Writer: Paul Cornell
Format: TV
Broadcast: 14th May 2005
Series: 1.08
Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose
Synopsis
Peter Alan Tyler, the father of Rose and husband of Jackie, died on November 7th 1987, the day of Stuart Hoskins and Sarah Clark's wedding. Rose was just a bang at the time, Jackie told the young Rose that nobody was there for Pete when he died and that the hit-and-run driver was never found...
Now grown up, Rose asks the Doctor to take her to see him alive, but on a whim, ends up changing his fate, not realising the consequences of such a paradox. After all, the Doctor has saved so many lives... what could the real consequences be over a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before?
Verdict
Like much of Doctor Who's first season following the revival, Father's Day is a bit of a mixed bag. There's plenty of good things and sadly, there're some negatives which being its rating down to the mark I have awarded. The idea is brilliant on paper but it wasn't executed as brilliantly as it could have been. I loved how the Doctor granted Rose her wish of seeing Pete, her father whom she had no memory of, on the day he died. He was more than happy to help Rose gain her wish of not letting her Dad die alone. But she was, understandably, letting emotions get in her way. She just stood and watched her father die first time around and I was very surprised the Doctor gave her another chance to rectify the situation, in turn cancelling out his past self. The fact that there were two sets of the TARDIS pairing was very intriguing and I'd have loved for them to just meet for a brief conversation. I don't see any reason why that couldn't have been thrown in. The anger of the Doctor at Rose's actions was staggeringly good and showed Christopher Eccleston at his highest heights of brilliance as the Ninth Doctor. A scorned look. He'd seen his planet decimated but the one person he'd trusted the most had gone against his number one rule. History cannot be changed. The concept of the Reapers was very good, consuming everything in sight where time had gone wrong. But I really didn't approve of how they weren't referenced by name in the episode. How can you not name the enemies of a story?! A big no. I also disliked how they were obviously prancing about the sky preying for their victims, yet seemed to go unnoticed. Upon their arrival, they were pretty darn hard to miss! The highlight of the episode was obviously the relationship between Rose and Pete. I loved how he immediately trusted his daughter, all grown up, despite not knowing the truth and inadvertently hitting on her. Rose's reaction to that was particularly amusing. Jackie was terrific in this episode and despite the production team failing to make her look 18 years younger, the relationship between her and Pete was nothing like Rose had imagined. Bickering, conflict and argument. That's certainly not the recipe for a successful relationship! Once all was made up though the emotional forgiveness was lovely. I liked the idea of an older building being stronger than anything built new but I didn't quite buy into the fact that the 'unstoppable' Reapers could be thwarted by a church. It would only be a maximum of 1,000 years old and for the Reapers, is that really a lot? The scene where the Doctor entered the TARDIS to find it was just an ordinary telephone box was terrific. Imagine the horror he was thinking! His previous TARDIS was just a box. The Reaper engulfment of the Doctor was a big shock which is always good. Just how would things be resolved with the Doctor no more? Pete knew the answer. He'd worked it out. He had to die. I was surprised that the Doctor was planning on fixing the time distortion of the Reapers by ridding them yet keeping history changed. It was clear the Time War had a massive burden on his back and Rose was the shining light he'd needed. He was so pleased to have a friend like her, and although that wasn't explicitly stated/referenced, it was wonderful to see it shine through. The climax was good with Pete dying after running out in front of the car. The production error of the car coming from one direction at the beginning of the episode and then another at the end was obviously disappointing. But I liked how Rose went to him at his death. The Doctor was back and everything was restored. History remained.
Rating: 7/10
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