Thoughts on NuWho’s opening story?

After 14 relentless years of NuWho, how does “Rose” hold up today? To my mind, it’s an extremely lightweight affair which has dated horrendously (and a copy of Spearhead from Space which incidentally looks and sounds much cheaper than its season 7 counterpart), and one which introduced many of NuWho’s worst excesses (primarily tonal inconsistency, ranging from the sombre scenes concerning Clive’s character to the idiotic burping wheelie bin and gurning from Eccleston, and the soap opera conventions associated with Rose’s characterisation), but what is the Hive’s take on it?

I liked it at the time. It seemed like a real "getting down to business" pilot and made me think we were going to be in for a smart, exciting, fun new era.

I think if I watched it again, it'd still more or less get by on atmosphere and pace. But for the most part I could probably take it or leave it now.

As with Tanmann, I liked it at the time despite being a watered down remake of Spearhead but nowadays whilst I can enjoy it as mindless entertainment, the soapy feel to the scenes in the flat and the plastic (pun partly intended) 2000s feel to it as well as the ending and the burping wheelie bin leave me feeling cold.

Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

Indrid Mercury wrote:Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in it for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

Tanmann wrote:

Indrid Mercury wrote:Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in this for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

I mean at the beginning when she first wakes up. I just have a thing for ladies with bedhead.  

Tanmann wrote:She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in it for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

Wardrobe was pretty terrible for her during that first season.

The gormless award surely goes to Mickey in that story. He's cowardly, ineffective, and has his girl stolen by a middle-aged white man

Liked it at the time, pretty much unwatchable now.

I'm with Tanmann and Indrid on this story. Pretty watchable, although it has aged terribly. I will admit that it was nice to have a first new Doctor story that is not a post-regeneration story (admittedly, I'm so sick of the post-regeneration formula), and I even like the concept of an outsider finding out what the Doctor is. If I go back to this story, I actually just read the Target novelisation as I feel that it has less of the aged milk factor and feels more detailed in terms of a story.

I remember liking it, not loving it.

I did an edit of it with two changes...using McGann's "Night of the Doctor" and having Doc leave Rose at the end. Much better.

iank wrote:Liked it at the time, pretty much unwatchable now.

Well at least there is something we agree on.

When I watch it now I want to scream at my screen when I see Rose Tyler's attempt at a Buffy moment at the end. She farts around with chains, delivering her slowly drown out wisecrack about gymnastics, while the Autons wait to have there vile of anti-plastic kicked into the Nestene goo.

Fucking embarrassing!

DogStar2000 wrote:

iank wrote:Liked it at the time, pretty much unwatchable now.

Well at least there is something we agree on.  

When I watch it now I want to scream at my screen when I see Rose Tyler's attempt at a Buffy moment at the end. She farts around with chains, delivering her slowly drown out wisecrack about gymnastics, while the Autons wait to have there vile of anti-plastic kicked into the Nestene goo.

Fucking embarrassing!  

Completely agree. That scene is very badly directed, and it being followed up with the Autons performing what looks like a Michael Jackson Moonwalk before collapsing to the ground after gunning down innocent bystanders just makes it all the more embarrassing. It’s an immediate indication of RTD’s lack of understanding of tone.

Admittedly I think the Autons first appearance was pretty well done with them all slowly advancing on Rose but the moment that northern bloke from Ladbrokes popped up. It felt like the atmosphere had been lost....

I didn't like it at the time, and have never really warmed to it that much. The only time I felt slightly positive towards the Eccelston era was the 50th because at that time with Matt being so good, and the promise of a new, exciting era with Capaldi (oh the irony) I tried to embrace all of DW.

In hindsight though it was a shit era overall. Rose isn't the worst opening or episode. Had the rest of the series been great then it would have been okay as a servicable opening, but ultimately as many have pointed out it was a sign of things to come.

