Who Review: Father’s Day

Pete Tyler, Rose’s father, died in 1987, when Rose was still a baby. All she ever knew of him was what her Mum told her about him. She asks the Doctor if she could see him, so the Doctor takes Rose to her parents’ wedding. But there’s more. Her father was hit by a car, and died alone in the middle of the road. It always bothered Rose that no-one was with him when he died. She wants to fix that. Though he has reservations, the Doctor takes her. However, when the moment comes, she can’t do it. Rose asks for a do-over. The Doctor warns her: this is it. It’s not good for more than two versions of oneself to be in the same place at the same time. Rose insists it’ll be okay, so the Doctor takes her back again. This time, just as the car is about to hit, Rose dashes out and pulls her father to safety. A simple, life-saving act, that has enormous consequences. Suddenly, creatures appear in the sky, Reapers, and they start to pick people off. The Doctor tells Rose that someone is alive that shouldn’t be, creating a wound in time. The Reapers have come to clean up, and won’t stop until all humanity has been erased. No-one is safe. Not even the Doctor…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

New Who’s third guest writer, Paul Cornell, contributed this tear-jerker of a story. It is the most emotionally-charged episode of the season, so be warned! Thankfully, the strong emotive factor does not take away from the fact that it’s a good story. “Father’s Day” was Cornell’s first TV Who, but he had proven his story telling chops by writing for the Virgin Books line of original Doctor Who stories in the 1990s. Like a lot of good Who stories, the plot ideas are relatively easy to grasp. What makes it so emotionally powerful is the fact Cornell anchors it in something we all can relate to: the desire to see a dead loved one. Given a time machine, who wouldn’t want to go back in time to say that thing that was left unsaid, or to have more time with a spouse, or maybe, like Rose, to meet a parent who died when you were young, or not even born? It’s that touch-point with a universal human desire that makes this story so compelling.

The start of the story is innocuous enough. Rose never knew her father, so could the Doctor take her back in time so she could at least see him? She sees her Dad fumble over her Mum’s name at the altar, but it turns out that’s not enough. Her father died alone, and no-one should die alone, least of all one of her parents. She wants to be there. You can see in the Doctor’s eyes the red flags are waving, but he clearly hopes Rose is better than the average companion. After all, she already showed herself better than Adam in the previous story (“The Long Game”). The Doctor takes her to that fateful day, and she turns her head as the car hits her Dad. She can’t bring herself to go to him. She asks for a do-over, and, again, you see the warning in the Doctor’s eyes. But he still thinks better of her, so he allows her a second try. This time Rose runs out to her Dad, but it’s to save his life.

Immediately, the question is raised: how come it’s okay for the Doctor to mess with events in time, but Rose can’t? The Doctor’s answer seems fair enough: “I know what I’m doing.” He’s a Time Lord, so I suppose that has to be true to an extent. But there’s more to it. The Doctor has seen first-hand the damage his own meddling in time has caused (see, for example, the First Doctor story, “The Ark”). He understands all too well that no-one is “unimportant,” and that a change to history in a “nobody”‘s life can still have major ripple effects. In future episodes of the show, the Doctor will talk about “fixed points in time” (e.g., in “The Fires of Pompeii”), which are events that cannot be changed. They have to happen, for some reason. Other events can tolerate some minor meddling, but not “fixed points.” So there are rules around what the Doctor does. In this case, the consequences of Rose’s actions are more tangible and immediate. Time has been damaged, and the Reapers have come to clean the wound.

Pete Tyler appears to be much less of the person Rose expected. He’s not a savvy businessman, but a guy who sells tonics and Betamax tapes in the hope of striking rich. Rather than the devoted and attentive husband and father, he has been caught in compromising situations with other women, and doesn’t have a lot of time for his wife and baby daughter. And yet, through listening to the Doctor and Rose talk, he figures out what’s going on. They’re from the future, and Rose is his daughter. And then, when he asks Rose about what happens, and what kind of father he will be, Rose’s answers trigger deeper suspicions. Outside, he notices the car that almost hit him suddenly appear, traveling at speed, and then disappear at the place where the accident nearly happened. He understands: the only way the Reapers will be satisfied, and all will be put right, is if he died like he was supposed to. In other words, Pete is smarter than he appears, and much braver too.

All this makes for some heart-wrenching scenes between Rose and her Dad that are very well played. No-one except Pete, Rose, and the Doctor will understand Pete’s heroism, but that’s okay. Pete is doing right by his family, so he is dying with honor.

Cornell upped the stakes in the story by having the Doctor and the TARDIS eaten by the Reapers. It’s this that finally determines what Pete needs to do. The Doctor tried to keep Rose happy by finding another solution, but with the Doctor gone, there is no other way. It’s unusual that the problem is resolved by someone other than the Doctor, but in this case, there was no alternative. This plotting makes for a very dramatic climax, where all seems hopeless.

There’s not as much humor in “Father’s Day” as in other episodes, understandably. But it does have its moments. We’ve seen enough interaction between the Doctor and Jackie to appreciate when he tells 1987 Jackie to “Do as I say and check the doors.” She complies, and the Doctor muses, “I should have done that ages ago!”

“Father’s Day” is, I think, “Must See.” Not only is it well-written and well-played, but it shows off the range Doctor Who is capable of. Within the “travels in time and space” premise, there’s room for both exciting adventures, and gut-wrenching stories like this. Doctor Who has had its tender moments, but I don’t know that many reach this level of depth and intensity. Definitely one to watch, but keep the Kleenex handy.