Rose

My first impressions of 'Rose' are very mixed. I got the feeling that Christopher Eccleston was playing The Doctor as a bit of a smug goof. I can only think this was a gimmick for his initial performance, because there were moments of intensity which made me think, yeah, this is The Doctor after all. These being the skin of the Planet speech, and the regret in his voice for worlds he was unable to save. From the things I've heard I get the impression that these undercurrents are going to slowly accumulate. So, for now, I'm reserving judgement on Christopher, because I think he can be a great Doctor if the script is permitting.

Rose herself, well I knew Billie Piper could act, and she does a good job of making Rose a character who is very self-aware. I thik that's her strength, she has no illusions and also she is very curious. There is one point in the episode where her boyfriend holds her back from helping the Doctor. This seems typical man on the street mind your own business stuff. She isn't like that though, she 's like the Doctor and will not mind her own business, she will get involved. For me Billie was the best thing in it, there being a real sense of her joy as she rushed for the Tardis door at then end.

Supporting characters, well Clive was just Mr Exposition, who met with a tragic end and I didn't care at all. The boyfriend was annoying, cowardly, and the actor who played him was far better as the Auton. Nice body movements and menacing smile, all subtlety was lost, however, when he started speaking too fast. Oh and Rose's mum I simply found annoying, like she wondered in from a certain East London soap with her talk of benefits and shopping. She was a caricature, so again, fear for her safety or caring for her character, nill. Social realism, matter of opinion, yes annoying people like that do exist. IFor me Rose was the only member of the human race who made any emotional impact. The episode sorely missed a human authority figure, who goes through the stages of suspecting, threatening and then trusting the Doctor.

Being a Doctor Who fan I suppose I'm used to a slower buildup of facts, and I even like the padding. There was no padding in this, and as I said, no subtlety, no real buildup of darkness or threat. I'm going to hear things like, this is tv for the 21st century and needs to be fast and sharp, but for me it was missing something. I understand though, that's it's a first episode, and it's going to take a little time. I was very pleased to see the dummies break through the shop windows, nice throwback to Spearhead in Space.

So... mixed bag, but I haven't given up. This was my first taste, and it may take a few weeks to get into. It's good to have the Doctor back and the title sequence was very Tom Bakerish. Shame about the BBC3 audio bleed, as Rose enters a darkened room filled with dummies there is riotous applause.