Rose Tyler

[SiHart]

19 year old Rose Tyler became the Doctor's companion after inadvertantly becoming embroiled in his fight against the Nestenes.

Much has been said about Rose, both good and bad (and some of it only today, contrasting her with Amy Pond) so I'll ask you again, what are your opinions of Rose? is she the perfect companion, the best there is, or she just a selfish shopgirl?

Si xx

[Dino]

I wasn't impressed with the news she was being cast.
But what do you know? She was pretty good!
Clearly the romance should have died the minute David Tennant got cast.
She falls slightly in love with the ninth Doctor and then carries on with someone who looks different?
Some girls eh?
Although it's a shame Martha didn't measure up to her standard. Rose was written out at the right time.

[SiHart]

I think she worked better with the Ninth Doctor than with the Tenth. Somehow the Ninth tempered her slightly more selfish side, whereas the Tenth seemed to almost encourage that part of her.

I thought she was pretty good throughout Season one. Maybe not the perfect companion, but say what you will about the character, I think Billie always gave us he best.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I think she's flawed, but not in an unlikeable way (most of the time). Billie makes playing Rose effortless, but the point is she was the perfect viewer identification point - curious, outraged, affectionate, protective... she was the very best friend the Doctor could have hoped to have found.

My favourite Rose scene is where her and Sarah Jane are just laughing their heads off at the Doctors expense. After initially feeling jealous, the two women bond and find common ground. "And I'm like... do you two want to be alone?". Best of all both Liz and Billie are completely convincing as they laugh away, and it always makes me laugh with them.

And then in "Doomsday" she makes you cry your eyes out!

So much you could say about Rose, but I think I'll always love her really.

Si.

[J.R. Southall]

What Si said. Both of him!

[Larry]

I
I thought she was pretty good throughout Season one.
Si xx

would certainly agree she was much better in season 1 , although you did have the love element running through series 1 it was more like a school girl crush on her teacher . But all through seriesy 2 Rose had become obcesesive of The Doctor that on more than a few occasions broke into intense jealousy when every he showed any interest or talked to another girl or even mentioned a former companion. Though I dont deny that she had some good stories in series 2 it was because of the things I've mentioned why I was glad to see her go.

One things for sure you look at Human Nature and Family of Blood, and that simply would never of worked if Rose had been the companion instead of Martha.

[Si Hunt]

Why not?

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

I'm going to start by saying that Billie Piper was very, very good as Rose. I really cannot fault her acting, or the way that she portrayed the character. It was truly an inspired piece of casting.

But what of the character herself? Jason summed up my feelings towards Rose pretty well in the other thread - she's a selfish bint. She treats Mickey horribly all through her time on the show. I genuinely can't think of a single episode where she didn't display some level of selfishness, but there are some that are greater examples than the rest:

In Rose, she castigates the Doctor for not caring about Mickey and not noticing Auton-Mickey's head melting, yet she's the one who totally failed to notice Mickey was an Auton, and then ran off with the Doctor at the first opportunity.

In Father's Day, the whole problem is because of her own selfishness, with scant regard for what the Doctor has told her. When she rescues Pete from the path of the coming car, she has already been warned by the Doctor that the timeline is fragile. Yet she messes with it anyway. Even after the Doctor has been eaten, she still tries to talk him out of sacrificing himself, even though it's the only way to restore the timeline.

Boomtown is another example that Jason summed up better than I could possibly - mostly revolving around her treatment of Mickey, essentially calling him to Cardiff for a booty call.

Parting of the Ways - the Doctor sends her back home in order to keep her safe. Yet, she throws a hissy fit upon her return, telling both her mother and Mickey that there's nothing for her in 21st Century London, showing that she really doesn't care about either of them.

The Christmas Invasion - more hissy fits, because the man who saved her life when she was f*&#ing around with things that she didn't understand had to regenerate, and is no longer the same man. Well, I'm sorry, darling - they were your actions.

Tooth & Claw. Scant respect for Queen Victoria, her repeated attempts to get her to say "We are not amused" shows her hubris, and frankly, the Doctor really doesn't help. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

School Reunion - again, Jason highlighted this one really well. The way she reacts to Sarah, the way that she reacts when Mickey asks to come aboard the TARDIS. There are other people in the Doctor's life and she doesn't like it.

My absolute worst bugbear, however, is Doomsday. She's trapped in another universe from the Doctor. But, she's there with her mother, her boyfriend, a version of her father, and she's ALIVE. She's not trapped in the Void, as she could've been. Everyone's safe. The Doctor's safe. Yet, she still throws a total hissy fit. What. The. Hell!

Basically, I really, really dislike Rose. I would actually list her below the likes of Dodo, Adric, Mel or even Martha bloody Jones if you were to rank all the companions.

Ant x

[Darren]

^ What Mr Williams just said. I hate Rose, possibly even more than I do Amy.
Although Ant has forgotten Journey's End where she is alive in the alternate universe with her own version of the Doctor and she still isn't happy.
It is likely that there was some intent on the part of RTD as the Doctor was reintroduced to Sarah Jane and subsequently fell in love with Madame Du Pompadour. Perhaps Rose waas supposed to become obsessive (because that's what happened) but it carried a little too far.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

She's the kind of girl who'd watch X Factor over Doctor Who any day. She's a cow.

[Andrew Curnow]

I did find Rose a little wearing early in season 2, when she and the Doctor were briefly too smug for words. They kind of got through that phase by the end of Tooth & Claw, so other than that I rather like Rose.

