THE TIMEPETALS VISUAL GUIDE (Part 1/?): HANDS
It's known fandom-wide that the Doctor and Rose are aggressive hand-holderstm. This simple yet clever visual narrative clue works really well for cementing their extraordinary bond because holding hands is not simply holding hands.
Hands can be very sensual; they're directly tied to our touch sense and all the sensory information we collect all day, every day. How something feels plays a huge role in how we interpret our environment.
For instance, what does it mean to hold another person’s hand? To touch their skin and feel the texture, temperature and shape? It can mean a lot of things but first and foremost, it's connection.
Rose and the Doctor start right off the bat with connecting:
Ep. 1, Rose: The Doctor grabs Rose's hand before pulling her away from the Autons.
It's important to note that the camera pans right to their hands, emphasizing the act; something you'll note happens quite often. This is their very first meeting, meaning it also sets the tone for their (future) relationship. Blatantly putting emphasis on the very symbolism of trust, connection and intimacy, the narrative tells us to pay attention, going forward.
Further into episode 1, the Doctor grabs Rose's hand again. This time in the context of starting to open up to her (even if it was somewhat very cryptic), and again; connecting with her:
Ep. 1, Rose: The Doctor holds Rose‘s hand while going through the cryptic description of who he is.
Oh, look! The camera is, once again, focusing on their hands.
Toward the end of the episode, we get another hand holding scene:
Ep. 1, Rose: Rose and the Doctor run hand in hand through the streets of London.
Running toward adventure (and potential danger) hand in hand is insane behaviour (affectionately). Jokes aside, this shows yet again, how they seem to click together, from almost the very beginning.
You‘ll note here, how the camera stays static while they‘re running towards it; their hands are the focal point. So much so, in fact, that they are the last bit of them to leave the frame.
The visual emphasis on hand-holding can be used to underline different things but, you guessed it, underneath it all lies connection. Pride and Prejudice, 2005, for example did it with the famous "hand flex scene":
Gif by: sometimesjenniferreads
What elevates this scene even more is Darcy's hand flex in the next shot, but even the intense moment of the camera focusing on their hands shows you: this is a moment. These two people feel their hands touch and something important passes between them. Rose's and the Doctor's hand-holding scenes function similarly, but then expand into encompassing so much more.
In the end of episode 2, the Doctor reaches out to Rose with his hand. Now, consider the context here. Rose is feeling the grief of her planet dying. Nobody even paid attention to it, and now, it's gone:
Ep. 2, the End of the World: The Doctor reaches out to Rose.
"It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. [...] All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just..."
She's very much verbalising how the Doctor feels since the Time War (not to mention the guilt). She doesn't realise it (how could she?) but she's as close to understanding the Doctor's pain, as anyone could without living through the same tragedy.
Then the Doctor offers his hand to her; in understanding, and in comfort. The simple act of connection has now the added component of comfort and reassurance – as the very next scene is them stepping out into London 2005, where people are still alive and thriving.
Also notice the lighting and composition: It’s a wide angle shot where the two of them are shown with their backs to the camera. The fiery orange inferno of Earth‘s death is lighting the scene, making them appear as silhouettes, thus reducing any details, and highlighting their body language. The central window pane in front of which they're standing, functions as a frame in the frame, so to speak. So, the positioning in the centre of it, plus the dramatic play of light and shadow, draws our eyes to their (entwined) hands.
The need to be there for each other quickly takes priority, as is shown in episode 3, which deals with the Doctor and Rose's first clash of differing moralities/views. The Doctor is very much blindsided by his guilt from the Time War, which the Gelth shamelessly exploit. He realises how his own blindness risked Rose's safety (and entire existence) and feels quite bad about it. Which leaves us with Rose reaching out to reassure him, this time, down in the basement, facing certain death:
Ep. 3, The Unquiet Dead: Rose and the Doctor face the Gelth hand in hand.
"We'll go down fighting, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Together?"
"Yeah."
Their disagreement from earlier doesn't matter, and no matter what, they're in this together, til the very end. The camera, once again, focusing on their hands cements this narrative; here, their clasped hands signify unity and strength – also signified by their tightly interlocked fingers.
