When Doctor Who came back in 2005, we were desperate for its return. It wasn’t so different from Star Trek’s return in 1987 with The Next Generation. Us Trek fans were happy to have absolutely anything at that point as far as a TV show, and put up with a fairly horrendous first season of The Next Generation.
That’s how starved we were.
Thankfully, when Series 1 of Who unfolded, it was better than the Enterprise D’s first year.
But how good was Series 1 really? History says it was a grand success, all around, but how much of that was our Who starvation talking? And just how different was Russell T Davies’ part in that first season, compared to what he’s doing now, 20 years later?
In 2005, Davies adopted a back-to-basics approach to introduce — or reintroduce — the Doctor and his blue box back into our lives. We even got to see the Doctor get a look at his/this new face for the first time.
Rose: RTD presented us with an average, everyday, working girl in a shop that we could identify with, as she was swept up in the Doctor’s world. Rose Tyler was our eyes and ears, as we encountered deadly, animated shop dummies, living, burping trash bins, and the Nestene Consciousness as it prepared to take over Earth. Rose was intrigued by this Doctor character, and threw caution to the wind, joining him. Russell’s script gave us some serious, intimate moments, some silly slapstick, some horrible Photoshop, a cowardly boyfriend, some techno pop, and effects better than the classic era.
All in all, a decent enough start.
The End of the World: Then it was time to show off the TARDIS’ time travel capabilities. The Doctor whisked Rose billions of years into the future to see Earth’s final moments, from the safety of a space station — one that was under alien infiltration and attack… even if it was masterminded by a stretched-out piece of skin. It was at this point that Rose had a reality check. She just hitched a galactic ride with a total stranger; he was a bit weird, and his ship was hacking her brain for translation purposes. What off Earth was she thinking? She was eventually won over by his incredible mobile phone plan.
This one also gave us some more background on the TARDIS and how it worked, a parade of aliens, and some really inconveniently dangerous plot-fans. It was also officially revealed to this generation that the Doctor is a Time Lord, the last of his species, from a planet that is no more. That was quite the shocker —especially to the classic fans. This one was also a decent enough adventure that gave us some space drama mixed with slapstick and absurdity. Sound a bit familiar?
The Unquiet Dead: A lovely story by guest writer Mark Gatiss took us back to the late 1800s to meet Charles Dickens, as another alien race sought to kill all humans and live within their gaseous remains. So, of course Rose was all in by that point. Who wouldn’t be? Directed by Euros Lyn, this was a rich trip into the past, dealing with alien threats, and meeting historical celebrities. The great Simon Callow gave us the first stellar guest performance as Dickens — an early high point of the season.
Aliens of London/World War III: Davies wanted to stick closer to present day Earth as much as possible early on for the sake of relatability (and budget), so the next two-parter dealt with more aliens inhabiting human bodies, but this time, instead of subsisting on the body’s gases, these aliens used just the skins — they provided the gas.
This one got mixed reviews at the time because once again, RTD’s script was sometimes a bit silly and immature; at times, it didn’t actually seem like Russell was taking things seriously. Again, it seems familiar. Still, Doctor Who was finally back. We gladly took it. Side note, this two-parter also saw the return of UNIT, introduced Harriet Jones, and allowed Russell to give some political commentary of the day.
Dalek: Having finally secured the rights — again — for Skaro’s finest at the eleventh hour, one single Dalek showed fans old and new just how dangerous a lone Kaled mutant could be. This brilliant story featured guest writer Robert Shearman bringing back one of the Doctor’s deadliest foes. By this point, it seemed that Doctor Who was very much back on top with this game changer.
The Long Game: This was a somewhat lacklustre set-up/filler story by Davies for what would come at the series’ end. And as throughout the season, Russell also peppered the term “Bad Wolf” here and there. A series-long theme that would be a regular gimmick, going forward.
Father’s Day: Guest writer Paul Cornell gave us a wonderful, emotional story here, as the Doctor takes Rose back in time to watch her dad die. What could possibly go wrong? Tears, tears, and more tears. Stupid, stupid apes, but easily one of the best, most memorable stories of the year.
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances: Speaking of guest writers delivering the most powerful moments and best stories of the season… Steven Moffat arrived with an absolute belter of a two-parter here. The phrase, “Are you my mummy?” had never been so chilling. A kid in a gas mask. Creepy, thy name is Moffat. Stunning guest performances, disturbing effects, wonderful direction, and it even introduced Cap’n Jack Harkness — this one had everything but the kitchen sink. Another high point in the season, and the first of what would become numerous classics to be delivered by Moffat. Maybe Eccleston’s best turn as the Doctor.
Boom Town: A sort of “a day in the life” story, that showed us the fate of the lone surviving Slitheen from the Aliens of London story. It was more of a personal, intimate story, the kind Russell has always been better at, rather than the sci-fi content. Some excellent character dissection in this one. It was followed up with…
Bad Wolf: Russell’s send-up of his favourite type of show: reality TV, with warped versions of Big Brother, The Weakest Link, etc., which was all somehow part of a Dalek plan.
The Parting of the Ways: The grand finale where the Doctor took on the Daleks, and when everything looked hopeless and there was no way out, Rose absorbed the time vortex, became a god (from a machine!), and destroyed all the Daleks. Yes, we would never ever see the Daleks again. Mission accomplished.
But a basic primer including everything you need to know about Doctor Who wouldn’t be complete without one very important element. And Christopher Eccleston deciding to leave the show allowed the producers to add that last piece just in the nick of time.
We met the brand new Ninth Doctor at the season’s start, and then, at the end of the series, we saw him say goodbye and regenerate into some other guy.
The picture, complete. Closure fulfilled.
Series 1 was not perfect. At times, it was brilliant; other times, it was competently average; and there were even some bad bits. But Eccleston was very good as the lone survivor of a devastating war, barely even holding it together at times with his PTSD. Billie Piper was a solid companion as Rose. There were monsters, aliens, and villains, past, present, and future. The start and the end of an incarnation.
Overall, the show was once again a huge success, thanks to a combination of our eager want, Russell’s back-to-basics approach, some great direction and music, and the enlisting of quality guest writers providing fantastic stories — indeed, Cornell, Gatiss, Moffat, and Shearman provided most of the high points of the series.
But still, at the time, it was a huge gamble.
There were no guarantees that it would be a hit. The producers were prepared for the worst, that it would be one season and done.
And yet, if all we ever got was that one year, it did give us just about everything Who was and is.
It probably wasn’t quite as great as we remember back then, with our big wet eyes and starved fandom, but it was pretty darn good. A good chunk of it was even fantastic.
Fast forward 20 years, and while some things have changed, others have remained the same. Russ still likes to get a bit silly, a bit slapstick, and add social commentary. 2024’s eight episodes in Series 14 had mostly Davies’ scripts, without a lot of help, but that will change in Series 15. We may no longer be starving for Who — perhaps just the opposite, but much like 2005, there’ll at least once again be four other writers sharing the load this time around.
It’ll be interesting to see the results….
Happy 20th, Doctor.
