Doctor Who feminist reviews - 'Rose'

UPDATED April-May 2016 and August 2020. Added gifs and pics, changed some of my former views and added a lot more text and detail (damn it, perfectionism xD)

My first Whovian feminist review is going to be about the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who ('Rose'). There will be SPOILERS about the plot of this episode.

 

 

                                            New!Who, 2005 series: 'Rose'                  

-Doctor: Ninth 

-Companions: Rose Tyler

-Episode: 'Rose' (New!Who, 2005, Season 1 episode 1)

 Brief summary of the episode in Wikipedia 

      1.   Overall:

• Things I liked:

 -The whole time-travelling idea of Doctor Who, and the TARDIS design.

 -Christopher Eccleston's portrayal of the Ninth Doctor is pretty likeable and sassy.

Fantastic!

 -Rose's proactive traits (initiative, wits and sass). In this episode, she is really the one to stop the Nestene Consciousness, plus she saves the Doctor and outwits him (making him consider his former patronizing mode).

You go girl! Rose smashing gender stereotypes

• Things I didn't quite like:

-The special effects. But then again, their budget wasn't very high, so it's understandable, I am grateful for the return of New!Who disregardless :)  

...Yep

-Sometimes the percussion parts of the soundtrack are too loud and it's hard to hear the dialogue.

-The bin-burp. I personally just don't find that type of humour funny.

• Things I didn't like:

  -Mickey's interaction with his girlfriend in this episode shows a number of questionable traits, some of which can be explained by acquired sexism. 

 

-Disclaimer: In 2021 several allegations of sexual harassment were tied to Noel Clarke, several while working on the set of Doctor Who. I spoke about it here. 

Mickey does have character development later on in the series, and doesn't quite again show this level of sexism (the possessive moment in the car, or the "*slaps ass* 'Kit off'" demeaning comment), so I'm going to assume that the relationship portrayed in this episode is an 'objective' depiction - and even a critical view, explaining why Rose feels rather dissatisfied by it-, and not something that is condoned.

Mickey feeling possessive about his girlfriend being out there talking to other men

-The Doctor's patronizing/xenophobic-speciecist comments which arise from time to time.

Thankfully, his comments are never overly mean, can be explained (even if not justified) by his pos-Time War PSTD, trauma and increased cynicism, and his character develops quite a bit in that respect.

That's enough with the 'humans are stupid apes' nonsense, Doctor!

 -I don't like how they started portraying Rose's mother Jackie, even if thankfully the character got more depth and character development throughout series 1, 2 and 4 (and now I love her). In this episode she's shallow (but I'm not at all against her wish to date people casually - I'll talk about that problematic scene later), self-centered, conventional, and seems pretty careless when it comes to the well-being of her daughter (some careless and kinda demeaning comments, not encouraging her to retake her studies, etc).  As a Whovian and having watched all seasons, I now know Jackie's character got so much better and that she actually cares about Rose *a lot*, so yay about that.

Gossip ahoy!

-I quite like Nine/Rose, friendship and well, yes, also ship - the romantic subtext is very clearly there, and I don't dislike that, even though if we look at this pairing from a feminist pov we also have to note that 1) There's a sizeable age gap (if we only look at Nine's apparent age, it's a 20 year gap), and although that doesn't always mean the relationship is going to be unhealthy or lack equality (I actually think Nine/Rose is way more compatible than Rose/Mickey), a big age gap with a younger woman and an older man crops up repeatedly in the media and in real life, and it does often come with a power imbalance factor, so I am wary of seeing that model promoted too often. And 2) It's also worth noting that, following in the footsteps of the 8th Doctor 1996 movie and the newfound interest for romance in DW, the first companion in New!Who is also a love interest.

I also hate triangle clichés - and in this case, we have Mickey/Rose/Nine, as well as  unnecessary romance plots with crappy guys like Adam that only give Rose grief, and they didn't resolve the Rose/Mickey relationship until mid-series 2, which irks me immensely.  

Apart from the fact that I'm against the portrayal of unresolved, ambiguous relationships and potentially cheating scenarios, because that's not 'liberation' or 'equality' or 'empowerment' (unless we're exploring the topic of forced marriages and the like),  people could also be getting the idea that every time a female character goes off on her own (meaning without her heteronormative boyfriend), she's going to flirt with other people  and end up either cheating on him or breaking her relationship with him. And that's a pretty problematic way to see it  (this scenario will reappear with Amy/Rory - to a lesser extent - and Clara/Danny in future seasons).

-Feminism:
   About the Bechdel test, I think that it isn't that exhaustive in terms of feminism. There are films with empowered female characters who don't happen to interact with other women a lot. Are we going to compare a film with really empowered female role-models who don't really talk with other women with a film where two women (not necessarily awesome role-models or anything) happen to have a few lines of conversation together about something other than men? Not that I don't appreciate that people are beginning to worry about female representation, female communication, female bonding and female friendship (I think all of these are really important), but the test is a bit flawed, imo.

•    Number of female charactes: 3 - Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Caroline (Clive's wife). Main role for Rose, secondary role for Jackie and a minor role for Caroline. All three white and heterosexual (although Rose might actually be bi, because Billie Piper claimed she would also be in love with the 13th Doctor were she to meet her).

•    Empowered traits in at least one female character? Rose is active, inquisitive, and shows agency in this episode (deducing where the Nestene Consciousness is and actively saving the Ninth Doctor).

