So I started watching from Rose somewhere around 2012-2013 and knowing nothing about the show other than that I’d seen some people talking about it and… honestly I considered not watching any more after this one. Looking back I think it’s a pretty strong character introduction for 9 and Rose but the story itself doesn’t have much going for it and the low budget is certainly not doing it any favors. Luckily, I think The End of the World is a really strong hook for those like me who weren’t totally drawn in by Rose
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Something which fascinates me with any Doctor Who story, are the ways different things are spun off from it - whether sequels, audio stories, comics, novels, websites, games etc.
One of the oddest things this story had was an entry on the BBC’s ‘fake’ UNIT website which referenced the leak of the episode prior to broadcast.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050420065850/http://www.unit.org.uk/press/ruffcut.shtml
So, did anyone sneak a peek? I know I wouldn’t even have known where to look for the pirate copy, even if I’d wanted to (which I wouldn’t have wanted to).
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I’ve only read half of the Rose novelisation, but between that and Damaged Goods (which I have read in its entirety), I’m something of the reverse, lol— I much prefer RTD the novelist to RTD the showrunner 
But I’m also very much of the opinion that nobody is “right” in these matters and each individual fan should love what they love!
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I’d really like to also participate in a Classic TV Club myself!
Rose is a story I find pretty underwhelming, particularly compared to my introduction to the show, a story that it takes several cues from—Spearhead from Space. The Autons’ terrifying uncanny valley faces in that story have never been present again, sadly, and as a result they’ve never been as properly scary again. In this story in particular it feels like they’re barely there. I typically find modern-day alien invasion stories to be the least interesting genre Doctor Who can do, and I think RTD especially likes to do this way more than I can enjoy. I also just generally think most one-episode Doctor Who stories are too short, and you need more room to really flesh out most stories & do them justice. (I really enjoyed what the novelisation of Rose did towards this end from the half of it I’ve read thus far). Mickey is a character I think is poorly handled fairly often (though he does have some great moments & episodes), but never worse, imo, than in this story. I especially can’t stand the “somebody’s got to look after this stupid lump” scene. Mickey should be treated as a person, not some kind of obstacle that we should all cheer when he’s left to the wayside, which is what it feels to me that the end of the episode is going for.
But there are things I love about this episode, mainly the Doctor himself. Christopher Eccleston is one of my very favorite actors in the role, and my favorite of the revival eras. He gives a performance I absolutely love in this story as in every story he’s in. Every scene with him is fantastic. As someone has already mentioned in this thread, the TARDIS reveal and the “assembled hordes of Genghis Khan” line are particularly stellar.
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whispering to avoid controversy I don’t really like RTD as a writer of TV Doctor Who much either 
PLEASE DON’T BAN ME 
Don’t get me wrong he is an amazing showrunner, a bit of a showman and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this time 
I haven’t read Damaged Goods yet, I am only up to The Left-handed Hummingbird - so it’ll be a while
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We are doing Classic Who as well! An Unearthly Child is next week.
RTD is great at characters, at making you care about them, ripping your heart out, and big, bombastic finales. But yes he does have flaws in other areas. I’m glad he’s back though simply because he is so protective of the show and wants it to succeed.
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& there was of course this
https://web.archive.org/web/20240223183753/http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk/index1.shtml
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No shade to the team who created this, but does this even look like the Ninth Doctor? Also it’s clearly Photoshopped 
Maybe Clive made it up.
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Already mentioned upthread is RTD’s sequel, Revenge of the Nestene:
But there was also the prequel he wrote which is available on the BBC Website:
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I love Revenge of the Nestene. Boris Johnson is an Auton - explains so much!
And I never tire of watching Jacob Dudman 
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According to the lockdown watchalong, RTD photoshopped that himself
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Haha oh really? That’s brilliant.
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Did not know that!
The effort that went into this fake website was rather over and above!
https://tardis.wiki/wiki/Have_You_Seen_This_Man%3F_(short_story)
(The site itself on the Wayback Machine that @monkeyshaver linked to above seems to be missing a lot of this content).
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For those interested, Big Finish has two Short trips that tell the tales of Saving the Daniels Family from the Titanic and how Nine ended up on Krakatoa. Here are the links:
&
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The prequel text on that blog posts starts a bit odd, looks like it was cut off? Is there a problem with the page? I don’t want to read it and realise I’ve missed some context!
(it starts ‘but the Daleks and the Time Lords scream in vain’) ?
Might just wait til I read it in the Lockdown book where it’s also repeated:
I can’t be 100% sure but I think that’s how it was meant to be, starting partway through the sentence. I’ll check in my copy of Adventures in Lockdown when I get home.
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