Summed up in one sentence
The episode in which a big blob of steaming plastic hidden underneath the eye of London sends signals to all other plastic things to take over the planet.
The Doctor
Yay for the ninth Doctor! Even though Christopher Eccleston only got one season as the Doctor, he has a powerful presence, and laid the groundwork for all the future Doctors to come, and for that I’m so grateful to him. You will come to find I absolutely love ALL the doctors. All the actors have been absolutely splendid in putting their own spin on it while keeping some kind of tie to central themes that do define the Doctor. I of course have my favorite Doctor (which will become apparent I think without me saying anything), but I truly and deeply love them all.
The Doctor himself in the first episode of the newly reincarnated show is elusive, not answering Rose’s questions directly and always on the move away from her (and her mother Jackie’s advancements on him). He is new and mysterious to Rose, as he is for all of us joining the show for the first time, and probably even for old fans of Who who are curious to see what direction Christopher Eccleston takes.
The companion
The conflict opens in a satisfyingly creepy way when Rose is compelled to go down to the bowels of her workplace to find something?
Or someone?
I dunno. Not important.
So she’s in the dark dingy base level of the building when the usual creepy things start happening. An odd sound here. A door closing there. She thinks someone is pulling a prank on her. Classic stuff.
“Es noh funnay, awight??” Says Rose. (I may or may not continue doing a bad impression of her adorable cockney accent in the written form)
So she starts to get backed into a corner with the mannequins descending upon her, when the Doctor’s strong hand wraps around hers. And what is the very first thing he says in the show? The very first thing he says to his brand new companion??
Run!
Yes, a wonderful start to the reincarnation of the show. One of my favorite parts of this whole episode is when they find safety in an elevator and Rose automatically assumes it’s university students doing some kind of flash mob type thing. I think for someone who is outside the whole aliens-and-time-and-space-travel-exists reality, that’s a really good explanation she comes up with!
Speaking of plastic taking over the world, it leads me to my other favorite part of the episode in which we see just how awful of a girlfriend Rose Tyler is when her doting boyfriend Micky himself is taken over by a plastic entity, leaving him to look like a Ken doll, AND SHE DOESN’T EVEN NOTICE. They go on an entire date, and it’s business as usual for Rose!
It’s awful, and I love it.
But in the end, Rose is able to prove herself indispensable to the Doctor, helping him find where the big plastic glob was hiding, and even saving his life with her gymnastics background, swinging on a chain George of the Jungle style.
Even though Rose and the Doctor don’t know each other very well, she is able to strip away some of the Doctor’s tough, proud exterior when he asks her, hesitantly, timidly, if she’d like to join him. We see that even though the Doctor has gotten by on his own for who knows how long, he’s ready to have the company and support of a friend, and Rose is more than willing to be that for him. She also gets to escape her life for a while and see real adventure.
The Villain
As previously mentioned, the villain in this episode is a big blob of plastic. Nothing much more to say about that, except mannequins coming to life to murder humans I’d say is adequately terrifying. Anything that gives Jackie Tyler an excuse to scream her head off is a success in my book.
The Score
My score for this episode (which is completely objective and carefully thought out . . . okay probably not):
7/10
I love looking back on this humble beginning, before they had any budget to speak of, and the absolutely absurd villains and plotlines (and really, more often than not, the absurd villains and plotlines are par for the course and are to be expected). Because looking past all that, it’s a perfect introduction to the characters that we will grow to love and adore.
The Very Whoiest Part
This section is to discuss what I feel is the moment that epitomises this episode as a Doctor Who episode, or a part that stuck out most to me as most powerful. Mine for this episode is when Rose tries to get an answer out of the Doctor about who he really is:
ROSE
“Really though Doctor, who are you?”
DOCTOR
“Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving? It’s like when you’re a kid. The first time they tell you that the world’s turning and you just can’t quite believe it because everything looks like it’s standing still. I can feel it. {he grabs her hand} The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. And the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour and I can feel it. We’re falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go… {he drops her hand}. That’s who I am.”
It’s just perfect. Love that part so much. We get a sense of the mantle he puts on himself and the burden he bears to travel around and restore order and peace, but it isn’t at all preachy or woe is me. I’ll say it again, perfect.
Thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned for the review of episode 2 of season 1.
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