World War Three

First of all the title of this episode is truly stupid. It doesn't make sense. There is no (spoilers) world war.  Why they decided to name it this is just dumb.
This one picks up where the last episode left off. The Slitheen are attempting pathetically to neutralize the doctor.  (Spoilers...It doesn't work.).  The Doctor ends up turning the tables on them.
The CGI here is laughable, like something out of an 80's music video.
So all the good guys end up getting away and Harriet Jones shows off what could be described as leadership skills. I'm not sure what to call them exactly because I was too distracted by the cartoon villains running across the screen.
So then the Slitheen blame everything on The Doctor and of course the stupid humans believe him (Never mind the fact that these guys are from UNIT and should know the Doctor...Where is Kate Stewart when you need her?).
The Slitheen are back in their human outfits and everyone is buying the entire rouse including the part when the UNIT troops are told to shoot the doctor on site. And then there are some more fart jokes followed by the Slitheen wanting to be "naked" so they can rejoice in their magnificent bodies (Arrgh!). Then the female Slitheen tells Rose and Harriet Jones that she wants to find them so she can kiss them with her big green lips.
Yes this is getting really sick.
Then one of the male Slitheen says they can smell an "Old girl" (Harriet...oh for Pete's sake). Just as this is getting unbearably bad. The doctor breaks in for some reason and squirts the bad guys with a fire extinguisher and this works for some reason.
So then the Slitheen corner them in the Cabinet Room at Number 10.  The doctor tries to blow them up with his sonic screw driver and a bottle of brandy (sigh this is dumb) and the bad guys back down.  The Slitheen point out that The Doctor is not human, but The Doctor asks what the Slitheen are doing. Here we learn that Slitheen is their family name, not species name.  Then one of them grows a brain and points out that you can't kill them with a bottle of brandy.
Now (as if this couldn't get dumber), the doctor pushes a button and locks them into a metal box which the bad guys can't get into (but, as Rose points out, they can't escape from either).
Now we jump to a reporter's commentary who is pointing out that weird people are showing up at Number 10 and no one knows why. Inside the building we are greeted with another fart joke.
New Slitheens (if that is their names too), are being checked into Number 10 and in some cases the human suits are being hung on hangers until the monsters are done using the Bathroom. (I can't believe I'm typing this).
So now we go to Mickey's house where he and Jackie Tyler are making up (remember they've been fighting for a year) and talking about the threat of the Slitheen. Mikey (who is clearly an expert on everything) says that this is what the doctor does.
Okay, back to the Cabinet Room.
After a lot of banter, The Doctor establishes that Harriet Jones is a name he's heard of, but can't place. Harriet just says that she's always been a back bencher.
The Doctor and Harriet start to try to figure out what the Slitheen are up to and Rose gets a picture text from Mickey of them trying to kill the Slitheen.
Then Doctor calls him Mickey the Idiot and tells him to go to his computer and look up a secret alien website.  Suddenly Mickey the Idiot is a hacker? Go figure.
Now Jackie Tyler decides to chew the doctor out for what The Doctor has done with her life and asks if her daughter is safe. Nope, The Doctor can't promise she is.
Mickey gets into the website and there he finds a transmission from a Slitheen ship in the North Sea.
So then, someone rings Mickey's door bell (at 3am) and he tells her to answer it and she does? How dumb are they? and SURPRISE! Its the Slitheen who proceeds to take off his human suit and get ready to attack them.
Rose, the Doctor, and Harriet are listening to their on the phone.
The three of them start to brainstorm as to how to save Jackie and Mickey.  After Harriet makes fart jokes and apologizes for it, they figure out that the bad fart smell they have is calcium and the Doctor figures out how to kill them.  Jackie finds something with Vinegar in the kitchen, the naked slither bursts in, Jackie throws the contents of a jar of pickled onions which causes the Slitheen to explode into green goo.
The other Slitheen "feel" his death.
They do a TV announcement saying that there are weapons of destruction around the planet and that Earth has to strike "first" so that they can survive.  He says that Planet Earth is at war (I'm guessing that this is why its called "World War Three" Ho hum).  The doctor decides that the riots caused by all this will actually cause a world war. He talks to the Slitheen outside the door and they reveal that this is all being done for profit so they can sell radio active chunks to the highest bidder (sigh).
The Doctor says he's going to stop them and they laugh. Apparently these guys haven't heard of The Doctor.
We go to another reporter who transitions the show to the United Nations building in New York City. The Security Council is making a decision as to if they should release the codes so the aliens can be fired upon.  (Somehow I doubt that everyone at the UN would be buying all of this).
More fart jokes.
We transition to the Prime minister's office where they are waiting for the codes.
The Doctor says that there is a why out, but he can't guarantee Rose's safety. If he does nothing, then everyone dies. That's just what this episode needs: more emotionalism (groan).  "I can save the world, but lose you," the doctor says.
Harriet Jones points out that she is the elected official in the room and orders the Doctor to do whatever he needs to do.
Next we go to the Slitheen who have decided to be (naked) sigh.
Meanwhile, at The Doctor's Command Mickey hacks the Royal Navy's website. Of course in a time of war the websites aren't being monitored at all.
Then Jackie says to Mickey, "I could stop you."
Mickey says, "Do it then."
So Mickey then makes the weapons go boom...
Meanwhile Rose suggests that the three of them trapped in the cabinet room stand under a door frame.
Then the UN council votes to release the codes.
Mickey (who is apparently a genius) actually stops the Navy from intercepting the missiles.

