Rose

Rose always had an impossible task - introducing the whole concept of Doctor Who to a new audience, introducing a new Doctor and a new companion, and establishing a relationship between them, as well as telling an exciting adventure to hook that whole new audience.

On the establishing side of things, I think 'Rose' did a very good job. Both Rose and the Doctor are very likeable and very easy to empathise with, and their relationship is set up with the minimum amount of fuss, and develops well through the forty-five minutes. Both characters are given moments to demonstrate their characters (I love the moment when the Doctor rejects Mrs Tyler's clumsy advances) and they are well acted too.

The series' concept is effortlessly painted in. No Gallifrey, no regeneration (though it is alluded to), no pointless continuity references (strangely not even to the Autons, which was refreshing) and none of the unnecessary baggage that so hamptered the TV Movie.

The exciting story part is where the episode suffers, I think. Setting up the above points so well means there's precious little time for a plot, and the whole thing seemed rushed and lacking in genuine danger and excitement. There are no plot twists, and the whole story feels rather shallow and one-dimensional. That the Doctor has a phial of anti-plastic would be fine if it didn't work or he didn't get a chance to use it, but for him to produce this gimmick and then use that gimmick to resolve the plot is frankly poor story-telling.

The element of danger and atmosphere was undercut throughout, first by Graham Norton feeding in from BBC3 (!), then by scenes being played for (I assume) comedy - the arm, the burping wheelie bin, the plasticised Mickey (couldn't Rose tell the difference?!), and the plasticised Mickey losing his head and growing big comedy hammers (which reminded me of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', though it was curiously less disturbing than similar moments in this film).

I hope this doesn't matter. I hope the audience will fall in love with the concept and the characters and the relationship between them. I hope with all the exposition out of the way, the series can settle down now to tell real stories filled with real danger, real atmosphere and real excitement.

I liked Rose. Despite its vacuity and slender, brainless plotting, I liked it a lot. The rest of the series should be better, though. Roll on episode 2...