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Rose Tyler
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Rose Tyler is a fictional character played by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Rose was introduced in the eponymous series one premiere as a new "companion" of series protagonist the Doctor, in his ninth and later tenth incarnations. The companion character, intended to act as an audience surrogate was key in the first series more so than any other to introduce new viewers to Doctor Who, which had not aired regularly since 1989.
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Encyclopedia
Rose Tyler is a fictional character played by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Rose was introduced in the eponymous series one premiere as a new "companion" of series protagonist the Doctor, in his ninth and later tenth incarnations. The companion character, intended to act as an audience surrogate was key in the first series more so than any other to introduce new viewers to Doctor Who, which had not aired regularly since 1989. The series saw Billie Piper receive top billing alongside Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, both of whom portrayed the Doctor. A regular companion of the Doctor for all of series one and series two, Rose also returned in the programme's fourth series having developed much in the interval.
In the series' narrative, Rose is introduced as a working class shop assistant from London, introduced alongside her own supporting cast in the form of her mother Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) and her boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke). Whereas the classic series refrained from exploring romantic connections between the Doctor and his companions, Rose grows increasingly trusting of the Doctor and comes to realise she has fallen in love with him. The two appear to be forever separated in the 2006 series two finale, although Rose eventually returned late in the fourth series.
Conception
After the announcement that the show would be returning, the BBC revealed the name of the new companion, Rose Tyler, on 28 March 2004. It was announced at the same time that former pop star Billie Piper was being considered for the role.
Writer/producer Russell T Davies frequently uses the surname "Tyler" in his work. A family named Tyler is featured heavily in his Virgin New Adventures Doctor Who novel Damaged Goods, and Davies has created characters named Tyler in other series he has written, including Ruth Tyler in Revelations (1994), Vince Tyler in Queer as Folk (1999), and Johnny Tyler in The Second Coming (2003).
The casting of Piper as Rose was announced on 24 May 2004, and was welcomed by fans of the show. Actress Georgia Moffett, daughter of Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison and who would later appear as the title role in the series 4 episode "The Doctor's Daughter", also auditioned for the role.
Rose appeared in every episode of the first two series of the revived Doctor Who, starting in 2005 with the episode "Rose" and ending with "Doomsday" in 2006 (though the character made very brief flashback stock footage appearances in the later "The Runaway Bride" and "Utopia and odd episodes in series four and in 'turn left', series four, 'The stolen earth', series four and 'Journey's end' series four").
Character history
Televised history
Series 1
When first seen by the audience, 19 year old Rose is working as a shop assistant at Henrik's department store (a replica of Harrods) in Regent Street, London. She has a boyfriend named Mickey Smith, and lives in a council flat with her mother Jackie in the fictitious Powell Estate in London. Rose left school without taking her A-levels but won the bronze medal in an under-sevens gymnastics competition at her junior school. Her father, Pete Tyler died in 1987 in a car accident, the year after Rose was born. When she was twelve, she received a red bicycle for Christmas, which was given to her by the Doctor after meeting Rose in the future.
One night, after the shops close, she encounters mannequins coming to life in the basement of Henrik's. The Autons are about to dispose of her when the Ninth Doctor saves her life, although he proceeds to destroy the building, thus costing Rose her job. She aids the Doctor in tracking down the hiding place of the Nestene Consciousness that is animating the Autons and subsequently helps defeat its plans of world conquest. She is initially reluctant to join the Doctor on his travels in the TARDIS, feeling that someone must stay to look after Mickey, but changes her mind when the Doctor returns to tell her they could travel in time.
During her time with the Doctor, Rose sees the end of planet Earth, watches her father (Peter Alan Tyler) die on November 7 1987, encounters the Doctor's oldest enemies and learns about the consequences of tampering with history.
During their travels, the Doctor and Rose realise that the words "Bad Wolf" follow them around, the phrase being scattered like clues through the places that they visit. It is revealed that Rose herself is the Bad Wolf, the words being a message that she must return to the future to absorb the energies of the time vortex, saving the Doctor and the Earth from the Daleks. By absorbing the power of the TARDIS, she creates a predestination paradox and makes it possible not just to destroy the Daleks but to leave the clues seen throughout the series. The vortex energies also allow Rose to resurrect Jack Harkness, an act which grants him a level of immortality, although the Doctor notes in "Utopia" that Rose had been unaware of this.
Soon the energies she absorbed begin to destroy her body. The Doctor, through a kiss, absorbs the power, sacrificing his ninth incarnation and regenerating before Rose's eyes into the Tenth Doctor.