Could this get more ridiculous?

So then all the naked Slitheen get interrupted by a cop who just says "Sorry" and runs away.  The Slitheen then struggle to get into their people suits.  The cop then goes out side and shoots a gun and says "everybody run."
Then the Slitheen are destroyed by a the missile and the Doctor, Harriet, and Rose survive in the doorway.
Harriet Jones then steps forward and tells the cop to tell the UN to stand down.  She runs off into the streets yelling, "The Earth is safe."
The Doctor remembers that Harriet Jones becomes Prime Minister and leads the UK into its Golden Age.

Rose and Jackie Hug and The Doctor runs into his Tardis.
Jackie is upset when he sees Harriet "taking credit."
Jackie points out that Rose is infatuated with The Doctor. She says she wants to make Shepherd's Pie so that she can find out about the life they lead.

The Doctor calls and says he will be a couple of hours and then they could go.  He cancels the Slitheens message so no one else will see it and do something bad. The doctor says that he won't stay to eat with Jackie and Rose.  He sees a Plasma storm that he wants to check out in the Horse Head Nebula and she has a choice.

The Doctor hangs up his phone and in the next shot, Rose is in her room packing to go again. Her mother asks her not to go, but Rose decides to go anyway.

The Doctor has been making a boy wash off the graffiti he put on it. Mickey is wining in the street about how everything had changed and now everyone has forgotten what has happened.

The Doctor invites Mickey to go with them, but he says no. The Doctor also gives him a virus to put on line that will erase every mention of him.

Jackie comes to see her daughter off.  Rose asks Mickey to come with, but he doesn't want to.  The Doctor makes it look like he said Mickey couldn't go.

Jackie said that she is afraid that something terrible will happen to Rose and Rose tells her that she will see her mom in 10 seconds time.

Jackie and Mickey stand outside looking unsure as the Tardis groans and fades away.

They stand there for 10 seconds and walk away.

Okay.  There are some good things about this episode. The introduction of Harriet Jones is a bright spot even though I wish they could have given her a stronger episode. With how important she becomes in future episodes, I just wish she had a better intro.
The Doctor's performance is excellent and so is Rose's, but they're not given a lot to work with. The Slitheen are just annoying and the contrived military plot is very hard to sit through. Even while writing this blog entry I was tempted several times to just shut shut it off and stop the blog early just saying, "Sorry I couldn't watch it anymore."

Considering how packed with information the first episode was, this one is almost empty and unbelievable. How the series continued after these two episodes would be a mystery if the ones before and after weren't completely stellar.

I give this 2 parter a -5 out of 10 and I honestly wonder how it was actually produced. Does anyone know if the nephew of someone important wrote it or if the director lost a bet and they had to produce it? Who knows?

At least it gives me something to complain about.

Why I Hate the Slitheen

I really hate the Slitheen. Spoilers. These are not villains that I think have many redeeming qualities at all. I don't love to hate them either. I hate them.
I was reading a meme one time talking about why people should watch the 9th Doctor's season.  They had to put in a special section with the Slitheen apologizing for them and telling the prospective viewers that the existence of these very stupid villains should not chase you away from this often ignored gem of a season.
I agree. I love the Ninth Doctor. Without him, New Who would never have become as popular as it was. But there are some major low points in the season.  Like any new experiment, this season included some serious failures. Unfortunately this one is put into a two part extravaganza. Honestly if this was the first episode of New Who I had seen, I probably would never have wanted to watch the show again.
There are bright spots in this story. Harriet Jones is one of them. Yes, she's corny. Yes, I have a lot to say about her eventual choice to (well spoilers...can't say now), and then she (spoilers here too).  Let's just say she's going to be an important character.  In this first episode, she seems like a very tenacious air head and you might not know what to think of her yet.  I'll discuss more about her in the next episode.  I like strong female characters, especially when they are leaders, so I wish they could have filled out her character a little bit. I'll be talking about her a lot more in the future.
The Doctor is also amazing in this story. I love how in control he is and how quickly he thinks on his feet. I think this is another big reason I hate the Slitheen. This is an episode when you get to see the doctor in his element. He is AMAZING here. He is wonderful without anything really terrific to bounce off of. The trouble is that with how distractingly and badly cartoonish the Slitheen are, it is easy to ignore this.

Aliens of London

1. After meeting Charles Dickens (and Ghosts on Christmas) the Doctor and Rose return to London in the 21st Century. What neither of them realize is that the Doctor entered the time wrong into the Tardis (he will do this a lot during the series) and delivers Rose back home 12 months after the first episode.  This means that Rose has been missing for 12 months in our world and Jacquie has had the police out looking for her. She is hopping mad when Rose returns home without a decent explaination ("I was traveling" doesn't cut it since her passport is still in her room).  Jacquie even slugs the doctor. He says that in 900 years he hasn't been slapped by someone's mom (I don't see how that's possible, but never mind). 

