What I Did For Love
In "The Long Game," Adam's betrayal was planned on the spur of the moment, but was calculated and consciously self-serving. The Doctor spoke of the potential consequences to the human race before Adam was voted off the TARDIS, but the danger we saw was more of the direct danger to the Doctor and Rose as they were held captive and the Editor pulled information from Adam's greedy little mind. In "Father's Day," we see Rose fall into the same trap -- and the very real danger that results -- in what is Rose's biggest test before she faces her own Supreme Ordeal at the end of Series 1.
Clearly, the idea of convincing the Doctor to travel backwards so she can see her Dad has been brewing in Rose' head for some time. I wouldn't say it was the first thing she thought of when the Doctor told her the TARDIS was a time machine, but given that Rose has always wanted to meet the father she never really knew, the kernel likely formed after she realized this time travel thing would real. I'd actually place the genesis in "The Unquiet Dead" when Rose comments that Christmas 1860 came only once and then was gone -- except for the Doctor, who can visit whenever he wishes. She's very thoughtful at the moment, as if she's puzzling it all out, and you have to wonder in retrospect if the thought flits through her brain that she could see her Dad.
Rose's motives for seeing what her father was like are self-serving, but they're very different from Adam's. He wanted simple material gain; given the opportunity, Rose wants to fulfill an emotional need that's been there since her childhood. You can hear it in the story she tells as the episode begins, how her Dad was the best dad in the world, and the image she's created in her mind based on the stories her mother has told her. The Doctor is understandably hesitant himself, given that he knows what the potential dangers are and that he knows Rose doesn't know. But the story causes an answering chord within the Time Lord who's lost his own home and loved ones and while he hesitates and offers warnings, he can't actually resist. Besides, he's certain he can make certain Rose doesn't do anything to disturb the time line. (Ah, hubris. Thy name is Doctor.)
Obviously, what the Doctor conceived was a bit of a "Pete Tyler's Greatest Hits" tour. They start with the day Pete and Jackie marry, and Rose is a bit disappointed as Pete goes up on Jackie's full name ("I thought he'd be taller," she whispers to the Doctor). For her, it's the first crack in the image, even though the Doctor seems rather amused. Also, given Jackie's exsasperation, there are clear hints this wasn't the blissful marriage spoken of in Rose's bedtime stories.
We then jump ahead to the day of Pete's death, which is clearly the more emotional trauma. Rose has always been told that her father was killed by a hit and run driver and died alone before the ambulance could arrive; if there's one thing she wants to do, it's to have someone be there with him while he passes so he won't be alone. The Doctor is growing more leary, but, again, he understands the impluse and believes he'll be able to keep Rose from doing anything that could be harmful. The accident happens...and Rose freezes. She can't go to him and when she can move, apparently runs off with the Doctor in hot pursuit. They hear the ambulance and Rose knows that once again her dad has died alone. She begs the Doctor to let her try again and something inside him agrees, even though he knows he shouldn't let her.
Why the Doctor, who understands the implications of crossing one's timelines, the danger of changing events, and has clearly been drilled in all of this since he was a tiny tot, throws all of it to the wind to help Rose is both a sign of his emotional reconnection and a flaw in his personality. The Doctor has compassion, always has, and it's come back to bite him in the butt more than once (the Fourth Doctor opting not to completely destroy the Daleks when he had the chance, for example). And this time it comes with big, pointy teeth. Even as he lurks around the corner with Rose, trying not to be seen by their previous selves, he's still trying control the situation, giving Rose detailed instructions...until the moment she breaks away, runs past the other Doctor and Rose (who disappear) and saves Pete from being run down.
Rose is giddy with joy at having saved her dad. The Doctor, not so much. Thinking Rose is another guest for the wedding he's going to attend (and the Doctor her "Plus One"), Pete offers to give them a lift to the church, but first they have to stop by Pete and Jackie's place so Pete can change. While Pete's in the other room, the argument starts. Neither the Doctor nor Rose come off particularly well here; they've reached a point where they thought they knew one another and each is hurt to discover the other doesn't react quite they expected. Rose is still trying paint a perfect picture of her fantasy Dad, while Doctor is beating himself up over what he sees as a huge problem. The shouting gets nasty, with the Doctor calling Rose another stupid ape and Rose telling the Doctor's she knows he's going to come crawling back to her. Each of them is caught up in their personal POV and they're speaking past one another.
