 | |
| Rose Tyler | |
| Aliases: | Rose Marion Tyler |
| Continuity: | Doctor Who |
| Type: | Main character |
| Gender: | Female |
| Race: | Human |
| Location: | London, England |
| Relatives: | Jackie Tyler (mum) Pete Tyler (da) |
| Status: | Alive |
| Born: | February 25th, 1986 |
| First: | Doctor Who: Rose |
| Actor: | Billie Piper Julia Joyce |
Rose Tyler is a fictional retail clerk and a time-traveling companion featured in the 2005 relaunch of the popular British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Played primarily by actress Billie Piper, she first appeared in the series premiere, "Rose" and was a regularly billed character throughout the first two seasons. She is the first companion featured on the show, and adventured alongside the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor. Piper left the series after the series two finale, "Doomsday", but made recurring guest appearances in later episodes.
Biography[]
Rose Tyler was a young blonde-haired woman who lived in Chelsea in London, England with her mother, Jackie Tyler. She worked at a department store called Henrick's and was dating a boy named Mickey Smith. One day after work, Rose went downstairs at the department store to drop off some lottery money to the chief electrician. Several clothing mannequins suddenly came to life and began advancing on her. At first Rose thought somebody was playing a prank on her, but when the mannequins leered at her more aggressively, she realized that the danger to her well-being was all to real. Fortunately for her, the time-traveling alien hero known as Doctor appeared and told Rose that the mannequins, or "Autons", were actually living plastic that were receiving commands from a relay terminal built on top of the store. After making hasty introductions, the Doctor smiles and shouted "Run for your life!" as he proceeded to place a bomb on the roof of the building. Rose made it outside to safety as the bomb exploded, and successfully made her way home.
The incident quickly hit the news channels and Jackie was frantic about her daughter's safety (as well as the fact that she was now unemployed). Mickey likewise came over to check on Rose's condition, who told of the incident with the mannequins and the Doctor, and even showed Mickey a broken Auton arm that she had managed to grab a hold of. She asked him to dispose of it, which he did by throwing it into a dumpster.
The next morning, the Doctor came to Rose's home and the mysterious broken arm turned up again. It first attacked the Doctor, who fought it off, then it latched itself onto Rose. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to remove the offending appendage, after which, he explained that he had been tracking the various alien components.
Left perplexed by the affair, Rose used Mickey's computer to try and learn more about the Doctor. This led her to a conspiracy theory website run by a man named Clive Finch. She went to Clive's house, who explained his theory to her that the Doctor was actually an immortal alien - which was not entirely untrue. Afterward, Mickey and she went to a restaurant. What Rose didn't know was that in the time that she was in the house speaking with Clive, Mickey had been replaced by an Auton duplicate. As the Auton Mickey began pressing Rose for information about the Doctor, the Doctor (impersonating a waiter), interrupted them and fired a champagne bottle cork at the fake Mickey. He then grappled with it, pulling its head from its body. The Doctor then took Rose to his time machine/space ship, which was called the TARDIS.
The Doctor explained that there was an aggressive alien entity called the Nestene Consciousness that had developed a powerful transmitter that could project its instructions to its plastic surrogate forms. What the Nestene desired overall, was the destruction of humanity. It was Rose however, who determined that the Nestene was transmitting its agenda via the London Eye. The Doctor and Rose discovered a massive underground facility beneath the London Eye, which contained a large vat that housed the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor was captured by the Autons, and tried to reason with the Nestene. Rose meanwhile, fielded a telephone call from her mother, who was under attack by window shop mannequins at the Queen's Arcade shopping mall. Rose then freed the Doctor, and dumped a formula that the Doctor called anti-plastic into the Nestene vat, destroying it. With the threat of the Nestene ended, the Autons ceased to function.
Afterward, the Doctor extended an offer to Rose to join him in his various adventures through time and space; an offer that Rose gleefully accepted. [1]
In their travels through time and space, Rose learns the importance of not tampering with history, when she attempts to save the life of her father Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall), who had died when she was a baby. Throughout these journeys, she and the Doctor are haunted by two mysterious recurring words: "Bad Wolf". Rose, the Doctor, and new companion Captain Jack (John Barrowman) come to understand the meaning of this phrase when they come face to face with an unstoppable Dalek army on space station Satellite 5.
Rose and the Ninth Doctor.
