Summary: Rose Tyler is just an ordinary shop worker living an ordinary life in 21st century Britain. But that life is turned upside down when a strange man calling himself The Doctor drags her into an alien invasion attempt!
Characters:Doctor, Rose, Jackie, Mickey, Clive
Antagonist: Autons
Episode Rating: 6/10
Message:
The idea of escaping mundanity and the norm lies at the very heart of this episode. The opening of the episode reflects Rose's monotonous routine and shows that she feels trapped within societal expectations of work and social life. This impression of escaping mundanity through adventuring with the Doctor is a central theme throughout the show and is part of the appeal of the narrative for audiences and characters alike.
Genre:
[Doctor Who is classified as a science-fiction show which is pretty unarguable considering the consistent themes of time/ space travel and the traditional iconographic elements such as gadgets and aliens. However I would argue that the majority of episodes are sci-fi hybrids, the science fiction genre lies at the show's foundation however each episode takes on a different sub genre.]
This episode is a classic adventure/ action hybrid. There are several fasted paced action sequences within Rose for example the finale scene and the restaurant scene. It is also an adventure episode because of the narrative that Rose goes on with the Doctor.
Representation:
This opening episode to the Doctor Who presents the audience with a positive, modern representation of femininity. Rose is an active and independent female character who does not allow herself to get stuck in the hegemonic expectations of her demographic. After her place of work is blown up by the Doctor, Rose refuses to get stuck into another life of boredom and unsatisfacation. She actively seeks out the Doctor through Clive and perhaps it is because of her drive that she becomes the Doctor's companion.
Obviously the notion that the Doctor always has female companions is an outdated tradition and could be argued to be inherently sexist. The female character as the side-kick or inferior however the way I see it Rose and the Doctor are equal, for example in this episode Rose actually saves the day and it is this balance that pushes Rose away from being another lesser character compared to the Doctor.
General Thoughts:
I think this episode is a fantastic way to revitalise the show of Doctor Who. The audience, both old and new, are reintroduced to the Doctor through the character of Rose and we learn alongside her. Rose basically reflects the audience in this episode, she asks the questions the audience are thinking and she reacts in a way that presumably most of us would.
Similarly this episode reflects how clever the show's writers are. One of the things I love about Doctor Who is the show's ability to make everyday things scary or threatening. For example, this episode turns mannequins into a deadly threat which is brilliant because to children shop dummies can be quite terrifying and back in 2005 I think the writers really had a grasp over what children were scared of.
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