It was almost like a dream come true . Prestigious actor known for playing angry introspective characters gets cast as the most famous icon on British television in a show I'm on record as saying probably works best as a memory . Not only that but the BBC bombarded the public with trailers in the run up to this episode . There was even an news item on the BBC main news pointing out that the episode had been leaked over the net at the start of March 2005 with Eccleston stating that the fans who had seen it had hated the episode
As a fan I didn't hate this episode but I was hoping for more . It's there to set up the characters of Rose , her mother Jackie and her boyfriend Mickey so the plot featuring an Auton invasion is pushed aside and seems very rushed but that's not really important since it's an intro episode . Thankfully my parents did say they were giving it a chance to see if it the series would improve as it went along and I did go on record as saying it was entertaining but there was room for improvement . Not as good as classic stories from the 60s and 70s but certainly an improvement on many of the appalling Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy episodes
One interesting aspect is the in jokes which would be noticed by fans such as The Doctor appearing in the crowd photo on the day Kennedy was shot . If you didn't know President Kennedy was killed on the 22nd November 1963 the day before DOCTOR WHO premiered on BBC television , or that Rose thinks the Autons are a student prank which is exactly what a policeman thinks in the novelization of the 1970 adventure Spearhead From Space . Subtle humour from Russell T Davies though his plotting leaves a lot to be desired