Series 2
Rose is initially disconcerted at the Doctor's transformation, and becomes increasingly distressed when the Doctor falls into a post-regenerative coma, unable to counter the threat of a Sycorax invasion. However, after the Doctor has recovered and defeated the Sycorax, Rose is convinced that this is the same Doctor that she has come to know and trust, and accepts his new appearance and manner.
After the events with the Syrorax, she has an appearance change with her hair shorter and without any plaits and says goodbye to Mickey and Jackie before going with the Doctor for more adventures. She is taken to New Earth by the Tenth Doctor, where Cassandra invades her body. Rose is knighted by Queen Victoria, making her Dame Rose of the Powell Estate, although immediately afterwards the two are banished from the British Empire. Rose helps defeat the Krillitane at a school, at which time she meets former companion Sarah Jane Smith, and Mickey joins the TARDIS crew. These three wind up aboard a space ship in the 51st century, battle some Clockwork Androids and save Madame de Pompadour from decapitation. When the Doctor, Rose and Mickey accidentally travel to a parallel Earth, Rose meets an alternative version of her father, who has become a success, unlike Rose's actual father, who died in their home universe. Mickey elects to stay on the parallel Earth to fight the Cybermen, and Rose is upset that she will never see him again.
Rose and the Doctor return to their own universe, just in time for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, then take a trip to a planet which is in a stationary orbit around a black hole. While there the Doctor confronts and defeats a being who just might be the prototype for every culture's ultimate evil. The next time we see either Rose or The Doctor is in only a couple of scenes in the first episode where they are not the lead characters. The Doctor and Rose went forward to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where they save the world from an juvenile Isolus and lit the Olympic Flame. Later they find that both the alternate Cybermen and the Daleks are invading their Earth. Although Rose and the Doctor manage to remove both enemies from Earth, Rose is nearly pulled into the "Void" between worlds in the process, and is only saved when her father, Pete, teleports in and transports her to the alternate world on the other side of the Void. There, she finds herself irrevocably separated from the Doctor and trapped on the parallel Earth albeit reunited with Jackie, Mickey and the alternate Pete Tyler. Later, the Doctor manages to project his image through the last tear between the universes, found on a beach in Norway, Dårlig Ulv Stranden, the name of which translates into Bad Wolf Bay. Here the Doctor and Rose share a tearful farewell, and he informs Rose that she is presumed dead in the aftermath of the invasion, thus verifying Rose's soliloquy at the start of the episode, "This is the story of how I died". Rose in turn mentions that she now works with the parallel Earth's (non secret) version of the Torchwood Institute due to her experience with aliens. The Doctor brokenly jokes that she is the "defender of the universe." Finally, Rose tells him she loves him. The Doctor begins to reply, getting as far as "If it's my last chance to say it: Rose Tyler--" before the connection fails and they are both left standing alone in their respective universes.
Series 3
During the early stages of Series 3, the Doctor would often become depressed at the mere mention of Rose, or whenever he is reminded of her. In "The Runaway Bride", he is reminded of Rose while attending Donna's wedding reception, and a very brief clip of Rose from "New Earth" is used to illustrate this. Donna Noble discusses Rose with the Doctor, in "The Runaway Bride", as does Martha Jones in the 2007 series.
In the series 3 episode, "Utopia", Jack Harkness mentions that while he was waiting for the Doctor to appear during the 20th century, he went to see Rose once or twice while she was growing up. He says that in order to preserve established events, he never spoke to her in that time. The Doctor has a quick flash back of Rose (clip used from "The Parting Of The Ways") when she became the Bad Wolf and brought Jack back to life.
Series 4
Rose makes a number of brief, non-speaking appearances throughout series four. In "Partners in Crime", the first episode, she silently watches the incident with the Adipose from the street and has a brief encounter with Donna. After Donna departs to meet the Doctor, Rose walks away and fades into thin air. In "The Poison Sky" and "Midnight", as well as in the webcast 'Captain Jack's Monster Files' for the Hath, she appears as a brief muted flicker on various screens, shouting "Doctor!". In "Silence in the Library", a picture of a blonde woman next to a wolf is shown behind Doctor Moon.
In "Turn Left", when a Time Beetle causes Donna to change the past and alter the universe, Rose continually appears to her and helps her to set things right by sending her back in time. She also gives Donna the message "Bad Wolf" to deliver to the Doctor, which signals the end of the universe. Rose is reunited with the Doctor in "The Stolen Earth", but as the two run towards each other, the Doctor is shot down by a Dalek. A distraught Rose, reunited with Jack Harkness for the first time since she resurrected him in "The Parting of the Ways", is forced to watch the Doctor begin to regenerate again.