While Rose is trying to decide what to do next, an Alien space ship crash lands into Big Ben and Parliament.  The Doctor is thrilled at their timing, but can't get any closer to the disaster because of the throng of people. Rose suggests that they watch the even on the TV news. 

So somehow they got Jacquie to let them back into her living room without killing them. Apparently no one knows who is in the flying saucer or what exactly is going on.  A body has been found in the wreckage and that it is definitely alien.  The doctor seems very interested in the situation, but doesn't seem to know exactly what is going on.  So the body is eventually taken to Albian Hospital and that a general has arrived at the hospital and patients have been evacuated. 

In the next scene we are with the general in the hospital. He looks at the "body" and is shocked. The coroner affirms that the body is real and not a hoax. 

We then find out that the Prime Minister has gone missing.  At 10 Downing Street, a minor official enters the building and gets little notice from the press. We meet Harriet Jones who has an appointment with the Prime Minister but is turned away.  

Now we meet the Slitheen. I have a love-hate relationship with the Slitheen. Yes, there's the fact that they are murderous aliens who want to take over the planet. That's hard to like. But there's another thing. They are very badly developed characters. They are terrible. They are worse than anything on even the worst episode of Star Trek's original series (The Horta is a better developed character.  BTW, I like Star Trek. I was commenting on special effects and occasional corniness).  These are giant green aliens who hide in the bodies of their dead victims and fart like teenage boys trying to gross each other out. They are terrible and immature. I do not believe that they would be organized enough to coordinate the take over of Britain that they have done in this show.  That said, I like this episode because its fun.  I don't know why because my feelings toward the Slitheen have not changed. More about this later. 

The Doctor is excited. Rose asks him if he is going to interfere with the crash landing (they have't met the Green Fart Monsters yet. They're still referring to the body that is being hidden in the hospital and the ship that hit Big Ben which is totally different). He says he's not going to interfere because that looked like a real crash. He says that he hopes this is the moment when people really meet other creatures from other planets and "Grows Up.' 

Rose is afraid that The Doctor will fly away and disappear so he gives her a Tardis Key before he walks away.  

Meanwhile Mickey sees The Doctor walking down the street. 

The Doctor goes back into his Tardis and flies off just ask Mickey hits the wall trying to catch him. Its very funny, but jumping into the air trying to attack the Tardis is really the bravest and manliest thing we've seen Mickey do so far in the series. 

Harriet Jones really wants to meet with the Prime Minister. She knows that something huge has happened, but as she says regular life still goes on. The Acting Prime Minister (one of the Slitheen) snaps at her when she tries to give him her paper. 

She sneaks into the Cabinet Room to put her paper into one of the Red Boxes, but finds the procedures for continuing government if the Prime Minister disappears (oops). 

So far in this episode the scenes are jumping around a lot. It all comes together very quickly and starts to make sense, but even as I'm watching it now (and I know what is going on) I feel like I'm getting whip lash.  

Here is a quick recap:

1. We know there has been a crash landing of an alien ship.
2.  The Prime Minister is Missing
3. Under-Officials (not the deputy Prime Minister either, but way down the ladder) have stepped up as acting Prime Minister and assistants.
4.  Jacquie Tyler is really angry at the Doctor and is ready to kill him at any given moment. He may have a black eye forming right now. 

Its hard to gather up all of this information from watching the episode because the scenes move very quickly and can seem hard to follow. This doesn't go on for very long though which really saves then episode. 

The alien from the ship that crashed wakes up in the morgue and starts to run around.  The doctor "sneaks" into the building in his Tardis (that machine is much too loud to sneak, so I don't believe he could do that, sorry...that machine has the subtlety of a rhinoceros).  He interrupts a meeting of armed military men, but he pretends to be an officer himself and orders the men to follow him down the hall and then surround the building and create a lock down.  

Unfortunately someone shoots the poor alien and kills it.  The doctor chastises them because he says the alien wasn't a threat, it was just scared. 

The general that we saw near the beginning of the episode goes to see the acting prime minister to relieve him of command because he doesn't believe he's doing a good job. So, they kill the general and one of the Slitheen puts on his body as a suit.  Harriet Jones is watching this whole thing from inside the cabinet room's closet. 

Then doctor tells the coroner that the Pig isn't really an alien. Its a pig whose brain has been augmented. He coroner comments that its still amazing that it seems that aliens are faking aliens and sticking them into flying saucers and making them crash (she has a point).

Back to the Tyler home. Friends point out that Jacquie needs to apologize to Mickey because she accused him of killing Rose or something. Mickey tells Jacquie that he knew that Rose was gone with the Doctor but didn't know how to tell her.  (And lets face it. Would Jacquie have believed Mickey if he said that? Frankly I wouldn't want to be around Jacquie if she was angry. She slapped the Doctor. What would she have done to little Mickey?). Then Mickey tells Rose that he saw The Doctor disappear in his Tardis. Rose said she didn't believe that he would leave her and points out that he had given her the Tardis key. The Tardis appears right near them. Rose tries to get them too leave, but they won't.  

