N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

Viewing Father’s Day relatively close to having watched actual Doctor Who from the 1980’s (well, within eighteen months, but during a global pandemic, where personal perception of time seems to have gone out of the window, it doesn’t seem that long since I watched Survival), it’s remarkable how much this episode feels like the 80’s.

It’s set between the broadcasts of episodes one and two of Delta and the Bannermen, for those who care about these things.

“You don’t scare me. I know how sad you are.”

Rose, Father’s Day

Father’s Day is of course renowned for its emotional heft, but late 80’s Seventh Doctor stories, leading on to the Virgin Publishing’s New Adventures, weren’t afraid to show all the feels. That it is written by Paul Cornell, one of the NA writers who helped set the tone for that series, should perhaps make this less surprising.

In an odd way, even the camera perspective used for the Reapers reminded me of The Five Doctors and Borusa’s trianglular thingy coming after the Doctor(s) and his former companions.

And although this episode is predominantly about Rose and her relationship (or rather lack of relationship) with her father, perhaps my favourite line in is almost an aside, coming in the Doctor’s appreciation of how Sarah and Stuart met.

That kind of melancholy appreciation of the wondrous small things of life, actually reminded me of why I like the Seventh Doctor era so much. I don’t imagine for a minute that Christopher Eccleston was channeling that, but if nothing else, it shows how much he “got” the character of the Doctor, even given the little time he had with the part.

Some might say Father’s Day is sentimental, although I’ve never seen that as much of a criticism of anything myself. I can be a sucker for a bit of sentimentality!

It is certainly as moving a Doctor Who story as we’ve seen to date, although y’know, the endings of The Green Death, The Hand of Fear, Earthshock, The Caves of Androzani, …, etc.