As the season goes on, the emotions and the atmosphere surrounding their hand-holding also changes and varies. A particular scene in Episode 7 is a fun (and very cute) example for it:
Ep. 7, The Long Game: The Doctor grrabs Rose's hand playfully.
So, they just got into the lift, about to go up and solve the mystery of Satellite Five. The camera stays in front of the lift doors, so they're in the centre of the frame. The Doctor offers Rose his hand in quite a playful manner, gazing down at her with affection. Rose takes his hand, and we see how he playfully pulls her closer just as the doors are closing.
I'm repeating myself, but, once again, their hands are the focal point; not as a close-up, but in the way the lift doors close, starting to obscure their faces and bodies until their hands are the last bit we see. Even the way the door pieces close – the tips of them pointing toward their joined hands – draws our eyes to them.
This shows us how comfortable they've gotten around each other, and it also illustrates the pull between them; they literally draw each other in, and are perfectly happy with it, judging by the relaxed body language and the affectionate gazes and smiles.
That pull and the need to comfort and reassure is continued in episode 8. Rose is about to watch her father die (for the first time). She's anxious and upset. The entire time she watches Pete’s car, the Doctor is watching her with a careful and worried frown, before he eventually grabs her hand in comfort.
Ep. 8, Father's Day: The Doctor comforts Rose.
The context, and the Doctor's action, right before the camera switches to a close-up of their hands, establishes their hand-holding as a natural and instinctive response to the distress of the other.
Further in the episode, when the Doctor and Rose are at odds with each other because Rose's rescuing her father inadvertendly put them all in danger, the two of them clear the air. Rose sincerly apologises and literally the first thing the Doctor does is this:
Ep. 8, Father's Day: The Doctor and Rose make up.
The way he tenderly places a hand on her cheek with the camera in a close up shot of Rose's face, not only shows us how much they use touch as a way to comfort and reassure, it also puts us as viewers much closer to this intimate and sweet moment.
And it is an itimate moment; cupping another person's face like that is a textbook visual clue of tenderness, affection, comfort, and yes, love. It also showcases vulnerability.
Rose isn't shying away from it which shows that she trusts the Doctor would never harm her, even when his hand is close to her face – and thus close to vulnerable parts. This is especially important, since they've had quite the row, earlier.
The close up also emphasises the Doctor being vulnerable with Rose. Being the emotionally closed-off person he is, especially after the Time War, he is openly being affectionate here, in a way we're witnessing up-close. He shows Rose how much he cares about her, and entrusts her his feelings. (Dare I say his hearts, as well?)
The shot also almost has a quality of chiaroscuro, that you'll find in some paintings where the artist plays with high contrasts of shadow and light. Basically, the background is usually kept dark/in shadows, so the (brightly) lit characters and the action is the focal point.[1]
The episode closes with Rose saying goodbye to a dying Pete. A wide angle shot of Pete lying dead on the ground, Rose by his side, and the Doctor waiting patiently in the background shows us the scale of Rose's devastation and pain (that Pete's death is a fixed point and no matter what she did, he still ended up dead).
Rose then walks over to the Doctor and the camera switches to a closer shot:
Ep. 8, Father's Day: The Doctor and Rose walk to the TARDIS hand-in-hand.
When Rose reaches him, he quietly offers his hand. No words are needed as Rose grabs it, gladly accepting his quiet support and reassurance.
The static camera is watching them walk to the TARDIS together, giving the viewers the opportunity to really observe them: No matter what happens, the Doctor and Rose will walk away from the challanges they get thrown at with their hands entwined and stronger for it.
Let's see how this narrative clue is continued, after the Doctor regenerates, i.e. the Christmas special, and Ten's first appaerance:
Christmas Speacial: Rose takes care of the Doctor.
Even while being completely thrown in the deep end, and unsure about whether or not this is the same man, Rose still instinctively tries to comfort him by stroking her thumb across his forehead.
It's a small detail; the camera doesn't do a close-up, which reflects said uncertainty – and yet, the touches don't cease. The need to comfort is still there.
In the very end, when it's clear Rose still wants to travel with the Doctor and the Doctor still wants Rose to come with him, the very first thing he does is to offer his hand:
Christmas Speacial: The Doctor and Rose continue to travel together.