Big squick moment for Rose when, after the Doctor stomps out, Pete makes what may or may not be a potential pass at her. It's her first dose of serious cold water because a) she's always envisioned Pete and Jackie terribly in love with one another, and, b), eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww! Rather uncomfortably, they head off to the wedding. And the weirdness begins. We see the car that hit Pete -- that was supposed to hit Pete -- appear and disappear at intervals, even almost running Pete's car off the road. As he swerves to avoid it, Rose shouts "Dad!" While she tries to brush it off, Pete did hear what she said and it's his first clue something's wrong.
Meanwhile, the consequences with big flappy wings and pointy teeth have appeared in the sky, taking out a number of locals. They are the Reapers and they come to clean up paradoxes in time, to sterilize the wound as it were. The Doctor doesn't notice their presence at first, however, because he's too busy stomping back to the TARDIS in high dudgeon, firmly and righteously convinced that he's better off traveling alone. One small problem, though; while the TARDIS key fits the lock of the blue box the Doctor comes across, it's no longer a TARDIS, but an ordinary police box. The Doctor's trapped without his transport -- and he realizes Rose's actions have far deeper consequences than just annoying him. Eccleston's face here is priceless as he realizes the TARDIS now really is just a little blue box, and while the implication that the Doctor's only home is gone is a signal of the horrors to come, it's also a very funny moment.
Back at the church, Jackie isn't too happy with the sight of Pete arriving with a pretty young thing. This is a marriage that's rapidly going sour and Rose plays witness to all of the bickering and arguing. Even in 1987, Jackie's not one for holding her tongue and gives Pete what for, all the while with a baby carrier hooked over her arm. Little Rose has that "If I knew what was going on I'd be screaming my head off -- oh, look a tree" expression babies often get, seemly not bothered by Big Rose staring at her.
While the Tylers do their version of the Battling Bickersons, the Doctor appears, urging everyone inside the church. With the Reapers present, the only safe place is within old walls, which will hold them back for a while, though not forever. Not everyone makes it, naturally; the groom's father and the vicar are caught before they can reach the sanctuary of the walls. The mobile phone the father had isn't working (and now I remember why the first mobiles made me vow I'd never have one), receiving only a scratchy repeat of Edison's first call to his assistant.
It's all chaos, with the survivors of the wedding party trapped inside the church. Jackie is screeching (and as much as Jackie amuses me, there is no other word to describe her at the moment), until the Doctor, with great relish, tells her to shut up. She does for a moment or two, which gives Rose the chance to ask the Doctor if this is all her fault. The Doctor doesn't answer, but Pete has overheard the conversation. He's also noticed the car that keeps appearing and disappearing outside the church and begins to put two and two together. Rose called him "Dad," he instinctively trusts her, she has his eyes and Jackie's attitude. Could it be?
Pete Tyler is not a stupid person. Ill-educated perhaps, not organized definitely, but he is clever and has a natural curiosity which he's clearly passed on to his daughter. Without knowing who the Doctor is or Time Lords or the Blinovitch Limitation Effect or any of these things, he hears what the Doctor says about the Reapers being there to sterilize a wound in time, observes Rose, and lets his mind leap to the correct but outlandish conclusion. And in this, you can see part of what attracted Rose to the Doctor because it's the same thing the probably attracted Jackie to Pete in the first place -- the lure of someone who sees beyond the horizons you know, who offers a different and broader view than you know. The difference is that Pete couldn't quite get his act together and Jackie was grounded by her own fears and issues.
