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1 | Rose (S1E1)
21 Plays18 days ago
In episode one we talk about the season one premiere episode of NewWho! Hailey gives her first impression of the show and we talk about bad effects, and the horrors of mannequins!
--- Find the show here ---
- Website: MeYouAndDoctorWho.carrd.co
- Patreon: Patreon.com/meyouanddoctorwho
- Instagram: Instagram.com/meyouanddoctorwho
- Twitter: X.com/MeYouAndDW
- TikTok: Tiktok.com/@meyouanddoctorwho
- Discord: https://discord.gg/jkZ63FrcP8
--- Credits ---
- Creators, hosts, & illustrators: Julia C. and Hailey Dorritie
- Editing: Julia C.
- Social Media: Hailey Dorritie
- Music: Half.Cool
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Focus on Hayley's First Experience
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello everyone, welcome to me, you, and Doctor Who. intro's still subject to change, we have still haven't figured it out. Okay, but hello. Welcome our first episode of the first, the first, the first, the first.
00:00:34
Speaker
the first oh no the accent's affecting you the british are coming for me already ah the first official episode of our doctor who podcast this is going to be the first time hayley will be watching doctor who from the beginning ah as god intended as russell t davies intended ah And this will be the first time I've seen ah basically season one of Doctor Who in years. I haven't seen the ninth Doctor in what feels like forever.
The Campy Nature of Doctor Who
00:01:08
Speaker
this is ah so normally i think what we plan for the intro is that ah at the end of Doctor Who episodes, they'll usually be like a next time on Doctor Who bumper or whatever. And ah I think we're planning on for interest of the episodes to be speculating on what we're expecting of the episode or what I remember from said episode.
00:01:33
Speaker
ah But this being season one, episode one, we can't really do that. But that's okay. Okay. We're going to talk about how, well, I guess we're not going to about much. I'm to talk about how much i know about the episode, which is not...
00:01:46
Speaker
much, um I've got a horrible memory, but i do remember this episode was, ah I enjoyed the plot of it I do remember the ah villains being, i think, a bit silly.
Setting and Context of Doctor Who's First Episode
00:02:01
Speaker
i My strongest memory I associate with this episode is actually when I was first ah being introduced to Doctor Who. I had this friend when I was in middle school who i was friends with in elementary school.
00:02:14
Speaker
And I was like, oh my god, you gotta ah you gotta watch Doctor Who. This is a really good show. I love it so much. And she was like, okay. And then she went home to go watch it. And the next week, I came back and she and she was like, yeah, I watched it I was like, you did? You really? Did you to love it? i love it as so much and we could talk about it.
00:02:33
Speaker
And she was like, I thought it was kind of weird. ah it And I don't blame her, because as you'll see, ah we're going to be dealing with, as we go along through season one, ah we're probably going to be dealing with a lot of, I'll admit it, goofy special effects. ah Doctor Who, I think a part of the charm of Doctor Who is is it's a bit campy with its... Oh, absolutely. Yeah, with its special effects. and I mean, it's 2005, they did what they could.
00:03:03
Speaker
I think maybe I could talk about like who's writing the episode, like when this episode came out. I have like the wiki open. ah So I know that, so the setting of this episode is takes place in March, 2005.
Discussion on Writers and Directors
00:03:17
Speaker
That's the in universe ah date. And then the premiere broadcast was the 26th of March in 2005.
00:03:25
Speaker
So almost a whole decade ago, which is crazy. We're like one year. Two decades ago. Yep. Oh my god!
00:03:36
Speaker
That's true! Oh my god! Yeah, almost 20 years ago. oh no, you can't say that! i don't I don't know why. Last night when I was researching this episode, I was like, oh wow, almost 10 years ago. That's crazy. This episode came- Worse. No point, it's just worse.
00:03:56
Speaker
Okay, almost 20 years ago this episode came out. Oh my goodness gracious. Yeah, when this episode came out, I was actually a little, little, little kid. I think I wasn't even in elementary school yet.
00:04:09
Speaker
ah i was also a little, little kid. i was I was a slightly less little kid. Yeah, you were, ah what by one year ex exactly almost exactly, you were slightly less little.
00:04:20
Speaker
Okay, so so the key so it says the key crew in the wiki. ah So the writer for this episode is Russell T. Davies, who is the showrunner for, if I remember correctly, the first four seasons of the show. So I guess it's understandable that he would want to write the titular first episode.
00:04:38
Speaker
ah It is going to be directed by Keith Boak. Boak? I don't know. Keith Boak.
Podcast Structure and Episode Exploration
00:04:46
Speaker
Uh... I've not heard of his name, but and you know, maybe we'll see him more in the future. I kind of want to like keep track of like who's written the episodes and like who's directed them. So maybe like if those episodes we like, we'd be like, oh you missed you.
00:05:03
Speaker
Or like with writers, they could do that same thing. We could become parasocial with them. And we could do the opposite and be like, boo! Boo! And throw vegetables like we're at a Shakespeare play. and Tomato, tomato!
00:05:15
Speaker
Off the stage with you! Thousands years ago, said.
00:05:19
Speaker
Uh, so I, I mean, as far as intros go, I think that's all I really have to say about the episode right now.
Recap: Introduction to Rose and Episode Setting
00:05:28
Speaker
Uh, I think they also the structure of this, of this podcast episode is basically going to be, we're going to uh do the introduction we're gonna have a pause break where we actually go and watch the episode we're planning on uh recording like our commentary of the episode and like putting it on patreon i think just that's like bonus content uh either way we're still gonna be talking about our reactions in the meat of the episode which is what we're gonna do after i guess the break i'm sure there's gonna be like a brief pause i don't know if we're gonna put like
00:05:56
Speaker
I don't know, mid-roll break or something. I don't want to, but we'll see. ah Beginning of podcast problems. ah And then we're going to talk about it like our reactions
Rose's Encounter with the Doctor and the Autons
00:06:07
Speaker
to the episode. And then after that, I'm going to try to bring up some trivia on the episode that I found on IMDb. And...
00:06:14
Speaker
and I don't know, maybe speculate on what happens in later seasons if Hayley has any interesting thoughts. I'm sure I will. All my thoughts are interesting. Of course, that's why I have you as my co-host. That's right, a'm very special.
00:06:31
Speaker
But I think other than that, unless you have anything you'd like to add, Hayley... Well, I mean, I know a lot about this episode going in, know that. Of course. The Ninth Doctor's there.
00:06:43
Speaker
And Rose is there, I assume that's her name. Yeah, I can only assume it's the title of the episode. I'm guessing there will be British people, I'm guessing there will be bad effects. I was telling Julia how right before we started this, I was watching a Monster High movie from 2012, and I'm expecting similar levels of camp and animation.
00:07:07
Speaker
ah Probably the same studio. if Dude, if there's British people on my on my screen when we open this episode, I'm gonna scream bloody murder in my apartment. Honestly far scarier. I'm surprised that they didn't have like a British student at Monster High whose whole thing was just their British person. That's basically a monster. They're basically monsters. i'm so i'm very big I'm so sorry kind of British people, but it is a little fun to make fun of you.
00:07:35
Speaker
There's Norbies and then there's the British. The Brits. Alright. It's all in good fun. Good fun. Good show. Okay, so we'll we'll be right back, and we're gonna go watch the episode, and we're gonna have a jolly good time. That's right, what about all? What about And jolly good shake and boy you all
00:07:57
Speaker
Trigger warnings for this episode include fictional character death and mannequin imagery.
00:08:04
Speaker
Hello, welcome back. Hey, we just
The Doctor's Character and Rose's Curiosity
00:08:07
Speaker
got done watching the episode. We got done watching it, we took a little break to stretch our legs, drink some water, but we finished the first episode, Rose.
00:08:16
Speaker
ah Bailey, I'm very curious, like, ah we'll go through like the plot of the episode, but like how generally, how do you how how do you feel? How do you feel? First episode of Doctor Who!
00:08:27
Speaker
I liked it. It was fun, I'm very curious to see where it goes. I like... the characters. I'd say the characters are probably what I like the most out of everything so far. h Yeah, we've got a good cast of characters so far. I believe we have Rose, Mickey, Jackie, and the Doctor. Jackie was not named in this episode, but her name's Jackie Tyler.
00:08:49
Speaker
ah mother of Rose Tyler and Rose Tyler has a boyfriend named Mickey his last name wasn't mentioned but his last name is Mickey Smith I don't think that's spoilers to be like his last name is Smith how could you i'd be cry i don't there is like something about he has he does have a backstory I guess but I don't think his last name being Smith is like any sort of any sort of spoiler for that.
00:09:13
Speaker
um Okay, well, this, I think we already talked about who wrote this episode, Russell T. Davies. ah We can, like, go through the episode and, like, you know, see how we feel. ah Basically, it starts off as just Rose as it's a typical 2000s girly.
00:09:30
Speaker
This episode was so 2000s. This was off to a much more 2000s start than I was anticipating. Like the The hair, the jewelry, the makeup, the outfits. The room. The room. It was so, oh my goodness. The lesbian flag color palette room.
