1.1 Rose

Rose Tyler, a young woman of 19 accidentally trapped one evening in the London department store where she works, finds herself surrounded by plastic mannequins that have come to life in the basement. She is saved by a man who introduces himself as "The Doctor" and tells her to flee the building. He then blows up the transmitter that controlled the mannequins from the store's roof, ravaging the building in the process. The Doctor visits the now unemployed Rose the next day and rescues her from a second attack by a mannequin's arm she had taken home unthinkingly, but refuses to give her more explanations.

Rose talks with her boyfriend, Mickey Smith, about her experience, and they find aconspiracy theory website that claims a man fitting the Doctor's description has appeared throughout history. Rose and Mickey visit Clive, the man who runs the website. While Rose is in Clive's house, Mickey is kidnapped by a wheelie bin and replaced with a plastic replicant. When the fake Mickey attempts to question Rose about the Doctor, the Doctor shows up and beheads the replicant. The Doctor takes Rose to his TARDIS, which is disguised as a 20th century police box, and attempts to use the fake Mickey's head to locate the controlling signal. The head melts, but Rose sees the transmitter outside the TARDIS. The Doctor explains to Rose that the fake Mickey was an Auton, controlled by the Nestene Consciousness, and that if he cannot stop it by using a vial of "anti-plastic" liquid, it will destroy all humans on Earth. He also explains to her that he is an alien.

The Nestene Consciousness has taken up residence beneath the London Eye. The Doctor tries to negotiate with it, but it gets angry when he identifies himself as a Time Lord, blaming him for the destruction of its home planet during "the time war." The Nestene Consciousness activates all the autons at the Queens Arcade, where several shoppers are shot dead, including Clive. The Doctor is overpowered by the Autons, but Rose rescues him and drops the "anti-plastic" into the vat where the Nestene Consciousness resided, killing it.

After fleeing the underground complex with Mickey, who was held hostage by the Nestene Consciousness, the Doctor offers Rose more adventures with him. Though Rose initially refuses as she is concerned about her mother and Mickey, she ends up joining the Doctor when he explains that the TARDIS can also travel in time as well as space.