and the feel of the episode is unlike almost any episode since. It feels like it's drawn from the real world, because all these bizzarre goings-on are happening in a grimy London suburb. Russell was brilliant at portraying 'real-life' and injecting the fantastic elements into that setting. Much as I adore The Eleventh Hour, Leadworth never quite felt like a real place in the same way as The Powell Estate. I think this was a deliberate choice on the part of Moffatt, which is fine. But giving Rose a realistic world to come from added hugely to her character and made her a more sympathetic counterpoint to the world of adventure.

[Si Hunt]

Good review Steve!

Si.

[Rob McCow]

Thanks Si!

[SiHart]

Ten years today since Rose was first broadcast. Who'd have thought it?