While this reunion is going on, the Doctor is approached by the bride and groom, who are not surprisingly upset by their day literally turning into the wedding from hell. Can he save them? These are two people the Doctor don't know, but he seems to take heart from the fact they're marrying and starting a family (the bride is pregnant), feeling they are special because of that and promises that he will save them. The Doctor's manner here toward two people he's never met before is in marked contrast with his brusqueness earlier in the series and is another sign of his reconnection with the universe. There's still loneliness and hurt, but he no longer seems to shy away quite so quickly from individuals.
Rose takes the first step to make things right with the Doctor, going to apologize after speaking with Pete. The Doctor has finished sealing the church and is now taking care of Baby Rose. He warns Big Rose not to touch her younger self because that will cause a paradox which could let the Reapers inside. She says she's truly sorry about what she's done, he apologizes for snapping and admits he wasn't going to abandon Rose. As they embrace, Rose feels the TARDIS key in the Doctor's pocket. It's hot and glowing, which the Doctor says means the TARDIS isn't gone, just displaced. Using the sonic screwdriver and the battery from the groom's father's mobile, he charges the key up so the TARDIS begins to reform around it. Once it's done that, he can transport everyone out of there. Problem solved!
Uh, not quite. While they're waiting for the TARDIS to finish reforming, Pete has another talk with Rose. He knows something's not right when Rose spins a tale about what a great father he is because he knows what she ascribes to him -- always there, always responsible, never disappointing or letting her down -- isn't him. He realizes he's the wound in time, that he's supposed to be dead and his continued survival is what's putting them all in danger. Rose tries to tell him it's her fault for all this, but he tells her that he's her father -- it's his job for things to be his fault.
Enter the Oncoming Storm, aka Jackie Tyler. She's heard bits of this and has a fit. How dare Pete give their daughter a second-hand name and how old was he when he fathered this girl? Pete tries to explain, but Jackie doesn't believe him so Pete grabs Baby Rose to compare her to Big Rose -- and plops Baby Rose into Rose's hands, causing the very paradox the Doctor had warned against. A Reaper breaks through into the church and the Doctor yells for everyone to get back because the Reaper will go for the oldest thing in the room, namely himself. The Reaper does just that, swooping down to have a bit of a nosh, then swoops toward the still reforming TARDIS and both Reaper and TARDIS disappears. The TARDIS key is cold, which Rose takes to mean that the Doctor is gone. (Well, except for Sylvester McCoy, of course, who'd just begun his run about six weeks before the events of this episode. But never mind that.)
Pete knows what he has to do. The Doctor had tried to spare him, but with the Doctor gone, it's up to him to fix the problem by fulfilling his fate. He tells Rose goodbye and makes his peace with Jackie. Then he grabs the truly ugly vase he and Jackie were going to give the happy couple and rushes outside, into the path of the oncoming car. Everyone rushes out of the church to see the aftermath of the accident, including the groom's father, who's reappeared. The Doctor steps out of the church as well and tells Rose to go to Pete. She does and holds her hand, making certain that this time Pete doesn't die alone. When he's gone, the Doctor collects Rose and they walk hand in hand back to the TARDIS as we fade to Jackie telling young Rose how it wasn't the driver's fault and a girl stayed with him while he died, though no one knows who she was. The episode closes as we hear Rose saying what she said in the beginning -- that Pete Tyler was the most wonderful dad in the world.
For a lot of people, this is an episode that reaches out and grabs them emotionally. Those of us who've lost loved ones know the feeling of wanting to have just one extra moment, to see them again or say the things we didn't get to say. We understand how easy it would be, even if you knew the consequences would be bad, to give in to that urge to change things and keep them with us for a little longer if we had the chance.
Things that stood out for me:
* Little Mickey seeing Rose and instinctively running to throw his arms around her very much the way Mickey did at the end of "Rose." Some things don't change.
* The Doctor rocking Baby Rose's carrier and asking her sweetly that she wouldn't bring about the end of the world, would she?
* The willingness to let Rose and the Doctor be unattractive when they fight.
Things I didn't like:
* Jackie just comes across as a shrew here, and you have to wonder what Pete ever saw in her.
