Writer: Paul Cornell
“Oh, he would have loved to see you now.”
Thankfully, after the disappointment of ‘The Long Game’, Paul Cornell in his debut on-screen story returns the series back to soaring heights. ‘Father’s Day’ is perhaps the most personal story in the series yet, putting an emotional and heartfelt spin on a question as old as the concept of time travel itself: What history would you change if it was entirely your own choice?
For Rose, the question has clearly been laboured over in her mind from the moment since she stepped inside the TARDIS. When the Doctor asks her where she’d like to go next, she labours over the question, but it is clear that she already has her heart fixed on where she wants to go. Piper should be commended for her acting prowess not just in this episode and particular exchange of dialogue, but for the series as a whole. When she asks to see her dad (who was established to have passed years before ‘Rose’) there’s a bittersweet look on the Doctor’s face, both an empathy towards Rose’s impossible request, and an understanding of the potentially catastrophic consequences.
When the Doctor and Rose stand witness to her father’s final moments, Rose is trapped in a prison of her own making, witnessing her dad, Pete Tyler, fall victim to a random hit-and-run. To say I liked how Pete died would be a little callous, but I think the choice to make his death incredibly normal was an excellent one. His death is not premeditated or enforced directly or indirectly by otherworldly powers. He’s struck by a random driver going too quickly, and when the driver speeds away, he’s left stranded, waiting to die. To me, this makes the whole affair feel incredibly gritty and real.
Of course, the entire episode deals with the consequences of Rose’s decision to, upon convincing the Doctor to take her back a second time, dive in front of the car and pull her and her dad to safety, creating a paradox. Pete’s death is the first time in the revived show that the returning plot device of “fixed time” is established. In essence, a fixed point in time is an irreversible moment in time, one that even the Doctor cannot interfere with. Rose’s intervention in her father’s death, and the resulting paradox, summons creatures called the Reapers who feed on the paradox by consuming as many people as possible.
I really enjoy some of the themes and ideas that this episode explores, particularly the tension that arises between the Doctor and Rose because of the choices Rose makes. The Doctor makes it abundantly clear that he feels Rose has chosen her personal desires over respect for him and his way of life: He clearly establishes the boundaries, and she violates them because she wants to. It’s a more consequence-driven way to explore the continuing theme of humanity that runs throughout this entire series. Mistakes can be made, sometimes catastrophic ones that threaten the entire universe, even by those deemed worthy to defend it. Similarly, it sets to show a clear division between the Doctor and humans. While The Doctor ponders and calculates, promising to all that they will be saved so long as they trust him, Rose is far more selfish, though not in a particularly malicious or lackadaisical fashion. She’s emotionally rocked by the scathing and seemingly loathsome relationship between her mother and her father and is this continues, I’m reminded of the common adage that nothing is ever quite as good as you remember it.
But in this example, Rose isn’t looking back on her past without rose-tinted glasses. Instead, she’s witnessing the beginning of a life she never leads, an argument that never is. The mother who raised her arguing with the father who died.
I just quite like this episode, for nothing more than how it manages to introduce flying aliens that survive by eating paradoxical elements, into a story that feels decidedly grounded and more human than perhaps any other in this series. Piper and Dingwall’s excellent chemistry on-screen adds gravity to a very serious subject matter, and one that I feel is treated with dignity and respect, providing a sombre rebuttal to the rewriting of history for personal gain.
8/10
Joe Porter 