00:09:50
Speaker
It was, yeah, nothing like, it wasn't horrible or anything. i I know my tone makes it sound like I think it was horrible. I think it was really cute. But it was just so 2000s. It really brought me back 20 years ago. I still can't believe 20 years ago.
00:10:04
Speaker
my god. i still can't believe twenty years ago oh my god Um, so she's got a super pink room, super pink, uh, outfit, and she works at a very pink, uh, department store or outlet store. I'm not really sure what you would call it. I think they call it a
Clive's Theory and Mickey's Replacement
00:10:22
Speaker
department store. It's like a retail clothes store.
00:10:25
Speaker
And, uh, she goes, uh, does her day-to-day. She has, takes her long lunch break with her boyfriend, Mickey, who is not named until, like, halfway through the episode.
00:10:35
Speaker
It's just Rose's, uh, cute boyfriend or whatever. ah and gets the name dropped just casually. Mickey, 25 minutes in. um so I think, I'm not sure. It's very it's a very quick scene because it's like a montage, but like at the end of her workday, she gets told to like go down and look for Wilson, I guess, who is the chief electrician at this place for whatever reason.
00:11:00
Speaker
And so she goes down to the basement and she's trying to find him and he's just not around. And ah because she works at a department store, there's like mannequins in the basement and they start coming to life.
00:11:12
Speaker
ah They just don't move like how I thought they would move, if I'm being honest. They move like people in very stuffy costumes, and they probably were very stuffy costumes. But I appreciate the practical effects ah in this. okay We're definitely going to talk about the effects of this episode.
00:11:35
Speaker
Oh yeah, the practical effects are far more impressive, in my opinion, than the- I mean, I don't imagine that's a very controversial opinion by any means. Yeah, I mean, I feel like, I'm not sure if I would call it, I mean, it's ah I think it's impressive. and i I think it's very ah and admirable to do, like, practical effects when, like, you really want to do, like, CGI special effects. I have a feeling they probably mostly did that because they didn't have much of a budget.
00:12:02
Speaker
Well, they probably had a budget, but probably not enough to, like, put in CGI mannequins, which I'm glad they didn't do that. Me too. When there was CGI stuff, it was very,
00:12:14
Speaker
Spy kids. Spy kids. Yeah, Spy Kids would be a good way to put it. ah Very silly looking, I think. ah I can't tell if it was meant to be like purposeful purposefully ah silly or like it was meant to be scary. I think it was meant to
The TARDIS and Rose's Decision to Join
00:12:32
Speaker
be kind of both.
00:12:33
Speaker
I mean, it wasn't exactly super scary music. It was more like kind of eerie music when like the CGI effects would happen. But that's a bit later in the episode. Yeah. I think so Rose, she's like down there. She's trying to find Wilson.
00:12:46
Speaker
ah He's not there. Mannequins come to life. Start very slowly just approaching her. i think this episode sometimes has a bit of an issue where...
00:12:58
Speaker
ah I think maybe there was just like they had some extra run time and they were like, okay, well, we got to fill in this slot of time. So they kind of just linger on a lot of shots, especially when they want to show off their like effects, whether it's like practical or CGI. Yeah.
00:13:15
Speaker
And so the the mannequins spend a a decent amount of time inching their way towards Rose as she slowly backs against the wall. ah But just in time before they raise a hand to her, the doctor shows up, grabs her hand, yells to her for her to run, and they they book it. They they hoof it.
00:13:34
Speaker
As this Americans say, they like it in ah British English. Queen's English. In the Queen's language. Yeah, the Queen's language. they yeah Apparently. Not anymore. It's not the Queen's language. Oh, yeah. God god rest her soul, I guess. I don't know. I didn't know her like that. So.
00:13:51
Speaker
But ah but ah he grabs her, they run out, ah and he goes on about a bit of a very fast-paced monologue about how like he's trying to save all the people on this planet.
00:14:02
Speaker
And she's like, what's going on? She's got a very thick accent. I personally could not. I'm very glad we had subtitles. was just going to say the same thing.
00:14:12
Speaker
Yeah, because it's no offense, but i know when accents are like really thick, sometimes it's hard to understand if you're not from the place where they're from. Um, yeah and, and I, I, I don't know if it's even easily placed to say where she's from. I mean, I know in America, sometimes we have, you can tell like, you know, when someone's like a northerner or a southerner because of their accent.
00:14:36
Speaker
Um, I have no idea where Rose and her family's from. They sound... if I had to say anything, I guess like London. They're like London accents, but they... I don't know. They seem thicker than the average London accent that I've heard, which is not much.
00:14:51
Speaker
So ah he he says bye to her, but before he does, he like oh he like closes the door on her and then opens it again. He's like, by the way, I'm the doctor. What's your name? She's like, I'm Rose. And she's he's like, okay, Rose, run for your life.
00:15:02
Speaker
ah And... Run! Run! Run! He barks it at her, that's his first line. he Yeah, he's like he barks a lot of stuff at her this this episode.
00:15:13
Speaker
um I do not remember him being so, like, rash with her. ah so it was very... I mean, maybe not funny, but like very interesting to see how, I guess, blunt he can be the Ninth Doctor.
00:15:28
Speaker
ah Because I remember when you said, a I think when you said in our introduction episode ah that you were like, as far as you knew about the Ninth Doctor, he might be the grumpy one. And I was like, I don't think he's the grumpy one in my head. and then we watched this episode and it's like, okay, he's a little bit grumpy. being. Yeah, he's just grumping around the place. he really is. He keeps going on about how, like, oh, I gotta save these stupid apes, because you keep guys keep getting in trouble, and it's like, I don't... Well, dang, I don't remember the doctor calling us apes. Like, I feel like, a little rude.
00:16:02
Speaker
Um, but I guess he's sort of, like, that's just his outward persona when you get later in the episode. He sort of becomes a bit more sentimental about the human race. Um, but when he's mucking about ah with Rose, he seems to be a bit frustrated that humans, I guess, keep getting into dangerous situations and he has to be the one to fix it.
00:16:24
Speaker
Unlike him, he never gets into any danger at all. Yeah. he's He's a very wholesome man, never gets into danger. There's definitely not aliens out there looking for him and trying to kill him.
00:16:36
Speaker
I mean, I think at this point there isn't, but maybe later that will happen. to Spoilers! ah He tells Rose to run She leaves, and she has this beautiful walk back, and she looks, and she's like, I wonder what happened, and she turns, and the her entire building just explodes.
00:16:55
Speaker
And if I remember, when she goes home to her apartment, the television or the telly ah is like thousands of people. Did thousands of people die or was it like hundreds of people? ah but Well, I said thousands of people died as a joke. but Oh, OK. That actually happened. OK, so I don't think.
00:17:12
Speaker
I don't remember if people died, but I don't think it would be in the thousands, especially because was- I don't think they mentioned anyone died, I just thought it would be funny to be like, THOUSANDS ARE
Mickey's Portrayal and Clive's Role
00:17:20
Speaker
DEAD! Yeah. Well, I guess ah people- I would assume not many people, if any, died because the department stores closed.
00:17:28
Speaker
ah And she was, I think, the last one out, basically. so I don't think anyone died. But her her mother is like very it's a bit concerned, but she's also like talking with her friends, trying to convince Rose to like do an interview or file a police report to get compensation.
00:17:44
Speaker
ah Her boyfriend, Mickey, still hasn't been named at this point, ah walks in asks her how she's doing and makes sure she's okay. And also tries to convince her to, like...
00:17:56
Speaker
stop drinking her tea and to go to a bar to drink alcohol for quote-unquote something stronger and she's like you just want to watch the game and he's like oh just okay we could watch we could catch the last five minutes of the game and i can't tell if this is like a green flag or like a red flag i think it's like a mid flag i don't know an orange flag yeah i mean he's being concerned for her but he's also like i'm missing the big game girl but he didn't open with that so i guess i appreciate that bare minimum king
00:18:30
Speaker
um so i i don't remember i think it's like the next morning uh she wakes up and uh The...what's the word? Because
Doctor Who's Narrative Style and Fan Engagement
00:18:40
Speaker
I thought Mickey...she had told Mickey to throw out the the plastic arm or whatever that she had brought back from the department store after the whole attack thing.
00:18:50
Speaker
And she told him to throw it away. But the next morning it's there again. That's true. I think that was just meant to imply that like it moves on its own maybe? i Probably. That part I was not super sure about.
00:19:02
Speaker
ah but the doctor shows up to her apartment and is like, hey, what are you doing here? And she's like, I live here. it's like, why? It's like, because I just do. and I think that's like,
00:19:13
Speaker
sometimes a running joke with the Doctor is that the Doctor will be like, what are you doing here? And then, like, the person's like, I'm doing the most normal thing ever here. And the Doctor goes, why? I'm pretty sure, like, the 11th Doctor makes that joke sometime in, like, the next few seasons.