Now to go fire up the Benny Goodman and write my commentary on "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"
* The quote in my cut tag comes from the 2006 Children in Need Concert of the music of Doctor Who. It's noted that the new series introduced us to Rose Tyler, her mum Jackie, her sometimes loving boyfriend Mickey and her sometimes dead dad Pete. I couldn't resist.
Clearly, the idea of convincing the Doctor to travel backwards so she can see her Dad has been brewing in Rose' head for some time. I wouldn't say it was the first thing she thought of when the Doctor told her the TARDIS was a time machine, but given that Rose has always wanted to meet the father she never really knew, the kernel likely formed after she realized this time travel thing would real. I'd actually place the genesis in "The Unquiet Dead" when Rose comments that Christmas 1860 came only once and then was gone -- except for the Doctor, who can visit whenever he wishes. She's very thoughtful at the moment, as if she's puzzling it all out, and you have to wonder in retrospect if the thought flits through her brain that she could see her Dad.
Rose's motives for seeing what her father was like are self-serving, but they're very different from Adam's. He wanted simple material gain; given the opportunity, Rose wants to fulfill an emotional need that's been there since her childhood. You can hear it in the story she tells as the episode begins, how her Dad was the best dad in the world, and the image she's created in her mind based on the stories her mother has told her. The Doctor is understandably hesitant himself, given that he knows what the potential dangers are and that he knows Rose doesn't know. But the story causes an answering chord within the Time Lord who's lost his own home and loved ones and while he hesitates and offers warnings, he can't actually resist. Besides, he's certain he can make certain Rose doesn't do anything to disturb the time line. (Ah, hubris. Thy name is Doctor.)
Obviously, what the Doctor conceived was a bit of a "Pete Tyler's Greatest Hits" tour. They start with the day Pete and Jackie marry, and Rose is a bit disappointed as Pete goes up on Jackie's full name ("I thought he'd be taller," she whispers to the Doctor). For her, it's the first crack in the image, even though the Doctor seems rather amused. Also, given Jackie's exsasperation, there are clear hints this wasn't the blissful marriage spoken of in Rose's bedtime stories.
We then jump ahead to the day of Pete's death, which is clearly the more emotional trauma. Rose has always been told that her father was killed by a hit and run driver and died alone before the ambulance could arrive; if there's one thing she wants to do, it's to have someone be there with him while he passes so he won't be alone. The Doctor is growing more leary, but, again, he understands the impluse and believes he'll be able to keep Rose from doing anything that could be harmful. The accident happens...and Rose freezes. She can't go to him and when she can move, apparently runs off with the Doctor in hot pursuit. They hear the ambulance and Rose knows that once again her dad has died alone. She begs the Doctor to let her try again and something inside him agrees, even though he knows he shouldn't let her.
Why the Doctor, who understands the implications of crossing one's timelines, the danger of changing events, and has clearly been drilled in all of this since he was a tiny tot, throws all of it to the wind to help Rose is both a sign of his emotional reconnection and a flaw in his personality. The Doctor has compassion, always has, and it's come back to bite him in the butt more than once (the Fourth Doctor opting not to completely destroy the Daleks when he had the chance, for example). And this time it comes with big, pointy teeth. Even as he lurks around the corner with Rose, trying not to be seen by their previous selves, he's still trying control the situation, giving Rose detailed instructions...until the moment she breaks away, runs past the other Doctor and Rose (who disappear) and saves Pete from being run down.
Rose is giddy with joy at having saved her dad. The Doctor, not so much. Thinking Rose is another guest for the wedding he's going to attend (and the Doctor her "Plus One"), Pete offers to give them a lift to the church, but first they have to stop by Pete and Jackie's place so Pete can change. While Pete's in the other room, the argument starts. Neither the Doctor nor Rose come off particularly well here; they've reached a point where they thought they knew one another and each is hurt to discover the other doesn't react quite they expected. Rose is still trying paint a perfect picture of her fantasy Dad, while Doctor is beating himself up over what he sees as a huge problem. The shouting gets nasty, with the Doctor calling Rose another stupid ape and Rose telling the Doctor's she knows he's going to come crawling back to her. Each of them is caught up in their personal POV and they're speaking past one another.