I always thought the Autons looked terrible too. As for Billie Piper, she did look pretty in it, but she always does. She looks like Paloma Faith, though I fancy Paloma a bit more. Paloma has a much crazier personality, though Billie Piper seems like a nice person all around.



She and Billie Piper need to play sisters in something.

I quite liked it back in 2005 but with hindsight, it was probably more to do with the fact that it was the first story in a brand new series of Doctor Who, rather than the quality of the episode. 'Rose' now looks more dated than TV from the '80s - an opening tale that is safe, simplistic, undemanding and not at all scary, either. Eccers (what the Hell does he look like??) appears awkward and unconvincing- a Northern, working-class bloke from space -"Run for yer life!"- and the soapy elements predominate while the science is rushed and inadequate - "Anti plastic!".  I don't find Rose a particularly likeable character in this story (nor BP fanciable) and poor Mickey comes across as stupid and shallow and the only domestic scene I like is when Jackie flirts with the Doctor: "There's a strange man in my bedroom" -  it's amusing in a cheesy, '70s sit-com kind of way.
This whole episode gave a brief taste of what was to come - a mawkish soap opera with monsters.

Felt like half a story to me. The autons are already there on earth. No build up or background like there was in Spearhead or Terror.
Too much humour which undermined any sense of threat.
I liked Mickey - a bit of a clutz, reminding me of Harry Sullivan in a way.

Tbh, this was a much better Auton story:

Indrid Mercury wrote:

Tanmann wrote:

Indrid Mercury wrote:Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in this for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

I mean at the beginning when she first wakes up. I just have a thing for ladies with bedhead.  

Mmmm YES

Tanmann wrote:

Indrid Mercury wrote:Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in it for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

Her best look is in New Earth.





Damn.

burrunjor wrote:
She and Billie Piper need to play sisters in something.

Can't they play nympho lesbian lovers instead?

If I had to compare them, I'd say Spearhead is like a 1970s classic science fiction film and Rose is the watered down made for TV remake that you would probably find on something like the SyFy Channel.

Pepsi Maxil wrote:

Tanmann wrote:

Indrid Mercury wrote:Plus, Billie Piper was kind of hot in this episode. Just saying.

She seemed a bit dumpy and gormless in it for me.

Still, by Dalek and Empty Child she managed to find pride of place in my wank-bank.

Her best look is in New Earth.





Damn.

Come on dude! Don't make me break No Nut November!

Indrid Mercury wrote:If I had to compare them, I'd say Spearhead is like a 1970s classic science fiction film and Rose is the watered down made for TV remake that you would probably find on something like the SyFy Channel.

Well, except the SyFy Channel stuff is usually a bit more po-faced about itself.

Tanmann wrote:Tbh, this was a much better Auton story:

Love Sophie Ellis Bextor. She's gorgeous and she has a really nice voice.

I always get the impression that she was a really nice person too. My profile pic is one of my fave pictures. I don't think I'll ever change it. That was a bad time for Amy. So many sheep in the mainstream media were being absolute fucking cunts too her about her looks (which considering she suffered from anorexia, and cut herself is even more low.) I remember so many of our now woke celebs joining in.

Sophie however was really kind and supportive of Amy during that time, and that picture is such a lovely moment where Amy looks happy.

Hell I'm sure Sophie would have done a better job running DW than RTD, or Moff or Chibnall. I have no idea whether she likes sci fi or not, but she really couldn't have done a worse job could she?

I hate to say it because I might sound like Paul Cornell, but I sometimes wonder if it would have been better giving the 21st century version to a woman in the early 00s. An honest female fan probably wouldn't suffer from the same pathetic insecurities that a male fan would of "I need to prove that I'm not a sad anorak." Like Moffat and Paul Cornell. Furthermore because of the stereotype of women not liking sci fi, they might have been more determined to overcome that.

burrunjor wrote:
Love Sophie Ellis Bextor. She's gorgeous and she has a really nice voice.

You think everyone is gorgeous. You're just obsessed with women, man. Tut.