•    Level of sexism:  Mickey shows quite a lot of sexism and entitlement in his interactions with his girlfriend Rose (I'll be talking about that later). Also some stereotypical sexist aspects in the portrayal of Jackie.

•    Bechdel Test and female bonding: Yes - Rose and Jackie talk together about the explosion incident, plus jobs and other trivia. Mother-daughter relationship and interactions (even though this dynamic isn't at its best in this episode).

-This Tumblr post also addresses this episode from a feminist point of view. We agree on most points.

-Other intersectional issues:

•    Race/ethnicity. Speciesism: 

-Appearance of a black character, Mickey. Interracial relationship between Rose and Mickey. Mickey's character gets fleshed out and developed throughout series 1, 2 and 4, and it's never treated like a racial stereotype. While it's totally legit to criticize him for his entitlement and sexist behaviour when it arises, it can be also worth commenting that the fact that he will be basically reduced to 'Mickey the Idiot' in series 1 and 2 and treated in a pretty crappy way by the Doctor, while being the only recurring black character in the show, can rightfully rub people the wrong way :S

                                          

-Some patronizing comments from the Doctor about  humans, which can be seen as speciecism resulting from increased misanthrophy after the Time War. Rose is open-minded when it comes to class and race/species, though, and she doesn't mind that the Doctor is an alien (Rose: "Are you alien?" Doctor: "Yes. Is that all right?" Rose: "Yeah"). Mickey does have prejudices about it: "Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing."

•    LGBTIQA+: The Doctor is canonically a genderfluid alien. Rose Tyler might be canonically bisexual, but there's no explicit mention of that in the series.  And I think the Doctor is being descriptive rather than offensive when saying "That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien".

•   Social class: The first companion in New!Who is a woman from a middle-low working class. Even though she shares Rose's class status, Jackie questions Rose's ability to get a good job due to her upbringing and (lack of) education, showing some internalized classism when suggesting that she find a job at the butchers because the shop was giving her "airs and graces".

-Integrity and ethics: Substantial-to-high. 

-The Doctor doesn't seem to show as much empathy as in other episodes, being rather dismissive of humans, but he still tries to stop the Nestene Consciousness in order to save humanity, and his current gruffness and closed-off manner can be explained by the fact that he's more or less recently regenerated after the end of the Time War and it's traumatized and guilt-ridden by it. 

-Rose saves the Doctor (and humanity). 

-Rose worries about Mickey being in danger and the possibility that he was killed. 
-Rose is sickened to hear that Wilson was killed ("That's just not funny. That's sick!").

-The Doctor helps Rose escape the mannequins. 

-Rose phones her mother to warn her about the mannequins. 

-When Rose is assimilating all the information about the TARDIS and Mickey being attacked by aliens and she breaks down, the Doctor says "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us".

- The Doctor, following his pacifist and anti-genocide oriented mindset (especially after he thinks he commited double genocide in the war), also tries to negotiate with the Nestene Consciousness instead of killing it outright ("I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance"). 

     2. Character analysis, from a feminist point of view:
  (All the transcript quotes come from this site)

• Rose:

Wilson?!

Rose is the main female character of this first series. A 19-year-old middle-low class woman who lives with her mother Jackie and works at a clothes shop after having left High School because of her former (and it's implied, abusive) boyfriend. She has a current boyfriend, childhood friend Mickey. Rose starts the episode feeling dissatisfied with her life (left her studies because of a crappy man, doesn't like her job, seem not to get along well with her mum at times, is also dissatisfied about her relationship with Mickey).

-Pros of the character: Rose isn't a character that is there purely to fulfil a 'maiden in distress', 'pretty girl' or 'love interest' role. Although she does fit in all those roles at times during the season, those traits don't really define her as a character or companion. In this episode, Rose shows wits and sass, and she's independent, adventurous, inquisitive and  resourceful. She's also portrayed in a pretty realistic and relatable manner (wearing comfy clothes throughout the season, for example), far from the those idealized and glamourized views of flawless young women which appear too often in the media.

-Cons: Rose seems to be a bit naive and unobservant at times. And although it's normal that characters in an adventure series or film get in trouble, she could be seen as the 'maiden in distress saved by the male' more than once (she doesn't have to be female to do that, it's practically the Doctor's companions' role disregardless of their gender, but it's also a behaviour often seen with stereotyped female characters). In this episode, though, she doesn't really 'wander off' or 'run into danger' - the Doctor's actually the one getting in trouble and being saved by Rose (and during seasons 1 and 2, the Doctor gets into trouble as well and needs rescuing more than once).

Because if the effects are not to blame, it's pretty obvious that's a (bad) copy!

-Highlights of the character during the episode:     
                                         
-The episode begins not by presenting the Doctor, but by presenting a female character, his future companion ("The episode is unusual as most of it is told from Rose's point of view" -DWM 485). Like I mentioned before, the show gets representation points not only for introducing a main character who is female, but also because she's from a lower class, specifically from a middle-low working class.  

