Father's Day

After the tedious Long Game the new series picks up again and it's at this point you realise you're not only watching a new series but an entirely new show . The Doctor takes Rose through time to 1987 on the day her father died and lets her witness the event , but Rose is overcome by emotion and intervenes causing the laws of time to be enforced

Russell T Davies and Paul Cornell have conspired to write a tale that no one else thought about in the classic series , one that revolves totally around the depth of the companion . It's true that Rose Tyler is the most thought out , most multi layered companion there has ever been in the show and one complaint that can be levelled with some justification with the first season is that we're watching a show called ROSE TYLER and in the hands of a lesser actress this wouldn't be so well received but Piper does not disappoint in her performance

Praise too for the great Christopher Eccleston . I was shocked when it was announced he was going to be The Doctor since despite being an outstanding actor I thought he was wrong for the part , but then I had no idea he was going to be playing it in the style that he's best known for - An angry , brooding , introspective man . Watching the scene where he scowls Rose for being " another stupid ape " is one of the great moments of 2005 television and there's no way you could envisage a scene like this taking place in the old series

The older audience will be able to recognise these dramatic strengths and enjoy them while the younger fans are very well catered for by the appearance of The Reapers , demonic space bats that have arrived to sterilize the wounds in time caused by Rose's actions . If you've seen the original series 1963 -89 and didn't think much of it then watch this episode and don't tell me you didn't enjoy it

It's strange how perception can change over time. My recollection was that the episode "Dalek" was the standout from the first season, though I was underwhelmed watching it again, and also that "Father's Day" was a bit of a filler episode, with bad visual effects - so I was surprised about how well written and considered it was.

Rose (Billie Piper) and The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) travel to 1987, to the day that Rose's father, Pete (Shaun Dingwall) was killed by a hit and run driver. Initially intending just to comfort Pete as he died, instead Rose saves his life, pushing him out of the way of the car and in doing so changing her own history and rips a hole in the fabric of space/time. Through this hole appear Reapers, winged creatures who devour humans.

So yes, there are some negatives. The show is a little inconsistent on what the Reapers actually are, they're supposedly there to fix the rip, but are clearly attacking humans only tangentially linked to the change in history. Whilst we're on the subject of the Reapers, they are one of the first season's poorest effects. Cartoonishly drawn and lacking in depth, they remind me of characters from an augmented reality game.

But the plotting of the episode is excellent. The Doctors anger at Rose's decision, coupled with the call back to the first episode when he said that Rose only becomes interested in leaving when he says his machine can travel through time, is a great moment. You understand his betrayal and genuinely feel like he might leave her. The scenes between Rose and Pete are really nicely done, once they're over the early "Back to the Future" moment it's a genuinely touching relationship as Pete works out who he is to her, what it must mean and what he needs to do.

Genuinely much better than I anticipated.

Peter Alan Tyler , Rose's dad died in 1987, during the wedding of Sarah Clarke and Stewart Hoskins. Rose decides she wants to travel back to that time to meet her him. We discover he's dies alone because of a hit and run driver and Rose wants to be there for him. After a failed attempt, the pair return and the second Rose breaks all the rules of time by saving him. The Doctor gives Rose a glare that we've not seen the like of before and indicates that changes to the time line can have huge consequences. How right he was, Rose's meddling has indeed wreaked havoc, giant creatures are appearing all over the skies and eradicating everyone. The Doctor, Rose and surviving wedding guests retreat into the Church (which boasts a stunning Stained glass window.) Rose realises that her parents didn't perhaps have the dream marriage she thought, Pete is a bit of a letch. We get to see the monsters that have taken advantage of the change in time, they attack and drive everyone into the locked church. The monsters try but fail to gain entry, but all goes wrong when Rose touches her junior self, causing another crack in time enabling one of the creatures to appear inside the church and destroy the Doctor. Only Pete can save the day by resigning himself to his original fate in a heartbreaking scene.

Filmed in Cardiff, it looks very much of the time period, with no obvious goofs I can spot (maybe an out of place BMW 3 Series and Ford Fiesta.) It has some lighter moments, Peter and Jackie's wedding is hilarious as is Jackie's 80's hairdo and peach bridesmaid's outfit. The fashions were meticulously selected, totally 80's. This really tugs on the heart strings when Pete realises Rose is his daughter, the pair play out a beautiful and highly moving scene, it's amazingly well done.

The scenes of abandoned cars, bikes and shoes etc are very reminiscent of the opening scenes from Invasion of the Dinosaurs, very nicely done.

Without a shadow of a doubt my favourite episode of Series 1, Paul Cornell's script is glorious, the acting is first rate, as a viewer I totally connected with the characters. Father's Day is an emotional roller-coaster and will bring a tear to the eye. The best from Series 1, and one of Nu Who's best too. A stonking 10/10

What's with the bad reviews on this episode? The idea and concept of this episode were cool. The execution of said ideas and concept was pretty good. The monster is amazing and the episode was good. I liked it.

Father's Day has been criticized by some fans for having a supposedly absurd premise which would effectively contradict the essence of the show itself. That's not the case. Instead, it's a pretty touching story that centers on Rose and allows the character to be a lot more than just another sidekick.

With the Editor defeated and the "boyfriend" gone, Rose asks the Doctor to take her back to the day her father Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall) died, since she never really got to know him and would like to see him one last time. The Time Lord complies, but warns her that if a time traveler alters his or her own life story, a time paradox will be created. Obviously, Rose doesn't pay attention, and so she saves Pete from being run over by a car. The consequence is that strange winged creatures appear and start wreaking havoc. Everyone (including a younger Jackie Tyler and an infant Rose) hide in a church, but that won't solve the problem: the only way to get things back to normal is to restore the original time-line, otherwise they will all die.

The main criticism aimed at the episode is that it's quite ridiculous for the Doctor to talk about paradoxes when he alters events on a daily basis (well, as daily as it gets for someone who constantly leaps through time and space). In reality, it's a widely accepted notion in science fiction literature, cinema and television (and it's fiction, not real science) that time travelers can do whatever they want, as long as they don't try to mess with their own history (case in point: the 2002 film version of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine states pretty clearly that the protagonist can't change his own past, no matter how hard he tries). This is also why the Doctor has never considered going back in time and saving the other Time Lords - he can't do it without possibly destroying the Universe.

That said, does Father's Day qualify as a good episode? Yes, because it does to Rose what the Dalek episode did to the Doctor: it gives the characters an opportunity to show the full extent of their internal tragedy, thus establishing them as real people (in the Doctor's case, as real as a 900-year old alien can get) and not just two goof-balls who use the TARDIS whenever they please. Dingwall, playing a role originally intended for Simon Pegg (who took the part of the Editor in The Long Game because of scheduling conflicts) adds plenty to the dramatic arc, and Camille Coduri gets to do a bit more as well, as opposed to the pure comic relief she was asked to provide in earlier episodes.

Any downsides? Well, there's the usual problem with some of the visual effects (the winged creatures look like video game monsters), but that's about it. Everything else - writing, directing, Eccleston, Piper et al - makes for another 45 minutes of above-average British sci- fi.