Its the end of another working day for Rose Tyler, except that she has one last task to perform before she can go home. Rose uses the elevator to take the lottery money down to Mr Wilson in the basement. The basement seems deserted but Rose can hear noises which suggest that she is not alone. Is someone playing a joke on her? Perhaps she is about to become the victim of one of those TV shows where jokes are played out on unsuspecting members of the public? When she finds herself in a room with mannequins which all come to life, Rose decides that that is precisely what is happening.

Just as it seems that she is trapped in the basement with the living mannequins, Rose is faced with a stranger who advises her to "run". From that moment on, her life crosses paths with this mysterious man calling himself the Doctor. This first encounter results in the destruction of the store where she worked. Unemployed, Rose finds herself drawn into a world where plastic can be animated by an alien intelligence, a world where the mysterious Doctor can be seen involved in different events at various points in Earth's history - either he comes from a family where the facial resemblance is passed through the generations or he is immortal, and a world where the most innocent object can hide something more sinister.

The Doctor takes Rose on a journey throught time, beginning with a visit to the year five billion when the Earth is about to be destroyed by the Sun. Various alien races have gathered to watch the end of the world. However, murder strikes...

Cardiff 1869: the dead start to walk around and strange, gaseous creatures try to communicate with anyone who woukd care to listen. The Doctor and Rose find unexpected assistance in the guise of novelist Charles Dickens as they investigate this strange set of phenomena.

The Doctor has brought Rose back home: only 12 hours have passed since she left. As Rose dashes back to say hello to her mother the Doctor spots posters listing Rose as missing. Both discover that it has actually been 12 months not hours!

As Jackie Tyler comes to terms with her daughter's return and inexplicable silence about her "travels", the Doctor and Rose come to terms with the immediate consequences. Their attention is soon distracted by the appearance of a spaceship flying low over London. The ship crashes and later, so it would appear, the lone pilot is found dead, floating in the Thames.

As the day marches on, there are concerns about the meaning of this crash and the apparent disappearance of the Prime Minister and other top members of the British cabinet. However, nothing is as it would seem...

The TARDIS materialises 52 levels below ground level in a vast museum housing all sorts of alien technology. Among the exhibits is a relic of an alien battle fought many years before. The Doctor leans against the glass, consequently activating an alarm. Guards take Rose and the Doctor to meet the man who owns the collection - Henry Van Statten. As far as Van Statten is concerned, the Doctor and Rose are intruders who are trying to steal from his collection. They must be especially interested in the living alien held down there.

Van Statten takes the Doctor down to meet this living alien, the Metaltron as he calls it. So far it has resisted all atemtpts to get it to talk, perhaps the Doctor can help? The Doctor agrees to speak to the alien, possibly the source of the distress signal that brought the TARDIS there. He is horrified to discover that the alien is none other than the last of the Daleks...

The TARDIS materialises on Staion 5, in orbit around Earth in the year 200,000. Adam is amazed on his first trip in the TARDIS, both by the wonder of travelling through space and time, and at the technology available. Rose is amazed at how much the future fails to meet the Doctor's promises. The Doctor is amazed that things seem to have remained so static at a time when humanity should be at its height. Where are all the beings from other worlds? Are the walls of Floor 500 really made of gold? Why has no-one ever returned from Floor 500 and why is it so hot on Station Five?

November 7, 1987 is a day that Jackie Tyler has told Rose about for as long as she can remember. Its the day Pete Tyler was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Jackie also bemoans that he died alone. Rose asks the Doctor to take her back to that fateful day so that she can be there for him. At the fateful moment, Rose can only stand and watche as her father is hit by a speeding car.

Having missed her chance Rose asks the Doctor to take her back again. Better prepared, Rose is determined to ease her father's passing. As the time travellers return to the moments before the death of Pete Tyler, they stand watching themselves, watching those last moments. Rose suddenly chooses a new course of action - and dashes forward, pushing her father out of the way, saving his life...and altering the timeline. Elsewhere, a couple are preparing for a wedding and are concerned that a lot of the guests are not turning up...

The Doctor and Rose pursue an object through time. It crashes somewhere in London so the two travellers set out to find it. Time wise, they have arrived about one month after the object. To the Doctor it seems simple enough - just ask around about something falling from the sky a month before. Except that they have arrived in London in 1941 and there has been nothing but objects falling from the sky.

An air raid brings the Doctor into contact with a group of children who take advantage of the (temporarily) deserted homes to feed themselves. Nancy, leader of this group of children, knows something about the object that fell from the sky. She directs the Doctor to a hospital that has been sealed off. Meantime, Rose meets up with a "free trader" by the name of Jack Harkness. Posing as an RAF captain, Harkness has something that he wants to sell, but will Rose be taken in by his charm? And will anyone do a "Mister Spock" for her?

Six months after the Slitheen plans for Earth were foiled, Margaret is now Mayor of Cardiff, overseeing the construction of a nuclear power station. Mr Cleaver has come to her, concerned that the station may be flawed and likely to blow up shortly after activation.

The Doctor, Rose and Jack have arrived in Cardiff for a simple break. The Doctor intends to take advantage of the energy from the rift sealed in the late 19th century during their encounter with Charles Dickens (The Unquiet Dead). Mickey arrives from London in response to a call from Rose and a request to bring her passport along. All seems quiet and just as everyone takes the chance to relax a newspaper article on the new mayor alerts the travellers to a new crisis in the offing. Can the Doctor put a stop to the Slitheen's latest scheme? Will Mickey be able to explain his feelings to Rose? Will Rose be able to explain her feelings to Mickey?

The Doctor finds himself tumbling out of a closet and into a house occupied by three other people. When he discovers that he is in the Big Brother house, the Doctor's only concern is the whereabouts of Rose and Jack. Rose awakens to find herself in a darkened studio. Minutes later, she joins a small group of contestants answering questions from Anne Droid on The Weakest Link. Jack finds himself being de-fabricated by two androids waiting to give him a make-over. As far as he is concerned ratings can only go up.

One of the housemates has been selected for eviction. When the evictee is disintegrated, the Doctor must find a way to get out of the Big Brother house and find his two companions. Rose is horrified when the first person chosen as the weakest link is disintegrated. Jack just manages to avoid having his body remade. All this and more is brought to the human race courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation and something far more sinister...