The Doctor tells them that it wasn't a real alien. Jacquie runs off to hide in her room since she is so overwhelmed. She calls a number on television to tell the government that she had seen a real alien. 

Of course the British Government is fully aware of The Doctor and when Jacque puts in the alert an alarm goes off. 

Back to the Tardis (whiplash again). Rose apologizes to Mickey and tells him that for her she had only been gone for a few days. Mickey accepts her apology and says that he hadn't seen anyone else -- but that's mainly because people think he murdered her.  He tries to kiss her but she turns away.  

Back to the Doctor. He proves that the Pig's space ship had been made to do a sling shot around the earth so that it would seem to crash land onto the Earth. Someone is trying to make this rouse look very real.

And now we're back to Number 10.  The Slitheen are discussing their evil plans and Harriet Jones is listening. The private secretary runs to the acting prime minister, delighted that they had found The Doctor through Jacquie's phone call. 

Back to the Tardis. They're watching TV and UNIT has been brought in (no wonder they're looking for the Doctor).  Rose and the Doctor get escorted to 10 Downing Street. Rose is thrilled. The Slitheen one to Jacquie's apartment and ask the police to leave. 

Back to 10 Downing. Harriet Jones walks into the room with other MP's.  The Doctor is there, but they tell Rose that she can't go in because she doesn't have clearance.  Harriet doesn't have clearance either, so she catches up with Rose.  She asks Rose if The Doctor is an expert on Aliens and starts crying. 

In the room with The Doctor he points out that the Government had found something about aliens and then the Pig Ship shows up... a diversion?

Harriet, Rose, and the secretary find the body of the Prime Minister. 

The Doctor points out that they are in a trap.

The female Slitheen comes in and finds the group with he body of the Prime Minister. 

Jacquie is alone in her house with the General Slitheen who comes out of her suit and says that he is there to eliminate trouble. 

The female Slitheen admits to the group that she had something to do with the death of the Prime Minister.

The Doctor tells the other Alien experts that he believes they're in a trap because they know about Aliens.  The Slitheen takes off his costume.  So do the other two where they are. 

This is one of those truly bizarre moments that make me remember why I hate the Slitheen. You don't love to hate them. They aren't funny.  They're just stupid. 

The Slitheen with the government workers starts growling and so do the other two. 

There are apparently Two Slitheen in with the Doctor even though Heretofore we have only seen 3 of them.  

One of the Slitheen kills the secretary and the ones in with The Doctor start to electrocute the alien experts while laughing maniacally.  Jacquie is trapped in her kitchen with another one.  

A lot happens in this episode very quickly in a relatively short period of time. I've seen this one five or six times before and I am just figuring out some new details that I've never caught before.  The Slitheen though are just as stupid. 

Where are the Prime Minister's body guards?  Isn't there a deputy Prime Minister?  We're not meeting any other major members of the cabinet.  They have apparently gone missing and no one is saying anything about it. Yes that might be too detailed for a kid's show and if I am being totally wrong here (it's possible. I am blonde and I am American) then please tell me. 

UNIT has been brought in on this case too. UNIT is supposedly an entity connected with the United Nations. Why aren't there more UN officials involved here. Why would a handful of ACTING officials of lower rank in the British Government be allowed to run amuck and no one from other countries or the UN really says anything about it?

I know this is a kids show, but usually Doctor Who is a little better at explaining away these details. 

I can't say much. I'm American so many of our sci-fi movies are very centered on the United States and have the United States speak for everyone else. That's probably not what would really happen either.  Still this is kind of hard to follow because the Slitheen and their surrounding plot are written very badly. 

This Episode is the first half of a two parter, but I am going to rate it on its own.

Because this is a two part episode, so much information didn't have to be packed in so tightly. The writers should have been able to spread out information and events so that they are easier to catch and to follow because they had two episodes in which to do it. That's double the usual time.  I'll be honest, my head hurts after watching this because I am trying to catch every little detail because every little detail is essential to understanding what is going on. If one detail goes missing, you get completely confused while watching the episode.  

I'm giving this episode 2 stars out of 5.  It is fun to watch, but like I said, I've seen this Episode many times before and I'm literally just now able to catch all the little important details. This is probably because I'm analyzing it for this blog, but that's how confusing it can be.  

