Favorite Doctor Who Episodes: Father's Day

I know it’s been a while since I've done a post on a favorite Doctor Who episode. Here’s the deal. "Father’s Day" is the next one on my list, but it’s been hard for me to watch it since my own father passed away. I am a cry baby anyway, but when it comes to watching movies or TV episodes or reading stories about a father passing away I am even worse. It’s still very hard for me. So, although I love this episode, I have dreaded watching it again. I know I could have skipped it and gone to my next favorite episode, but I wanted to do them in the order they were released, so that’s my excuse.

I finally got through it (and yes, the tears did come), and I hope to get back to a regular schedule of posting about my favorite Doctor Who episodes.

Although the Doctor can travel through time, he knows how important it is not to change significant events. After traveling with the Doctor to the distant future, and back in time to Victorian England and England during World War II, Rose asks if they can travel to her own past so she can meet the father she never knew (he was killed by a hit-and-run driver when she was a baby). Rose tells the Doctor that all she wants is to be there when her father dies so he doesn't have to die alone, but when they finally get there, she can’t bear to watch him die, and saves him instead. However, by saving him, Rose creates a wound in time and space, and she has to make a hard decision to save those who wouldn't have perished if she had allowed her father to die as he was supposed to.

This episode shows the wonderful and unique relationship between the Doctor and Rose. It shows how their relationship has grown, and what they mean to each other. There's a sweet moment right before Pete is hit by the car when the Doctor grabs her hand. He cares for her so much. This is also the first time that we see the Doctor really angry. I love seeing Christopher Eccleston as the happy Doctor, but Eccleston because is such a great actor it’s quite impactful to see him angry. And he’s not angry at an enemy, he’s angry at Rose. 

The danger in this episode is very real and terrifying, and it’s juxtaposed with the joy Rose has of getting to know her father, and then that is juxtaposed with the horror of the choice she eventually has to make. The monsters are great. They are "behind the sofa" scary, and their threat is very menacing and devastating. It's also great how you don't see them to begin with, you just see what they see in a creepy red hue, and then you see what they do to people. Scary.

The supporting characters are great in this episode. I love Jackie, Rose’s mom, as usual. She is such a great, quirky character, and it’s fun to see a younger version of her (an 80’s version of her). She's still the same old Jackie. Shaun Dingwall, who plays Pete Tyler, is wonderful. His performance is so understated, and so good. I loved the scenes between him and Rose. It's also poignant when she begins to see him as he truly is, and not the man her mother always described to her when she was growing up.

It's always so funny to see fashion from 80's. The big hair, the shoulder pads, the gaudy wedding dress. It will be interesting to watch this 20 years from now and think how hilarious Rose's outfit is. And then, maybe the 80's stuff will be back in fashion. (Okay, I hope not) *wink*

Quotes:

Rose (voiceover): Peter Alan Tyler. My dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th September, 1954.

Doctor: Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for.

Register: I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Prentice.
Pete: I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne... Suzette... Anita...
Jackie (to the Registrar): Oh, just carry on. It's good enough for Lady Di.

Rose: I thought he'd be taller.

Jackie: I only wish there'd been someone there for him.

Rose: I wanna be that someone, so he doesn't die alone.

Rose: It's so weird. The day my father died. I thought it would be all sort of grim and stormy. It's just an ordinary day.
Doctor: The past is another country. 1987's just the Isle of Wight.

Rose: Mum always said, "that stupid vase."

Doctor: That's the first you and me. It's a very bad idea, two sets of us being here at the same time.
Just be careful they don't see us.

Rose: I'm Rose.
Pete: That's a coincidence. That's my daughter's name.
Rose: That's a great name. Good choice. Well done.

Pete: If you want a cup of tea, kitchen's down there, milk's in the fridge. Well, it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk?

Pete: I should write that down.

Doctor: When we met, I said, "Travel with me in space." You said, "No." Then I said, "Time machine."
Rose: It wasn't some big plan.

Doctor: I did it again. I picked some stupid ape. I should have known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you.
Rose: So, it's okay when you go to other times and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad.
Doctor: I know what I'm doing, you don't.

Doctor: My entire planet died, my whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?

Doctor: Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive.

Rose: Would you rather have him dead?
Doctor: I'm not saying that!
Rose: No, I get it. For once you're not the most important man in my life.

Pete: Boyfriend trouble?

Pete: Listen, don't worry about him. Couples have rows all the time.
Rose: We're not a couple. Why does everyone think we're a couple?

Rose: I think he left me.
Pete: What? A pretty girl like you? If I was going out with you --
Rose: Stop, right there!
Pete: I'm just saying...
Rose: I know what you're saying, and we're not going there. At no point are we going anywhere near "there." You aren't even aware that "there" exists. I don't even want to think about "there," and neither do you. "There," for you, is like... it's like the Bermuda Triangle.
Pete: Blimey, you know how to flatter a bloke.

Pete: I'll take you back to the loony bin where you belong. Except I'm sure I've met you somewhere before.

Groom's dad: Is it me, or did it just get cold?

Rose: I thought you were a proper business man.
Pete: I wish. I do a bit of this, bit of that. I scrape by.
Rose: Right. I must have heard wrong. So, really, you're a bit of a Del Boy.
Pete: Oh, shoot me down in flames. You're not related to my wife by any chance, are you?

Bridesmaid (re: the bride's dress): Now, that's what I call a meringue.

Jackie: Oh, here he is. The accident waiting to happen. You'd be late for your own funeral, and it nearly was.

Jackie (re: Rose): Who's this? (to Rose) And what are you looking at with your mouth open?
Rose: Your hair.
Jackie: What?
Rose: I've never seen it like -- I mean... It's lovely. Your hair's lovely.

Doctor: The older something is, the stronger it is.

Doctor: I've waited a long time to say this... Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors.
Jackie: Yes, sir.
Doctor: I should have done that ages ago.

Stuart: Excuse me. Mister...
Doctor: Doctor.
Stuart: You seem to know what's going on.
Doctor: I give that impression, yea.

Sarah: I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important...
Doctor: Who said you're not important? I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but... you two - street corner, two o'clock in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. I'll try and save you.

Rose: Where I come from, Jackie doesn't know how to work the timer on the video recorder.
Pete: I showed her that last week. Point taken.

Doctor (to baby Rose): Good girl. Yes, you are. You're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?
[Adult Rose walks up to him]
Doctor: Jackie gave her to me to look after. How times change.

Rose: I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken.

Rose: I can't do anything right, can I?
Doctor: Since you asked, no. So, don't touch the baby!
Rose: I'm not stupid.
Doctor: You could have fooled me. All right... I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to leave you on your own.
Rose: I know.
Doctor: But, between you and me, I haven't got a plan. No idea. No way out.

Pete: It's my fault all of this has happened.
Rose: This is my fault.
Pete: No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault.

Pete: He's not in charge anymore. I am.

Rose (voiceover): Peter Alan Tyler. My dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Died 7th of November, 1987.