Doctor Who: Rose

Back in the 1970s and 80s, Target novelizations of the Classic Doctor Who stories were crucial to fans of the show. Remember, there was no Internet-no Netflix, no YouTube, no Hulu, no nothing in the way of streaming services; videotape recorders weren't that prevalent and DVDs certainly didn't exist back then and, most importantly, many of the Classic episodes of the series had been erased, so Target books filled the bill when it came to getting our Who fix as well as filling in the gaps left by the missing episodes. For many of us, Target books were our first exposure to the Doctor. However, for those of us that read the books first, the production values of the show came as a letdown (nothing on TV or film can compete with a good imagination IMHO) but we still watched and, as the show got more exposure along with the release of old episodes on VHS in the early 90s and DVDs in the early 2000s, the books became part of our collective nostalgia.Flash forward to 2018 and the new doctor Who Target Collection. To say I felt the same sort of giddy joy when I purchased the original Targets back in the day is an understatement. The books are designed just like the old ones were-from the print font down to style of the cover illustrations (not done by original Who artist Chris Achilleos but it still works out well). My only question was: How does the story hold up in print form? Answer: Pretty good, actually.I won't rehash the story since you've probably seen the episode anyway (if you haven't, tough toenails, you've had 13 years to do so. Plenty of time:)) I will say that the book is more of an enhancement to the story with plenty of references to Who stories Classic and New (and hints of incarnations yet to come), especially with Clive, the conspiracy theorist type who has made it his life's work to follow the Doctor's earthbound adventures. He didn't get much play in the episode, but he got quite an embellishment in the book, especially when the book connects his family with the events from "Remembrance of the Daleks." The author took a crazy tinfoil-hat type from the episode and made him into somebody funny, brave, loving, and noble.Also getting a makeover is the Auton attack towards the end of the episode. In the book the attack is more of a WORLD wide thing than just an isolated attack of London. The way the attack is written is a lot more suspenseful, more grimmer than in the episode. You even get a glimpse of a potential new villain and I'd be curious to see how that develops.Overall, I say this is definitely a book worth getting-for fans of the show, fans of the Ninth Doctor and fans of the old Target books. You won't be disappointed by this one.

I made a Boxing Day gift to myself of “Rose.” It’s brilliant. Because it was written by RTD himself as was the original there are lots of extra scenes, extra insights into his original ideas and even extra baddies (though I have a slight issue with them).I highly recommend the Kindle app version for Ipad/Iphone as you can listen in the app anywhere with downloaded audio (vice CD) for an extra cost. If you download the pure audiobook alone you’re forced to muck about with yet another app (Audible) and another opportunity for your password to be stolen.Camille Coduri is absolutely amazing as the narrator. Between her reading and the (surprise to me) background music and sound effects (including the beloved TARDIS) you will easily see old and new scenes before your eyes. Treat yourself to a read & listen today!

This CD was exactly what I had wanted and was pleased with my purchase. I guess grandma is a bit behind the time because my 14 year-old grandson wasn’t sure how to listen to it in its current format. I told him to still it in his blu-ray player and enjoy!

Then you will love this story. Yes, Doctor Who is about adventure. But it is also about people. So much insight into these characters we have grown to love.Little hints, little glimpses into the future, little bits here and there that don't really change things so much as clarify and bring the characters a bit into focus. The perfectly imperfect Rose. The Not Really a Tin Dog Mickey. The brash but loving Jackie. And the complicated, terrifying, fantastic Doctor.I enjoyed RTD's writing immensely. Fun. Snappy. Witty. Just enough prose to bring the images to life, but not so much to create the scene for you.I wish every episode could be novelized. I'd read the heck out of them.

I am old enough to remember when Target books were the only way to catch up on the earlier Doctors. I quickly bought these new additions and have not been disappointed in them. With Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat both improving on the stories they wrote for the series and other two being very good adaptions. I am hopeful that the sales of these will encourage more stories to be brought to book form.

My first episode to watch was Rose. The book by Russell T. Davies is faithful to the show and adds more detail, Donna slept through the whole Auton attack.

Written so far into the new series, the man weaves his magic with small nods to later Doctors and stories skillfully enough to not distract from a masterful retelling of the episode that restarted it all.

I just want too thank that i got it an it was in amazing shape too!BUT it took a ling time getting too me!

