Memories of the Doctor's Return: Part One
The Doctor Who Team
The Ninth Doctor and Rose
As we look ahead to the incredible new series that's currently being shot, we took time out to recall the episodes that brought the TARDIS swooping back to us in 2005. We asked for your memories of those adventures and as usual, you didn't disappoint!
Beginning with Rose and culminating with the arrival of the Tenth Doctor ('Barcelona!'), the thirteen fantastic episodes signalled the return of the Time Lord in thrillingly audacious style. Your recollections and favourite moments from the series varied enormously and as always, we're grateful to everyone who took the time to reply...
Kathleen told us that she was hooked from the first episode! 'As soon as I met the Doctor, there was just no going back, like Rose, actually. I was so instantly sucked in that I wasn't sure whether to be delighted or alarmed. My sister had been on me for ages to start watching... thanks Maureen!'
Joseph was equally enthusiastic about the adventure, telling us, 'I loved the first episode. When he [the Doctor] grabbed her hand and they ran out of the basement away from those mannequins... you just knew at that moment Rose Tyler's life changed forever... you could almost hear fate rearranging everything for her.'
Paul highlighted the episode broadcast on this day (April 16th) in 2005. 'The scene in Aliens of London when Jackie, Rose's angry mum, slaps the Doctor round the face and accuses him of having immoral reasons for taking her daughter away. It's the first time a companion had been given a proper, on-going family background. This episode set the scene for how the companions' stories would be a more important part of new Who.'
The other early episode that triggered an avalanche of memories was Dalek, the adventure that saw the return of one of the Time Lord's deadliest and most iconic foes... Damien said the episode 'amazed' him and Danny told us he '...loved the moment the Doctor met a Dalek... you really got a sense of the effect the Time War had on the Doctor... it really show[ed] another side to the Doctor and what the cost of his seemingly carefree life really is.'
Jason agreed, revealing that he enjoyed the scene '...when the Doctor meets the Dalek in episode 5... just the emotion and the hatred that he emotes to it - it's so visceral and captures the feelings he must have felt from the Time War!'
And finally, Sam loved the scene where the Dalek 'self-destructed', and suggested a novel idea, commenting that if the Dalek had lived it could have made a great companion!
We'll be sharing more of your memories of the 2005 series later this week, in the mean time check out this gallery of the Ninth Doctor.
