I was too young to really appreciate this episode when it came out but the older I get the more I realise just how beautifully written it is

The first time I watched this my Dad was still alive, now that he's not, it hits differently. Very beautiful.

I just wanted to mention that watching this reaction got me thinking about how Pete, though obviously a flawed individual, still had the self-awareness to recognize that Rose was lying because he knew he was unlikely to be there for his family in the way she described. It's a detail about his character I rather like. Plenty of people lack that kind of self-awareness.

Im not crying; you're crying. Ok, so, we're both crying.

"Who am I, love?" "My daddy." Oh my god, it gets me every time, even when watching reactions.

“You don’t want to have multiple versions of yourself interact.” Oh, boy.

This episode has two of my favourite lines from the entire series: "Who said you're not important?" and "I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault."

"I can't imagine a world where Rose does something that makes me dislike her" They did well casting Billie Piper, didn't they?

This is where the feels begins!

"Thanks for watching the whole series with me." :) Thank-you. I've been saying it to others, and to myself, that having RTD back as showrunner is a good thing for Doctor Who, and here's a great big reason why - Father's Day! It was written by a guy who had written a bunch of WHO novels back during the 90's when Doctor Who had been axed, but sounds like he and RTD very much fleshed out the story together. The result is this amazing story. They did a great job casting Rose's dad, too. He really seems to fit the role, and brings the depth it needed.

The two big rules for time travel on Doctor Who are: 1) You can't use time travel for events that you were personally involved in. They sometimes call this your own timeline, or "established events." Of course, the Doctor does break this rule, but only in small ways and usually without the consequences you see here. A whole person who was supposed to die but didn't, combined with multiple versions of the Doctor and Rose being present, really messed it up here. 2) There are certain points in time that CANNOT be changed. They're called "fixed points," and they can't be messed with because doing so would change the course of history so drastically that it could unravel time itself. Things like the Titanic sinking or Vesuvius exploding, but they can also be tied to a certain seemingly-insignificant individual who goes on to do a significant thing. The Doctor has sometimes tried to change some of these. It doesn't go well. The Time Lords themselves had a lot of other rules about time traveling--for instance, they weren't supposed to interfere. At all. Ever. Obviously, the Doctor never followed that particular rule. Or most of the others the Time Lords set up, except for the two above.

Dalek and Fathers Day are the best episodes in the first season: Dalek because it explored the Doctor's weaknesses and insecurities, and shows how Rose fills them in; Fathers Day because it explores Rose's weaknesses and impulsivities, and shows her background. Both are great episodes simply because they deepen the characters so much more.

The Doctor's speech to Stuart and Sarah is brilliant

guess what - Thank you. This was the first new Who that made me cry - it's by far not the last, but it absolutely sits right up there with the best episodes.

The main rule of time travel in Dr Who is that it works in any way it has to to fit the story. And the Doctor is the only person who can ever really understand it.

I do love Pete. He's an interesting character. And I'm always a fan of self-deprecation.

In between the hard Sci Fi to goofy and or subtle humour and sprinklings of dark there are episodes like this that just kick you in your emotional core.

The music from this episode is still some of my favourite the show has ever produced. So sad and bittersweet

Chris, my father died when I was barely a year old, my mother dumped me off on his mother. These facts I knew as a child. I had always wondered about my parents, and would have done nearly anything to know them. As I got older... I slowly learned the truth about them. They were drug addicts (my father died from an OD), even when I was a baby, I was not "well cared for" (I could go into details, but I won't for brevity), and being handed over to my grandmother was the best possible outcome I could have asked for. Growing up, I was taught to "idolize" my father, and told next to nothing about my mother (she died in the mid 1990s). That idolatry was shattered after I learned the truth. Anyway.... this episode really hit me hard, because I was well into adulthood when it came out. If I could travel back in time, what would I do? How would I react? Would I change anything, were I to have the chance to? Given my personal history, it made me wonder. At one time, I conceived a short story, titled "Father's Day", where I was able to spend a single day with my father. This, of course, was before I had learned the truth. Fate decided that I would never know them, and never get hundreds of questions answered. It's something I've learned to live with and not dwell on. Because of my physical disabilities, and the medications that I am on because of them, I keep a picture of my father, who was lying in a hospital bed with multiple casts on, at my computer. It was a car accident that he survived that led him to his addiction problems in the first place. I use it as a constant reminder that I cannot allow myself to fall into addiction, because it **CAN** happen to me. It serves as a constant reminder that anyone can fall down that hole, and I must be cautious that I don't. I have a good life, disabilities aside. I am married to a wonderful woman who loves me, supports me, and, to be honest, puts up with my shenanigans. I count myself fortunate that I'm not dead already. For the record, I've lived more than double the lifespan my father lived. He died at 28 years 1 month.... I am currently at 56 years 9 months. My mother was around 50 years old when she died, so I've had a longer life than she had, as well.

