Rose: A New Start

 Hello!

Rose was the first episode of the revived series, so named for the introduction of the Doctor's first new companion: Rose Tyler. It featured the return of the Autons and Nestene Consciousness, last seen in the 1970s! It also featured a new Doctor, darker and more brooding in the aftermath of the (at that time) unseen Time War, and implicitly having recently regenerated. Funnily enough, it forms a parallel with Survival; both stories feature a London-born girl working with the Doctor to defeat an antagonist who first appeared in the Third Doctor's era.

Disclaimer: the War Doctor does not actually appear in this episode.

Rose

The War Doctor

The Ninth Doctor

Rose starts with an introduction of the titular character going about her day. It also introduces her mum, Jackie Tyler and her boyfriend, Mickey Smith. Rose works at a clothes store called Hendricks. At the end of her working day, she stays behind to talk to one of her colleagues; while searching for him, she is surrounded by plastic mannequins, which prepare to shoot her down. Suddenly, a mysterious man grabs her hand and tells her to run. It's the Doctor - the Ninth Doctor. He escorts her out of the building before pulling out a bomb and announcing that he's going to blow it up to destroy the Autons in the building. As Rose runs home, she runs past a mysterious blue box...

Rose and the Doctor

The next day, she meets up with Clive, a conspiracy-theorist who has done a lot of research on the Doctor - such as identifying his presence at the assassination of JFK. There are others who have noticed the Doctor cropping up at various points in time.  As the theorists hardly know that the Doctor is a shape-changing time-travelling alien with an incredibly long lifespan, they conclude that the name 'The Doctor' is passed down father-to-son. Not Clive, though - he thinks it's the same guy, and he thinks the Doctor is immortal. It's surprisingly accurate - he even knows that the Doctor tends to turn up in times of crisis. Rose dismisses it as nonsense and storms off. Some time later, she meets the Doctor again; he saves her from Mickey, who's been replaced with an Auton duplicate. The Doctor decapitates the duplicate and runs to the TARDIS, parked nearby, accompanied by Rose; he uses the head to track the signal activating the duplicate, hoping to find the Nestene Consciousness' lair. The Doctor also explains the Consciousness' invasion plan - turn Earth into a food source, because the Consciousness' protein planets were destroyed during the Time War. The Doctor plans to negotiate with it, though if negotiations fail he has a better weapon than waving radio-waves at it - a liquid designed to destroy the Consciousness. They find the Consciousness' lair under the Thames; also down there is Mickey, who was kept alive. During the negotiations, the Nestene Consciousness discovers the anti-plastic on the Doctor's person and triggers the invasion; Rose saves the world by using a chain to swing out over the Autons holding the Doctor and the anti-plastic, shoving the Autons into the Nestene Consciousness. The Consciousness dies a painful death while the Doctor, Rose and Mickey escape. 

Quite the change from tentacles...

Overall, I really like Rose. It's definitely a good jumping-off point for the new series - new Doctor, new companion. The antagonist, while being a call-back to the Classic Era, is obscure enough that it wouldn't confuse new viewers. At the same time, there are enough call-backs to satisfy older viewers - handled more efficiently than in the TV movie. One good example is when the Doctor describes how the transmitter could activate anything plastic, including phone lines. For viewers who have seen the Classic Era, that line is a call-back to the fact that phone lines were controlled back in Terror of the Autons; for newer viewers, it serves as simple exposition. I also like how the episode captures the feel of a new era - the Doctor's changed, the TARDIS has changed, even the companions have changed. The soundtrack reflects that - both the Doctor's theme and Rose's theme create this impression of nostalgia, wistfulness. The Doctor's theme especially - it reflects a weariness with the world, a wish for a time when it was all so much simpler. This ties into the Doctor's more cynical attitude - he's embittered by war, closed off and cynical. Meeting Rose, though, injects a new light into his life, and the soundtrack reflects that, with a more optimistic, energetic twist towards the end. Funnily enough, this also reflects the regeneration process - weariness, followed by renewal. 

On the other hand, Rose has its issues - the primary issue, in my opinion, being Rose herself. While she is open-minded, resourceful, and brave, her first episode doesn't really make her too likeable, in my opinion. She's excellent at taking Mickey for granted; she doesn't notice that he's been replaced, despite spending hours around the duplicate, which is very obviously made of plastic. There's also a scene where she goes to Mickey's apartment to look something up, as she doesn't have her own computer - she goes to his apartment and then ignores him. Another element of this lack of consideration for her loved ones is at the end, when Jackie, barely surviving an Auton firing squad, phones Rose to check she's OK. Rose hangs up on Jackie without responding, leaving Jackie worried for her only child's safety. This ultimately winds up having exactly the impact you'd expect it to - when Rose returns to Earth, thanks to a navigational error with the TARDIS, it's been a year, and Jackie believes Rose to be dead. Moreover, when Rose departs with the Doctor, she basically says "Thanks for nothing" to Mickey; this rudeness to somebody she's known her entire life does not make her look good. This is particularly unfortunate as the narrative neglects to address her unpleasant treatment of Mickey until halfway through Series 2. 

Additionally, other than Rose and the Doctor, most of the characters are kind of two-dimensional; however, given that the episode is mostly focusing on introducing the new Doctor and his new companion, this is somewhat understandable.  

Also, the special effects, while miles above the likes of Time and the Rani, aren't the best - though given this was the first episode of a revival nobody was sure would take off, this is also fair enough.

Overall, I would rate Rose at 6/10.