In "Journey's End" the Doctor regenerates just enough to heal himself, re-channeling the rest of his 'Time Lord' regenerative energy into his hand that was severed in the series two episode "The Christmas Invasion". Donna later touches the hand, causing a biological metacrisis, which causes the hand to develop into a human/Time Lord 'hybrid' version of the Doctor. This "other Doctor" is complete with the Doctor's memories, personality and knowledge, but also exhibits traits of Donna's personality, has only one heart and is unable to regenerate. The original Doctor returns Rose to her alternate universe's Bad Wolf Bay. Between themselves, the original Doctor and the half-human Doctor have decided that the half-human Doctor will stay with Rose; this Doctor can give Rose a romantic relationship, as he will age and die as a human rather than greatly outliving her like his full Time Lord counterpart would. The Doctor tells Rose that his half-human self needs her, as he was "born of blood and fire and revenge" much like his previous incarnation was after the Time War. He believes Rose can help turn him into a "better man". When the half-human Doctor whispers the completion of the sentence the original Doctor started at the end of "Doomsday", Rose kisses him. Although the whispered words of the half-human Doctor are inaudible to the audience, executive producer Julie Gardner confirmed in Doctor Who Confidential that "even though we don't hear it, of course he's saying 'I love you'."
The Doctor then leaves Rose and her Doctor in their parallel universe, the walls once again sealed.
Russel T Davies remarked on Doctor Who Confidential that this goodbye scene was "an extremely difficult scene to edit and to act" because all of them were unsure whether this was "a happy or a sad scene."
Billie Piper said on Doctor Who Confidential: "I think that it's never the end for the Doctor and Rose...but it is for the foreseeable future."
Doctor Who Annual
The Doctor Who Annual 2006, published by Panini Comics in August 2005, gives further biographical information on Rose in an article written by the programme's chief writer and executive producer Russell T Davies. The piece includes the address of the flat she and Jackie live in (Flat 48, Bucknall House, Powell Estate, SE15 7GO), the fact that Jackie supports them by working from home as a hairdresser. It also mentions that prior to Rose meeting the Doctor, her only travelling experience was a school trip to France and an annual week's holiday to South Wales with her mother.
Rose (whose middle name is given as Marion) began seeing Mickey at the age of 14, and at 15 she was suspended from her school, Jericho Street Comprehensive, for persuading the choir to go on strike. After doing well in her GCSE exams, she left school to live with a 20 year-old musician, Jimmy Stone, but the affair ended in tears and with Rose £800 in debt. She subsequently returned to Jackie and Mickey, and her mother called in a favour from an ex-boyfriend to get her the job at Henrik's Department Store.
Other appearances
Rose is featured in the first twelve New Series Adventures novels and also appears in the Quick Reads Initiative release, I am a Dalek. The events of the novel The Monsters Inside are referenced in the episode "Boom Town". In the novels, some elements of Rose's backstory are fleshed out. Only Human reveals she was once engaged to be married; this does not appear to be a reference to Mickey, given Rose's unfriendly reference to the former fiancée, but it could be a reference to Jimmy Stone, mentioned in the Annual ; and in the same novel, Rose briefly marries Tillun, a member of a prehistoric tribe of cave men, as part of a ruse to protect his tribe.
Following Rose's departure from Doctor Who, a spin-off production titled Rose Tyler: Earth Defence was commissioned, but ultimately withdrawn by Davies as he regarded it as a "spin-off too far".
Personality
Rose was the first television companion of the Doctor with a fully fleshed-out personal life and background that the audience actually saw on screen in her debut story, as opposed to something developed over time. For the first time since the first Doctor Who episode, "An Unearthly Child", "Rose" was told largely from the companion's point of view. It was also the first time the television series has examined the consequences of a companion leaving with the Doctor; for the year she was away, she was considered a missing person and Mickey was briefly suspected of her murder.
Rose is unique in that she is the first companion whose immediate family and/or a close friend knew of her travels with the Doctor while they occurred. Mickey was aware of her new occupation and tracked her movements through his website. Jackie found out about the life her daughter was leading and, despite pleading for her to stay, Rose continued to travel with the Doctor. She was able to communicate with her mother via her "Superphone" and Rose would often phone home during her travels and let her mother know her activities.