Ah, the hand close-ups are back! The Doctor wiggles his fingers and Rose doesn't hesitate long before entwining their hands. This is the visual clue that ties their previous season's dynamic to the next one. Rose accepts him fully as the Doctor, the Doctor is still wants Rose around. The bond they forged during season 1 continues into season 2, and with it all the feelings, the trust and intimacy.[2]
This is further established in the very next shot where,
a) any concept of personal space disappears,
and b) both of them almost immediately get more comfortable:
Christmas Special: The Doctor and Rose have no clue what personal space is.
You can see in the first still that Rose is touching his coat sleeve with the premise of brushing off the snow (ash). When he doesn't seem to mind her touch, she immediately draws closer and puts her curled hand on his arm. Another small, yet powerful detail that shows us how they re-establish their previous comfort level, since no uncertainties stand in the way, anymore.[3]
In season 2, their hand (holding) dynamic shifts into a much more playful tone; the individual touches and hand-holds are not as sharply focused by the camera as in season 1, for which I see two reasons:
a) The regeneration means a shift in how they express their closeness, and thus, a slight shift in their dynamic. It's all about physicality beyond their hands, like their bodies almost constantly having at least one point of contact and their body language (both of which I’ll explore in another post of this guide).
b) This ties to a: There are so many instances of either the Doctor or Rose touching the others arm or holding hands briefly that it wouldn’t make sense to focus on it; they’re just too handsy (hah), at this point because it has become second nature for one to be touching the other in some form.
The instances where we visually do get a bit more focus on their hands, underline this point because the narrative shows us that the Doctor and Rose hold hands so often, that they don't even really think about it.
Ep. 11, Fear Her: The Doctor mistaking Rose‘s pointing for wanting to hold hands.
In episode 11, Rose points at something on the console, while the Doctor is rambling. He notices Rose's hand and the first thing he assumes is she offers her hand, so he doesn't hesitate to happily place his hand on hers.
His sappy grin and the immediate action make it clear how much of a no-brainer this is to him. Rose's hand in his vicinity = holding Rose's hand.
The episode closes with a high angle shot of the Doctor and Rose walking down a deserted street, at night, while fireworks go off above them. Another instance, where the shot of them holding hands lingers:
Ep. 11, Fear Her: The Doctor and Rose walk down the street hand-in-hand.
Their relaxed demeanour and the inherent romantic connotations of intimacy and closeness of walking hand-in-hand under the night sky set the scene and give us the context in which we view their hand-holding. The fact that fireworks is a common tool used in a lot of movies as a romantic overture emphasises the romantic subtext – especially considering the broader theme of the episode which explores love as the ultimate power in the universe.
Episode 12 begins with a recap of Rose's life from her perspective, and the visual narrative in a particular sequence shows us as viewers the essence of her and the Doctor's connection by hand-holding:
Ep. 12, Army of Ghosts: Rose and the Doctor's story recaped by Rose.
Here we see a callback to the first time the Doctor and Rose held hands; the editing is done in such a way that we transition from the Ninth Doctor running with Rose to the Tenth Doctor running from the same direction into the frame, inside the TARDIS.
The very next shot, after, is this:
Ep. 12, Army of Ghosts: Rose and the Doctor run hand in hand through the streets of London.
This tiny flashback/recap visualizes the Doctor and Rose's story, broken down to its most essential part – two people, aimless and lost in the respective points of their lives, who find connection, purpose, strength and happiness in one another.
And how does it do that? By highlighting their hands. It's no coincidence that the last scene of them running hand-in-hand, grinning like mad, parallels the scene in the very first episode in season 1. With the tiny differences in the camera angle and that the otherwise static camera follows their movement across the shopping street. Here too, their hands are in the centre of the frame, almost the entire time.
All of this combined, seasons 1 and 2 fix it in their visual narrative that the Doctor and Rose connect and express their affection and love with their hands.[5]
As time passes and they grow closer, the hand-holding becomes an integral part of their bond and dynamic. It’s their thing.
The narrative illustrates this beautifully on the Crucible, after years of separation:
Ep. 13, Journey's End: Rose and the Doctor hold hands on the Crucible.