'19, her bedroom's a mess, she's got another day at work, and she's so much better than this'

-Realistic depiction of a young woman vs the unreal idea of 'sexy', 'flawless' and 'unattainable' women the media so often offers us: We see Rose in her lived-in teenager bedroom,, starting her daily routine with a sleepy face and toustled hair (most women in the media seem to wake up with perfectly-styled hair and a made-up face, somehow). I also love the fact that Rose favours practical clothing which looks worn enough to believe she's been wearing those clothes more than once, and which say a lot about her age, social class and her personality as a whole (there's a great Tumblr post about Rose's season 1 clothing here).    
This is actually a big deal and a blast of fresh air because so many women are always seen dressed in glamorous, 'sexy' clothing so that they fulfil their main role of being attractive to the audience. Rose isn't mainly there to be a 'pretty' girl who has to be 100% canonically attractive all the time, and I love that.  

"the costumer abandoned fashion and style and the temptation to dress Billie Piper as beautifully as possible to be real with the viewer, to have every piece of clothing count not for its aesthetic experience but for its ability to tell you who Rose is, with every grimy shoe and synthetic thread. Rose’s costuming is pure visual storytelling, and I love it. I love it." (Source)

-We also learn quite a lot of Rose's backstory in this episode, and that is also a positive highlight about the script (too many women are mainly there to fulfill 2D stereotypes of the 'pretty girl', 'damsel in distress' or 'love interest', with no depth or backstory): We learn about Rose's house, her mum, her job, her current boyfriend, the fact that she left her studies because of a former (abusive) boyfriend, the fact that she wants more out of life. We learn about her dissatisfaction about her life ('I've got no studies, no job, no future'), and not only about her relationships and 'love life'. For a first episode, we have learnt quite a lot about this character, and that is also refreshing.                                     

                                        
Rose begins to get some more excitement in her life when she's being trapped with the Autons in the clothes store where she works, and she doesn't scream or panic outright. Yes, the female character gets in trouble right at the start of the episode, sounds like a cliché, but although she's rightfully frightened, she initially backs away and tries to find a logical explanation to account for the moving mannequins - instead of just screaming her head off and/or fainting, the standard reaction of so many women in these kind of films and series. 

Later, when she's being helped by the Doctor, although he's the one in charge and the one who gets all the action done, she keeps questioning him to find out what happened. And she's not in tears or panicking, she thinks everything is part of a joke, and she thinks it's not funny, and she's angry. She wants to know about the situation.

"ROSE: I've had enough of this now. 

(The Doctor disables the lift mechanism with his sonic screwdriver.) 

ROSE: Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?"

Geeky moment: Favourite Whovian scene

"DOCTOR: I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name? 
ROSE: Rose. 
DOCTOR: Nice to meet you, Rose. Run for your life!"

Regarding these reactions I'd say that, although Rose gets in trouble from the very beginning of the episode (and in quite a lot of other episodes), she doesn't strike me as your typical 'damsel in distress'. She does fall into the 'damsel in distress' trope more than once because it's what companions do, after all, but at least she doesn't panic outright. She has some wits about her. When something's happened to her, she doesn't want anyone making a fuss about it:

"MICKEY: I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up! 
ROSE: I'm all right, honestly, I'm fine! Don't make a fuss."

Rose isn't impressed this time

 When she meets the Doctor again, Rose isn't impressed by some of his pretty self-centered questions. He doesn't seem to realize that it was because of him that she lost her job - even though he obviously didn't blew up the store with that aim. Rose is pretty assertive, and I love that about her. 

"DOCTOR: What're you doing here? 
ROSE: I live here. 
DOCTOR: Well, what do you do that for? 

ROSE: Because I do. I'm only at home because someone blew up my job."

Another worthy mention could go to a scene in the first drafts of the script. She confronts the 'people mucking about' with the mannequins saying:

"Now look. If it was someone else then you could really be in trouble, cos someone else could be freaked out. And I've read the handbook, and this could count as harassment in the workplace." (DWM 485)

Rose's inquisitive and active attitude continues when she meets the Doctor again at her house and makes him go in to ask him more questions (and when the arm attacks Rose, well, it had attacked the Doctor before, so it's not as if Rose's the only one who gets in trouble). And same again when Rose goes after the Doctor when he leaves her house. She's inquisitive and wants to get information about the Doctor and the situation, she doesn't just stay passively thankful about being saved.

"ROSE: I want you to explain everything. (...) You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on."

During the episode, Rose shows some serious unobservant skills and naïveté sometimes. She doesn't notice the arm strangling the Doctor (then again, she has the bias of having seen Mickey playing with it strangling him before, and assumes that the Doctor is acting in an immature, 'manly' way as well: "You're all the same. Give a man a plastic hand..."). When the Doctor tells her to forget him and go home, he gets in the TARDIS and it very nearly disappears right under her nose *if she's so inquisitive about the Doctor, why on earth didn't she stay to see where he went?*. And she fails to realize that blatantly plastic-Mickey is not the real Mickey (unless the effects are to blame here). But she spends a good time with him, talking to him and looking at his face, and although she gets suspicious in the end, for a long time it seems she doesn't realize it's a fake, if not by his appearance, by his behaviour. 

Just happened to turn her back when the TARDIS dematerialized after walking a couple of paces away...

Apparently it wasn't the effects' fault: "DWM asked Russell if it was deliberate that the audience should know Mickey has been replaced, while Rose is oblivious. "Well, it's funny, that bit, cos science-fiction fans get puzzled by it. But in reality, you don't sit there and think, 'My boyfriend must have been replaced by a plastic substitute' You would never, ever think that." (DWM 485). Weeeell, Rose has just experienced moving mannequins and a plastic hand who tried to kill her, so it wouldn't be overkill to suspect something of the kind either xD

Rose continues to show initiative, following the Doctor when he leaves her home in order to ask him what's going on, looking him up in the Internet to find out when he doesn't say much, and visiting a man called Clive who claims to know about the Doctor. And when the Doctor has to intervene when plastic!Mickey gets aggressive, Rose does react quickly and hits the alarm button so that the people in the restaurant can get out. 