To return to the Doctor after he sends her home to Earth in the series finale "The Parting of the Ways", Rose is forced to tear open the TARDIS console and stare into its heart, and becomes suffused with the power of the time vortex. Returning, she uses her power over the infinity of time and space to spread the words "Bad Wolf" over its entirety, to lead herself to this moment where she can save the universe from the Dalek invasion using her godlike power. Rose resurrects Jack, who died from Dalek fire, and destroys the Dalek fleet before the Doctor drains the energy out of her—by kissing her—to save her life from its harmful effects. Rose is horrified as the Doctor appears to die and regenerates into a new man (David Tennant), who proceeds to take the TARDIS and a terrified Rose to Earth, abandoning Jack on Satellite 5.
The new Doctor and Rose arrive on Earth on Christmas Day, where he passes out from the strain of regeneration in the midst of a Sycorax invasion in the 2005 Christmas special"The Christmas Invasion". Having woken up and saved Earth, the Doctor enjoys Christmas dinner with Rose before the two once again depart to parts unknown.
Over the second series (2006), Rose and the Doctor grow increasingly close to one another. After defeating a werewolf they are knighted by Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins), who banishes them as threats to the Empire whilst setting up the Torchwood Institute which aims to track the Doctor and other aliens. Their relationship proves a source of tension once Mickey joins the pair in their travels, at the suggestion of the Doctor's former companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).
Rose and the Tenth Doctor.
Due to a mechanical malfunction, the TARDIS was shunted out of the time vortex and landed in modern-day London of a parallel reality. Rose discovered that her father, Pete Tyler, was still alive in this reality. Moreover, he was a successful entrepreneur still married to that world's version of Jackie Tyler and lived in a lavish mansion together. The Doctor was keen to inform Rose that these were not her parents and that she should avoid all possible contact with them at all costs. Rose could not ignore this opportunity however and absolutely had to see what her parents of this reality were like. Realizing that he could not convince her otherwise, the Doctor decided to keep a close eye on her.
They discovered that Pete was throwing a special 40th birthday celebration for Jackie at their estate. The Doctor and Rose infiltrated the party as caterers and Rose got to spend some time with her parallel father figure. She learned that Jackie and he never had children because Jackie didn't want to lose her figure. Instead, they had a dog which they named Rose. After speaking with Pete for a bit, Rose learned that the Tyler's marriage was in trouble. She liked Pete and wanted to help. She happened to have the opportunity to get a few moments alone with Jackie. At first their conversation was quite amicable until Rose brought up the notion of giving Pete another shot. Jackie was furious that this "waitress" would take such a keen interest in her personal life. She ordered her out of her home. [2]
The festivities were ultimately interrupted by a squadron of Cybermen, who burst through the doors and windows, abducting those whom they felt were ideal for cybernetic conversion and killing the rest. The Doctor and Rose tried to fight them off, but were surrounded until a group of freedom fighters called the Preachers appeared and fought them off. With Pete in tow, Rose, the Doctor and the Preachers labored to destroy the Cybus Industries processing plant in Battersea, which was where the Cybermen were being manufactured. She learned that Pete had been secretly feeding information to the Preachers about Cybus' activities under the code name Gemini. After the facility was destroyed and the Cyber-Controller defeated, Rose returned to the TARDIS with the Doctor. However, Mickey Smith elected to stay behind in this parallel reality. [3]
Alone with the Doctor again, Rose faces the mythical Beast (Gabriel Woolf), who prophesies that Rose will soon die in battle. This day comes when, in the present day, the Torchwood Institute's director Yvonne Hartman (Tracy-Ann Oberman) accidentally allows the Cybermen army and Dalek Cult of Skaro into Roses' reality, where they begin a war. In sealing the Cybermen and Daleks back into the "void" through which they came, Rose ends up in the parallel universe with Jackie and the alternate-universe Pete as the walls between universes seal; she is later declared dead in her own universe. The Doctor is able to transmit Rose one last message of goodbye; she reveals she now works for that universe's Torchwood, and confesses her love for him. Before he can reply, their connection is lost.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Rose Tyler was created by executive producer and writer Russell T. Davies and director Keith Boak.
- Actress Julia Joyce played the role of young Rose Tyler in the episode "Father's Day". Joyce also played Holly Frobisher in the "Children of Earth" story-arc from Torchwood.