While Star Trek always had a strong female following, and the rise
of the Internet in the 1990s had created an increasing number of female
dominated fandom spaces, Doctor Who was definitely a boys club. But that all
changed in 2005, because of an ordinary shop girl called Rose Tyler.
In the first episode of Russell T. Davies 2005 revival of Doctor
Who, Rose Tyler went in search of the Doctor. Her search led her to a suburban home,
where a man name Clive lived. When Rose first arrives at Clive’s home, his wife
is astonished that A GIRL, read a website about the Doctor. This is a pretty
accurate assumption about the Doctor Who fandom before 2005, but Rose Tyler
burst through that glass ceiling and paved the way for a whole new generation
of fangirls.
Rose copped a lot of flack from old-school Doctor Who fans but she
is the reason that so many girls found their way into Sci-fi and that’s
something that deserves our appreciation. Rose running off on an adventure with
the Doctor is a metaphor for girls jumping head first into fandom.
Billie Piper’s portrayal of Rose Tyler of often credited with the
success of the revival and there is a reason for that. There is a reason so
many girls latched onto her and wouldn’t let go and it’s not because the Doctor
fell in love with her.
Rose Tyler was created in the wake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – a
kick ass heroine designed to appeal to the one demographic that Doctor Who had
failed to ensnare, young women. But Rose Tyler is more than that because Rose
Tyler is us. She’s just a regular girl who works a menial job and lives with
her mom in a tiny apartment. She’s lost, she wants more but she has no idea how
to get it.
I distinctly remember watching “Rose” when it first aired and I
almost cried because it was the first time I had seen myself in Sci-Fi. There
had been some amazing female characters in science fiction, ones that I looked
up and emulated but Rose was the first character I thought could be me. As I
entered into the Doctor Who fandom I found that I was not the only one who felt
this way.
Rose is not a perfect character but she represents something that I
never thought possible. She was dynamic female lead on a show that had a
predominately male fanbase. I’ve heard many old-school male fans blame Rose for
the influx of fangirls, which is true and I will forever be thankful for it.
Because what those fanboys failed to notice was that Rose got to run away with
the Doctor and Clive ended up dead.