-Another points about Rose's conversation with the Doctor:  

I liked the fact that, when the Doctor tells her, in a slightly disparaging way (as is sometimes the way of this post-War incarnation), that she thinks 'the world revolves around herself', Rose points out that that's maybe what the Doctor actually thinks about himself. And although the whole rapport ('Is that supposed to sound impressive?', etc) can easily be interpreted as full-on flirting, she also points all these potential double standards to him:

"ROSE: But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after me? 

DOCTOR: Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all. 

ROSE: It tried to kill me. 

DOCTOR: It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met me. 

ROSE: So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you. 

DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah. 

ROSE: You're full of it. 

DOCTOR: Sort of, yeah."

I also think it's realistic that Rose doesn't believe the Doctor's world right away, and that she spends most of the episode feeling quizzical about this character and about what is going on.

"DOCTOR: (...) They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me? 

ROSE: No. 

DOCTOR: But you're still listening. 

ROSE: Really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?"

 Close to the end of the episode, Rose begins to get more involved in the situation, finding out about the TARDIS (and doing the 'It's bigger on the inside than the outside?!' obligatory companion scene :D) and finally joining in the action with the Doctor. 

                                     Geeky moment: Favourite Whovian scene

ROSE: Er, the inside's bigger than the outside? 

DOCTOR: It's called the Tardis, this thing. T A R D I S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. 

Like I mentioned in the "feminist infographic" at the beginning of the review, Rose accepts the fact that The Doctor's an alien with no prejudice, and becomes worried about Mickey's fate, which leads to an argument with the Doctor, who is focusing on the problem and not being empathetic enough. But Rose continues to be assertive and confronts him about that. And she continues to confront him about this after they find Mickey in the Nestene Conciousness' lair.

Rose is not impressed by the Doctor's lack of empathy either

ROSE: I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! 

"ROSE: (...) Doctor, they kept him alive. 

DOCTOR: Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy. 

ROSE: You knew that and you never said?"

In a sudden fit of functioning observational skills (it was high time, Rose xD!), Rose outwits the Doctor about the nature of the transmitter, becoming fully involved in the adventure. Following this, the Doctor also seems to become less patronizing and to consider her as a partner in adventure/companion. 

"ROSE: What's it look like? 

DOCTOR: Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. 

DOCTOR: A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible. What? What? 

(The Doctor turns and looks at what Rose is staring at on the south bank but the penny doesn't drop.) 

DOCTOR: What? What is it? What? 

(He finally catches on to what Rose is looking at. It's call the London Eye, it's on the south bank of the Thames and it is the biggest Wheel in the world - so far.) 

DOCTOR: Oh. Fantastic!"

"DOCTOR: Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath. 
ROSE: What about down here? 
(Rose looks over the parapet and sees a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.) 
DOCTOR: Looks good to me."

In this episode's final action sequence, Rose then turns out to be more active and resourceful in the face of action than the male characters. While Mickey and the Doctor keep going about her having to escape, she keeps a cool head, and saves the Doctor (and the rest of London, really) by swinging down a rope and kicking the two Autons who were trying to kill him into the Nestene Conciousness vat. She also manages to get the anti-plastic in the vat, which disables all the Autons.

"DOCTOR: Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run! 

(...) (The Autons try to push the Doctor into the vat. Rose and Mickey run to the Tardis.) 
ROSE: I haven't got the key! 
MICKEY: We're going to die! 
(Rose looks around for other possibilities) (...)
(Rose stands up and looks at the Doctor, then runs round the chamber.) 
MICKEY: Just leave him! There's nothing you can do! 
ROSE: I've got no A Levels, no job, no future. 
(She grabs an axe (...)) 

ROSE: But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I've got the bronze! 

(Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two Autons into the vat. The second one also drops the vial of anti-plastic into it. The golden Nestene screams as it starts to turn blue.) "

At the end of the episode, the Doctor thanks Rose for saving him and for basically saving the day (finally quitting all the patronizing comments, at least for now, although he relapses a bit at times through series 1), and asks her if she'd like to go time-travelling with him.

"ROSE: A fat lot of good you were. 
DOCTOR: Nestene Consciousness? Easy. 
ROSE: You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. 
DOCTOR: Yes, I would. Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."

Rose is adventurous and has been wanting a change in her dull life since we saw her at the beginning of the episode, and although she initially thought she should stay because she had the responsibility of taking care of her mother and her boyfriend, she finally accepts and happily runs into the TARDIS.

Even though I think it was careless not to think about what would happen is something went wrong in her adventures and her mother, boyfriend and friends didn't know about anything (maybe she was hoping to keep it a secret and not to tell her, given the time machine nature of the TARDIS, as other companions do?), this decision of going on adventures on her own instead of staying with her family and boyfriend should not be branded as 'selfish', and I'm completely against the idea that a woman having her own life and taking her own decisions in life without her boyfriend (or family) is her acting in a 'selfish' or 'irresponsible' way because relationships (and family) shouldn't be about being together 100% of the time. Couples (and families) need their own alone time, their own life, and they're still their own selves, not part of an unit. If Mickey doesn't want to go on an adventure, which he doesn't, Rose shouldn't be sacrificing herself by not going, and she also shouldn't be asked to sacrifice herself in order to take care of her mother, who is already an adult. I do think that her mother, etc not knowing can be irresponsible (something which will be addressed later on in the series).