00:19:29
Speaker
maybe in that the even Maybe even the 10th Doctor, too. I think that's the whole bit, running bit, that he's, like, an alien or whatever. Is that maybe why they drew attention to the cat flap? Was so that the...
00:19:42
Speaker
is the implication that the arm came in through the cap flap, because that was what i thought the cap flap was gonna be for. That might be it. But we didn't see it. Because the nails were on the floor, so like... Exactly.
00:19:54
Speaker
Because she was like, oh, mom, need to like nail down the cap flap or shreys will come in. And she's like, I did. but that there are nails on the floor, but they're just but the cat bob is undone. I don't remember if... ah I just watched the episode, but I don't remember if the doctor was the one who like undid that with his magic wand, aka the sonic screwdriver, or if the arm just like burst in itself and like just came into the room.
00:20:17
Speaker
But I feel like that's that the latter would probably be the explanation. But, uh, so he, like, walks around, uh, and Jackie, Tyler, I think, she doesn't get named in this episode, but Jackie, uh, she sees him it's just, like, starts flirting with him, and he's like, no, he, like, shuts that down.
00:20:36
Speaker
Um, just a bit of, like, uh, dialogue. I don't call it fodder because that feels like a negative connotation, but, uh, just a bit of, like,
00:20:48
Speaker
dialogue just to fill fill in the space. Flavor text. Yeah, the most significant thing I think to point out is that the doctor is just walking around being a bit quirky, like looking around the apartment, and he actually looks into the mirror and is like reacts to his own ears.
00:21:05
Speaker
And it's just like, wow, those are pretty big. And which basically implies that this is the first time he's seeing his face. That's true. As if he's, like, recently regenerated. which Or at least getting a good look.
00:21:17
Speaker
Yeah, because I was gonna say, like, um I'm sure, like, old fans know this, but ah one particular thing that it happens a little later in the episode is that ah there's evidence of, like, the Doctor being spotted scattered throughout history. And...
00:21:33
Speaker
I think it's a bit weird that he's been traveling a bit and clearly he's been like saving people for a hot for at least a hot minute and he still hasn't seen his face. It feels like a bit of a contradictory but it's like I don't think it's too crazy of a contradiction.
00:21:51
Speaker
That's a good point. I didn't even think of that until you brought it up. I guess, like, he only went into the past, and do they not have mirrors? He went to 1812. They had ten mirrors back then.
00:22:02
Speaker
He literally went to the JFK assassination. Yes. They had mirrors. And they had shiny things. Yeah, they had shiny things with reflections. So, I find it pretty hard to believe that the doctor hadn't seen his ears at that point.
00:22:16
Speaker
I think it's just meant to be like a little nod to the ah audience who who have seen like classic Who and they're like, oh, so he regenerated. see. i' am a a very observant viewer.
00:22:29
Speaker
So let's see what happens next. Let me look at my notes. We got our first mention so far of gay people. Oh yeah, gay people! Russell T Davies, he was like, I gotta put at least one mention of gay people existing in this show.
00:22:42
Speaker
uh in that in that in the con for context if you hadn't seen the episode and just listening to us talk about it the as one of the little quirky things the doctor talks about is like he picks up uh a tabloid magazine and uh sees like the cover or something or sees like an article and then just makes a comment like oh that'll never work he's gay and she's an alien yeah or something and i'm like oh okay no that was exactly it yeah or or vice versa like or she's gay and he's an alien i'm not sure i think it was the first one It was the first one, yeah. Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
He was gay, she's an alien. How are they ever gonna make it work? Sometimes a family can just be a gay man and his alien girlfriend. so So, as the doctor is there, he notices the arm, the plastic arm is there, and the plastic arm, I guess, detects him and starts attacking him!
00:23:32
Speaker
ah i think it's just practical effects being used. He just pretends, Christopher Eccleston, the actor for The Ninth Doctor, just pretends that the... That the hand is attacking him. But I guess he he does a decently good job, I think. And Rose is like, okay, stop you know messing around, dude. I'm trying to I'm trying to ask you to explain to me what's going on here.
00:23:52
Speaker
And then the arm jumps jumps, floats a little bit and then attacks her. And they have this whole sort of like ah a wrestle fight where they he pulls off the hand and he uses his sonic screwdriver, like presses the button and goes and it turns it off.
00:24:09
Speaker
um And then so she's like, okay, you have to tell me what's going on. He's like, okay, i guess. And then they walk out and he's like, I got the arm. I'm out of here. And she's like, well, wait a second. And they, They go to this one-take walkthrough where they walk from the apartment to the TARDIS. And it's like, most of it is like one take. And i I don't know. I just like noticed that. I thought it was kind of interesting.
00:24:32
Speaker
as like an I have to use my art student knowledge to be like, they did they did one take. What is the meaning of this? ah I think it it shows off like the acting skills of Billy Piper and Christopher Eccleston really well. I think they did like a very good job.
00:24:47
Speaker
this episode, in my opinion. So he like walks through, explains ah explains as much as he can to her, I guess, and he sort of, I think, implies that he's an alien. He doesn't tell her outright that ah he is at at the moment, but ah he talks about how he's a he's different from people because in the way that people forget that the earth is like spinning and moving at all times, he can actually feel it and he like holds her hand and I think trying to imply that he's trying to make her feel it too.
00:25:22
Speaker
in a- Yeah. Not like a sensual way. That sounded weird. Kind of red pillar. Yeah. But yeah, but basically being like, can you feel it too? Maybe you're like me a little bit in mind, not in body.
00:25:34
Speaker
Because cause you're a human person. Yeah. And so he lets go overhand, he starts walking away, I don't remember, he's just like, alright, see ya. he should he He tells her to forget her.
00:25:47
Speaker
Or he tells her to forget him. God, and pronouns these days, am I right? I hate Of course you have a sonic screwdriver and pronouns.
00:25:59
Speaker
And two hearts. He doesn't mention he has two hearts yet. I wonder when the first drop of that is going to be. I'm curious. I'll try and take note of that when it does come. Yeah. um But he walks off. ah but And i I said this while we were watching, but I thought it was kind of interesting in the main shot of him walking off. It's like...
00:26:22
Speaker
They don't really call attention to the TARDIS, really, which is very interesting. It's more of like a thing for ah old audience members to get. ah And I think it's meant to sort of imply, like, at least for Rose, this is like a background thing for her. Like, she doesn't even associate that box with the Doctor, at least not yet.
00:26:45
Speaker
um There is a shot I think when she like turns away and he like walks into it and then she walks away, hears the sound of the TARDIS, the little raspy sound and then turns around, runs back and it's gone. But she still hears the sound because it's a very long sound the TARDIS makes. And I hope you're ready to get used to that, Hayley, because they're going to use the entire sound effect every time the TARDIS lands.
00:27:08
Speaker
Oh boy. at least or at least they they they try to. I know there's like a shortened version they sometimes use. There's, yeah, I think like the end of it where it's like, like that part, I think sometimes they cut that out.
00:27:21
Speaker
Okay, okay. All right, so what happens next is... So I think... So what happens next is that Rose goes home. She goes to research the doctor. ah oh No, she doesn't even go home. She goes to Mickey's apartment.
00:27:34
Speaker
And I think Mickey is, like, the most sleazebag... Or not sleazebag, sleazeball sort of personality in the entire episode is, like, about right now is when he, like...
00:27:47
Speaker
grabs her butt as she's going through yeah and then, like, is like, oh, yeah, i can't wait to get in the bedroom, can you? And she's like, I'm just gonna go check, like, the computer. And he's like, okay. And then she's like, can you make me some coffee and please wash your dishes? Don't just rinse it.
00:28:04
Speaker
Like... This is, you're not making a good case for yourself, Mickey. Like I really, I think I was in his corner for like a good amount of time. And then this made me go, all right, guy, are you the kind of guy who like makes your girlfriend do all the dishes?
00:28:19
Speaker
Well, she goes to his, like, very 2000s computer, ah the white queue of the 2005 day, of which my family definitely had one of those back in the day.
00:28:32
Speaker
and as did mine. Yeah, I remember when I, like, I think back in like 2007, 2008, I like, we like moved houses. And i I remember very vividly, we got a new computer for the house and it was like a flat screen computer. like the like ah Like the monitors you get like these days were like a black flat screen.
00:28:52
Speaker
And I remember like being so in awe of that as a kid. Me too. And just being like, I didn't know... computers could do that this is like a rich people computer and i like rosie and the tardis yeah this is like this is my tardis and i remember watching my dad like play chess on it for the first time and i was like this is crazy i want to play and he was like oh i gotta use this for work and i was like whatever hate it here and then i think i just played webkins on it every day i tried to play it every day i don't know
00:29:24
Speaker
um but yeah she goes on to uh what is the website title actually have it like written down in my notes search something right she she like she like used a vague like search engine and then she found uh like who is doctor who dot com or like who is the doctor dot com or something it's probably not dot com because they're in the uk so it's dotco.uk at least that's how it is for me ah And she basically, I think what she looks, she looks up like Dr. doctor Blue Box and it and it comes up with ah this page and it's like,
00:30:02
Speaker
it's It's very funny to me because she pulls it up and it's like, have you seen this man? and it's like a blurry picture of the doctor. And I think you said it while we were watching, like, this really reminds me of that, like, creepypasta of, like, have you seen this man in your dreams?
