One of the strongest introductory episodes of Doctor Who in existence, and an excellent start to the new series. This one is a perfect blend of old Doctor Who stuff with a new theme, new ideas, and a new creative direction, all of which I found quite powerful.

Its big Achilles' heel is the special effects and choices behind the editing. Even accounting for everything involved - the time period of this production, that the production crew in general had never made stories like this before, and the limited budget - visually Rose still doesn't hold up well and I do find it is much easier to sell people on Doctor Who with The Eleventh Hour. Wonky TV CGI is one thing, burping trash cans are another. Still, that aside, it is a perfect introduction to the Doctor, hitting all the right notes in intrigue, slowly building on the ideas of travelling through space and time, and showing off our new Doctor and companion, both of which are excellently performed. A solid pilot if there ever was one, and the start of a great new chapter in Who history.