• Studies and Jimmy Stone

"ROSE: Do you think I should try the hospital? Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen. Is that it then, dishing out chips. I could do A Levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school because of him. Look where he ended up."

Rose left her education because of a guy. Jimmy Stone, a potentially abusive (he's often portrayed in that way in the fandom) musician-wannabe who cheated on Rose and left her in debt.  

"After falling for Jimmy, Rose dumped Mickey, left school, moved out of home and lived with him in a bedsit. Their relationship ended in tears five months later and Rose was left £800 in debt, while Jimmy was in a camper van to Amsterdam with a woman called Noosh. He later ended up in prison and then started to work as a door-to-door salesman." (Source)

But blaming Rose for entering a relationship with a potentially abusive, selfish and cheating guy who made her abandon her studies is hardly the right path to take (this is a favourite argument of the so-called Nice Guys, offended because women choose the 'bad guys' instead of them). 

Rose may have lacked quite a bit of judgement, and should probably sort out her priorities in life (studies and being economically-independent before dubious guys), but victim-blaming is never the answer, and many women end up in relationships with 'bad guys' simply because of societal upbringing:  
Women are told to get a guy as soon as possible - because their happiness and validation depend on it -, to put the guy's wishes and inclinations before their own, to be compliant, not to be assertive or direct, and to put up with basically everything.   In the meantime, men are brought up with massive amounts of ego, male entitlement, toxic masculinity, and general privilege, and this makes many behave in an entitled, unequal and/or abusive way, thinking it's the 'right way' to be - many unhealthy and questionable behaviour are actually exalted as 'tough' and 'masculine' in this kind of thinking, such as controlling behaviour or cheating (which means the man in question asserts his manly sexuality in an active way). 
 So it's hardly surprising that so many women end up in toxic, unequal and abusive relationships, and it's hardly fair to blame them. Especially when so many men also lie and pretend to be way more decent than they turn out to be at the start of these kind of relationships, and when so many women are told to put up with a massive amount of sh*t while trying to 'find out the good' in those people. They're also hardly taught to have the correct intuition and gut-feelings in those situations, seeing as the infernal 'love for affection' -fed to them since they're children reading fairytales- is often more powerful. 

A Whovian friend also pointed out that the fact that Rose thinks that the ones who 'pranked' her with the mannequins were students means she could be resented and envious about the fact that she left her studies and is unable to go back to them at the moment:

"ROSE: Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what? 

DOCTOR: Why would they be students? 

ROSE: I don't know. 

DOCTOR: Well, you said it. Why students? 

ROSE: 'Cos to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students."

• The Doctor: 

-Pros of the character: I like how Christopher Eccleston portrays the Doctor, especially his accent (non-normative accent representation!) and sass:

"ROSE: Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off. 

DOCTOR: Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off. See you."

In spite of his patronizing comments and the lack of empathy that this incarnation sometimes displays, he's rather likeable. Eccleston is also very believable, in my opinion, as a post-Time War Doctor who's war-weary, ridden with guilt and desperate to save people after his questionable actions as the War Doctor.

                                    Geeky hijacking moment: Favourite Whovian scene

"Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go. That's who I am."

                                        Geeky moment: Cathphrase appreciation
                                              

-Cons: Like I mentioned before, Nine's least likeable trait for me is his patronizing behaviour which appears at times towards some people and towards humans in general (could be considered as racism - or, in an universe with non-human aliens, speciesism). 

"ROSE: I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are alien. 
DOCTOR: Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey 
ROSE: Yeah, he's not a kid. 
DOCTOR: It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right? 
ROSE: All right?!
DOCTOR: Yes, it is!"

During this first episode, the Doctor acts in a pretty patronizing way towards Rose for a while ("Are you going to witter on all night?", "Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?"). He keeps refusing to explain the situation to her because 'she would not understand', and she would hinder him. Nine also shows patronizing behaviour towards Mickey and Jackie in this episode.

"ROSE: We've moved. Does it fly? 

DOCTOR: Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand."

The Doctor is never overly mean, though, and switches from surly comments and grumpiness ('Lots of planets have a north!' xD) to enthusiastic big grins pretty quickly. But that doesn't mean the problematic comments should not be criticized, of course.

Lots of planets have a north! 

It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise!

 I'd say that this it's probably more about racism/speciesism than outward sexism, seeing as he's an alien dealing with less evolved humans (this incarnation likes to call humans 'blundering apes' from time to time). New!Who Doctors can be seen behaving in a sexist way from time to time (and Classic!Who Doctors even more so :S), but in general (not always, though, he can be pretty problematic as well), the Doctor (in his male incarnations) seems to respect women as pretty much equals and doesn't doubt their potential and abilities.

 Nine starts to fully appreciate Rose as the episode progresses, especially from the moment that she outwits him about the whereabouts of the Nestene Consciousness and then saves his life (we should also bear in mind that at this moment this post-War Doctor was more accustomed to isolation than to having (human) companions with him). He also behaves in a better and more appreciative way towards Jackie and Mickey as the series progresses, and his 'humans are stupid apes' are still there but less frequent (and in season 2, they're practically nonexistent). 