Think Think Think

So far I've seen two episodes. We've gotten to know Rose and watched her become a companion of The Doctor.  We've seen her react to alien cultures and to the shock of traveling the universe in a time traveling Police Box.
Rose was dissatisfied with her life on Earth. She had dropped out of school so that she could be closer to her boyfriend who had apparently dumped her. At the beginning of the show she was working in a shop and dating, but she wanted something more. She was thinking about getting the equivalent of a GED (see her conversation with Mickey in the Restaurant). Because of the choices she had made in life, even at a young age (19) she didn't have a lot of options to improve herself.
Then she meets the doctor and everything changes. The intellect and skills that she has work for her even in the most difficult situations with him. It doesn't matter that she doesn't have a diploma. She can think on her feet. And how important is that? Very!
This makes me think about one of the reasons that this show is so popular. Normal people with normal and almost boring lives in some cases are given a chance to use their own skills and abilities with the doctor to become something extraordinary. Its hard for any of us to escape our own lives and the thing is that most of us believe that we could be capable of so much more if only we had the chance. Watching Doctor Who gives us the chance to do that, to see a normal person do something extraordinary.
Do we really have to leave our planet to do that though? I'm not a nurse, but I have worked in a hospital. The folks working in healthcare save lives every day. There are times where if someone didn't show up to work, people would literally die. In my opinion, doctors and nurses are real superheroes. All over the world there are people in need.  There are natural disasters where people need someone to help them with food, rebuilding, and cleanup.  These are all things that regular people can do. We don't have to be superhero or climb in a blue box and travel the cosmos to be extraordinary. There are opportunities all around us if we just look.  If you can't travel there may be places in your home town where volunteers are needed or where children need tutoring, or the elderly need companionship.
No, most of us can't save a planet, but what the doctor is famous for is helping those who are helpless. All of us can do that here in real life. If you are homebound and can't move, ask your local church or charity if you can make phone calls to other shut ins so they don't feel alone.  We can all do something.
You may feel like because you can't save a planet, its not worth trying to do anything. But here's the thing: To some child or adult that you've helped, you may mean the world to them.

