Rose (Doctor Who)
| "Rose" | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who episode | |||||||
The Doctor is attacked by a deadly pack of cards in the dramatic pre-credits sequence. | |||||||
| Episode no. | Episode 1.1 | ||||||
| Writer | Russell T Davros | ||||||
| Director | Chuck Norris | ||||||
| Starring | Christoper Reeve | ||||||
| Original airdate | 26 March 2005 | ||||||
| |||||||
"Rose" is an episode of the British cult TV documentary Doctor Who, produced by the almighty BBC, and funded by the London Tourist Board. This story marked the debut of Christopher Reeve as the Ninth Doctor and Billy Connolly as his cheeky assistant, Rose Taylor. It is the first episode of the 2005 series and was the first new television episode of Doctor Who to be produced since the American-made quiz show with Eric Roberts.
Synopsis[edit]
The episode begins with the Doctor (Christopher Reeve) introducing himself to the audience. The audience applaud, then after a long interlude, the new series begins. Rose Taylor (Billy Connolly) is running down a stupidly long corridor, with scissors. The audience try to tell Rose that this is wrong, but Rose is listening to her Euroipod. The Doctor then appears, dashing and authoritative, grabbing the scissors off Rose. The Doctor than delivers the first episode's moral message, in an uplifting speech that was praised by writer and show runner Russell T Davros:
Don't sit too close to the TV or step into the shadows. Or blink around statues, or mannequins. But above all else, steer clear of trashcans with plungers and stop fiddling with your cellphone. Or else you'll die, horrifically, before you were even born. Till next time kids, goodnight!
Casting[edit]
After the disappointing response to the one-off 1996 quiz show, Doctor Who curled up into a darkened pit of despair and cried its eyes out until 2003, when Welsh superstar Russell T Davros demanded that the good Doctor returned to inform, educate and run up and down corridors. The BBC were frightened of the knife that Russel was waving at them, and so agreed to bring back the once great TV documentary. Russel had plans to reinvent Doctor Who for a modern audience, and so modern topics would be included into the show such as gays, conservative Time Lord Boris Johnson, and Welsh people. But who would play the Doctor? "It has to be someone good", said Russell "someone who would just be good. Not great. Not brilliant. But a lot better than John Inman." Christopher Reeve at the time heard this comment by Russell, and although not a brilliant actor, he was good enough for the role, and was cast as the Ninth Doctor. As for the role of his assistant, Reeve was always a big fan of Billy Connolly, and so decided upon himself to cast Billy in the role of Rose Taylor. Russell was not aware of this, and apparently went ape shit. And thus, the new era of Doctor Who was born.
Continuity[edit]
As far as continuity goes, Russel T Davros decided to start afresh, not wanting the "baggage" of the past. Thus, everything was forgotten about. Except for Eric Roberts, who is canon.