Rose cares deeply about, and loves, the Doctor, romantically as is proven in the series four finale. She states on several occasions her desire to stay with the Doctor for the rest of her life, and chooses to stay with the Doctor, even though it means forever leaving her mother and Mickey on the parallel earth. In their final moments together, Rose tells the Doctor that she loves him; he begins to reply but only manages to say her name before his transmission is cut off and the two are parted indefinitely. Julie Gardner said on the commentary for the episode that she will "confirm to the world" that he was going to "say it back."
Rose is not the first companion whose deep platonic love for the Doctor at least suggests romantic interest as well. Sarah Jane Smith hints at possible feelings for the Doctor in "School Reunion" when he asks her if she had ever married and she tells him she hasn't ("I travelled with this man...he was a tough act to follow.") Grace Holloway makes a joking reference to having fallen for the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV movie. In "Army of Ghosts", Rose also indicates her intention to stay with the Doctor "for ever", a sentiment never before expressed by previous companions, many of whom were reluctant travellers, though echoed by companion Donna Noble in "The Doctor's Daughter".
List of appearances
Television
Rose Tyler appeared in all episodes of the 2005 series, the 2005 Children in Need special, the 2005 Christmas special "The Christmas Invasion", and all episodes of the 2006 series up to and including "Doomsday". Archive footage of the character was used in brief flashbacks in "The Runaway Bride" and "Utopia". In "Human Nature", John Smith's A Journal of Impossible Things features an illustration of her. There are also several less obvious mentions of her throughout the series.
In November 2007 it was announced that Billie Piper would reprise her role as Rose Tyler for the last three episodes of the fourth series. She appeared as a brief cameo in "Partners in Crime", and briefly on the TARDIS communication screen in "The Poison Sky". After another brief appearance in "Midnight", she became a main character again in "Turn Left", alongside Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and ending with "Journey's End".
Later, it was confirmed by Russell T Davies in Doctor Who Magazine that this return had been planned since she left.
Novels
Short stories
Doctor Who Annual 2006
- "Doctor vs. Doctor" by Gareth Roberts
- "The Masks of Makassar" by Paul Cornell
- "Pitter-patter" by Robert Shearman
Doctor Who Storybook 2007
- "Cuckoo-Spit" by Mark Gatiss
- "The Cat Came Back" by Gareth Roberts
- "Gravestone House" by Justin Richards
- "Untitled" by Robert Shearman
- "No One Died" by Nicholas Briggs
Doctor Who Magazine
- "Voice From the Vortex" (DWM #364)
Comics
Doctor Who Magazine
- "The Love Invasion" by Gareth Roberts & Clayton Hickman, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 355–357)
- "Art Attack!" by Mike Collins and Kris Justice (issue 358)
- "The Cruel Sea" by Robert Shearman, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 359–362)
- "A Groatsworth of Wit" by Gareth Roberts, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 363–364)
- "The Betrothal of Sontar" by John Tomlinson & Nick Abadzis, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 365–367)
- "The Lodger" by Gareth Roberts, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issue 368)
- "F. A. Q." by Tony Lee, Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 369–371)
- "The Futurists" by Mike Collins and David A. Roach (issues 372–374)
- " Interstellar Overdrive" by Mike Collins and Jonathon Morris (issues 375-376)
Doctor Who Adventures
- "Which Switch" by Michael Stevens and John Ross (issue 1)
- "Mirror Image" by Jacqueline Rayner and John Ross (issue 2)
- "Under the Volcano" by Si Spencer and John Ross (issue 3)
- "The Germ War" by Alan Barnes and John Ross (issue 4)
- "WarFreekz!" by Alan Barnes and John Ross (issue 5)
- "A Delicate Operation" by Si Spencer and John Ross (issue 6)
- "Blood and Tears" by Si Spencer and John Ross (issue 7)
- "Fried Death" by Alan Barnes and John Ross (issue 8)
- "Bizarre Zero" (issue 9)
- "Save the Humans" (issue 10)
- "Bat Attack" / "The Battle of Reading Gaol" (issues 11–12)
- "Triskaidekaphobia" (issue 13)
Battles in Time
- "Growing Terror", "Hyperstar Rising", "Death Race Five Billion", "The Macrobe Menace", "The Hunt of Doom", "Reunion of Fear" (1 Story, issues 1-6)
- "The Gluttonoid Menace" (issue 7)
Doctor Who Annuals
- "Mr Nobody" by Scott Gray and John Ross (Doctor Who Annual 2006)
- "Down the Rabbit Hole" by Davey Moore and John Ross (Doctor Who Annual 2007)
- "Opera of Doom!" by Jonathan Morris, Martin Geraghty and Fareed Choudhury (Doctor Who Storybook 2007)
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