Opening ceremony

The Tenth Doctor carrying the Olympic Torch. (TV: Fear Her)

The Tenth Doctor carried the Olympic Torch at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. (TV: Fear Her)

Opening ceremony
Novelised as:	Rose
Script release:	online here
Doctor:	Eleventh Doctor
Companion(s):	Graham, Grace, Yaz, Ryan
Featuring:	Copper, Alonso, Wilf
Main enemy:	The Landlord
Main setting:	Sheffield, September 2012
Key crew
Writer:	Chris Chibnall
Director:	Jamie Childs
Producer:	Alex Mercer
Release details
Story number:	277
Premiere broadcast:	6 May 2012
Premiere network:	Multiple
Format:	1x63 minute episode
Production code:	4.X
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Doctor Who television stories
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You may wish to consult Rose (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

You may be looking for Rosa (TV story).

You may be looking for the concept of a Big Bang or the specific Big Bang that started off the Doctor's universe.

Rose was the Special episode of series 1 of Doctor Who.

The first story to be produced by BBC Wales, it was both the first new episode of Doctor Who since the 1996 telemovie and the first story to be part of a regularly airing programme since Survival in 1989. It also introduced recurring supporting cast Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler.

The Big Bang was the thirteenth and Special episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who. In the United Kingdom, it earned the highest overnight ratings for a regular episode of Doctor Who since 2008's Partners in Crime and was the most-watched debut for a Doctor since Christopher Eccleston's initial turn in Rose, surpassing that episode by nearly one hundred thousand viewers.

Woman was widely marketed as a landmark Doctor Who episode because it was the first to star a female Doctor. It was further notable for introducing an all-new regular cast — the largest since 1983's Terminus — and a new production team under show runner Chris Chibnall. As a result, this episode had the biggest crew shift since 2010's The Eleventh Hour.

Unusually, it had a global premiere, with many markets around the world having at least the same start time. Oddly, though, it was initially broadcast in an altered visual form in some markets. Although it was the first episode of the programme filmed in a 2:1 aspect ratio, its global premiere on networks like BBC America and Space was actually in the previous standard of 16:9. This had the effect of truncating some of the frame.

It did not include a title sequence and was the second episode of Doctor Who to have its title given in the end credits after Sleep No More three years earlier. As such, viewers had to wait until after the episode was over to hear the new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme by incoming composer Segun Akinola.

This marked Bradley Walsh's debut in Doctor Who, portraying full-time companion Graham O'Brien, having previously appeared as the Pied Piper in The Sarah Jane Adventures episode The Day of the Clown in 2008.

In 2020, Chibnall wrote and released a prequel to this story called Things She Thought While Falling on the Doctor Who website, set directly after Twice Upon a Time as a treat during "strange times" due to outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide.

Synopsis

A newly-regenerated Doctor must rally her newfound friends to defeat an alien attack upon a northern city — without the TARDIS to help her.

Plot

Ryan Sinclair is making a YouTube video about the "greatest woman he ever met" and recounts a recent event. He recalls trying to ride a bicycle with his grandmother Grace and her husband Graham O'Brien, on a hillside in Sheffield. Ryan struggles because of his dyspraxia, and falls off the bike. Frustrated, he throws the bike into a forest. Grace and Graham comfort him, though they insist Ryan should collect the bike to try again another time while they head off to the train station. As Ryan ventures to retrieve it, he sees glowing golden lines suspended in the air. He taps one and a purple coloured, plant-like pod emerges. Ryan calls the police.

Yasmin Khan, a probation police officer, settles a petty dispute between two women, before calling a superior. She asks for more demanding opportunities, and after much pestering, her superior gives her Ryan's case. As she arrives, she and Ryan quickly realise that they knew each other at primary school. Yasmin presumes Ryan's just pulling a prank but Ryan remarks he can't even touch the entity, as it is freezing. Yasmin touches it, finding it burns her hand. Bewildered, she continues questioning Ryan.

Meanwhile, Grace and Graham are riding on a train with a man named Karl when there is a disturbance which causes the train to come to a screeching halt when the driver, Sissy Roberts, sees something fly at the cabin windows. Grace checks through the window, finding the passengers have fled the train. However, she finds the doors locked, meaning that they are unable to do the same. They call for Ryan and Yasmin, before being encroached by an erratic, electrified tentacle creature. Grace calls Ryan, who rushes to the scene with Yasmin. Graham orders Grace and Karl to the back of the carriage but finds it locked. Before the creature can reach them, they are temporarily saved as the Thirteenth Doctor comes crashing down through the ceiling and electrocutes the creature with a metal pipe. She turns to them, insisting she can help. However, she finds her pockets empty, meaning she cannot use her sonic screwdriver to open the door. The creature awakens and pins down Karl, who panics. The Doctor insists that he remain calm as it has not killed them yet, so will not kill them now. Yasmin and Ryan enter the train, standing in shock at the sight of the creature. The creature scans Karl then sends a surge of electricity through the passengers before fleeing.