00:30:19
Speaker
Exactly. of The man everyone sees in their dreams. Yeah. the Christopher Eccleston's face is what you see in your dreams. Yeah. Yeah. ah But she looks him up. There's apparently the guy who runs the website is a guy named Clive and he's like looking for people who have seen this doctor have interacted with him and so she decides to email him because that's what she did back in the day. Yeah, you emailed each other.
00:30:40
Speaker
i mean you still do. You still do these days but I feel like if this was made in like a modern day she'd probably like email him and then they would have like texted. or something. They discord message each other. Yeah, they did.
00:30:52
Speaker
I've got to message you on Skype. So she goes to visit Clive. I think bad idea because she's meeting a stranger on ah that she found on the internet in a not public place.
00:31:03
Speaker
This is a very unsafe thing to do, but I guess they had to do it at his house because he has like a shed full of like conspiracy like Doctor Who stuff or whatever and Mickey's very concerned about this. I think validly concerned. Very much so. Yeah, like don't go to like a middle-aged man's like apartment. I mean it's- I think they made him have a family so he looked more like a non-threatening, I guess, but I think if I was in that situation, I was Rose, I would- if I found a website that vaguely alluded to an experience I had, even if I did contact the person running it, which I wouldn't, even if I did, i would not go to their house the next day
00:31:46
Speaker
like and ah go inside their house and have the door close, even if they did have a family. That's like- that's like step one to getting murdered. Yeah. But ah luckily it goes well for her. They, he goes to, they go to Clive's shed and he tells her all about how she's, he's been documenting like ah the doctor traveling around history. Apparently he was around during the JFK assassination. he was also around during 1912, right before the Titanic sank. He convinced a family not to go on. And then like,
00:32:19
Speaker
I don't remember what he said about the third thing. Like, I think the 1888 or something? It was when ah Krakatoa blew up, right? Oh, okay. Yeah, someone made, like, a sketchy drawing on, like...
00:32:31
Speaker
on like a letter-sized shaped paper and Alice is like very convenient that this was letter letter I mean I think it's very funny that this ancient or maybe not ancient but centuries-old piece of paper is like the state the same size paper that we use like standardly to write things down on with like the edges like burned a little bit ah So I thought that was a little bit funny. um But the... I also thought it was hilarious, the the JFK picture that ah the doctor is in. It's like some really bad Photoshop. I mean, I don't know. Did Photoshop exist in 2005? I don't know. I feel like it did.
00:33:13
Speaker
Probably like a... It still so looks awful. Yeah, and that's no excuse though. its It still looks bad. I think the 1912 picture looked a lot better, but it was also harder to tell that that was Christopher Eccleston's face.
00:33:25
Speaker
So I guess it's like pros and cons. Do you want the picture to look good or do you want it to look like the doctor was there? Rose comes away from all that and oh yeah, the the Clive starts going like, yeah, if you- if you interact with a doctor, you're marked for death because his companion is death.
00:33:42
Speaker
And so Rose like looks at him almost almost like she's listening, but then it cuts to her like leaving and she's like, yeah, so he was insane. ah he was just a crazy conspiracy theorist. Let's get out of here. ah Oh, yeah. In between this this scene of her like interacting with Clive, Mickey...
00:34:01
Speaker
In a very, ah I think maybe unintentionally funny scene, ah gets lured by a garbage can, a plastic garbage can, sees that it's moving, goes up to it and like looks into it. There's nothing in it. But then his fingers like get attached to it.
00:34:19
Speaker
And what proceeds is maybe like an overly long seque and overly long sequence of him like trying to pull away from the trash can, but his fingers are like attached and there's like a CGI like stretching effect where it looks like he's like attached like with plastic or rubber.
00:34:39
Speaker
And I feel like the scene goes on maybe a little bit too long. it's i I do think they were trying to show off, like, look how cool our special effects are. For like 2005 standards.
00:34:52
Speaker
And I don't know, just like eat him already, dude. Just eat that guy already. And then it eats him and then it burps. i think I think obviously for comedic effect, I don't know why plastic the plastic machines would burp.
00:35:08
Speaker
I mean, they come from like a molten plastic lava thing as well as we find out at the end of the episode. ah So I don't know why he did that. Now, why did he do that? Why did he burp?
00:35:19
Speaker
ah But as Rose gets back into the car, ah it is discovered by us, the audience, but not by her, that Mickey has been replaced by a plastic double. and he really wants pizza for some reason.
00:35:33
Speaker
And they go out to get pizza at Uh, what did you describe it, Hayley, as? Oh, I, uh, so as I mentioned, for anyone who did not listen to our episode zero, I am unfortunately a Disney adult.
00:35:47
Speaker
So I said, like, oh, this looks like a restaurant you would eat at in Tomorrowland at Disney World. Yeah, I like, what kind of pizza place is this? There's, like, a whole bar, like, over there.
00:35:59
Speaker
And I don't know, it just looks weird. And also there was like a champagne option, ah I guess, because i didn't seem what she was very pushy about yeah yeah they didn't seem too surprised by it being offered champagne at this pizza place.
00:36:13
Speaker
um But the plastic Mickey basically just starts like, um, and ah interrogating Rose about the doctor. This is actually when we get the drop of Nikki's- Nikki?
00:36:25
Speaker
Of uh, Mickey's name where Rose is just like, Mickey, what are you- why are you acting like this? is You're acting weird. Stop asking me about this. And he's like, well, tell me more about the doctor. you you You know his plan, right? What's his plan? She's like, i don't know.
00:36:38
Speaker
the doctor basically comes in offering champagne. Well, pretending to be a waiter offering champagne. And then it becomes very clear that this is the doctor. And he shoots, a he shakes up the champagne bottle and shoots it at ah the top.
00:36:51
Speaker
at Mickey or plastic Mickey. And there's just this weird effect with Mickey's face. And he just has this crazy look on his face. Cause he's supposed to like be melty a little bit as plastic, but it's still very weird.
00:37:05
Speaker
ah he's get these he He gets these like uncanny eyes that like really reminded me of the monsters from Vita Karnas. Yeah. the What are they, the mimics? these like Yes, yes, that's right.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah, these big eyes with like giant black irises and like minimal whites in the eye. was very creepy looking for like a split second, but also very goofy looking because he looked very like shocked when he got hit in the head with the cork bottle.
00:37:32
Speaker
or the cork ah the cork head. And so ah the doctor and then p the doctor pulls his head off and Mickey is like, or Plastic Mickey's body is like smashing the the entire place around. Rose pulls the fire escape to get everyone to get out.
00:37:46
Speaker
So they start running. I think it's like nighttime at this point because it was daytime when they went to go visit Clive and I guess it was nighttime because I remember when they go out to the TARDIS it was like dark out and Rose is trying to like get through the gate but the doctor's like no we should just go in here so there's actually like a bit of like a special effect milestone apparently in this where we're in in the classic who whenever there is a point where where if there's ever a point where the where the TARDIS doors were open and you should be able to see inside
00:38:17
Speaker
It would usually be a black void because they couldn't do the special effects at that time for that. okay And they were able to do that more in like, obviously now in 2005, I think it was pretty easy to do something like that. you just put like a green screen in there or something.
00:38:32
Speaker
I don't know what they did. But I did notice, I did catch, like, when they were first when the Doctor first enters the TARDIS, you should be able to see inside, but it was a black void. And so I can't tell if that was um if that was on accident or if they were, like, intentionally alluding to, like, ha-ha, remember in Classic Who when you couldn't see inside this thing?
00:38:51
Speaker
Remember when we didn't have a technology. We're about to blow your mind. ah So... I don't know if that was on purpose or not. I do i did think it was a little bit interesting, especially after I read the trivia about it last night.
00:39:04
Speaker
ah But they go to escape. Rose has a but of a mo ah bit of a classic companion first companion moment where she like walks in and then walks out and then does like a circle around the TARDIS. And she's like, what?
00:39:16
Speaker
What is going on? And then she and she reenters it um after the doctor's like, we gotta go. And then they go. ah And then I think he like explains the TARDIS to her, do you remember the acronym for it, Hayley? Because I do.
00:39:31
Speaker
Nope. So I forgot to tell Hayley, but TARDIS is an acronym. It is ah Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Oh, so that you can remember. Yes. Yeah. yeah yeah Yeah, I can't remember anything like doing my chores during during the day, like washing dishes, but I can remember time and relative dimension and space.
00:39:54
Speaker
There's like a scene where ah Rose is like really upset with him for a second because she's like, dude, my boyfriend just died. And did you just like, because he was because he was like, oh yeah, that guy just died. And you're like, that guy, you mean my boyfriend Mickey? He had a name.
