10 Genius Decisions By Doctor Who Companions

2. Rose Decides To Rip Open The TARDIS

Doctor Who Rose Tyler The Parting Of The Ways Bad Wolf
BBC Studios

In Series 1 finale The Parting Of The Ways, the Doctor decides to send Rose home rather than allowing her to risk her life. This was undeniably the right decision, considering that there wasn't much she could've done to help stop the Daleks anyway.

But from Rose's point of view? She wanted to stand with the Doctor no matter what, and this led her to do everything in her power to find her way back to him.

Fortunately, the TARDIS was nearby, a clear way for her to accomplish that goal. But unfortunately, the machine wouldn't budge, and it's not like Rose would know how to fly it anyway. So did she give up? Did she heck. What she actually decided to do was rip the damn thing open, in order to communicate with it (and pilot it) telepathically.

After a failed attempt at ripping open the main TARDIS console by chaining it to Mickey's car and getting him to put pedal to metal, Rose's plan eventually succeeds by using a bigger, more powerful vehicle - a recovery truck. Thanks Jackie! With the console opened up, Rose stares into the heart of the TARDIS, soaks it all up, turns into a superhero, and returns to the Doctor to help him vanquish the Daleks.

Rose could've easily given up when the Doctor sent her back home, but the smart decision to open up the TARDIS console - something that she'd seen in an earlier episode - ended up making her the saviour of this story.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.