The Doctor also seems to lack a bit of empathy sometimes in this Ninth incarnation, especially now he's raw from the end of the Time War (like when he keeps forgetting about the possibility that Mickey, Rose's boyfriend, could be dead after being attacked by the Autons). Again, I can also see quite a lot of character development in that respect in series 1 (in the last episode, for example, he's prepared to die rather than risk killing all humanity, and he shows that he doesn't take 'ordinary' humans for granted -'Who said you're not important?').

"ROSE: Did they kill him? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead? 

DOCTOR: Oh. I didn't think of that. 

ROSE: He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think?"

In the draft script, the Doctor starts apologizing for his tactlessness, but kind of ruins it afterwards but retaliating with Rose forgetting about Wilson's death. He may have a point, but I think it's hardly fair to compare an acquaintance with someone who is supposedly closer to you, and the Doctor is supposed to care about *everybody*:
"the Doctor responds to her by saying, sadly, "Yeah. Sometimes I just...Oh, there was that other man too, the one who died in the shop, Wilson, what about him?" "What about him?" asks Rose. "Exactly," says the Doctor savagely. "Oh, cheap shot," says Rose. "But accurate," says the Doctor" (DWM 485)

• Jackie (Rose's mum):

-Pros of the character: Although she does say some rather problematic things to her daughter from time to time, she also cares about her a lot, as it becomes clear throughout series 1 and 2. We can also see that affection in the script draft, when Rose comes home from the explosion: "Rose then reaches Jackie, who gives her a fierce, tearful hug" (DWM 485), and in the moment when Jackie warns Rose to stay away from the streets just after the Auton attack.
                                     

-Cons: In many ways, in this episode she seems to be portrayed as the archetype of the shallow, self-centred, conventional woman. In this episode, Jackie meddles in her daughter's life more than she should and bashes her more than once. Jackie could also be seen as falling into the 'screaming passive woman/damsel in distress' trope during the mannequin attack at the end of the episode. She reacts in the same way as the rest of people, male and female alike, but we must always remember that so many women in the media do little more than cower and scream, so it can be worth noting.

-Jackie's relationship with Rose: Although Rose doesn't seem to get on badly with Jackie on the whole, they have some problematic issues: Jackie makes some mean comments to Rose in this first episode (about her appearance, for example - 'honestly, it's aged her'), and also criticizes her wish to achieve more and have goals about her life above her current situation when commenting that the clothes shop was giving her 'airs and graces'. This is the only time she's so mean to her, as far as I'm aware, though. Later on their relationship is very supportive and a good example of mother/daughter female bonding in the media.

     JACKIE: There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs. 

ROSE: Oh, great. The butchers. 

JACKIE: Well, it might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces. And I'm not joking about compensation.

 She also doesn't seem to be too supportive about her daughter resuming her studies or finding a job she likes.  Rose seems more mature than her rather shallow, conventional mother, and doesn't seem to be able to confide in her a lot. While Jackie is obsessed about getting some compensation and having Rose interviewed, Rose isn't interested about all that. On the whole, Jackie seems not to notice the dissatisfaction of Rose's life and behaves in a pretty oblivious way. This is not to say, though, that she should be sacrificing everything for Rose or anything like that, I'm against notions such as 'this is what a mother should do', because being a mother isn't about diminishing yourself and forgetting about your own life. But having a child is also a responsibility, and Rose needs a bit more support from Jackie, I think. 

                                         

"JACKIE: I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now you'd think I was her daughter. (...) It's Debbie on the end. She knows a man on the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview. 

ROSE: Oh that's brilliant! Give it here. 
(Rose takes the phone from Jackie and ends the call.) 
JACKIE: Well, you've got to find some way of making money. Your job's kaput and I'm not bailing you out."                            

 -The problematic bedroom scene: I do appreciate the Doctor's sassy 'no' in a separate gif which is out of context, but Jackie is not seen in a good light at all during this scene. The middle-aged shallow woman with the pink satin dressing gown, obsessed about her looks and flirting (in a delusional way, I suppose) with the first man she meets, desperate to get off with someone.  We keep seeing the double standard in which men are allowed to get off with multiple people in a casual way, without them being called 'desperate', 'ridiculous' or anything of the kind. Middle-aged men are also allowed to be considered attractive (and without even resorting to make-up or surgery), and are also very much able to get off with people without it looking as if they're 'desperate' or being 'delusional'. Jackie is equally as entitled to be interested in her sexuality and in having casual affairs with men.

 (Jackie is in her bedroom putting on her makeup.) 

ROSE: It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes. 

JACKIE: She deserves compensation. 

(The Doctor is in the open doorway.) 

DOCTOR: Oh, we're talking millions. 

JACKIE: I'm in my dressing gown. 

DOCTOR: Yes, you are. 

JACKIE: There's a strange man in my bedroom. 

DOCTOR: Yes, there is. 

JACKIE: Well, anything could happen. 

DOCTOR: No.