I know Ant's dislike is well-documented, and never more so than a couple of posts up this page... but I think he's being a little bit selective in his complaints. Just for example -

Yes, in "Rose" she doesn't notice Mickey's an Auton, but that's part of the whole 'melodrama' thing of people not noticing odd behaviour which is blatantly obvious to the audience. There've been loads of examples of characters doing their best 'possessed by the enemy' acting without the Doctor & co spotting it in the past - the headmaster in Remembrance, etc, etc. I don't think it's a character flaw, it's a dramatic convention.

Or "The Parting of the Ways" - is it a hissy fit, or is it an act of self-sacrifice on Rose's part when she goes back to save the Doctor? When Sarah walks back into the reactor with the Doctor in The Hand of Fear, is it a warm friendly act or is she just being stubborn and disobedient?

Although my fave New Series companion is Martha, I don't have a problem with Rose - in the hands of a weaker actress, yes, I can see she would have been irritating and annoying to watch. But IMHO Billie made her likeable in spite of her very human flaws.

And... is she really that bad to Mickey? In the one story where you could convincingly make that case (Boomtown) she berates herself for her behaviour towards him, but I don't think she selfishly leads him on in a 'boy in every port' kind of way.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I'm sticking with cow.

[Mab]

Absolutely perfect rapport with Eccleston, annoying bunnyboiler bint with Tennant. She goes from being flawed, selfish, pretty "normal", to this supremely irritating Clingy Girlfriend From Hell character who you absolutely CANNOT get rid of, and she was horrible for the Tenth Doctor too. Really screwed him up, and egged him on with all the annoying aspects of his character. That's why Martha and Donna were so welcome - because they increasingly challenged the Doctor, and wouldn't put up with as much of his BS. I LOVE Donna's line about not knowing what sort of girls the Doctor's been travelling with but he's not telling her to shut up.

Billie was brilliantly cast, actually.

So - Rose? Yeah. Great character who became ultimately annoying, and who reached the point where one kinda wanted her to just Bugger Off and Die - especialy when she just seemed to keep coming back anyway. And she was so incredibly ungrateful and spoiled when presented with a Doctor-You're-Allowed-to-Sleep-With that it soured me even more on her.

[Andrew Curnow]

Can I just add, I think it was a big mistake bringing her back in season 4, far better to have left her behind at the end of Doomsday.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I loved Rose - you know what, she was fantastic!

All you Rose-bashers!

I have to say she probably was the most important companion of all time. She kind of draws you and is the main character for the first two seasons, holding it together between the two Doctors. Other companions and even the temporary ones have somehow not felt as important to the core as Rose did in that first season.

[duncan]

In series One she was terrific, but she annoyed me in series two with her jealousy and posessiveness (sic??)

[SiHart]

Can I just add, I think it was a big mistake bringing her back in season 4, far better to have left her behind at the end of Doomsday.

I agree Andrew. Her story was complete at the end of Doomsday- she'd got her family back together and despite being trapped away from the Doctor, she'd got everything she'd wanted.

Although it was great to see her, and the glimpses of her in Partners in Crime and everywhere else in s 4 were good, I don't think the reprise of Doomsday's end was quite as good or as powerful.

Her little scene in The End of Time was rather lovely though.

Si xx

[Larry]

Why not?

Si.

because although Martha, was in love with the Doctor, it wasn't on the same level as Rose's , she was so obcessed with the Doctor, she would not of tolerated theDoctor, falling in love with Joan Redfern.

[Larry]

In series One she was terrific, but she annoyed me in series two with her jealousy and posessiveness (sic??)

there was one scene in Age of Steal, when the Doctor, said he'd been talking to one of the waitresses, and Rose's reaction was clearly how dare you talk to another girl. Also in School Reunion, despite knowing the Doctor had lived for hundreds of years she resented it to know that he had had many other female companions apart from Sarah. So theses are just a couple of the moments of jealousy that make me dislike Rose at times.

[Anthony Williams]

Yes, in "Rose" she doesn't notice Mickey's an Auton, but that's part of the whole 'melodrama' thing of people not noticing odd behaviour which is blatantly obvious to the audience. There've been loads of examples of characters doing their best 'possessed by the enemy' acting without the Doctor & co spotting it in the past - the headmaster in Remembrance, etc, etc. I don't think it's a character flaw, it's a dramatic convention.

Then surely her behaviour is highly hypocritical, if nothing else, to berate the Doctor over it? If nothing else, her actions at the end of the episode (i.e. running off with the Doctor and abandoning Mickey) show that she actually doesn't care about him? I'd also make the argument that the Headmaster in Remembrance is slightly different - he's not obviously behaving strangely when the Doctor and Ace first meet him, but when he starts behaving strangely, it becomes obvious to all. Auton-Mickey spends time behaving strangely, and Rose just doesn't notice - she's too wrapped up in herself.

Or "The Parting of the Ways" - is it a hissy fit, or is it an act of self-sacrifice on Rose's part when she goes back to save the Doctor?

Aaah but I was referring to the way she broke down with Mickey and Jackie, telling them that there was "nothing for [her]" back home. Surely that's a little harsh - she has family, she has friends. But she's so wrapped up with the Doctor, that she doesn't give a crap.

And... is she really that bad to Mickey? In the one story where you could convincingly make that case (Boomtown) she berates herself for her behaviour towards him, but I don't think she selfishly leads him on in a 'boy in every port' kind of way.

Maybe, but it doesn't stop her from continuing on in The Christmas Invasion, at the beginning of New Earth, or at the end of School Reunion...

Ant x

[Zbigniev Hamson]

She's a cow.

[Anthony Williams]

She's a cow.

Ant x

[Rob McCow]

She's amazing.

[Larry]

She's amazing.

an amazing cow..

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Her udders are quite nice I suppose.