Hello there! I began watching 2005’s rebooted Doctor Who from the very first airing of the very first episode, at the impressionable age of nine years old. I’ve since rewatched various seasons at various times in my life, but with the arrival of season 11 and Jodie Whittaker I’ve decided to (perhaps belatedly) rewatch seasons 1-10, providing short reactions to each episode. I’ll make one post per season and, just a warning, mild spoilers are inbound. And just so we’re clear, I don’t consider the Doctor’s regeneration to be a spoiler, as it’s typically advertised to viewers well before the fact!
Starting with season 1, then. Season 1 was my first introduction to Doctor Who, and whenever I think back on it I consider that it hasn’t aged well. The production value isn’t too high, Eccleston isn’t one of my favourite Doctors, and, well… we’ll get to That Double Episode soon enough.
Episode 1: Rose
Is it too early for a me_irl joke?
I did not expect to enjoy this episode as much as I did, given that I’ve seen it so many times and that it’s mostly just establishing a show I’m already plenty familiar with. That said, it was good for nostalgia and has interesting retrospective given Day of the Doctor. (We’ll get to that later. Much later.) Plastic Mickey quickly establishes the show’s penchant for naff villains, though. Look forward to more of that…
Episode 2: The End of the World
Welcome to the Universe, Rose! By the way, everything dies.
I always knew that contemporary references in this episode would age poorly. I am once again surprised at how well the narrative holds up, though. I suppose I got into this show for a reason, eh? Moisturise me, moisturise me.
I am pleased that they spent so much time on Rose being overwhelmed by her surroundings. Anyone would be, and it’s something they tend to rush over with later companions.
Episode 3: The Unquiet Dead
The “we can do mysticism, too!” episode.
I’ve never been a fan of this episode, but eh. It was alright, I suppose. I don’t know enough about Charles Dickens to appreciate the portrayal of him here. The lighting in this episode has always seemed way too dark to me, though I suppose I’m spoiled nowadays by more modern, HD history.
Episode 4: Aliens of London
“We made it! London 2005!”
Aw fuckin’ Christ what do I even write about this one? It’s the Slitheen. It was preposterous and incredibly weird. And oh for god’s sake, it was a two parter. Why. WHY.
Episode 5: World War Three
I won’t burden you with images of the Slitheen. Have images of reactions to the Slitheen. As a warning.
The dialogue is so bad. It’s just so unflinchingly awful. Like, I get that the Slitheen are meant to be ridiculous, but that doesn’t make it any less terrible when they go on about needing to be naked and make constant, constant fart jokes. But hey, the soundtrack for this episode is good, so there’s that.
The main takeaway from this two-parter was the exploration of how Rose’s life affects the people she loves. As a kid I was on Rose’s side, but now… man, they really didn’t make it easy on Mickey and Jackie, did they? At least accept the shepherd’s pie, you arseholes.
Episode 6: Dalek
My face when I realise the iPlayer UI is viewable in this screenshot.
Wonderful palette cleanser! Dalek is all about introducing the most iconic villain of the series for a new audience, but doesn’t shy away from exploring new ground. Lots of parallels explored here too, as well as the Doctor’s trauma.
Episode 7: The Long Game
Hang on. Isn’t that the set from episode 2?
This was an all-round good episode. It is also, however, a fun example of how much season 1 has aged already, in terms of predicting technology. For instance, they use futuristic ATMs for payment rather than any kind of contactless system, or advancement of one.
Also: “The microprocessor becomes redundant in the year 2019, replaced by a system called SMT – Single Molecule Transcription.” Man we’re really closing in on SMT huh?
Episode 8: Father’s Day
This image has always felt very “time traveller” to me. I love it.
Fantastic episode. Deals with the irrationality that grief can inspire in us, and actually goes out of the way answer the question of what would happen if you did what most people would do with a time machine. I won’t lie, it moved me.
Unfortunately, it’s also the prime example of one of the worst habits that Doctor Who has as a series: establishing rules on a universal level which are ultimately ignored or changed in subsequent situations. We never see the villain in this episode again. (Unless you count Rose as the villain, to which I say… yeah, that’s fair.)
Episode 9: The Empty Child
This still does not convey the panic Rose has during this scene. She looks like she’s having a lovely time here, doesn’t she? Naw. Good for her. Er, anyway.
The Empty Child, also known as the creepy as shit two parter. I remember relatively little about these episodes and to be honest, I’ve probably suppressed the mummies. Memories, ahem. I’m fine, why do you ask?
Episode 10: The Doctor Dances
I’m sorry. If you’re familiar with the show, this image just gave you some bad memories.
It’s certainly got the best title in the series! This concluded the story quite nicely, and stands as one of my arguments against 45 minute episodes. Two-parters like this one and hour-long episodes just tend to wrap themselves up in a more timely way, rather than some of the incredibly rushed conclusions we see later on.
Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be pointing them out.
Episode 11: Boom Town
The beginning of this episode was honestly lovely. They had such a nice day out! Then… ah well.
Boom Town: Because the world needed more Slitheen episodes.
This one fatal flaw aside, this wasn’t actually a bad episode. It focused on exploring relationships between characters, and the possibility of a villain’s rehabilitation. It also set up an important plot device for the finale, so it wasn’t entirely filler. It definitely felt like the “we ran out of budget” episode, though.
Episode 12: Bad Wolf
As Captain Jack would say: You’re welcome.
The beginning of an end. All of your favourite game shows from 2005 have coincidentally returned to relevance in 200100, and… look, they spent so long leading up to the point that I won’t spoil it here. Either way, this is a pretty decent finale as finales go. It’s a rather good collection of little plot devices from earlier episodes that reward the viewer for paying attention.
Episode 13: The Parting of the Ways
As I said earlier, the thrill of the story is how we get to this point.
While I like this finale and generally consider it to be a good episode, I’ve never considered the sheer level of deus ex machina at play. It’s a little over the top, honestly. As long as you view the show as science fantasy though, you shouldn’t have too many qualms here.
Eccleston’s Doctor is a weird one, for me. In retrospect I never rate him that highly, but when I’m in the middle of actually watching him I do enjoy him a fair amount. I feel like the only reason he isn’t one of my favourites is due to the sheer brilliance of those who followed.
Season 1 Summary
Overall, I was surprised at how much of this series ties into itself. It’s much less a series of standalone stories than the rest. You have returning villains and locations, over-arcing plot and subplots, and the advancement of present-day continuity all within a single season. I’m not sure that really returns on the scale we see here, but there’s a lot to be said for it. It’s not one of the series I revisit very often, but it’s certainly no burden to sit through.
Now: Onwards, to Tenant!
Perpetually Perturbed 