00:40:08
Speaker
I didn't know he yet had a name. It took you 25 minutes to mention his name. In the episode. he was very yeah He was very cold about Mickey's whole situation. yeah I know not on purpose, but... Yeah, it's it's see he like basically explains it when they finally land that, ah because he referred to him like as like some kid or whatever, and Rose is still mad at him for that, valid I think, a valid ah reason to be mad at someone.
00:40:32
Speaker
And he's like, I'm, I'm, it's hard for me to remember that because I'm kind of busy saving the world because you guys keep messing it up or something. Or like you guys keep getting into trouble. I don't really remember what he says, but I think he calls them apes again. Which I feel like is a little bit rude. He has a bit of an angsty moment, but I think he like very quickly bounces back from it because Rose is like, oh yeah, how did, did we like really travel? And he's like, Yeah.
00:40:58
Speaker
Pretty cool, right? um And he is starts to explain that what they're up against right now is something called the nesting consciousness. I had never heard of that before, but I think that is an old villain from Classic Who. Okay.
00:41:15
Speaker
I think they're also called the Autons. ah I think you'll will be seeing more of that, especially as we go on. Like sometimes there'll be like new villains on the show and sometimes we'll have like old villains and I'm pretty sure this was one of the old villains as I was reading on the wiki.
00:41:31
Speaker
So the doctor basically explains that the plastics want to take over the world because they enjoy the resources humans have, which I guess is fair. We are very much plastic, uh,
00:41:42
Speaker
producers, we produce a lot of plastic, which I think is very unfortunate in this day and age. Oh yeah, they have the very classic moment where the doctor is like, so they're somehow like communicating or with this like big round ah communicator like right smack in the middle of London, but what could it possibly be? b And it's the the London Eye, which is a very popular tourist attraction as far as I know in London, which is basically just a big Ferris wheel.
00:42:12
Speaker
But it's right behind me, isn't it? Yeah, literally. And ah yeah, big a big Ferris wheel, which ah as far as I can tell, the biggest one I've ever seen, like the Ferris wheels I've been on have been...
00:42:29
Speaker
Pathetic in comparison, really. ah and so he ah realizes that the London Eye behind him and Rose helps him figure it out by being like, aren't like looking at it sassily or whatever.
00:42:44
Speaker
And he turns and does this iconic catchphrase of fantastic, I think... I don't know if you know this, Hayley, but a lot of the Doctors have catchphrases.
00:42:54
Speaker
Yes, I am. I'm familiar with the fact that they have catchphrases. I didn't know that that was his catchphrase, though. Yes, that he will be saying that ah many times. i'll say i I would guess maybe like every other episode he'll probably say fantastic.
00:43:09
Speaker
do yeah Do you know like the any of the other Doctors' catchphrases? ah Geronimo is one, right? Mm-hmm. And Dallinzee. And what? Dallinzee. Oh, okay.
00:43:21
Speaker
i thought you say at that time I thought you said Dallinzee. no, no, no. If I did, I didn't mean to. Okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you got him. I actually don't know if the 12th Doctor has a catchphrase. He's too serious to have a catchphrase.
00:43:35
Speaker
They might have done away with it um as the later seasons went on, but the first three definitely had catchphrases. ah feel like catchphrases have kind of become, like, not as accepted in the modern day.
00:43:49
Speaker
That's so unfortunate. I mean, like, I guess things get... I would expect Doctor Who of all of all, you know, media, you know, how cheesy it is sometimes to be the one to, like, keep up the catchphrase stuff. But I think they just... I think when the 12th Doctor came around, they wanted to be a bit more serious. He can be goofy, but he was definitely one of the more serious Doctors. Yeah.
00:44:11
Speaker
So what happens next? so So once they figure that out, they're able to like locate the main source where the plastic guys are hiding and they go down the sewer thing. And the doctor and Rose show up and they see ah where Mickey is being kept. He's alive! Uh...
00:44:28
Speaker
I think Haley was worried that he had died and I was like, oh. Yeah, thank god, because he was probably my favorite character so far, honestly. I really him. Yeah, am he's very wholesome. I i like him. i don't He's very cute.
00:44:39
Speaker
I don't enjoy that he's a bit cowardly, ah because this might this could be an issue we talk about later. um There's better people to explain this, but I think there has been concerns a bit, ah especially as the series goes on, that Rose chooses the Doctor over Mickey, the only, like, at least so far, the only Black character yeah in this in this show so far, and portrays him as a very cowardly and sometimes, ah I think he's a good boyfriend. Maybe not the perfect boyfriend.
00:45:14
Speaker
But I think a decent boyfriend. But i do they do i they they do use his faults sometimes for comedic effect. And I do think that's a bit unfortunate. there's I know there's probably like video essays on the topic, and we could probably talk about that later, especially when it becomes more prominent, I think, in the series. ah But at least at the moment, ah she's not like romantically choosing him, ah choosing the doctor over Mickey. At least not at the moment. I mean, who's to say what comes later? i hope not. Yeah, um because I mean, as we said, as we see in the end, once she realizes it's a time machine, that's when she is okay with.
00:45:54
Speaker
popping out for a bit to go hang out with the doctor, but she still kisses him goodbye. um But to get back to where we were, they find Mickey and he's he's fine, he's just very scared and realizes that the plastic is talking.
00:46:07
Speaker
And the doctor goes up to ah basically negotiate a peace, but also has like a backup plan of like this, the the goo vial. My blue, ah that will definitely like immediately kill the plastic, but he's not, but he states to Rose that he's not here to kill them. He's here to like reason with them first. And if they don't, you know, if they don't take to that, then he'll probably have to kill them. But um he gives them a chance to like give up or,
00:46:33
Speaker
surrender to stop hurting people and it's actually the first mention of the shadow proclamation in the series. I will say i have like a very extremely vague memory on what the shadow proclamation is but I'm pretty sure that's important for later.
00:46:48
Speaker
i did take note of that because I had a feeling just from how he was talking about it that that was going to end up being important. Yeah, but it seems to be like some like negotiations standards, like some sort of constitution of sorts.
00:47:00
Speaker
ah Maybe aliens go by. I'm like vaguely, I'm pretty sure they mentioned it later, but I'm not entirely sure. He tries to negotiate with them. They don't take to it very well because they realize he has the the blue death goo and they consider his TARDIS a superior technology so it's like a danger to them or whatever.
00:47:21
Speaker
And so they seize him! They seize him and then ah they start activating the plastic mannequins all over London and they start attacking. I assume it's only London because there's no other shots in like other countries of this happening.
00:47:34
Speaker
Especially because ah the communication line is like the London eye I think the attack only takes place in London probably. i think it's very important to, I guess, take note of the extent of these alien attacks.
00:47:48
Speaker
Cause sometimes I remember I would get confused as I would watch the show like, well, how does this character not know about this? There was like a whole alien attack and they don't even know about it. And it's like, well, sometimes these aliens attacks only happen in like a city. It doesn't even happen if even across a country, let alone the world.
00:48:07
Speaker
um So I think it's just been allocated to that. Not even all of London, i would I would even guess. Like that section of London, I guess the closest to the ah plastic molten lava plastic bucket thing.
00:48:20
Speaker
But the plastic people, they ah start walking around. They have guns, apparently. i don't think they had guns earlier, but they have guns now. um Which is a very intrusive.
00:48:33
Speaker
Just built into their hands. Yeah, I can't say anything for fear of spoilers, but I i was very interested that they had guns for a reason. And I was like, ooh, I didn't remember this part.
00:48:47
Speaker
I'm to try be as vague as possible. Okay. All my long-time fans, you know what I'm talking about. and that is not something I expected to be important. It's not gonna be important for a while, if that helps. Okay.
00:48:58
Speaker
Okay. um But I did notice, and I was like, oh. Oh! You know that clip of that girl, and she's like, oh! Yeah, yeah. That was me. I was like, oh!
00:49:11
Speaker
Uh, but it's not really that important. Um, I think in this moment in particular, when the plastic people are, like, attacking and the doctor's being seized by these plastic guys, there's a lot of lingering shots. Like, it takes, like, a really long time for all this to happen.
00:49:26
Speaker
ah Clive gets shot because he happens to be out shopping with his family. I think he just straight up dies. And, uh, Jackie Tyler, Rose's mom, uh, she was out shopping and so she's starting to get attacked, but she doesn't get harmed.
00:49:39
Speaker
She's about to be harmed, but then ah Rose is like, you know, I don't have um a lot going for me, but what I do have going for me is that i got ah in high school, I got a bronze and gymnat in gymnastics. She doesn't say high school, because I don't think British people say high school. i think they say like It was like grade 7, I think she said. oh okay.