*hands the tissues* this is a heart breaking ep but has a kinda good ending so one of my faves from Eccelstons DR

This is honestly STILL one of my all-time favorites of the entire show. So thoughtful, creative, and heartbreaking. It does what great sci-fi should: it considers the intersection between human nature and fantastical circumstances. ❤

"Well, it was a good show, thanks for watching the entire series with me" I was laughing so hard, I got tears in my eyes ... and then watching you reacting to the dad ....well, you got me again. It's okay to say: "this is my favorite episode of the series so far" after every other episode, cause it means the show still manages to grow (which it does) and that music, even that get's better ... or should I say, concistant of grasping the mood for every scene. You'll notice it soon enough. Thanks for you hilarious yet on-point and honest reactions.

This is definitely a series highlight, one that can be difficult to rewatch due to its high emotional content. My father recently got a bad cancer diagnosis and I can’t imagine rewatching it after he passes, at least not anytime soon.

Yeah. I love this one. It’s just beautiful.

The reapers are a classic example of this-story-needs-a-monster-when-really-actually-doesnt situation 🎩

This episode is a straight-up banger! And I’m pretty sure it remains a fan favorite to this day 😊

I love that the Doctor was just like, _Yup, you wanna do something that's totally dangerous for emotional reasons? I'm completely on board! I'll let you do it, and I won't even bat an eye before agreeing to it, but just be careful what you wish for...!_ Like, he was either so confident in his ability to handle the situation if it went south, or he just really has that much of a soft-spot for her. Hard to say at such an early stage in their relationship.

Kind of the only hardfast 'rule of timetravel' in nuwho is that there are fixed points in time that cannot and must not be changed (of course, never say never in Who), and then there are all other moments in time, which are sort of in flux, constantly changing as events change. The Doctor is able to tell the difference as a Time Lord, almost reflexively, while no one else seems to inherently posses this ability.

Tom Baker was the Doctor of my childhood and favourite one.

This was the episode that showed the world that Doctor Who was more than just a little sci fi show that had been brought back from 1963 - it was wll grown up now, and it could break your heart. And it will keep on doing it!

This episode😢. I actually appreciate it more on rewatch. I think it makes sense that a person exposed to time travel would want to go back on their on time. It picked a beautiful way of handling it.

This is one of my favourite episodes even though it’s such an emotional gut punch.

This episode really hits different as an adult.

One of my roommates in 2005 was a dude who grew up on Doctor Who reruns in the 80's and knew how to use this crazy new technology called "Bit Torrent" and I remember our whole house waiting for this episode to download all day, and then getting our hearts collectively kicked through a wall. Season 1 of "New" Doctor Who is some of the greatest science fiction of the 21st century so far. I'm loving these reactions!

Beautiful personal storytelling. Dw at it’s best

I quite enjoyed Doctor Who when it came back for this run, but this was the episode where I became a fan. It was the first episode that really tugged on my heartstrings. Since then this show has completely destroyed my heartstrings on several occasions, so you can look forward to that 😂

It's genuinely a fantastic episode, so glad you enjoyed this Chris!

I haven't watched this in ages, but seeing the impact on you I'm going to have to go back to it. Love this series! Thanks for doing it.

You sweet sweet man I knew you’d love this episode, what’s not to like it is one of my favourites too loved watching this with you.

Really enjoying watching you watch the show for the first time. Its like finally getting a friend to watch it with you and they actually enjoy it lol.

DW is hilarious and silly, but when it gets suddenly serious and emotional it hits you like a ton of bricks, doesn't it? 😢

Such a great episode.... keep the tissues handy though in the coming seasons... I PROMISE tears will flow PROPERLY... more than once!! 🙂

This episode is amazing, remember just bursting out crying watching this, the music, the emotion, the themes, the writing.

One of my favorite episodes of this season. What a kick in the gut, man.

Opened KZfaq expressly hoping you'd posted your latest Doctor Who reaction. And it was the very first thing I saw. YAY!! My day was already going well, and it just got better. Thank you!!! You ALWAYS brighten my day. 🤗

Episodes like this one and a certain two-parter in a later season are why I wish Paul Cornell wrote more episodes for the show. He has written other Doctor Who stories in other media if anyone wants to search them out

"His silence is actually worrying me. I'm hoping he's just measuring his words." "I did it again. I picked another stupid ape!" ... Yep!

The way doctor who's time travel works is actually really interesting. Time overall is very malliable, you dont have to worry about the butterfly effect and most things you can change without a problem. However, there are certain fixed points, typically huge events that change the course of a race's history, that cant be changed, and if a change is made the universe will take steps to fix it. This can either be through paradox monsters like in this episode, or more usually through reversing the change that was made so the outcome ends up the same. And if you travel in time, your entire life becomes a fixed point. Thats why rose couldnt save her dad, because when she first traveled in time his death became a fixed point. And thats also why the doctor cant go back to before or during the war and see his people. They are a race of time travellers, so the entire history of their planet is such a fixed point that the doctor's very presence would be a change that the universe would need to correct. Hed have to go to a point after the last time he was there, and gallifry is kind of gone now, so thats not happening. And the other time lords rarely left gallifray because they had a law of non-interferance, and the doctor was one of the few timelords to regularly break that law, so hes probably not gonna bump into any timelords from before the time war either. That almost makes it more tragic, some where there is always a version of his home out there, but the laws of time travel keep it just out of his reach

I was the same when I saw this episode - easily my favourite of the first 8 episodes. All of the episodes are good to this point but this is easily my favourite.

