Doctor Who - Rose (Season 1, episode 1)

By BBC [Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons

We’re starting Doctor Who. We’re not going back to, like, the 60s when this show started. We’re starting with the 2005 incarnation. We are anxious for the doctor to change incarnations because we aren’t digging Christopher Eccleston yet. We meet Rose, a blonde girl who dropped out of school, has a crappy job, and isn’t really in love with her dull boyfriend.

Her mom is really annoying. When Rose goes to her job, shouting for a “Wilson” in a truly amazing English accent, mannequins start attacking her. She is saved by The Doctor, a man who talks fast and moves faster. She ends up taking a mannequin arm home. The Doctor shows up at Rose's house the next morning just in time to save her from the plastic arm. The special effects on this show aren’t great, at least in 2005 (the first season of the reboot).

The Doctor disappears and Rose goes online to research him. She finds a father in a suburban neighborhood who is obsessed with The Doctor. He tells her that The Doctor is a time-travelling alien. Rose decides the guy is crazy. Meanwhile, Rose’s boring boyfriend gets taken by the plastic forces and replaced with a plastic doppelganger. Even though he looks like he’s been dipped in shiny chocolate, Rose doesn’t notice he’s not himself for a while.

The Doctor figures it out and defeats Plastic Boyfriend. The Doctor says that forces from another planet are controlling the plastic and making it evil in an attempt to take over the world. The Doctor has to find the incarnation of the plastic forces and kill it with anti-plastic. The Doctor shows Rose his ship, the TARDIS, which can travel through time and confirms that he is an alien. Rose helps The Doctor find the plastic consciousness, where they also find Boring Boyfriend still alive.

The Doctor tries to reason with the plastic thing, instead of killing it instantly. The Doctor is grabbed by a mannequin, while Rose and Boyfriend look on for too long without doing anything. The plastic invasion starts. The mannequins start killing people. It’s very Mars Attacks. Finally, Rose gets it in gear and uses her gymnastics skills to free The Doctor and kick the antiplastic into the pit where the consciousness is. It’s pretty hard to explain, for something so stupid.

The Doctor asks Rose to join him as his time travelling companion, and she eventually agrees, ditching her entire loser life (mom and boyfriend included) to go on adventures. Because, duh, of course she would. We totally would too. So far, this show is truly nerdy and has potential as a cult series (obviously, since we know now that it’s a cult series). Hopefully it can suck us into the cult, but it isn’t doing it yet. It’s going to have to get better. And less stupid. Or, if it keeps the stupidity, it needs to be funnier.

So far, what we like is the funny parts, the fast talking, and the way The Doctor cares about humanity. It’s pretty zany and reminds us a little of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the book. Does anyone know how long we should give this show to lure us in? It must get awesome because tumblr goes hard for it. They are also obsessed with Harry Potter and Supernatural, both things of which we approve. Also, one of our most awesome friends told us to get into this.

Episode grade: C-