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So Tasha asked me to post on Ten and Rose, and I was more than happy to oblige! This couple as portrayed (as we know) by David Tennant and Billie Piper, have climbed themselves up high on my list of favorite film couples – second only to my Very Favorites, whom as I’m sure you all know if you’ve read my blog before are Percy and Marguerite Blakeney.
Soooo…sheesh…where do I begin?
When I first saw
Doctor Who, I really wasn’t prepared at all for how deeply I would become attached to this couple. I mean…it was just a sci-fi show that I was checking out because I enjoy sci-fi and British television. Little did I know, of course, that I would become absolutely hooked to the show, it would quickly become my favorite, and I would completely fall in love with The Doctor and Rose. (I said the Doctor AND Rose. As a couple. Do not accuse me of falling in love with the Doctor. Cuz then I would have to confess because lying is a sin. And it might be embarrassing. I’m so in love with so many fictional guys, it’s crazy.)
Because our library didn’t have Season One, I decided to just start with the second season. Since I had started in the middle of the show, so to speak, it took me a bit to figure out the relationship. I wasn’t sure why Rose was crying or acting all “who are you I don’t know you” or all the talk about his changing and no one knowing who he was. After seeing Christmas Invasion I went back and read through what had happened and saw the mini-episode when Nine regenerated into Ten and figured it all out. New Earth saw me getting very attached to the characters (and beginning to succumb to David’s infectious grin). But by School Reunion(which personally is one of my favorite episodes in DW), when the Doctor promises Rose he’s not going to leave her the way he’s left other people in the past, I realized just how much I loved this show and loved this couple. Through spoilers, some accidentally and some not-so-accidentally discovered, I found out pretty early into it that Rose was somehow going to be separated from him. By the time I had gotten to the two part story commonly referred to by the second part’s title Doomsday, I was so distraught at this couple being separated that I waited a whole month before breaking down and watching it. And of course as all we Whovians did, I sobbed through it. Journey’s End was no different *spoilers*, from the incredible reunion scene (combine my favorite type of reunion, the running-towards-each-other kind, with my second favorite couple? Instant win…) to the heartbreaking second parting.
It took me a long time to accept the clone, by the way. Until a combination of a pin on Pinterest and a conversation with my sister (and some Deep Thinking on my part) reminded me that Rose was in love with Ten, more or less. And soon after the Doctor left, he regenerated. Basically Rose has all that is left of Ten, and she gets to stay with him for the rest of her life and he’ll never leave her or change again. And that really made me feel better about it on her end. Still didn’t change how broken I was for the Doctor, though.
So what is it I absolutely adore about this couple?
If I had to sum it all up in one thing, I would say that I love the sweet, almost innocent romantic relationship they have. They’re almost like two kids in love, just so happy and…gah. Sniff. Anyway. They just both love being around each other, grinning goofily like two teenagers every time they’re together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge sucker for a heart-racing passionate romance, but there’s something so completely adorable about the sweet, slightly awkward relationship Ten and Rose share in the second season that blossoms and develops into the very truest of true love. I think the worst part is that we have a feeling from the beginning that it’s doomed from the first time she realizes there’s been other companions, and that he can’t grow old with her. And yet we want it so badly to work out so that he doesn’t have to be lonely anymore and he can finally have some kind of happiness in life. And of course that doesn’t happen, and we’re left with them separated and us in a puddle of tears.
And the Doctor is never quite the same after he loses her – he kind of loses that wide-eyed puppy-dog exuberance that he has in the beginning. I watched the second season again with my brother and sister after seeing the Tennant years through once before, and I was struck at how young and exuberant Ten looked then, how contrasted it was with his worn, tired and heartsick look at the end of season four, and it all started the day he lost Rose.
It’s terribly morbid how much I love making my heart hurt. :-D I had a literal ache at the end of both Doomsday and Journey’s End. I mean, really, Ten gets such a stinking deal in life. It is a tribute to excellent writing and superb acting that you get so sucked in and emotionally invested in their adorable and ultimately tragic story. And although I know that the Doctor eventually moves on (which I still haven’t quite accepted yet), I can’t help but feel that his love for Rose was different from anyone else. You see it in that grin he gets when Donna reminds him that Rose is back, that adorable giggle (come on, I’m not the only one that loves that scene!) when Rose tells him that she has done everything she did “so she could come back”. I mean…how much bigger can you get than a love that spans time and space? Can’t get much better than that. J
They compliment each other, lift each other up, and ultimately change each other for the better, which I think is the vital sign of a good relationship of any kind – but especially a romantic one. Comparing the Doctor and Rose in the beginning with the Doctor and Rose at the end of Season Four, it’s fascinating to see the change – a change that might never had happened if they had never met.
Of course, no matter how well written a couple may be, you can never truly believe in them without the hard work, talent, and most importantly chemistry between the two lead actors portraying the characters. The chemistry that David and Billie have both off and on screen is at least half of the appeal of the couple. My pictures of them on Pinterest are usually captioned “The Adorable Ones” because to be honest, “adorable” sums up the whole David-Billie/Ten-Rose relationship. From the moment she first takes his hand to the heartbreak in their eyes in
Doomsday to the kiss between 10.5 and Rose (and
why did Ten not only never get to tell her he loved her, but never kissed her?! That was just plain ol’ wrong, people. He kissed all his other companions, for pete’s sake), David and Billie perfectly capture every nuance and emotion that makes this couple so above-and-beyond amazing.
What makes a show isn’t just great special effects or a good script, or a great director. In the end it’s the characters that we care about, their journey through life and relationships. We enjoy getting to know them and see how they grow both as individuals and with each other. We want to root for them getting together, and cry when something goes wrong, and cheer when everything turns out all right…or sort of, in this case. ;) We all long for a kind of love that stands through tough times, never lets go when things seem impossible, and never ends no matter what happens or wherever the other goes. The kind of love that is a smile across the room, the light in each other’s eyes, and the kind that just knows how much the other cares without even having to say it (even if we desperately want them to!).
And when it all boils down to it, that’s what I love so much about Ten and Rose.
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I’m Alexandra and I am twenty-three years old, a Christian, a daughter, sister, vocal student and piano teacher. My obsessions are reading voraciously (classics are my specialty), singing, playing the piano, anything and everything British, talking, The Scarlet Pimpernel,costume reproduction, musical theatre, Pinterest, and of course Doctor Who.
I blog about costume dramas, musicals, costume reproduction, classic literature and everything else in my life at Of Trims and Frills and Furbelows, and have the honor of contributing to The Day Dream, the best (in my humble opinion!) Scarlet Pimpernel fanblog on the web!
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Thank you so much for sharing, Ally! I loved reading your thoughts on Ten & Rose and I agree completely!