00:49:55
Speaker
Yeah, because they they don't say like middle school, high school. They say like primary or secondary school, and I'm not sure which... grade numbers those are i guess if there are any british people watching this when i say middle school i mean like sixth seventh eighth grade or eighth year whatever when you're like 12 to 13 around that age and then high school is like 14 to 18 so like uh ninth to twelfth grade at least that's what it's like for us so when you're in like teen when you're like teenager teenager that's high school and then pre-teen is like middle school
00:50:29
Speaker
then elementary school is when you're little kid. ah but ah So if she said grade seven, I guess that's a middle school for us. i would think so. And just so she got the bronze in gymnastics in middle school, and she was like, and that's a perfect enough reason for me to swing on this chain above lava But it works! She goes and she kicks the plastic guys off of them and while she's kicking them the blue goo that they were holding hostage ah falls into the lava stuff and they it explodes or something.
00:51:00
Speaker
And they hide in the TARDIS to be protected. So once they like escape from that ah they're able to try you know the TARDIS is able to travel out of it and ah Rose calls her mom to make sure she's okay and then Rose's mom was like you gotta get home they're attacking everywhere and Rose is like LOL! And she like hangs up on her.
00:51:18
Speaker
Which I think is like a- Too bad. Yeah, that sucks for you. Well, I think she's laughing about how she said that exact same thing to her mom earlier. I think, I'm pretty sure that was the joke, but I still think it's funny. Like, out of context, her her mom was like, I was just attacked. I almost died. And Rose is like, ha ha, hangs up.
00:51:36
Speaker
Not even a single- Not problem. Not my problem, girl. ah So after she does that, she like comforts Mickey a bit, but the doctor, she's like, ah he's, excuse me, I just, she'd heard the doctor.
00:51:48
Speaker
I can't do that That's not for a while. Bro, i don't have to she-her this guy till, like, 2020. Then I'll be forced. Then I'll be forced to she-her her. She-her She-her him. she
00:52:06
Speaker
So after it's all over and it's all calmed down, the doctor... Oh, no, wait. he's he's he basically So the doctor basically says, like, well, that was pretty crazy. and the roses and And Rose is like, oh, yeah, you well, you would have died without me. So it was pretty helpful. And then he was like, you know what? You're right. Do you want to travel with me?
00:52:24
Speaker
and she's like really what and he's and he's like we'll travel anywhere you want anywhere in space it'll be pretty cool and then rose is like i don't know if i can i got she describes it as she has her mom to look after and think she calls mickey like a lump or something yeah a stupid lump a stupid lump while he's like cowering at her feet and like holding her hip And I do think it's pretty cute. It's kind of cute. It is. I felt so maternal. It's like, oh, this is my son. This is my baby boy. This is my baby boy that's like 10 or 15 years older than me. This is my little guy I have to take care of. but
00:53:02
Speaker
and ah so, ah and then the doctor specifically goes, specifically goes, ah the invitation doesn't extend to Mickey. It like doesn't extend to him. Like,
00:53:14
Speaker
That's because Mickey calls him an alien and a thing. okay. I thought he was just being rude. Because Mickey was like, don't go with him. He's an alien. He's a thing. He goes, yeah, and he's not invited. And it wass like, okay. Do you think he he was invited up until that moment? Maybe. I doubt it. I don't think the doctor particularly liked him.
00:53:34
Speaker
he He kept referring to him as like a kid and like forgetting his name. So she says no and he's like, all right. And then he like ah flies away or he doesn't fly away. He fades away. The TARDIS fades away. doesn't really fly. The TARDIS flies in the time vortex, but it doesn't fly like that much in person.
00:53:51
Speaker
In the Coraline Tunnel. Yeah, in the Coraline Tunnel. ah And ah so he fades away, they start walking home, but real quick he fades back in, he's like, oh yeah, by the way, not only do we travel through space, we actually travel through time.
00:54:06
Speaker
And the moment he says that, Rose is just like, oh, well, then I could totally come. Because she kisses Mickey goodbye and she's like, thanks. And then he's like, thanks for what? she's like, I don't know, lo like leaves.
00:54:21
Speaker
And I guess that's kind of fair. I mean, if I heard that like I could like travel anywhere in the world and it's also a time machine, I would probably be like, well, if I can come back 15 minutes from now, that would be great.
00:54:35
Speaker
So I don't blame her too much, but I do think it's unfortunate that she just kind of, like from Mickey's point of view, runs off with a stranger. So... An alien!
00:54:46
Speaker
A thing! thing! A very wild day for Mickey, indeed. ah But that is the end of the episode. I think we'll talk about the ah the next time on Doctor Who. We did watch that, and I think we could talk about how we feel about that in our next podcast episode, just to keep, like, that content with that content, like, to keep it all yeah organized.
00:55:09
Speaker
um And so we'll talk about our thoughts but talk about our thoughts on that in the next episode. But other than that, that's the summary of the episode. Hayley, do you have any i mean any thoughts? Any words?
00:55:23
Speaker
i' I have plenty of thoughts and i'll have to go through my notes because I took some notes. Tell me all of them. So yeah, overall I enjoyed The characters were the best part. I really like Mickey. I think he's a cute...
00:55:35
Speaker
boyfriend and I like that he's clearly very caring towards her but she's also a fun character the doctor's a fun character I kind of am not crazy about Jackie yet because like the flirting with the doctor put me off a little bit as well as the like being super pushy towards her daughter after she almost died but uh I'm but she is funny so I'm sure I'll come around to her eventually I brought up to you, i'm ki i'm a big Twilight Zone fan, I'm a big fan of the original show, and there is a episode I don't know if you've seen about, like...
00:56:13
Speaker
spoiler warning for the original twilight zone that came out decades decades ago like to came out in the sixty s yeah it's all about mannequins and if i'm remembering correctly here comes the spoiler i think the twist is that i haven't seen in years but i think it was about like a girl who thinks that she's a normal girl who gets stuck in the store and she's trying to get out and then i think by the end of the episode she realized that she is actually a mannequin it's something like that That like really reminds me of like, a I don't know if anyone knows, this might be just like a niche thing I liked as a kid, but there was this book series called like, like The Red Hot Weenies or whatever.
00:56:50
Speaker
ah oh okay. So ah the book specifically I read was called The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales by David Lubar. and mouthful And it's kind of it kind of reminded me of Goosebumps.
00:57:05
Speaker
where it was just like a collection of like short, creepy stories for kids. And I ate that stuff up as a kid. It's like creepy stuff. I would read Goosebumps, I would read this book. And one of the stories in that book um was this kid wanted to be in this group of like cool kids.
00:57:21
Speaker
But in order to do that, he had to like do like initiation or whatever. um And his initiation was that he had to sneak into like a clothing store and stay there the whole night. And while he's there, he starts to see like, there's like people there with him.
00:57:36
Speaker
But the twist is like, ah the people there are mannequins and they like turn him into a mannequin. man. the next day, his mind is like so warped that he's like happy being a mannequin. He's like, oh, I'm so glad to like, have these clothes, and I get to show people all the clothes in our store. It's great, and I can't move at all.
00:57:58
Speaker
I can't, well, I actually can't remember if he was happy about it or upset about it, but he definitely could not move by the end of the story, and I think he could only come out, like, move around at night. It might have been, like, night at the museum situation where he couldn't, like, leave the store or consequences or whatever, but it was a very creepy story. i definitely gotta read that book again. Yeah.
00:58:20
Speaker
But yeah, that a lot of menic a lot of creepy mannequin stories. and i That's true I wish that the mannequins in this episode were just a bit more creepy. It was very apparent that these were just like people in costumes.
00:58:33
Speaker
Yeah. um I think I saw in the trivia that like that ah these costumes were like especially uncomfortable to wear and it took like a lot of Yeah, it took a lot of time on set to like record like the show because it just the the extras were just having a really hard time with it, which I sympathize with that.
00:58:53
Speaker
It's probably worth bringing up right now in the first episode. As Julia already knows, I am not the biggest sci-fi person in the world. I don't dislike sci-fi, but it can be a little bit hard for me to get into. i am more of a...
00:59:06
Speaker
Not that you can't be both, but I'm more of a medieval fantasy, like, you know, magic and dragons type of person, dungeons and dragons, if you will, type of person. So I'm curious to see how that will warp my opinions on the show, because on the one hand, I feel like it might make parts of the show a little bit difficult to get into, which I'm about to get into into a sec.
00:59:26
Speaker
If anything, I could definitely see this show winding up being one of the sci-fi media that I like a bit better because I, one of the reasons I'm not a big sci-fi person is because I'm just not interested in this kind of stuff when it's taken really seriously.
00:59:41
Speaker
So my favorite pieces of sci-fi media, unironically, are Futurama and Mystery Science Theater 3000. And i like those. but A, I like that they're colorful. I hate how uncolorful a lot of sci-fi from like the 90s onward can be.
00:59:57
Speaker
and also i like sci-fi when it's used for fun basically as a way of showing like here's all this cool stuff that we can do in the future and stuff that's not possible in the real world instead of being like uh just like i'm also just i'm not a big like post-apocalypse dystopia type of girly and i feel like that crosses over with uh sci-fi a lot of the time and uh and ah Overall, I liked the episode. I had a little bit of trouble during some of the more exposition-y parts. like the As very impressive as it was, where they weren't ah cutting at all during his long exposition to her, I was a little bit bored having trouble keeping up with all these details, but I do appreciate that.