The End of the World

Hey everyone.  Our journey through the world of The Doctor continues with Episode 2 of the first season, "The End of the World."
Just saying this is an in depth look at the episode so there will be tons and tons of spoilers. If you have an allergy to those, watch the show first and then come back and catch my blog.  Totally worth it.
It starts just after episode 1 and the Doctor asks Rose where she wants to go. He shows off a bit by leap frogging through time, but they finally end up in the year 5.5/apple/26. 5 billion years in the future.
What's up with "apple"? Several seasons in the future River Song sticks "Acorn" in some coordinates.  I can't find it on line. Does anyone know?
So they get to a place called "Platform 1" where the doctor announces that this is the day that the sun expands and destroys the Earth. He's not going to do anything about it because all of the people are off of the planet.
I find Platform 1 very interesting. Apparently it moves from "art event" to "art event" and people pay for the privilege of enjoying it's safety and climate control so that they can watch planets explode and things like that.
Upon arriving on the station, a female voice announces that weapons, teleportation, and religion are forbidden on the premises.  Presumably the first two are outlawed for safety reasons. I think its interesting that religion is outlawed.  Religion is a very personal thing and its its regulation by law usually coincides with some pretty serious human rights violations.  So, in this futuristic and high-tech society, there is religious persecution and restriction of thought. Interesting.
The doctor explains that very rich aliens have come to the observation deck to watch the Earth Explode.  Apparently the "National Trust" whatever that is in 5 billion years, has paid for the Earth's tectonic plates to be shifted to 21st century positions and now that the money has run out, it is time for the old planet to be destroyed.
At last the other guests arrive and everyone is introduced.
Tree people who seemed to have evolved from Terran forests are represented, followed by a blue guy,  followed by the appearance of the Repeated Meme. A bunch of other people follow in succession. Other aliens of note are The Face of Bo (I will definitely have a blog just on him in Season 3 so stay tuned) and Cassandra the Last Human (A face tied to a trampoline. She is arguably one of the funniest characters on the entire series. She is what happens when Narcissistic Personality Disorder is allowed to run a muck on steroids.  She is bragging about the fact that as a slip of skin, she looks very thin and dainty and that she has had her chin removed. As a woman who struggles with weight issues, I find her hilarious.
Apparently the aliens are exchanging gifts. The Doctor and Rose are technically party crashers so they don't have any gifts. The Doctor decides to gift party guests with air from his lungs. The scary thing is that the Tree Lady likes it and hits on the Doctor.  Rose is totally shocked by the whole thing - especially when she asks if Rose is a concubine.  As she points out she is standing right there!!!
One of the other guests is giving the gift of bodily saliva's and spits it right into Rose's face. This has gotta be total culture shock for her. The appearance of the repeated Meme just hands everyone metal spheres.
Disgusted by her surroundings and by the Tree Lady's behavior, Rose goes for a walk. She meets up with a blue-skinned lady who works as a plumber. The Plumber tells her that she has to be given permission to speak. Again, the future society doesn't sound like a very nice place to live. Working class people aren't allowed to speak to people "above them?" Ugh!
While talking to the Blue Lady, Rose becomes more and more uncomfortable. Graffalo isn't from a planet. She's from a "Convex". This is never really explained to us either. Then Rose reflects upon how she doesn't really even know who the doctor is. He's a complete stranger and she just ran off with him. She becomes frightened when she really thinks about her situation. She walks away.
Graffalo continues her job, but is killed by metal spiders.  No one is really safe in Doctor Who -- and they think George R.R. Martin is the worst character serial killer?
Next the Steward of the observation station is roasted alive in his office -- another metal spider pushes the button that kills him.
Now we meet Rose again, sitting alone on some steps looking out on the Earth. She tries to talk to the cutting of the Tree-Lady's grandfather, but then scolds herself for talking to a tree.
Rose then talks to the Doctor about how different the Aliens are from her and then freaks out a little about the fact that the Tardis gets into her brain and translates for her. Then she starts drilling the doctor about where he's from and he gets angry. She quickly apologizes.
I have to say I really like this sequence with Rose. A lot of time in fantasy, the foreign character just seems to accept the alien surroundings with little question. I like the fact that they had her freak out a little bit. That seems real.
Then the Doctor fixes her phone so she can call home billions of years ago.  Jacquie is doing something really exciting -- laundry.
The doctor apologizes for the future "bill". Wow.
So the tree lady and the doctor go to. Check out the coolant systems in the space station because it is getting hot.  Rose goes to talk to Cassandra. She claims that she was a little boy on Earth. Apparently her plastic surgery has included at least one sex change. She says that the other humans have "mingled" with other species and are no longer real, pure humans. She's had 709 operations. Rose tells her that she would rather die. Rose tells Cassandra that she's really the last human because Cassandra is just lipstick and skin and not really human.
The Tree Lady tells the Doctor that she can't even believe that he is alive after the other Galifrayans were killed during the time war and that her instruments wouldn't even believe that he was alive.
There is really a lot of information given to the viewer in this episode. Its a lot to take in on a first viewing. It doesn't seem to get in the way of enjoyment though.  Still I think you have to watch the ep several times to catch all of the bits and pieces of information.
Now rose gets conked on the head and drug away ... hmmm...
Cassandra starts playing a "traditional ballad" on the juke box.  Silly choice. She should at least be playing something Celine Dion.
The sun filter starts to descend in the room where Rose is locked.  The Doctor fixes the problem with some difficulty, but it seems clear that someone has it out for Rose.  I wonder who could be mad at Rose?
So the Tree Lady announces that the spiders have taken over Platform 1 and that the Steward is dead. The Spiders seem to belong to the Appearance of the Repeated Meme, but The Doctor says that is too obvious.  He reveals the real owner of the spiders is Cassandra. She reveals that she had planned to create a hostage situation and then get lots of compensation for herself.
Once she's found out, she decided to kill everyone and then have herself teleported off the platform.
The computer and the Tree Lady go to fix the problem, but Tree Lady sacrifices herself to save everyone else.  It does fix the problem, but the death toll on this show is getting pretty high.
He pulls Cassandra back through her teleportation feed.  Cassandra dries out and explodes.  The doctor refuses to help her because she says that everything has its time and everything dies.
So the Earth has exploded and everything is gone. Rose is depressed because everyone was so busy that no one saw it destroyed. The Doctor and Rose go back to the 21st century. Rose seems bewildered by her whole experience.
The Doctor finally admits to Rose that his Planet has exploded like the Earth because they had lost a war.  He tells her that he is the last of the Time Lords and that he travels alone.  Rose points out that he's not alone when she's with him, but that she's not sure if she wants to go with him or not.  She asks her to buy him some chips, but he says he's broke. She says she will buy him chips instead.
Like I've said, there is a lot of information handed to the viewer in this episode.  Its fun to watch, but I think that the audience has to watch the show more than once to get every piece of information that is offered. I like how the show used guest characters to help provide the information and back story instead of the Doctor giving another long monolog.
Cassandra was my favorite part of the entire episode. She's hilarious and a villain that you love to hate. We'll see her later in the series.
Altogether I give this show a 4 out of 5 just because of all the information dropped on the audience at once.  Its a strong one though and one of my favorites.

Rose

So now our journey begins. 

This is my first blog about Doctor Who. I'm watching the episode as I comment, so if you haven't seen the episode, some of what I'm saying may not make sense. Also this blog is going to be one giant spoiler pie, so if you don't want spoilers before you watch the show, watch first and read second.

