Time and Space: A Doctor Who Journey

Series 1, Episode 8 : Father's Day
Written By : Paul Cornell
Directed By : Joe Ahearne
Villians : The Reapers
Synopsis :  The Doctor takes Rose back in time to witness the day her father is killed but when Rose saves her father's life, the Reaper's are unleashed on the world and begin to destroy everything.

And just as things were improving, we take another backslide.  Once again, this episode sets up many things to come, including introducing Rose's father Pete and showing why changing your own past is a very bad idea.  The story overall, however, is a little weak and forced at times.  The Reapers are not frightening in the least.  Some of the other characters are annoying.  Rose drives me crazy with her tantrums and stupidity.  While I can understand what she did and why (let's face it, we would all be tempted by that) I still find it hard to get to involved in this episode.

The best part of this episode is by far Pete.  I love that his character is deeply flawed and not at all what Rose expects.  I love flawed characters.  They are real.  I also really enjoy that despite Pete's flaws and daft schemes, he's very caring and incredibly smart.  He figures out what is going on with very little prompting and shows a strength of character that reflects in Rose.

It really seems like this whole episode is just one great big set up to a quick resolution at the end.  Pete makes a sacrifice, Rose get her chance to be there for him, and Jackie gets some closure.  The Doctor teaches everyone a lesson not to question his decisions and we move on and almost forget any of this ever even happened.

Over all, this episode is ok.  Not very memorable, not the best, but still not the worst...and no Sliteen.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Interesting Details:

• Pete Tyler died Nov. 7, 1987
• Pete gets Jackie's name wrong at their wedding
• There are the words Bad Wolf on a poster on the wall near where Pete is supposed to die
• The Doctor gives Rose a death glare
• Pete Tyler invented a health drink called Vitex
• Rose and the Doctor being in the same point in time creates a weak point in time, perhaps this is why the Doctor states he can't cross his own timeline in future episodes.
• An Ordinary man is the most important thing in creation
• The Doctor talks about going back in time to save his own people, but in future episodes he reveals that this wouldn't be possible because the war is time locked in order to prevent such things from happening
• The Tardis becomes an ordinary Police Box
• Rose's phone plays the first phone call in history instead of her messages
• Jackie and Pete have some serious marital problems
• The older something is the stronger it is
• Pete proves he is a pretty smart guy when he figures everything out on his own
• Mickey hugs Rose around the waist they same way he did in the first episode when he didn't want her to leave.
• Touching your past self creates a paradox
• The Time Lords would have cleaned up this mess were they still around.  They enforced time laws
• Pete pieces together what the Doctor knew all along.  His death would put everything right.
• Rose does change the past.  She changed the time and location of her father's death, held him while he died and the driver stopped.
• There is no reference to the title in this episode, although it was originally title "A Wound in Time" which is a line.
• There is one mention of the Time War, but it is not actually named