Rose

"Rose" must have been one of, if not the, most anticipated Doctor Who TV stories of all time, matched perhaps only by the anticipation of the 1996 TV movie. It had a heck of a lot to live up to in terms of expectations by both fans and more casual viewers and the obvious question is; does it deliver?

The answer has to be a resounding yes! I watched 'Rose' as a dedicated long term fan, with me were my wife who is a casual viewer and my nine year old who has seen the old series and enjoyed some of it, but not the dated effects. pon viewing 'Rose' all three of us came to the conclusion that we had very much enjoyed it, so much so that we watched the BBC 3 repeat on Sunday evening.

Perhaps more than anything else what made this episode so good for us all was Christopher Eccleston's amazing performance as the Ninth Doctor. For me, personally, Mr Eccleston has become my second favourite Doctor solely on the strength of that performance, beaten only by the great Tom Baker. Without relying on an outlanish costume or other frippery Eccleston totally convinces as a nine hundred year old alien tim traveller. He has a madcap quality that reminds one of Troughton or Baker (Tom) but which is completely different from either of those predecessors. There is a wonderful lust for life, a genuine sense of wonder, an infectious enthusiasm - the grin says it all. Eccleston very much gives us a Doctor for the nineties, yet a Doctor who is immediately recognisable as the same Time Lord we have known and loved for 40 years. Perhaps the ultimate accolade I could give is to admit that, for most of the episode, I forgot there was an actor playing the Doctor, for me this was the Doctor in the same way that Tom Baker was the Doctor when I was a child.

The titular heroine, Rose, is very much a companion for the twenty first century and telling the story from her point of view was a master stroke. She proved in this one episode, both to the viewers and the Doctor that she has what it takes to be one of the all time great companions. I had my reservations about Billie Piper's acting ability, but I am happy to be proven completely wrong. She proved she could scream with the beast of them in a moment of genuine terror, but also proved to be gutsy, resourceful and to have the courage and intelligence to be, in amany ways, the Doctor's equal.

The supporting cast were uniformly good, though I found Mickey more than a little irritating. A pity he wasn't one of the stories fatalities!

Finally, the story itself. For a fan who has been reading the New Adventures / EDAs it was a lot more simplistic than the stories I have become used to of late, but somehow it didn't matter. I loved it. Perhaps more importantly, my wife (the casual viewer) and nine year old daughter both loved it. My daughter in particular laughed at the intended jokes and jumped when the Autons crashed through the shop windows. For myself I thought the story an excellent way to re-introduce the concept of Doctor Who and feel that it was certainly good enough to keep the 10.5 million viewers who reportedly watched the first story coming back for more. If the other twelve scripts meet or exceed this high standard then TV Doctor Who looks set to have a long and healthy future.