Being the story that heralded the return of Doctor Who to our screens, it is only right and inevitable that ‘Rose’ should be included amongst the first wave of novelisations of ‘new’ episodes. Personally, though, I have never liked this story. So, unlike those novelisations published alongside it I haven’t been particularly enthused at the prospect of reading it. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised and quite enjoyed it.It is written by Russell T. Davies himself and he has incorporated into it a myriad of retrospective references and elements that give it multiple links across the whole spectrum of 2005 onwards Doctor Who. It gives the story another level of interaction with the reader. Thus, a couple of characters make brief appearances in this novelisation long before they were even conceived and there are references to all the Doctors, including the incoming Thirteenth.Most of these are little tweaks and additions to entertain the fan but Rose’s fleeting encounter with the Tenth Doctor during the closing stages of ‘The End of Time’ is used to benefit the story. It means that it opens with a slightly altered perspective from Rose. Now when she is working at Henrik’s whilst wondering to herself whether there is more to life, she has a little glimmer of hope that something else might happen to change her life; a hope inspired by a few words from a man she didn’t know but somehow believed anyway. It makes her later decision to run off with a man she doesn’t know and leave her mother, boyfriend and life behind more understandable as she has almost been waiting for something like this to happen. It’s a good little tweak to the story.Mickey receives a more substantial role. More about his background and his gran (that was later developed in ‘Rise of the Cybermen/the age of Steel’) is revealed and he has a group of friends who are featured throughout the story and the Auton attack on London. He is a much more developed character in this novelisation rather than just being present to be mocked by the Doctor.Clive Finch also receives a somewhat larger role and gets better treatment from the story. He becomes more than just an obsessed geek and his demise is made much more sympathetic than it was onscreen.Personally, I much preferred this novelisation over the original.

Russell T Davies’ novelisation of his own script is a worthy and for the most part faithful adaptation. Released some 13 years after the TV episode was broadcast, the author has taken the opportunity to insert into the book references to characters and events that had not been televised at the time and has expanded on some events. These for the most part work, such as the Auton attack that is presented on a much wider scale (and is surprisingly violent) and the casual description of Donna Noble sleeping off a night out, but the descriptions of Mickey’s friends feel like a gratuitous and cynical box ticking exercise to meet the BBC’s “diversity and inclusion” targets. On the plus side, Mickey, who I felt was woefully underutilised during the 9th Doctor’s run of stories, is at least given a reasonable backstory. All told an enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed reading this novelization. Rose was the first doctor who story I watched when it came back in 2005. It brought it all back and had good funny lines featured in the episode "there's a strange man in my bedroom" that quote from Jackie Tyler made me laugh and I chuckled in 2020 when I read it. It was good too see Mickey get a lot of expansion and it all remains true for example his granny who we see in series 2 in a parallel earth because she survived and Clive is linked to Trotters Yard in Shoreditch linking him to Remembrance of the Daleks. Great too see so many who references too.

I picked this up for a little light reading and was blown away! Russell T. Davies looked back into his character notes (I suspect) and forward to the future history of Dr Who to deliver something much more compelling than the episode it is based on. There are brief but touching mentions of David Tennant’s Doctor (among others) and Catherine Tate’s Donna. The background he provides for Micky makes him more than the figure of fun he was (at least at this stage) on TV. This was far from Davies’ best episode, but he turned it into a ‘fantastic’ little book - let’s hope it’s a success and he writes up one of his classics like “The Parting of the Ways” or “Doomsday”...

Target "Doctor Who" books were a feature of my youth. As much as anything they were often my only way to connect with classic stories about the Doctor from the shows early years. Their authors often included people connected with the show like David Whittaker, Terrance Dicks and Douglas Adams.This book follows suit having Russell T Davis as it's author who was a major force in getting the show revived and who wrote many scripts as well. This one is based on the script which started the revival off.It retells the story of how the 9th Doctor met Rose often adding in a few extra details that later emerged in later shows. For example there are references to Rose's future living in another dimension, and her meeting "a drunk" before events in this novel who wished her well. This was of course a reference to the final scenes of David Tennant's time in the role as 10th Doctor. In the scene where Rose meets someone who has been doing research on the Doctor she sees pictures of various incarnations of the Time Lord. In the episode it was just the one she had met. There are also some in jokes which were a feature of Davis' writing including the one about there being many norths on many planets.All in all this is a pacy read, with much of the excitement of the original episode. The writing is competent, but may be a little stiff in places as was the case with Terrance Dicks, and possibly not as fluid as in the script. But it suffices. This is after all a Doctor Who novel. It delivers a good read to pass some time, and will be enjoyed, as is the programme, by children of all ages.