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

It seems strange to think we’re now further away from the original transmission of Rose than we were in March 2005 from the broadcast of Survival. New Who still feels new, even though, in Classic Who years by now we’d be about to enter the glitzy JN-T years.

It’s also strange when you realise how much the first 21st century Doctor Who television episode feels like a direct continuation from the Seventh Doctor’s final tale in 1989: a slightly serious Doctor, with moments of whimsy and others where the emotions leak out, accompanied by a working-class teenager, battling a threat in modern-day London: it’s like the wilderness years never happened!

“The Doctor is a legend woven through history.”

Clive, Rose

Yes, the single episode story length means it’s a bit more breathlessly paced than we’d come to expect (a few notable 80’s stories notwithstanding). Given that Russell T Davies has to introduce us to Rose and re-establish the character of the Doctor and the tropes of the TARDIS for a new audience, it’s especially noticeable how little plot there actually is in Rose.

But all-in-all, it still holds together well.

I was one of the many viewers in the UK who witnessed the (Graham) Norton Invasion — when the sound from Strictly Dance Fever accidentally bled into the opening minutes of the broadcast of Rose. I seem to remember at the time saying to my wife something along the lines of only the BBC could f*ck up such the massive relaunch of Doctor Who. These days, I like to think I’m a little more charitable and indeed would want an option to turn it on the audio, so if Series One ever gets a Doctor Who – The Collection style re-release, that’d be on my wishlist.

Going into this we all knew what Christopher Eccleston was capable of as a dramatic actor. What remains surprising here is how much gusto he puts into the comedy. I mean, who doesn’t love a bit of comedy strangling action? And I love the joy on the Doctor’s face when he explains that the TARDIS’s blue police box exterior is a disguise.

Arguably, the real revelation here (although, given the episode’s title, it is perhaps no surprise) is Billie Piper, who as Rose Tyler, gives us a companion we can instantly relate to — even if she does seem to take it in her stride that she’s the prime witness to an act of terrorism. I never bought into all the snobbery about casting a pop star, but any doubts anyone might have had about her acting chops should have been allayed by this.

Elsewhere, while Rose’s boyfriend Mickey is a little broadly played here compared to how I remember him, given he has to contend with burping wheelie bins, I think I’ll let him off. Camille Coduri fares better as Rose’s mum Jackie, who between flirting with the Doctor and berating her daughter for getting ‘airs and graces’ (somehow from simply working in a shop!), is a proper mix of likeable and unlikeable character traits, and consequently like her daughter, feels very much like a real person. Of course, we’d come to see a lot more of Mickey and Jackie as the series progresses.

Given what it had to achieve in its 45 minutes, I’m more than prepared to forgive Rose any flaws it might have, although I do think it’s a pity RTD killed off poor Clive. Perhaps it was because of his clearly appalling Photoshop skills?