The Doctor begins to take charge of the situation only for Yasmin to ask who she is. The Doctor asks why Yasmin is calling her "madam". Perplexed, Yasmin says it's because she is a woman. The Doctor then remembers that she was a white haired Scotsman half an hour ago. She starts explaining as such but returns to her investigating. She enters the driver's cart only to learn that the train's driver is dead. Yasmin initially thinks the woman was murdered, but the Doctor corrects that she actually died from shock. Returning to the others, Yaz insists the Doctor should stop, claiming she will call for backup but the Doctor convinces her to hold off on such until they figure out exactly what the alien was.

Yasmin takes to questioning Karl instead, getting his phone number to keep in touch for further inquiries. The Doctor is asked after by Grace and she goes into a slight panic after remembering that her TARDIS exploded and disappeared. She presses on to other matters, though, insisting the group needs to think of ways to learn more about the alien. Graham is sceptical that it was alien in origin, though Grace and Ryan voice they believe the Doctor. Karl, siding with Graham, backs away, wanting to leave for work and just forget about the incident. Letting him go, the Doctor asks the others for information about the creature. Ryan mentions the pod he found earlier, which Yaz agrees to take the group to. However, when they get there, they find it has already been taken.

Meanwhile, Andy, who has the pod in the back of his van, is delivering it to Rahul. On arriving, he expresses some concern for Rahul's well-being before reluctantly leaving when he pays him. Rahul surrounds the pod with video cameras to record it, then sits down and watches it intently.

Elsewhere, the Doctor asks the others to figure out if anyone in town has knowledge regarding any strange alien activity. Yaz returns to her police station to ask her boss but he dismisses her, given her history of moaning for more work. Grace checks in with friends from when she was a chemotherapy nurse but similarly turns up nothing. Graham offers to go and ask some bus driver friends about it.

The Doctor gets frustrated about not knowing the answers when she suddenly loses consciousness, being caught by Ryan. While Yaz speaks to her superior, learning nothing of interest, Graham tries to ask his friends from the bus station he used to work at but one, Gabriel, just makes a joke about his wife and her friends playing bingo. Grace and Ryan take the Doctor back home; while Ryan checks on social media, Grace notices the Doctor's body coursing with and exhaling regeneration energy, intriguing them both. Grace checks the Doctor's pulse and finds to her bewilderment that she has two.

With Rahul still filming the pod, it suddenly becomes active, breaking open and exploding all of Rahul's cameras. He arms himself with a crowbar and readies himself to defend. Elsewhere, Yaz and Graham have returned to the house when the Doctor regains consciousness. She notices red, pulsating lights shining from her friends' collarbones as well as her own. She realises that the strange electric alien from the train embedded them with DNA bombs, explosive devices that melt the victim's DNA. Reformatting Ryan's phone, the Doctor manages to track the source of the disruption and they go after it.

A large, bio-mechanical creature emerges from the broken pod; Rahul demands to know about his sister, who had previously gone missing, when it kills him by freezing his face. Arriving on the scene as the alien flees, the Doctor and Yaz chase after it but lose it in the mist. The others find Rahul's body in the warehouse and the Doctor notices the absence of one of his teeth. Ryan spots the empty pod and the Doctor inspects it, identifying it as a transport pod. Ryan reveals its origins after he touched the lines in the air while retrieving his bike. The Doctor covers Rahul's corpse as a mark of respect.

While Yaz and Ryan go to investigate the warehouse, the Doctor continues to examine the pod; she then decides to build herself a new sonic screwdriver. Yaz tries to reassure Ryan that none of the deaths are on him and they both wonder whether or not the Doctor is really an alien. They then search a small room and find files of various missing people and a video on Rahul's computer titled "IF I DIE CLICK HERE". While gathering materials from around the warehouse and the transport pod, the Doctor tells Graham and Grace about her experiences with regeneration before proceeding to construct her new screwdriver. After she finishes, Ryan and Yaz show them Rahul's video in which he talks about his sister Asha's disappearance and his desire to find out the truth in the knowledge that it may kill him.