The two of them just reunited, in the mids of death and mayhem the Daleks are causing. Here, the Doctor just lost his TARDIS with Donna, his best friend, still inside of it.
It's been years for both of them, and yet the first thing Rose does is to walk up to the Doctor and grab his hand. The camera pans down to their hands, focusing on them in this close-up shot.
Clearly, the Doctor needed it as much as she did because he grabs Rose's hand, immediately, in a tight grip. It's instinct, showing us their bond – their need to comfort and support one another, to be each other's rock – is still unbroken.
The Doctor doesn't even look at her when they do this, his gaze is completely focused on Davros, the entire time.
This ties Tenrose's hand-holding dynamic (instinctive, but fun and cheerful, most of the time) to Ninerose's dynamic (support, comfort, presence), directly paralleling all the hand-holding instances I previously discussed above.
Reaching the Journey's End, the visual narrative comes full circle. The TARDIS and the full-Time Lord Doctor leave. Rose is literally watching everything she's worked for, for years, disappear right in front of her eyes.
She's back at that beach that holds nothing but painful memories, emotionally wrung out and confused. The Doctor has left her, yet at the same time, he hasn't. He's right there, choosing to stay with her:
Ep. 13, Journey's End: The Doctor and Rose begin again, on Bad Wolf Bay.
The roles on Bad Wolf Bay are swapped: Now, it's Rose who's intensely focusing on the scource of her pain, standing on the beach, lost and confused.
This time, the Doctor walks up to her and grabs her hand, while the camera stays static. Again, their grip is tight, even if Rose is still busy, processing. The Doctor, on the other hand, is looking down on their joined hands, pulling our eyes with him to their hands.
It's him, now, who offers his presence, his comfort and his love. He's there, no matter what, just like Rose has always been there for him (seperation notwithstanding).
This is the penultimate shot of the Doctor and Rose (the last one being a closer shot of them looking at each other). The shot's/composition's focus on the hands is a callback to their very first meeting, in that shop basement.
The Doctor and Rose's journey begins visually with hand-holding and it ends with it. The end is simultaneously a new beginning, almost like it's their first meeting all over again.
They both changed, during their time apart; a little bit lost, a bit more hardened, sort of aimless. But they've got each other, to navigate through the confusing maze of life.[6] This shot visually illustrates that their connection is still there and about to flourish, just like it did the first time.
The tdlr of this exploration of the visual narrative is: Platonic, romantic, a secret third, fourth, fifth thing; however you read their connection, its undeniable existance is written, not only in the textual, but also the visual narrative with the most effective and sensual tool we have – our hands.
[1] You could even go further and say it resembles a sort of tenebrism which is a more pronounced way of chiarosuro, especially with the bright white lighting hitting Rose's face and the very dark backdrop. Trying not to dive too deep into art historical stuff here, but think of 16th/17th century (Italian) artists like Caravaggio or Gentileschi who liked to use this type of technique often.
Mind you, these more classical art historical observations in terms of paintings were probably not in the mind of the director but I wanted to include it to show that, even if it wasn't intented as such, a director's decision to shoot the scene in a certain lighting or in a certain frame does play a huge role, since the intended effects don't come out of nowhere.
It's not like a director would necessarily say "Oh, this parallels tenebrism in 17th century artworks", but the intention of highlighting a character or an action is the same. So much of our visual language and coding go back to centuries old visual traditions, and it's kinda cool to see it reflected back here.
[2]Kudos to Piper for having insane chemistry with both, Eccleston and Tennant, cause it plays a not inconsiderable role in the smooth transition, lmao (aside from the writing and visual narrative).
[3] Btw, also the reason why I think the accusation of Rose being attracted to Ten more than Nine is baseless, since she's been like this with Nine as well. Just watch Boom Town, for example. lmao; she's so head over heels, it's crazy.
[5] Like I already mentioned somehwere in this post, and the title of this post suggests, I'll dive into other aspects of the visual narrative in later parts.
[6] Considering that the full-Time Lord Doctor knew exactly he couldn't be the one to be on this adventure with Rose, it is so bittersweet, yet very beautiful.
(As always, all quotes in italics are directly from episode (tran)scripts.)
