Phwoar what a start!

Immediately Rose is so quick to distinguish itself from the classic era by hitting us with the high-paced montage. None of the budgetary-mandated loitering that some of the not-so-great serials force us through as an audience. I think the change from 20-minute 6-parters to a shorter series with hour-long episodes was warranted at the time and allows for much more of an arc over the course of the series, especially considering that this arc is my personal favourite.

We get our first taste of horror in Rose’s introduction to the Autons, and I can’t think of any other line that would work so well in introducing the Doctor as ‘Run!’. Everything is so aggressively 2000s and I love it, so nostalgic.

Jackie is immediately so funny; Mickey is immediately Mickey. All the characters are so realised, you can easily believe that we’ve stepped into Rose’s life at the point where the Doctor shows up, but that she has lived a real human experience before then.

It’s goofy as f*ck and I’m so happy with it, I know some people don’t like the cheese, but I feel like it’s a fun nod to the classic era. The JFK zoom out of Christopher Eccleston mewing is so hilariously camp.

Being placed in Rose’s POV recontextualises all the previous lore and prevents information from being shoehorned in, which is incredible in terms of assuming your audience’s intelligence, particularly the younger generation for whom this will always be their doctor (I was 2 when I saw this episode for the first time).

The music is amazing, we get certified bangers like Westminster Bridge, Seeking the Doctor, and even a sneaky snippet of Doomsday when our resident it-girl enters the TARDIS for the first time, which is some gnarly musical foreshadowing if I’ve ever heard it.

The plot isn’t too complex but imagine how much of a brain ache it would be if it was, like the Zygon subplot in Day of the Doctor. Clive’s death is poignant and marks the start of the new era’s more graphic and emotional deaths, he has knowledge, he’s resourceful, but ultimately none of that saves him in the face of brutish violence, his last seconds spent realising it was all for nothing.

This is an amazing first episode of the revival era, and it was the earliest point of reference I had of this show until I watched an Unearthly Child 2022.