Written by Russell T. Davies
Directed by Keith Boak
“That’s what I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler…go home.”
How do I know that my Doctor Who is back? How do I know that the show that energized my childhood imagination is back with a vengeance? Let me count the ways…
1—Christopher Eccleston IS the Doctor! There’s no question of it. He’s rude, brusque, funny, crazy, fascinating, fiercely intelligent, passionate…and though he might deny it, lonely as hell. I have no words to describe what a wonderful impression this man has made.
Just watch the scene where he goes through Rose’s flat — it’s a gloriously choreographed farce of comedy, danger, innuendo, and multiple conversations. Right up until he walks into the TARDIS for the first time, the entire second act is nothing short of the new series’ mission statement…which is the classic series’ mission statement as well.
Get the point? Same show. New crew. Happy fans! 
2—Billie Piper makes an immediate splash. A working-class girl (“no A levels, no job, no future” as she so desperately puts it), she perfectly slips into the role played by the most successful of series companions: someone who discovers the magic and joy inherent in the universe, after only a few minutes exposure to the Doctor and his way of life. For a young actress who’s mostly known as a pop star, she’s a revelation.
She even cries when she takes in the interior of the TARDIS for the first time! Bless her…
3—Russell T. Davies is the golden boy of British TV — the genius behind the original Queer As Folk and The Second Coming. He combines his life-long love of the series with his skill as a writer to produce a tale so fast, yet so full of set up and explanation, that I’m surprised he managed to fit everything into a single episode. With a great deal of backstory to fall back on, Davies wisely eschews most of it to simply re-establish the core concepts of the series. Continuity can be played with at a later date…instead, we get the right sort of introduction, with a minimum of fuss, and a great deal of style.
4—The direction, the effects work, the filming…it’s all so modern and up to date, yet it retains the cheeky wonder and wink-in-the-eye attitude of the original. The burping bin scene says it all…a moment of childish, laugh-out-loud charm that isn’t exactly serious, but is wonderful all the same. One of the best lines in the series was when the Doctor once said “There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish, sometimes.” Call it the leitmotif of the series…and the main reason why those who don’t appreciate this series can NEVER understand what they’re missing.
I’m not going to gush any more, because that’s all I’d do from this point. To say I was giddy with happiness — before, during, and after last night’s broadcast — is a GLORIOUS understatement!
Doctor Who is back. I didn’t wait 16 years in vain. “Rose” won’t be the greatest Doctor Who story ever, but in the anals of the series’ introductory episodes, it makes a tremendous splash…worthy of 16 years of build up.
I’m HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!
Happy!!! 
Oh…the rating? Let’s give it a VERY enthusastic 9.