Murray Gold’s music for DW is amazing! Episode 1 had me saying: “okay, this show is interesting enough to keep watching” Episode 2 almost turned me off the whole show Episodes 3 through 5 brought me back in Episode 6 changed my view from “this is a good show” to “this is a great show” Episode 8 is the one that locked DW in as one of my favorite shows.

Dr Who is very special to me. I grew up watching the classic Who starting with Tom Baker in the seventies. Keepp watching... you won't be disappointed 😊

One of these days I'll make it through this episode without crying, but it is not this day.

This is one of my favourite episodes as well, definitely top 5 of season 1 to me. Glad you really enjoyed it too

I cry every time I watch this episode 🥲

I cry every time I watch this episode.

i’ve been waiting for you to upload this one!! one of my favourite episodes ever. of course doctor who is mostly about the monsters and aliens but i’m a sucker for emotional, domestic episodes and the revival series does this so well. it’s been years and i STILL get choked up when pete says “i was never there for you”😭😭

I must have seen this episode a hundred times. I had the whole of Series 1 on DVD as a kid so watched it a lot along with the others. I've seen it through many reactions, which I used to watch more. For a while I stopped keeping up with reactors, but you show a lot of your thoughts and feelings. Seeing you so affected made me cry. So many more emotions to come, Chris. Be sure to buckle up!

Its hard for me to relate to this episode 😕 but what he says about traveling all over and experiencing inexplicable things, thereby valuing the family metric because its something he never experienced, that hits hard. I have three kids and being a mom has been my most valuable experience and the one thing I don't think I can live without. In his existence, its the one thing he can't have, but he'd be absolutely wonderful at it. I hurt for him.😢

It's not that you can never have a paradox but because they were hiding from the Reapers they didn't want to do anything that would give them strength and the paradox of Rose holding her baby self allowed them to get into the church

This episode will always be special and emotional for me. I lost my dad in a car crash when I was a kid and have gone through scenarios like this in my head countless times. What would I say if I were to meet him now as a grown man myself; would I save him given the chance; would I resurrect him given the possibility and what would he think of me if he could see me now.

I actually watched this episode originally on transmission (yes I'm that old) before going to a friend's wedding, that was bit scary

Te rules are flexible and often broken (as they were by Rose here) , but the main reason Doc does not visit his own parents is he is not supposed to cross his own timeline because of such paradoxes.

One of my favorite episodes.

Fun fact about this episode Christopher Eccleston has said that this is his favourite of his episodes.

There’s a lot of talk about ‘fixed points’ in time in later episodes. The rules often bend to accommodate the plot-lines though!

Series 1 is all killer, no filler.

I've had one of that style sonic screwdrivers under my bed for about 15 years unopened. Just hoping one day it'll be mega valuable 😅

I love that you are able to cry so easily 🥰

This episode has always been pretty low on my lists but it has its great moments and you really gave me a new perspective on it. As far as rules go, paradoxes are usually bad is a good one. The sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. The rest are a bit wibbly wobbly.

Great reaction 💯👍👍this was a fantastic epic but the best is yet to come 😀😀😀😀

I've been waiting for this!

Liked before even watching, I long for these Who reactions! ❤

This used to be one of my least favorite episodes from this first series but the more commentaries I watch on it the more I realize how good it actually is so now I really like this episode.

after so many times watching this episode growing up i only just realised that pete should have checked the mirrors before getting out the car so while the driving away was bad most people woud have ended up hitting him

Rule 1: The Doctor Lies.

The funny thing is, the doctor WAS just going to leave Rose and the only reason he went back is because of the TARDIS breaking.

It's a shame The Reapers weren't reused for future stories. Perhaps The Time Lords created the web of time to prevent opportunistic feeders like these creatures from flourishing.

It's so hard to rank all the great episodes, but for me Dalek edges out Father's day because it showcases Eccleston's amazing acting range. And despite how amazing these both are there are two, and maybe even three more this season that edge them out.

Is anyone else now very interested to see what the reaction is going to be to S2E5???

Soon you'll have a lot to watch when it's on Disney + with all of the classic Era (sorry for my writing I'm just bad at it)

Very nice.

As this episode showed, a lot of the rules were thrown out after the Time War . . .

This episode has always been a popular one that has a strong impact on many. To be honest, it doesn't quite come together as well for me; but I will say that nobody portrays emotional distress quite like Billie Piper! Even the clips in your video affect me.

I’d try and get well ahead of KZfaq to avoid spoilers, I’m watching two reactors right now doing this show and they’re being pointlessly spoilt in the comments

"I hope this doesn't go wrong." It's Dr Who, doesn't it _always_ go wrong? The rules of Dr Who are always in flux. You absolutely can't change a fixed point, except when they do. Deaths of main characters never stick, except when they do. You can never cross your own time stream, except when they do.