 Watching this unfortunate scene, these come to mind: 
-Making fun of an older woman's sexuality (we never make fun of the Doctor's apparent or real age when he's seen flirting, right? Also, if River Song (and Missy) hadn't appeared on the picture, we might have suspected that the Doctor always veers towards the younger females in terms of romantic - or more intimate - relationships, which would also be problematic). 
-Labeling her as a shallow, vain individual because she likes to date casually (also, the stereotype that caring about your looks and/or choosing to wear pink and/or make-up makes you necessarily stupid. I do like that Rose's choice of colours helps fight that stereotype). 
-Plus the idea that a single/widowed woman, and more so if she's approaching middle age, must be desperate to get off with a man in order to keep feeling sufficiently attractive :S

• Caroline:

Caroline, the wife of Clive, only plays a minor role in the episode, and is seen mainly in what seems to be a traditionally female stay-at-home wife and mum role, doing the laundry, working in the garden (in the script draft) and going shopping with her husband and son. She also fulfils the role of the 'scared woman' who screams in a passive way when her husband is attacked.   

Meanwhile, judging by what we can see in the episode, Clive also seems to follow a 'traditional husband' role. His sedentary looks and the fact that Caroline is always seen doing housework while he busies himself with his research hobby in his shed certainly suggest that he doesn't exactly split the housework duties with his wife. This is a sort of behaviour that repeats itself in traditional Patriarchal-based family situations -J.R.R Tolkien comes to mind, for  example- where the wife takes care of all the house and children duties while the husband is free to do as he pleases apart from his out-of-the-house job, which oh gods, has exerted them enough already, and who needs non-remunerated boring cleaning and cooking anyway (suggestion: 'You live there'): While Caroline is busy doing the laundry and working in the garden, Clive has his very own shed where he seems to spend quite a lot of time enjoying himself with his hobby - research and conspiracy theories about the Doctor. So not exactly the promotion of an equal household.

                                       

"Rose sympathises with Caroline, who is swifting bricks in a wheelbarrow in the back garden" (DWM 485)  In this case, it seems that Rose sympathizes with Caroline because she thinks Clive is 'nuts' because of his theories about the Doctor, but we could easily interpret this regarding her general situation as well.

Caroline's main line is also problematic in itself, showing her amazement at the fact that a woman could be interested in Clive's theories and research about the Doctor:

CAROLINE [OC]: Who is it? 

CLIVE: Oh, it's something to do with the Doctor. She's been reading the website. Please, come through. I'm in the shed. 

CAROLINE: She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?

This was aparently the intention of RT Davis about this line:

"Clive's wife Caroline is amazed that someone who has read a website about the Doctor is a 'she'. A joke playing on the preconception that enthusiasts for the Doctor, even in the Doctor Who universe, tend to be male. Thankfully, this preconception isn't as accurate as it once was." (DWM 485)

• Mickey:

Pros:  He's an OK bloke on the whole (and he'll get some interesting character development through series 1 and 2), although he displays quite a lot of entitlement and sexism in his relationship with Rose, especially in this episode. The fact that Rose seems to have the more active role in this episode and others is a gender reversal that can also be refreshing.
                                     
-On Rose's reaction to Mickey's less active role: 

ROSE: Yeah, I can't. I've, er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so. 

Even though the role reversals are refreshing, Rose still promotes sexist ideas of 'active and tough masculinity' by implying that Mickey's a coward and useless for not being as active as she was in this episode. That's the idea that many people seem to have of Mickey, too. He's the 'stupid' one and the 'coward' one. Well - It isn't the obligation and nature of every male to be brave all the time. There are women who are braver than some men, and viceversa. I think it's refreshing that Rose was more active and braver than Mickey in this episode, although not in order to laugh at the model of the 'coward man', but rather in order to bash stereotypes and recognize that gender roles traditional 'femininity' and 'masculinity' are social constructs and that any person - male or female or both or neither - can be brave and active and passive, and that that depends not on your sex and/or gender, but on your character, your inclinations, and also on the context and situation. I personally think it makes sense that Mickey would be afraid because he's not a 900-year-old alien adventurer, and he's also not as inquisitive and adventurous as Rose is. Why should he be labelled 'Mickey the idiot' partly because of that? 
                                             
Cons: Like I mentioned a couple of times before, Mickey shows quite a bit of entitlement in his relationship with Rose (will elaborate a bit below): He seems to be quite a bit possessive at times - Using typical sexist phrases as 'my woman' (butt smacking included, which I label as 'demeaning', not as 'romantic'), and wanting to go with her to see the investigator not because he was curious or just wanted to support her - or just because he offered to give her a lift -, but in case Clive wanted something with her. Mickey also acts pretty entitled and a bit self-centered with her at times (we could argue that Rose also takes Mickey for granted during seasons 1 and 2, but that is a valid discussion for another time). 

• Examples of the problematic aspects about Mickey's relationship with Rose:

Mickey's script description says: '22, cheeky, laddish,  a good catch' (DWM 485). Well, like I said Mickey is an OK dude, especially when he gets a bit more character development, but I wouldn't say 'a good catch' because he has a number of problematic aspects that would need polishing, relationship-wise:

-Tough guy acts (eating in a disgusting way, showing off, slaps and shoving as a way of affection, because gentler touches would not be 'manly' enough) as a way to attract her girlfriend. This is acquired behaviour for both men and women: Many women subconsciously learn to feel attracted by tough guy acts such as 'manly bravado' - Rose herself berates Mickey for behaving 'like a coward' in this episode. We also have the fact that gross and rude things, such as being disgusting while eating (mouth open, burping, etc) are too often seen as 'tough' and 'cool' both by both men and too many women.

-Self-centered aspect and lack of honesty: Especially in the scene when he lies to Rose about caring about her after she survives the explosion, when all he wanted was to watch a match at the pub.