01:00:38
Speaker
I have it in my notes that it made it a lot easier because of the dynamic between the two and I like the bits of personality instead of just him just droning on and on and on as I feel like some sci-fi will do and some fantasy will do that you can see that in multiple genres yeah but I appreciate that they let some personality come in i think Russell T Davies does like a good job uh at least in when when he's doing the show running stuff of like focusing more on the characters a source of the overall sci-fi-ness of it all because like you're really because the ah we're seeing the world through like Rose's eyes so as she's learning everything and even if
01:01:15
Speaker
yeah I think if you don't understand something, then she probably doesn't either. yeah Because the doctor talks really fast and he's like, well, there's this and this and this and this and this. And she's probably catching about as much as you're catching.
01:01:29
Speaker
There's like space stuff. He's traveling and he's an alien. That's kind of all you really need to know. He's talking about a lot. That's good. um But anything that's important, he'll probably say again later. Okay. Okay.
01:01:42
Speaker
What was, this is more of a random point, but it really stuck with me. What was that guy's problem? That but before the trash can scene, there was like a guy bringing out, I guess because we needed the guy to bring the trash can scene out, to bring the trash can out for the trash can scene.
01:01:56
Speaker
But why did he like a glare of daggers? know. Mickey, like he had some problems. I'll be so honest with you, I have no clue. i don't know what his problem was. What was his damage? Because like, you would assume that like, well, if it's like one of the plastic guys, then like, this is just another copy. So Mickey wouldn't, Mickey wouldn't have been the only copy. So there wouldn't have been there would have been another person down there.
01:02:19
Speaker
Um, so I don't know. I think he was just maybe just a guy not a great mood. Maybe he was just mad that he was like on his street while he was putting up the garbage. He wasn't even putting up the garbage. There was nothing in that thing.
01:02:32
Speaker
That's true. did he put it on the street for the garbage ah truck to get? I want them to deliver the garbage. That guy was a freak. Indeed. But yeah, I'm a little sad because I know that she's probably going to wind up leaving him, quote unquote, for the doctor or at least having that conflict, which I'm sad about because i really like him.
01:02:51
Speaker
That is usually the Trump. And like him. I figured as much. I i like their girl boss, male wife vibes. ah I was sad that Clive apparently died because I was kind of expecting him to be like an important character.
01:03:04
Speaker
Yeah, like I don't- it's like they do it off screen to like I guess censor it because they should have just like shoot him in the face. ah but Yeah. But I'm pretty sure he's dead. Mm-hmm, okay.
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, I'm sad because I was kind of expecting him to like come back and react. I found his bit of the episode extremely interesting because I like... This is also something I like in sci-fi is like different interpretations of stuff, like seeing how it affects culture and people. And I like that you could see ah him through time and how different people have interpreted him and to these people that are catching on and coming up with the theories.
01:03:41
Speaker
And I especially liked him kind of equating him to death. I thought it was a really cool like idea. yeah i think it's I think it's so interesting like the way he works with the information he has. like He doesn't have all the answers, so he like describes the Doctor as a person in a long line of Doctors, but also he's immortal.
01:04:01
Speaker
ah Oh yeah, and I liked him saying like it seems like he inherited that name. like I thought that was an interesting way for people to interpret it, because that makes sense that people would interpret it that way. Yeah, because I don't think regeneration is on the forefront of like a human person's mind. I think it makes more sense if I was like in this guy's shoes to like explain it that way. Exactly.
01:04:22
Speaker
But yeah, I think we'll probably have- you'll probably have to get used to- because that's not an uncommon trope in Doctor Who, is having like a side character who like provides a lot of information and becomes a bit- you get a bit attached to them and then they die with it by the of- And then they get killed, yeah. Yeah, by the end of the episode they're dead.
01:04:39
Speaker
Okay, i'll I'll learn to get used to that then. It's not too uncommon- it doesn't happen- it doesn't always happen, but it's not too uncommon of a thing. i would say it happens multiple times per season.
01:04:50
Speaker
Maybe not every other episode, but yeah, he had a full family. Yeah, that's due to the life. Yeah, it's unfortunate. But I think that helps you like feel for him a bit. um ah part of me which is like his death wasn't off screen because I did feel for him. Me too. But I do understand like, you know, you don't want to like on the first episode of your new show ah want to show an on death...
01:05:14
Speaker
An on-screen death. Can't upset the children. yeah especially as violent as that. But I think that's kind of the bulk of my thoughts. I liked it, I found it interesting. I'm glad it wasn't super heavy with the exposition and science-y stuff, because I was half expecting that.
01:05:28
Speaker
It's a good, like like, this seems like it's a good piece of sci-fi media for people like me who aren't super into the genre to like get into and acclimate themselves comfortably. Yeah, I'm excited for you to like watch more episodes because I think this show does get goofy, it does get campy, but it also gets a bit sci-fi-y. So i hope so I'm hoping that with every like scene that you might be a little bored with that's like too exposition-y or science-y, there'll also be another scene where like they do goofy stuff and people are in like funky alien costumes and you get to laugh at that. ah
01:06:00
Speaker
Because people get in alien costumes a lot in this show and it's very fun to like look at it. And just for clarity's sake, and I do still appreciate like, because you know, even if it's not super my thing, like the whole world that they're setting up is still like super interesting. And it was cool, like seeing these aliens and like learning about how they work, even if it's not like my favorite type of fiction in the world, I still like appreciate that it is objectively very interesting.
01:06:24
Speaker
i will say like, this could be like an asset or a downfall. There are sometimes, ah there's, because it's a bit of a monster of the week show, um Sometimes there's aliens where like they'll explain like the whole lore behind them and why they're here like they did with the plastic guys. Like, oh, this is what they want. This is what they're doing here.
01:06:44
Speaker
Uh, a lot of times they'll like explain it all and it's hard to tell when you're supposed to keep that in your memory because these guys are going to come back later and like, you know, start some stuff again.
01:06:55
Speaker
And it's hard to tell when like, these are definitely just one-off guys and you're not really going to see them again. I think for the most part, these guys are just one-off guys. I don't remember. and think I think they might come back in like, like one other time, but not in any sort of like overall series plot kind uh, series plot kind of way. They're not vital.
01:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, I wouldn't call them, like, a season finale type villain, you know? um if you recognize them, you recognize them. If you don't, it's whatever, but later on. Like, I don't think it'd be too big of a deal if, like, we encountered them again. You were like, who are these guys? And I'm like obviously, though, they're the Autons from season one, episode one of Talk 2. Fake fan.
01:07:36
Speaker
Unbelievable. I'm taking you on this journey and you're not even paying attention. But yeah, I don't think, I think this is, like, a sort of, uh, Monster one-off monster of the week type deal for at least this alien specifically that makes sense for a first episode type of deal If that's it for like our thoughts on the episode, I can actually i i can get into the trivia that I scrounged up. of Yippee!
01:08:01
Speaker
Yippee! So this is gonna be like sort of a bit of like a, I guess like a cool down outro of the episode ah where I look up the IMDB page for the Doctor Who episode and I go through the trivia and I pick out which ones I think are the most interesting.
01:08:16
Speaker
um I've got some interesting things to tell you about this episode, actually. Okay. I will say, fair warning, I got these off IMDb. I don't know if there were like sources to these. I assume there were, because they got on IMDb.
01:08:31
Speaker
And that's like ah an official site for stuff. So if any of these are incorrect, I apologize. But... They sound true. okay I mean, I assume enough i assume that like they've got some credence to them if they're on like a movie buff website, you know, where like all the pretentious film ah majors are like, well, actually, that's not true.
01:08:55
Speaker
I'm sure they'll they'll be there like in a flash to like correct the people on this website. um Or to correct me, who knows. But one of the main fun facts I thought was very interesting that apparently... um So Russell T. Davies, he wrote this episode, but he actually apparently offered ah Edgar Wright the opportunity to direct this episode.
01:09:16
Speaker
um And if you guys don't know edgaror at little ah Edgar Wright, he was the guy who directed Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim. uh that's that guy and apparently he was still working on sean of the dead in 2004 uh so he was actually a bit busy could not direct the episode i think it would be very interesting in the alternate universe where this episode was directed by him because i think he has a very interesting eye for
01:09:47
Speaker
ah campy stuff like and cartoony. Absolutely. Yeah, I think like to get, ah he has a, I think he has a very good talent at adding cartoonish mannerisms to like live action stuff. I think he does very well at that.
01:10:01
Speaker
So that was like the the first like little fun fact. The main fun fact I actually really wanted to tell you about is that apparently apparently, I say this apparently, I'm sure there's like old Doctor Who fans who know about this, but um when in the scene where Rose is searching on, ah not Google, the search engine for information on the Doctor, ah with the website she goes on, the whoisd Doctor Who or whoisthedoctor.co.uk or whatever, apparently is a real website.
