Rose

As essential a part of British pop culture as the Monty Python and James Bond, Doctor Who was a massive hit for 26 years (1963-1989), making it one of the longest running TV shows in the world (most serials are lucky to have ten seasons). Plans to reboot the series were always on the BBC's agenda, and after a miscalculated (not to mention Americanized) TV movie produced by Fox failed to capture the magic of the original version, another nine years (Comic Relief spoof and animated mini-series notwithstanding) were required before the ultimate Time Lord could return properly, courtesy of acclaimed writer Russell T. Davies.

Davies' brilliance in reintroducing the character lies in his decision to do so through the eyes of an outsider: Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), a London-based girl who leads a very normal life until one night she is attacked by creatures made out of living plastic. She is rescued by an elusive stranger who introduces himself simply as the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and then disappears after quipping: "Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!". As she gets more and more curious about this "man", she soon finds herself in a whole new world: aliens, invasions, travel through time and space, and of course, the omnipresent Police Box-shaped TARDIS.

The first 45 minutes of the new Doctor Who are almost perfect (the special effects could have used a bit more polishing) because Davies nails two things: the show's unique humor and the two protagonists. The original series' most endearing trait was its blend of spectacular sci-fi and pure British comedy, a hybrid that's hard, if not impossible, to export. Here the laughs are all linked to the conversations between Rose and the Doctor, who come off as fully rounded characters after just one episode. Okay, so technically Eccleston's Doctor is the Ninth to use that name, but he distances himself from the previous eight incarnations by speaking with a Northern accent (the one he uses on a daily basis) and justifying it with a terrific line: "Lots of planets have a North!".

The real triumph of this episode, though, is Piper's performance: in theory, Rose is in her late teens, therefore nearly the same age as thousands of young viewers who had never heard of the Doctor before. Her portrayal of an ordinary girl lost in a new, exciting universe, represents the new generation's reaction to the return of a TV icon, and the chemistry that instantly forms between her and Eccleston is a sign indicating the new Doctor Who is just as good as the old one.

First, fifth, ninth, it makes no difference: there may have been others before Eccleston (and Piper, for that matter) but together he, William Hartnell, Peter Davison and the rest of the bunch are one single character, one so cool he doesn't even need a name: he's THE Doctor.

These days television executive hold up Rose as an example of how to successfully revive a series even though the central plot is from Jon Pertwee's third doctor debut story, Spearhead from Space. Both stories start with the shot of Planet Earth.

Russell T Davies brings Doctor Who back for the 21st century. RTD knew that he needed to reach a new younger audience who knew little about Doctor Who and keep things in the real world. Jacki Tyler talks about compensation claims, Mickey does not want Rose to go through her emails, the Doctor flicks through the latest edition of a celebrity gossip magazine. There is a lot told in an economy of words.

Christopher Eccleston shows goofiness and has enough mystery that this is man who maybe could not be trusted, someone who is trouble as the character of Clive warns Rose.

Billie Piper is the one who astonishes the audience as the shopgirl Rose Tyler who his bored of her life and in the Doctor she can escape to a life of adventure in the Tardis.

Director Keith Boak did not quiet get the balance right between comedy, scares and drama. Maybe the burping wheelie bin was just too silly but he does keep it fast moving.

Rewatching from 18 years in this episode's future was a far better experience than I thought it would be (except the CGI, of course). What surprised me was that I couldn't remember Mickey being so pathetic. He eventually became a hero in the series and all trace of his original personality had disappeared from my memory. It a fun story with lots of action and at the end Rose doesn't hesitate to head off with the mysterious stranger because Mickey is an A-grade idiotic a-hole. I was also surprised by the amount of flirting between Rose and the Doctor. I thought that developed later but it was there from the very beginning. The Autons were very menacing, but I couldn't work out if the man-eating dustbins were just crap or a clever homage to the 8th Doctor's reign.

An alien invader (a repeat offender), the Nestene Consciousness, ravenous and hungry for hydrocarbons, establishes itself in London and animates an army of Autons (dummies) to do its cultural assimilations. Simultaneously it empowers a wheelie bin to gorge on a predator and harasser of women (something we didn't know at the time), turning him into a dummy too. Meanwhile an angry regenerated Doctor from the north aims to scupper the invasion and in doing so; a Rose blossoms from the chaos and starts to bloom.

A great way to introduce the new era of Doctor Who. A new era which was immediately successful, credit to a 'Fantastic' opening episode. In this episode we meet Rose and The Doctor and some of the supporting characters as well. When a strange man saves a young woman called Rose from killer mannequins she becomes embroiled with him and helps him face a hidden invasion by the Autons: led by the Nestene Conscienceness.

It really was a great introduction. Christopher Ecclestone is now long in the past which is a shame. Not to say he should of gone on in place on Tennant but I really felt Ecclestone got the role. Billie Piper will always be the most memorable NuWho companion to me as she was just so much more charismatic than the others. Martha and Amy, i find boring. Donna got on my nerve. Rose was near perfect. As a story it isn't much. There were some daft little moments clearly aimed at kids. On the whole though it was brilliant.

The best moment has to be 'I can feel it' speech by Ecclestone. Very rarely in his tenure was he as good as this. That isn't a knock as this is one of my favourite NuWho moments. It really did sell me on the new series. The final scenes were also great, The Doctor's remarks about time travel the key.

OVERALL - 7.0: Very good intro but not a suspenseful, thrilling masterpiece. However very entertaining, great characters, and the Nestene looks great.