MICKEY: What're you drinking, tea? Nah, nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock. You need something stronger. 
ROSE: I'm all right. 
MICKEY: Now, come on, you deserve a proper drink. We're going down the pub, you and me. My treat. How about it? 
ROSE: Is there a match on? 
MICKEY: No, I'm just thinking about you, babe. 
ROSE: There's a match on, ain't there. 
MICKEY: That's not the point, but we could catch the last five minutes. 
ROSE: Go on, then. I'm fine, really. 

'No, I'm just thinking about you'...More like 'No, I'm only pretending to care about you because all I want to do is watch the match'

Also, male entitlement gaze TM while demanding a kiss

When talking with plastic!Mickey Rose also shows annoyance and frustration at the fact that Mickey was not paying attention to her talking about her life, and it seems that that was not the first time Rose was bothered by Mickey neglecting her in that aspect:

MICKEY: So, where did you meet this Doctor? 

ROSE: I'm sorry, wasn't I talking about me for a second? 

-When Rose visits Mickey at his flat to browse his computer, Mickey greets her in a pretty demeaning and objectifying way, smacking her backside and 'jokingly' telling her to take off her clothes and that Rose's intention to borrow Mickey's laptop is 'any excuse to go to the bedroom!'. I find behaviour such as this distasteful, 'joke' or not, and the fact that someone is someone's girlfriend doesn't mean they are allowed to treat her in a demeaning way, and/or as a physical object for them to have sex with, and that's it. This is practically the only time Mickey behaves in this way, but it's worth criticizing.

Besides, Mickey seems to have 'troubles' washing the dishes, another aspect that's regrettably only too common among men, be they single or in a relationship, because they are still generally brought up to think not only that washing the dishes and other house chores are 'women's work', but also that being clean and appreciating hygiene is 'not manly enough'. It's pretty telling that Rose knows the contents of Mickey's kitchen better than Mickey himself ('Aliens of London'/'World War Three').

                                 
MICKEY: Hey, hey, here's my woman. Kit off! 
ROSE: Shut up. 
(They kiss.) 
MICKEY: Coffee? 
ROSE: Yeah, only if you wash the mug. And I don't mean rinse, I mean wash. Can I use your computer? 
MICKEY: Yeah. Any excuse to get in the bedroom. Don't read my emails! 

We also have this 'manly behaviour' from the draft: "In the first draft Mickey shares his flat with two other lads, who are in the living room watching telly and eating a Chinese takeaway. "Cover up, boys," calls Mickey as he leads Rose in. "There's a woman in the house. Hoomba!" Rose says "All right?" to the lads, and they grunt back "Hoomba." " (DWM 485)

-Mickey shows a pretty possessive, controlling streak when Rose goes to Clive's house to find out more about the Doctor, and proceeds to glare at everyone in the neighbourhood in a 'threatening' way in order to assert his 'territory' regarding Rose.

ROSE: You're not coming in. He's safe. He's got a wife and kids. 
MICKEY: Yeah, who told you that? He did. That's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say. 
ROSE: I'd better tell you now. My boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill me. 
CLIVE: No, good point. No murders. 
(Clive waves at Mickey.) 

• Some final notes about the Nine/Rose/Mickey triangle cliché

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the review, I really don't like the kind of 'triangle' cliché they have going on until mid-series 2. Rose is obviously pretty dissatisfied with Mickey and does end up falling for the Doctor, and that is a complicated situation and it might not be as straightforward to break up with Mickey and the 'ordinary' routine as it may seem. But still, they shouldn't have kept it all so unresolved because it's not fair to anyone - and as much as I criticize Mickey's problematic traits in his relationship with Rose and I understand why Rose would fall for the Doctor instead, it isn't fair to Mickey to leave everything so unresolved, leaving him feeling so taken for granted and used, and I think Rose is more than a bit thoughtless about this as well.

 She also starts having casual relationships with guys such as Adam while she's with the Doctor, and while I approve of women dating who they want when they want, I also think that cheating is anything but cool or feminist, so those are not character and plot choices I agree with at all :S The Doctor and Rose pretty much flirt more than once while in their adventures, when Rose is supposedly still with Mickey. Relationships shouldn't be about glued-together pairs, each partner is entitled to personal freedom, but that does not mean that cheating is cool (open relationships are a very different thing, and we might be approaching something like that in this case throughout series 1 and 2, but still). I don't like it from either of them, because the Doctor knows perfectly well that Rose is with Mickey, but that doesn't stop him, plus he's rude with him more than once during season 1, and partly because he's acting jealous, I think.

Rose/Nine works both as friendship and a romantic ship for me, but the triangle issue spoils the relationship quite a bit for me while Mickey is in the equation, to be honest. Because it's not fair to any of them.

 And just saying, even if this doesn't happen all the time in Doctor Who, the female character as the ever-present love interest is an infamous cliché I rather hate. I'm not against romance, if it's a relationship lacking in gender roles, if it makes sense in the plot, and if it doesn't make the woman in the relationship lose agency - I'm only against the eternal cliché that involves nearly every main female character usually turning out to be a love interest. But fortunately, this doesn't happen all the time in Doctor Who, like I said: We have awesome non-romantic relationships such as Ten/Donna, Twelve/Bill, Thirteen/Fam,  Eleven/Amy (this is a bit more problematic in its earlier stages), Twelve/Osgood, Twelve/Clara,...