The first episode in the series is "Rose".  Here we meet the titular character and the 9th doctor played to perfection by Christopher Eccleston.  I really wish that he would do more things like other past doctors have.  But that's his choice. Still the actor is amazing. If you really want to see some fantastic Eccleston acting, check out Elizabeth where he plays the Duke of Norfolk.  Not only is he gorgeous, but he plays an intimidating villain whom you just LOVE to hate.
I love the opening montage where you see a day in the life of Rose. She's just a normal teenager working in a department store and having fun with her boyfriend.  I gotta say this though,  Mickey and Rose have zero chemistry in this episode.  Its kind of a no brainer that she gets a crush on The Doctor.
Next comes the attack of the walking plastic. I've always found Department Store manakins creepy.  When I've worked in shops, I've often gotten a little spooked out when I'd see one in the corner of my eye and thought it was someone sneaking up on me.  This was especially true when I would be working in a dim stock room. I'm surprised that this episode has never given me nightmares.
When Rose gets home, she has screen time with her mother and her boyfriend. I met the lady who plays Jacquie Tyler at a convention.  She is a sweetheart.  She is the perfect mom for Rose. Very energetic and intelligent and spunky enough to keep high spirited Rose in line.  I wanna ask though: what is it that Jacquie Tyler does for a living?  We see her at home all the time, the house is well decorated, and she goes out shopping.  She's clearly not in poverty, but we never get to see what exactly it is that she does for work. Judging by the way she lectures rose on the subject she believes in working for a living, but we never get to see what it is exactly that she does.
[Update: In the Episode World War Three, she does talk about getting a "proper job", but not only are we not told exactly what that means, we still don't know what she does in the mean time.]
The next morning, The Doctor comes to visit the Tyler home.  I just can't get over the fact that Jacquie totally tries to Mac the doctor the first time she meets him.  He says no, but wow! Go Jacquie! And this is a kid's show. You'd never see that happening on an American kids show.
I love the scene where the plastic hand attacks the doctor. He is so good at comic scenes.  He doesn't over do anything or make real jokes, but he is hilarious. Still, you believe that he is a very strong and intelligent person who is clearly on a mission.
So next, Rose tries to get the doctor to tell her what he is up to.  He doesn't give her the complete 411, but he tells her enough that if she thought he was bonkers she could have run off. She asks him, "Who are you?" He gives description of himself that makes him sound like a cross between a superhero, an engineer, an astronaut, and a science teacher. You can't really blame Rose for being completely intrigued.  The sound of the Tardis engine going off after that just drives in the nail even deeper.
And what does an intrigued young woman of the 21st century do? She goes to the internet! In this case, she goes to Mickey's house to surf the web and again we are exposed to their zero percent chemistry. Apparently he's got some dirty emails too. She can totally do better.
She finds a blogger on line who claims to have information about the doctor and she makes an appointment to see him. I love Blogger Clive. I wish (spoilers) that he didn't have the unfortunate end that he has in this episode. He's so much fun I wish he could have been a recurring character.
What I find fascinating is that towards the beginning of the episode, The Doctor looks at himself in the mirror and comments as though it was the first time he had seen what he looks like.
[Spoiler: At the end of the movie The Day of the Doctor, it looks like the War Doctor turns in to Eccleston.  So if he's just seeing himself, this could mean that Rose happens right after Day of the Doctor.  So how does the Blogger have lots of pictures of the Ninth Doctor from the far past?  I guess it's Timey Wimey.]
In the next scene, Mickey gets eaten by the plastic trash can.  As the Mickey character grows I get to like him more and more, but in this episode I think he's a winey little git, so I'm not exactly unhappy when that happens.  His plastic alter ego that replaces him looks nothing like him whatsoever and its a bit confusing as to why Rose doesn't see there's a problem.  Is she that preoccupied or is there really that little chemistry between them?
[Spoiler: Later in Season 2, we find out that Mickey's mother has been long dead and that he was raised by his grandmother who was dead by the time of the first episode.  There's a continuity problem in this episode because Rose talks about having to give his mother the bad news about his "death" after the doctor pops the head off his doppelgänger.]
I love the introduction to the Tardis. If you are a fan of Classic Who before seeing the show, you're giggling at Rose for not wanting to go into the Tardis for safety and you laugh at her "bigger than the inside" comments.
If you're not a whovian, you get to experience this journey with her. You find out that The Doctor is an alien (although this isn't much of a shock) and you learn a little about the Tardis.
One thing I don't like about the 9th Doctor is how insulting he is.  When he takes Rose on her first Tardis ride he insults her intelligence and calls people "stupid apes".  This attitude disappears with him and it might have come from the trauma of the Time War, but its one of the few things that I don't find endearing about Number 9.
One good thing about this scene is that when Rose comments that its weird that he is an alien with a "Northern accent", he comments that lots of planets have a North.  One of my favorite lines.
This fact rings true too if you are a Game of Thrones Fan.  Think about it. The Starks of Winterfell totally have the same accent and they're from the North. Maybe every planet has an England-type country with a North where the accent sounds like that. Has anyone else looked into this with other fandoms? It rings true with Tolkien and the Hobbits! Anyway...
Next we have the first in a series of times when Rose is smarter than the doctor in this episode. She finds the thingy in the Ferris wheel and the entrance to the whatchamacallit's lair.  We also have our first introduction to the nebulous Shadow Proclamation and the horrible Time War.  Does anyone know if there are any sites on line that tell us more about The Shadow Proclamation?  She's all over the seasons with Tennant and Eccleston, but you don't really hear about it much during the Smith years although she does get episodes with Capaldi.
So the Doctor blows it and the Nestine Thing-a-ma-gig starts to destroy the world.  Rose swings in and saves the day.  I wonder if he did that to test her or if he was really in over his head.  What do you think? I don't think the way she saves him is completely out of the realm of possibility since she just has to swing across on a rope.  What do you think?
Now I will comment again on how the Blogger gets killed here. I really wish they didn't do that.
Also you get the Nestine rubber thingy calling The Doctor a "Time Lord".  This only really made sense if you had already been a Who fan, but it does get explained further in episode 2.
I am happy that they rescued Mickey in this scene, but he doesn't seem very grateful.  I don't like the way he's hugging Rose's leg like a little wimp.  I guess the whole point was to show that Rose really didn't fit into her regular life, but I don't like them making Mickey such a wuss.  Especially in life of the cool character he becomes in subsequent seasons.
The ending is kind of weak, but I do think that it is totally believable that she goes with the Doctor. She's a regular girl, but they have shown that she's capable of so much more than she was able to do in her little world in London.