Big squick moment for Rose when, after the Doctor stomps out, Pete makes what may or may not be a potential pass at her. It's her first dose of serious cold water because a) she's always envisioned Pete and Jackie terribly in love with one another, and, b), eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww! Rather uncomfortably, they head off to the wedding. And the weirdness begins. We see the car that hit Pete -- that was supposed to hit Pete -- appear and disappear at intervals, even almost running Pete's car off the road. As he swerves to avoid it, Rose shouts "Dad!" While she tries to brush it off, Pete did hear what she said and it's his first clue something's wrong.
Meanwhile, the consequences with big flappy wings and pointy teeth have appeared in the sky, taking out a number of locals. They are the Reapers and they come to clean up paradoxes in time, to sterilize the wound as it were. The Doctor doesn't notice their presence at first, however, because he's too busy stomping back to the TARDIS in high dudgeon, firmly and righteously convinced that he's better off traveling alone. One small problem, though; while the TARDIS key fits the lock of the blue box the Doctor comes across, it's no longer a TARDIS, but an ordinary police box. The Doctor's trapped without his transport -- and he realizes Rose's actions have far deeper consequences than just annoying him. Eccleston's face here is priceless as he realizes the TARDIS now really is just a little blue box, and while the implication that the Doctor's only home is gone is a signal of the horrors to come, it's also a very funny moment.
Back at the church, Jackie isn't too happy with the sight of Pete arriving with a pretty young thing. This is a marriage that's rapidly going sour and Rose plays witness to all of the bickering and arguing. Even in 1987, Jackie's not one for holding her tongue and gives Pete what for, all the while with a baby carrier hooked over her arm. Little Rose has that "If I knew what was going on I'd be screaming my head off -- oh, look a tree" expression babies often get, seemly not bothered by Big Rose staring at her.
While the Tylers do their version of the Battling Bickersons, the Doctor appears, urging everyone inside the church. With the Reapers present, the only safe place is within old walls, which will hold them back for a while, though not forever. Not everyone makes it, naturally; the groom's father and the vicar are caught before they can reach the sanctuary of the walls. The mobile phone the father had isn't working (and now I remember why the first mobiles made me vow I'd never have one), receiving only a scratchy repeat of Edison's first call to his assistant.
It's all chaos, with the survivors of the wedding party trapped inside the church. Jackie is screeching (and as much as Jackie amuses me, there is no other word to describe her at the moment), until the Doctor, with great relish, tells her to shut up. She does for a moment or two, which gives Rose the chance to ask the Doctor if this is all her fault. The Doctor doesn't answer, but Pete has overheard the conversation. He's also noticed the car that keeps appearing and disappearing outside the church and begins to put two and two together. Rose called him "Dad," he instinctively trusts her, she has his eyes and Jackie's attitude. Could it be?
Pete Tyler is not a stupid person. Ill-educated perhaps, not organized definitely, but he is clever and has a natural curiosity which he's clearly passed on to his daughter. Without knowing who the Doctor is or Time Lords or the Blinovitch Limitation Effect or any of these things, he hears what the Doctor says about the Reapers being there to sterilize a wound in time, observes Rose, and lets his mind leap to the correct but outlandish conclusion. And in this, you can see part of what attracted Rose to the Doctor because it's the same thing the probably attracted Jackie to Pete in the first place -- the lure of someone who sees beyond the horizons you know, who offers a different and broader view than you know. The difference is that Pete couldn't quite get his act together and Jackie was grounded by her own fears and issues.
While this reunion is going on, the Doctor is approached by the bride and groom, who are not surprisingly upset by their day literally turning into the wedding from hell. Can he save them? These are two people the Doctor don't know, but he seems to take heart from the fact they're marrying and starting a family (the bride is pregnant), feeling they are special because of that and promises that he will save them. The Doctor's manner here toward two people he's never met before is in marked contrast with his brusqueness earlier in the series and is another sign of his reconnection with the universe. There's still loneliness and hurt, but he no longer seems to shy away quite so quickly from individuals.