01:10:33
Speaker
um It's... quote unquote still functioning. I don't consider it still functioning because if you go to that URL, it just redirects you to like the the the standard Doctor Who, like catch it Sunday night on on BBC TV or whatever, like the standard Doctor Who page you go when you look up Doctor Who.
01:10:53
Speaker
Um, but at one point while the show was airing, it was actually like updating along with the show, which is basically giving Doctor Who like a sort of like ARG element. Yeah, that's sick. I absolutely love. I love ARG. I think me and Hayley both love ARGs.
01:11:12
Speaker
Yes, we do. You have more info on them than I do, but I do find them very interesting. Yeah, I think some of my favorites... I gotta remember them all. Uh, I think I, if Daisy Brown counts as an ARG, I like Daisy Brown. I've heard about like the Cloverfield ARG.
01:11:28
Speaker
Um, there was one I was like really into for a hot second to a point where I was like playing the game. Like a lot of times when I look up ARGs, I'll like look up people like summarizing it for me. Like, uh, the YouTube channel inside of mind. Uh, I really liked that YouTube channel. He like explains it. Like,
01:11:47
Speaker
he He explains a lot of ARGs very well in a way that like I can ah feel like I'm discovering it along with him. um But there was one ARG, I wanna, I can't remember the name, ah but it was about a missing girl and how she got like kidnapped or something. And it was like, ah and think,
01:12:12
Speaker
I guess I don't want to get too, like, ah messed up about it because it does get into, like, some dark stuff. But I remember I actually played the game and I was trying to, like, find videos and, like, unlock codes.
01:12:22
Speaker
And I just... I had maybe too good of a time because it got really scary and I couldn't sleep that night. And that was like the the the first and only time I've played an ARG.
01:12:34
Speaker
i usually am into horror ARGs, but I do still like any sort of like ARG. And so I think it's very interesting that Doctor Who, at least for like the first few seasons, had...
01:12:45
Speaker
basically an ARG going, if not like a small one. So- that's really sick.
Doctor Who Website and ARG Elements
01:12:50
Speaker
So like obviously the website isn't like officially up anymore, but I, it's still, you can still visit it using like the Wayback Machine. And there was an article on it called, have you see this Have You Seen This Man? Which is like a story about it. And it was published on the website two days before the episode aired on March 24, 2005 by the BBC web team.
01:13:12
Speaker
And it basically like ah played along with the show, like ah pretending- well, yeah, pretending, but ah roleplaying is Clive posting on this, and obviously like Clive does not- unfortunately our king Clive does not run it anymore.
01:13:28
Speaker
um I think it's actually implied that Mickey picked up the website and started running it after like rose left. and who's okay, that's interesting. I think we can go, I think we can, like, follow through it, like, follow along through it as we watch episodes, ah because obviously I can't talk about what happens, like, in later entries as, like, the show goes on, but I do believe at least, like, for the first two seasons it stays, like, updated, and I could definitely, like, ah check back in on, like,
01:14:01
Speaker
because a lot of this info information right now i'm getting from the wiki because it's like it's a bit hard to navigate the website on the wayback machine but ah people could actually like real people uh in in like the real world could actually like submit stories about like oh yeah i saw the doctor the other day and this is where i saw him and like the moderators of the website like the bbc or whatever would like go through these and post whatever was like appropriate to post and like coincided with the canon like it's It literally says on the wiki, like, ah it had to, like, not be inappropriate and also wouldn't break the fourth wall too much. So only true role players allowed on this website.
01:14:42
Speaker
But yeah, I think that's, like, just, like, a really interesting aspect of, ah like, Doctor Who. Like, I didn't even know until, like, literally the other night when I was like ah looking at the trivia for this episode, like how like how deep this rabbit hole goes.
01:14:57
Speaker
And I just think it's really interesting. Absolutely. I would love to keep up with it as we go along. Yeah, it'd be awesome. So another little trivia plot, another little trivia fun fact is that ah so when Clive shows a picture of the doctor standing in the crowd during the JFK assassination in 1963,
01:15:16
Speaker
ah nineteen sixty three ah This is actually a bit of a reference to um the original Doctor Who series, ah which was called An Unearthly Child in 1963. So, like, the first Doctor, basically. Okay. Which was actually first aired the day after night ah the JFK assassination. Shut up. That's crazy. On November 1963. So they like...
01:15:43
Speaker
Just a little nod to our pal JFK got dressed his son. I just think that's so funny that it's like... It is. JFK died and they're like, well, we still got the show.
01:15:55
Speaker
and also, that's in America. That's not our problem. That's not our problem. That's not like our queen died. ah But that's like a little fun fact. I think I already talked about how like, bit of a contradictory that like the doctor...
01:16:08
Speaker
regard like looks at his ears and is like oh those are crazy even though he's been around for at least long enough to to witness three historic events oh i just thought this was funny i just i just thought this was funny uh there there was a fun fact in the imdb page that that said like this episode features the first use of the word gay and therefore also the first explicit reference to homosexuality in the history of the television series well we already brought that up yeah yeah wey we already covered that we don't need to talk about that i mean it basically says like because society was more socially conservative than there was no reference to it in the original series like no duh yeah like i don't think 1963 doctor is going to be talking about gay people
01:16:53
Speaker
And also, ah i think final fun fact, that production the production team of Doctor Who was apparently given permission to add even more lights to the London Eye. So when you see the London Eye in Doctor Who, that's actually not what it looks like. It's actually a bit darker in person.
01:17:09
Speaker
I'm never going on because I'm scared of heights. Yeah. I feel like I might just for the experience, but that's even if I like leave the- I've never left the country. I've i've i've always stayed in America. i've I've traveled to different states though, which is basically like the equivalent of like visiting other countries in Europe.
Early Fandom and Episode Rating
01:17:27
Speaker
is i'm not I'm not entirely familiar with like the fandom response to the episode at this moment, um especially probably because there wasn't much of a fandom at the moment.
01:17:36
Speaker
Um, if there was a fan, it was probably, like, older people who, like, watched the show in the 60s to 80s. But other than that, uh, do you have, like, any sort of, like, rating you'd give this episode? I don't know if gonna do a rating system for the entire podcast show, but that might be a fun thing to do. Like, out of five stars, how many would you give this episode, just generally?
01:17:59
Speaker
ah is it okay if I do a rating system of ten? Uh, yeah, sure, go ahead. Okay, I would give it ten quarks in CGI eyeballs.
01:18:13
Speaker
out Seven out of ten of those. Seven out of ten of those. Um, let me think. Oh, I gotta think of a funny one. Okay, I would i would give it um I think I might give it like a six and a half plastic arms attacking you on your face out of out of ten plastic arms.
01:18:33
Speaker
I think it's got a lot of decent elements, ah but there's a lot of like, just nothing happening sometimes in this episode. i feel like um I feel like it probably should a bit more exciting as a first episode, but that could just be like the modern view of me just like, I need content now in my face!
01:18:54
Speaker
I'm a Gen Z, I have no patience for anything. I have an iPad, baby, I need constant stimulation. I need to snap the screen while things happen. But I think ah i I enjoyed when they used practical effects. I think it was a little weird when they used CGI. I didn't like how they focused on that.
Conclusion and Future Excitement
01:19:10
Speaker
um But I think... A lot of the characters got good introductions. You really got a sense of like who they were as people. um And I appreciate we got to see like what Rose's life was like.
01:19:22
Speaker
that Was? like She's never going back. ah ah What Rose's life is like, at least on Earth. And the get we get the kind of sense of like the kind situations and why she would want to travel with the Doctor.
01:19:35
Speaker
I guess that wraps up our our first, like, for real episode. For sure, for sure. Oh my gosh, it's crazy. I'm excited. Thank you coming on this journey and starting this exciting journey with us. Thank you for traveling through time and space with me. I'm very excited to talk about, like, the next episode. um I, like, I already want to hear your thoughts on the...
01:19:57
Speaker
you know, the, you know, next time on Doctor Who, but I, you know, we gotta save that for next episode. We gotta save the content. I guess we just say gotta to say goodbye to you guys. Thank you guys for listening. Bye-bye. Goodbye. Thank you for watching and tune in next week or whenever we post the episode. I don't know when. Here we go.
01:20:15
Speaker
In 15 years. In 20 million years. Goodbye. Bye-bye.
01:20:30
Speaker
hey guys thank you for listening to our show this was created by me julia and hayley doherty the cover arts and thumbnails were illustrated by the two of us and edited by me episodes edited by me and social media is run by hayley the theme song and other sound effects are by half.cool you can find us on instagram at me u a and dr who on twitter at me u a and d d w and on tiktok at me u a and d dr who uh i believe you can now find us wherever you get your podcasts at least on spotify apple podcasts and youtube Let us know if you want to find us anywhere else. I think those are the main three right now. Thank you again so much for listening. Bye.