Scanning the pod again and finding the recall circuit, the Doctor infers the aliens from the train and the pod are at war and are looking to fight on Earth. Gathering some equipment, Graham gets a call from his friend Kevin, who has information about the alien's whereabouts. The alien from the pod kills a drunk male who was throwing his salad at it and takes a tooth from him as well, when it sees the electric alien discharge lightning from a tall building in the distance and goes after it. The Doctor and the others reach the electric alien first and nullify it. Scanning it again, the Doctor identifies it as a mass of gathering coils, a species which collects and correlates information, biologically engineered and augmented. She checks the data it has collected, discovering all of it is information about Karl from the train.

The pod alien arrives behind them and, removing his mask to reveal his face implanted with his victims' teeth, identifies himself as Tzim-Sha (mispronounced as "Tim Shaw" by the Doctor) of the Stenza warrior race. He had been sent to Earth on a hunt to seek out a randomly selected human without technology or assistance and bring him back home. However, the Doctor deduces he secretly sent the Gathering Coils ahead in advance and thus has broken the rules. Tzim-Sha takes the information from the Coil into himself via a physical connection and goes to hunt Karl. There, he kills the security guard and proceeds to climb the crane to reach Karl.

Chasing Tzim-Sha to Karl's job at a building yard, the Doctor sends Graham and Grace to evacuate the site while she, Yaz and Ryan make for the top of a crane to save Karl from the impending Stenza. Even with Ryan's dyspraxia causing him difficulties, the trio make it to the top. The Doctor orchestrates a plan in which Yaz and Ryan move the crane arm around to meet Karl's crane so he can jump across. Before he has a chance to do so, however, Tzim-Sha catches him and the Doctor takes a running jump over to the other crane instead.

Meanwhile, the Gathering Coil has restored itself and is attacking the other crane, so Grace tries to stop it by electrocuting it with power from the site's mains. Catching up with Tzim-Sha, the Doctor offers him an ultimatum, having taken his pod's recall circuit; he can either leave, or kill her and her friends and destroy the circuit. Making his choice, Tzim-Sha detonates the DNA bombs, but the Doctor reveals she had implanted them back into the Gathering Coil with her sonic screwdriver, so he receives the physical effects instead, having taken the bombs into himself when he absorbed the data from the Coil. Throwing the circuit back to him, Karl kicks him off the crane as he teleports away, much to the Doctor's anger.

Grace holds the pylons to the Coil as Graham opens the mains; the Coil is overloaded by the shock, but the kickback shocks Grace and throws her from the crane to the ground, severely injuring her. Knowing her injuries are too grave to recover from, she tells Graham not to be afraid and dies just as the Doctor, Yaz and Ryan arrive, leaving Ryan and Graham grief-stricken.

The episode goes back to Ryan's video, revealing he was talking about Grace the entire time. At Grace's funeral, the Doctor approaches Ryan, who had been awaiting his father's arrival for two hours but has still not appeared. Later, with the others in attendance, Graham gives a heartfelt speech about Grace. Later that evening, he reveals that he met Grace while being treated for cancer, and Yaz asks the Doctor about her own family. The Doctor explains that her own family is long gone, but she carries them with her always while she travels. This reminds her that she still needs to find the TARDIS, and tells her newfound friends that she's stayed too long and needs to be moving on. Yaz suggests that she change her clothes first.

The Doctor, ready to go out adventuring once more.

Yaz and Ryan take the Doctor to a charity clothing store. The Doctor quickly goes behind the changing curtain with some choices, while Yaz holds on to some more. Both watch in confusion as the Doctor tosses various items of clothing out of the changing room, stating "no" to each one. The Doctor then exclaims in joy, having found what she wants. In mere moments, the Doctor pulls away the curtain to reveal her new outfit, which consists of a long coat, a T-shirt with a rainbow pattern and blue trousers. Yaz sceptically asks if it what the Doctor wants, to which she confirms; she then asks Yaz to pay for the clothes as she doesn't have any money with her.

With a new outfit selected, the Doctor builds a rudimentary teleport out of Tzim-Sha's technology, which she has programmed to track the TARDIS' trail of Artron energy and prepares to leave. Saying her goodbyes to Graham, Ryan and Yaz, the Doctor sonics the devices and readies for departure, but the device teleports all four of them instead. On the other end, the Doctor is shocked to see her friends floating behind her; all of them suspended and stranded in deep space.

