Rose

It was almost like a dream come true . Prestigious actor known for playing angry introspective characters gets cast as the most famous icon on British television in a show I'm on record as saying probably works best as a memory . Not only that but the BBC bombarded the public with trailers in the run up to this episode . There was even an news item on the BBC main news pointing out that the episode had been leaked over the net at the start of March 2005 with Eccleston stating that the fans who had seen it had hated the episode

As a fan I didn't hate this episode but I was hoping for more . It's there to set up the characters of Rose , her mother Jackie and her boyfriend Mickey so the plot featuring an Auton invasion is pushed aside and seems very rushed but that's not really important since it's an intro episode . Thankfully my parents did say they were giving it a chance to see if it the series would improve as it went along and I did go on record as saying it was entertaining but there was room for improvement . Not as good as classic stories from the 60s and 70s but certainly an improvement on many of the appalling Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy episodes

One interesting aspect is the in jokes which would be noticed by fans such as The Doctor appearing in the crowd photo on the day Kennedy was shot . If you didn't know President Kennedy was killed on the 22nd November 1963 the day before DOCTOR WHO premiered on BBC television , or that Rose thinks the Autons are a student prank which is exactly what a policeman thinks in the novelization of the 1970 adventure Spearhead From Space . Subtle humour from Russell T Davies though his plotting leaves a lot to be desired

Because, frankly, I am a lunatic I'm also, along with everything else, going to go back to the start of "Doctor Who" or "Nu-Who" anyway, and rewatch and review every episode. I have seen every episode before, but very few of them more than once. Let's go back to 2006 for the first one.

Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) works in a London department store. One night, just before lock up she's attacked by the shop dummies. Her life is saved by a man enigmatically known only as "The Doctor" (Christopher Ecclestone). The Doctor, an alien, is tracking signals that are controlling plastic things, particularly but not exclusively shop dummies but both he, and now Rose, are being targeted in turn.

This was my real introduction to "Doctor Who". I was 9 when the show ended, and though I do remember the feature length episode with Paul McGann, this was the start of the show, for me. The most striking thing about it, looking at it with 2020 eyes is how badly the computer generated effects have aged. It's not the fault of the BBC, it's just that 14 years ago visual effects were so costly there was a compromise required. It cannot be ignored though that the interaction between Mickey and the Dustbin looks terrible. My next thought was that I should be cherishing this time with Christopher Eccleston as I know it's not going to last very long. Everyone is clearly settling into everything at the moment . . . which I think is the excuse for the overblown "I can feel the movement of the earth" speech in the middle of the episode. But a couple of other moments really land, such as enthusiastic "Yeah" in response to Rose's question about whether travelling with him will always be this dangerous.

This episode has a lot to do, it introduces us to all the principles that will take us forward for the next few years, including Mickey (whose characterisation is perhaps the most "off" in this one) and Jackie. It can perhaps been forgiven then that the plot is a little basic and we hang around in the climactic scenes far longer than we ought too, before Rose decides that she can save the day. But it's an engaging start to the series that would now (and did at the time) entice me to start watching.

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.

It's been a while since I've gone back to watch Rose, and my review is almost 10 years late, mehh. I can remember the anticipation surrounding this one, everyone I knew was counting down to watch it, old and new fans alike. I can remember watching it and thinking 'Is this going to work?' Back in the day I worked in the store where the interior shots were filmed, and there was a bit excitement surrounding the cast's appearance. If memory serves during the initial transmission there was a slight interruption that cut to Graham Norton. Looking back on it now I enjoyed the exuberance of the episode, the mix of sci fi and light humour, so different from Series 8 (the most recently transmitted series at the time of writing this.) Two things I possibly didn't notice back then, one, how much I loved Billie Piper's performance, and two, Mr Eccleston was actually quite attractive. I knew I was going to love Camille Coduri, Jackie was a fantastic character, so much fun. Mickey certainly developed as he went on. I was so pleased to see the return of the Autons, a heads up to the Iconic Spearhead from Space, it was a safe bet to try to appeal to the hoards of existing loyal fans. On the downside I found Auton Mickey and the bin scene would have been better suited to CBBC, would be difficult to imagine that happening in a 2015 episode. Some of the effects seem a little on the dodgy side, the photo-shopping is particularly shambolic. Are they implying Rose is particularly dense? Mickey looks rather plastic and has forgotten how to drive, she doesn't notice. On the plus, I applaud it for hooking in a lot of original and new viewers, many of which would stay with the show for years to come. We got to see Chris smile, a definite plus. We get an endearing companion with a real back story, a family, a job etc. Chris injects a bit of mystery and sadness into the role. There is some very nice music in this episode, in my opinion the music in the earlier series was much better. The opening credits at the time and music were excellent, and the TARDIS interior was beautifully created. The new 45 minute format also seems like a winner. It's hard to find many major faults with Rose, it's not exactly a masterpiece or an iconic episode, but it is fun, pacey and very entertaining, they did a good job, drafting in the lovable Mark Benton was a good move. The positives massively outweigh the negatives. Wasn't it just nice to have the iconic blue Police box back on our screens. 10.81 million viewers thought so and tuned in. A very solid 7/10

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.