Honestly I think this is a strong episode. It is a lot of fun and I understand why this show grabbed the TV audience and helped the series become the popular monster that it is today.  There are some plot holes, but they're not super big and I thought some of the character development of side characters was a little weak -- especially in the case of Mickey. Still, Chris Eccleston is an amazing doctor.  I give this Episode 4 out of 5 stars.  Solid episode, but Mickey can be a little too annoying. Strong pilot and still one of my favorites.

Stuff I Love about Doctor Who

I love Doctor Who.  I went though a traumatic experience and while I was recovering, I met The Doctor and my life changed forever. I was absolutely obsessed.  

The first of the doctors that I met were the doctors of New Who. My first doctor was #10: David Tennant. He was perfect.  Tall, sweet, brilliant. The first episode I fell in love with was The Unicorn and the Wasp where The Doctor worked with Agatha Christie to solve a mystery.  I have a BA in English and I have always loved Christie so my response to seeing this episode for the first time was, "Yes, Please."

I thought there could be no more perfect doctor. It was impossible.  

Then I met MY doctor: The Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith.  He was not only handsome, but he seemed like the doctor I'd want to be friends with.  In the dark world I lived in, the cheery faced goofball was Christmas Tree.  

Then I met the 9th Doctor. He was so tough and surprisingly childlike.  He wanted to be happy, but had a dark past.  I was also pleased to meet the 12th doctor. Grumpy and cantanqorous and whimsical, I was always happy to visit with him.  

The companions gave me hope too. 

Rose: Working Class, uneducated with no prospects, she found both love and a future with the doctor. She even ended up saving her family and bringing her parents together from across dimensions.  She was capable of doing anything. 

Martha: I believe that she is the most underrated of all of the companions. She is a doctor in her own right, independent, and intelligent.  She is very brave. She has to deal with a crazy family and fighting parents.  Then she meets the doctor and he shows her the Universe.  She gets a crush on him (duh...you'd have to be blind not to notice that guy). 

I do wish that they had done more with her character.  She was a "Doctor" after all. I wish he would have taught her to think for herself and be more confident and done more with the Doctor part of her character. 

Donna: You either love her or hate her. Some people I know can't stand her. I just love her.  She is outspoken and intelligent.  She's had a hard life though. She was not unlike me when I started watching Doctor Who. I was the Queen of the Temp Workers and my mother loved to talk down to me.  She couldn't stand me and thought that I had thrown away my life.  I had done no such thing. We were at the end of The Great Recession and work was very scarce. Eventually I did make my way through and found a husband.  Still I feel that Donna is in some way me. 

Amy: Love love love love love Amy.  She was so spunky and fun. I got to meet Karen Gillan years later.  She is my favorite companion and I don't think that anyone will take her place.  This is especially true because she is indirectly responsible for my husband and I getting married. Ethan got her autograph for me which is what made me notice him in the first place and even had her send me a Face book message.  

When Ethan and I had our pictures taken with Amy and the 11th doctor (Karen and Matt) at Dragon Con in 2017, we told Karen how she was involved. She seemed really happy about that. 

Rory: So much like my Ethan.  He is my favorite male companion.  I guess Amy and Rory are my favorite companions. 

River: I love River. When my husband and I married we traded sonic screwdrivers instead of rings.  I got River's Sonic.  Ethan got the 5th doctor's screwdriver.  River was another role model for me during the dark time in my life. I had just been in a very abusive situation and she taught me that I could be tough and stand up for myself and still be likable. "Hello, Sweetie." 

Clara: Honestly, as sweet as she is, Clara is my least favorite companion. She was cute with Matt, but she had no chemistry with Capaldi. I also didn't like how she was always scolding the Doctor.  After The Impossible Girl story arc, it was like they were constantly trying to figure out what to do with her character and they just never decided what to do. 

Bill: Bill was fun.  She was quirky and intelligent. I hated that she had such a tragic end, but it looks like there was hope for happiness in the future. 

Doctor Who is a big part of my life.  I'm a Christian Minister professionally and I've noticed that God is actually hidden in Doctor Who a lot.  There are Christian hymns. There are arguments about whether or not God exists.  There are little places where its not clear if someone far above the doctor did something or not.  

I'm going to go episode by episode in Doctor Who and talk about what I find. I'll be discussing themes, jokes, things I've noticed. When I do find a philosophical or theological item I'll talk about that too.

Let's go...Or Alonsey...Or Geronimo.