Cast

• The Doctor Who - Christopher Eccleston
• The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
• The Doctor - Peter Davison
• The Doctor - Matt Smith
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
• Clara Oswald - Jenna Coleman
• Madame Vastra - Neve McIntosh
• Jenny Flint - Catrin Stewart
• Bill Potts - Pearl Mackie
• Rose Tyler - Billie Piper
• Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
• Sylvia Noble – Jacqueline King
• River Song - Alex Kingston
• Rory - Arthur Darvill
• Amelia - Caitlin Blackwood
• Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
• Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
• Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
• Astrid Peth - Kylie Minogue
• Grace - Sharon D Clarke
• Heather - Stephanie Hyam
• King Hydroflax - Greg Davies
• Ramone - Phillip Rhys
• Flemming - Rowan Polonski
• Scratch - Robert Curtis
• Concierge - Anthony Cozens
• Alphonse - Chris Lew Kum Hoi
• Receptionist - Nicolle Smartt
• Clive - Mark Benton
• Caroline - Elli Garnett
• Clive's Son - Adam McCoy
• Autons - Alan Ruscoe, Paul Kasey, David Sant, Elizabeth Fost, Helen Otway
• Nestene Voice - Nicholas Briggs
• King Hydroflax's Body - Liam Cook
• Voice of Hydroflax - Nonso Anozie
• Empress – Sarah Parish
• Lance Bennett – Don Gilet
• Geoff Noble – Howard Attfield
• Vicar – Trevor Georges
• Taxi Driver – Glen Wilson
• Nerys – Krystal Archer
• Rhodri – Rhodri Meilir
• Little Girl – Zafirah Boateng
• Robot Santa – Paul Kasey

Guest Cast

• Captain Hardaker - Geoffrey Palmer
• Engineer - Bruce Lawrence
• Mr Copper - Clive Swift
• Himself - Nicholas Witchell
• The Host - Paul Kasey
• Kitchen Hand - Stefan Davis
• Newsreader - Jason Mohammad
• Alien Voices - Colin McFarlane, Ewan Bailey
• Voice of The Queen - Jessica Martin
• Santa Claus - Nick Frost
• Danny - Samuel Anderson
• Ian - Dan Starkey
• Wolf - Nathan McMullen
• Shona - Faye Marsay
• Ashley - Natalie Gumede
• Bellows - Maureen Beattie
• Professor Albert - Michael Troughton
• The Landlord - David Suchet
• Eliza - Mariah Gale
• Shireen - Mandeep Dhillon
• Felicity - Alice Hewkin
• Paul - Ben Presley
• Harry - Colin Ryan
• Pavel - Bart Suavek
• Estate Agent - Sam Benjamin
• Young Landlord - Tate Pitchie-Cooper
• Tim Shaw - Samuel Oatley
• Karl - Jonny Dixon
• Rahul - Amit Shah
• Sonia - Asha Kingsley
• Janey - Janine Mellor
• Ramesh Sunder - Asif Khan
• Andy - James Thackeray
• Dean - Philip Abiodun
• Dennis - Stephen MacKenna
• Gabriel - Everal A Walsh

Crew

Executive Producers   Matt Strevens and Chris Chibnall

Co-executive producer   Sam Hoyle

Series Producer   Nikki Wilson

Written by Chris Chibnall	Produced by Alex Mercer	Directed by Jamie Childs	Director of Photography Denis Crossan	Production Designer Arwel Wyn Jones	Visual Effects DNEG TV
Make-up Designer Claire Pritchard-Jones	Casting Director Andy Pryor CDG	Music Segun Akinola	Costume Designer Ray Holman	Edited by David Fisher	Special Effects REAL SFX
Original theme music by Ron Grainer  Music orchestrated by Alec Roberts  •  Mixed by Goetz Botzenhardt