Rose takes the first step to make things right with the Doctor, going to apologize after speaking with Pete. The Doctor has finished sealing the church and is now taking care of Baby Rose. He warns Big Rose not to touch her younger self because that will cause a paradox which could let the Reapers inside. She says she's truly sorry about what she's done, he apologizes for snapping and admits he wasn't going to abandon Rose. As they embrace, Rose feels the TARDIS key in the Doctor's pocket. It's hot and glowing, which the Doctor says means the TARDIS isn't gone, just displaced. Using the sonic screwdriver and the battery from the groom's father's mobile, he charges the key up so the TARDIS begins to reform around it. Once it's done that, he can transport everyone out of there. Problem solved!
Uh, not quite. While they're waiting for the TARDIS to finish reforming, Pete has another talk with Rose. He knows something's not right when Rose spins a tale about what a great father he is because he knows what she ascribes to him -- always there, always responsible, never disappointing or letting her down -- isn't him. He realizes he's the wound in time, that he's supposed to be dead and his continued survival is what's putting them all in danger. Rose tries to tell him it's her fault for all this, but he tells her that he's her father -- it's his job for things to be his fault.
Enter the Oncoming Storm, aka Jackie Tyler. She's heard bits of this and has a fit. How dare Pete give their daughter a second-hand name and how old was he when he fathered this girl? Pete tries to explain, but Jackie doesn't believe him so Pete grabs Baby Rose to compare her to Big Rose -- and plops Baby Rose into Rose's hands, causing the very paradox the Doctor had warned against. A Reaper breaks through into the church and the Doctor yells for everyone to get back because the Reaper will go for the oldest thing in the room, namely himself. The Reaper does just that, swooping down to have a bit of a nosh, then swoops toward the still reforming TARDIS and both Reaper and TARDIS disappears. The TARDIS key is cold, which Rose takes to mean that the Doctor is gone. (Well, except for Sylvester McCoy, of course, who'd just begun his run about six weeks before the events of this episode. But never mind that.)
Pete knows what he has to do. The Doctor had tried to spare him, but with the Doctor gone, it's up to him to fix the problem by fulfilling his fate. He tells Rose goodbye and makes his peace with Jackie. Then he grabs the truly ugly vase he and Jackie were going to give the happy couple and rushes outside, into the path of the oncoming car. Everyone rushes out of the church to see the aftermath of the accident, including the groom's father, who's reappeared. The Doctor steps out of the church as well and tells Rose to go to Pete. She does and holds her hand, making certain that this time Pete doesn't die alone. When he's gone, the Doctor collects Rose and they walk hand in hand back to the TARDIS as we fade to Jackie telling young Rose how it wasn't the driver's fault and a girl stayed with him while he died, though no one knows who she was. The episode closes as we hear Rose saying what she said in the beginning -- that Pete Tyler was the most wonderful dad in the world.
For a lot of people, this is an episode that reaches out and grabs them emotionally. Those of us who've lost loved ones know the feeling of wanting to have just one extra moment, to see them again or say the things we didn't get to say. We understand how easy it would be, even if you knew the consequences would be bad, to give in to that urge to change things and keep them with us for a little longer if we had the chance.
Things that stood out for me:
* Little Mickey seeing Rose and instinctively running to throw his arms around her very much the way Mickey did at the end of "Rose." Some things don't change.
* The Doctor rocking Baby Rose's carrier and asking her sweetly that she wouldn't bring about the end of the world, would she?
* The willingness to let Rose and the Doctor be unattractive when they fight.
Things I didn't like:
* Jackie just comes across as a shrew here, and you have to wonder what Pete ever saw in her.
Now to go fire up the Benny Goodman and write my commentary on "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"
* The quote in my cut tag comes from the 2006 Children in Need Concert of the music of Doctor Who. It's noted that the new series introduced us to Rose Tyler, her mum Jackie, her sometimes loving boyfriend Mickey and her sometimes dead dad Pete. I couldn't resist.