General production staff Head of Production - Radford Neville Executive Producer for the BBC - Ben Irving Brian Minchin Production Executive - Tracie Simpson Line Producer - Steffan Morris Utility Stand In - Ian William George Production Manager - James DeHaviland Supervising Location Manager - Iwan Roberts Location Manager - Lyn Moses Unit Manager - David Blayney Production Co-ordinator - Jessica Elise Evans Production Assistant - Alexandra Bahiyyih Wain Production Secretary - Jade Stephenson Executive Assistant - Caroline Cook Unit Drivers - Sean Evans, Paul Watkins, Jolyon Davey Unit Medic - Glyn Evans Business Affairs Executive - Carol Griggs Business Affairs - Carol Griggs, Steve Robson Drama Account Manager - Edward Russell Production Accountant - Laurence Parker Assistant Accountants - Helen Searle, Kate Barber-Williams Script department Series Script Editor - Sheena Bucktowonsing Script Editor - Nina Métivier Assistant Script Editor - Hannah Mason Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Sarah Davies 2nd Assistant Director - Delmi Thomas 3rd Assistant Director - Christopher J Thomas Assistant Directors - Lauren Pate, Sion Eirug Script Supervisor - Lindsay Grant Camera Operator - Mark McQuoid ACO Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Elhein De Wet Assistant Grip - Ash Whitfield Camera Assistants - Gethin Williams, Drew Marsden, Cai Stephens Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Andy Gardiner Electricians - Bob Milton, Gawain Nash, Andrew Williams, Gareth Sheldon	Art department Supervising Art Director - Dafydd Shurmer Art Department Co-ordinator - Isabelle Kennedy Art Department Accountant - Karen Evans Production Buyer - Vicki Male Petty Cash Buyer - Kayleigh Powell Set Decorator - Joelle Rumbelow Set Designers - Julia Jones, Zsofia Ekler Storyboard Artist - Michael Collins Concept Artist - Darren Fereday Graphic Designer - Richard Wells Standby Props - Matthew Ireland, Cerys Lewis Standby Carpenter - Paul Jones Prop Hands - Atiff Tahir, Scott Howe, Lissa Lamona, Richard Barker Standby Art Director - Katie MacGregor Rigging - Shadow Scaffolding Standby Rigger - Colin Toms HOD Painter - Steve Fudge Chargehand Painters - Mark Reece, Lloyd Reece Storeman - Charlie Malik Prop Master - Jim Mate Props Chargehand - Stuart Rankmore Prop Fabrication - Penny Howarth Specialist Prop Maker - Nick Robatto Construction Manager - Mark Painter Workshop Manager - Mark Hill Workshop Assistant - Chris Slocombe Construction Chargehands - Dean Tucker, John Sinnott Construction Driver - Darren Bousie Construction Hand - Jason Tylke Practical Electrician - Matthew Dunford Scenic Artists - Jeremy Duckham, Gemma Dorie Carpenters - Terry Horle, Joseph Painter, Mat Ferry, Tim Burke, Jonathan Tylke, Campbell Fraser, Chris Daniels, George Rees Costume department Assistant Costume Designers - Emma Burnand, Simon Marks Costume Assistants - Ian Fowler, Andie Mear, Jenny Tindle, Holly Williams	Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Emma Cowen Make-up Artists - Allison Sing, Angharad Walsh Junior Make-up Artist - Hanna Lewis-Jones Movement Stunt Co-ordinators - Crispin Layfield, Belinda McGinley Stunt Performers - Liam Carey, Matt Hermiston, Xavier Lake, Marvin Stewart-Campwell Wires - Bob Schofield Casting Casting Associate - Ri McDaid-Wren Casting Assistant - Louis Constantine General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Ceres Doyle Post-production Co-ordinator - Claire Rees Assistant Editors - David Davies, Hayley Williams On-line Editors - Geraint Pari Huws, Christine Kelly Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Dan Rawlings Creature Effects & Prosthetics - Millennium FX Lead 3D Artist - Matt McKinney Wires - Bob Schofield Colourist - Gareth Spensley Head Modelmaker - Lee Radford Sound Sound Recordist - Deian Llŷr Humphreys Dubbing Mixer - Howard Bargroff Sound Maintenance Engineers - Tam Shoring, Christopher Goding Dialogue Editor - Darran Clement ADR Editor - Matthew Cox SFX Editor - Harry Barnes Foley - Bang Post Production

South Africa crew

General production staff Producer - Adam Friedlander Line Producer - Alan Shearer Production Manager - Daniela Springer Art department Art Director - Brian Glaser	Camera and lighting department Camera Operators - George Amos, Derek Ueckermann Focus Pullers - Leon Lotz, Meike Chinnery Camera Loaders - Kyle Oberholzer, Tshepo Nthako Gaffer - Nick Rankin	Costume Costume Supervisor - Cathy Shields Hair and make-up Hair & Make-up Supervisor - Talli Pachter Sound Sound Mixer - Derek Mansvelt

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
This story had no direct Visual Effects credit, which means that it unusually didn't credit The Mill. Instead, the roll credited many more workers from The Mill than usual, and even changed Will Cohen's normal title to the grander, "Executive Visual FX Producer".

References

Cultural references from the real world

• Prominent scientist Richard Dawkins is mentioned as involved in a "Star Cult" which believes stars are real in the timeline created by the Alliance's actions.
• The Doctor dances to "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by British rock band Queen.

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External links

• Official Opening ceremony page on the Doctor Who website