| Doctor Who character | |
|---|---|
Peter Alan Tyler |
|
| Pete Tyler | |
| Species | Human |
| Home planet | Earth |
| Home era | Late 20th century |
| Appears in | "Father's Day" |
| Portrayed by | Shaun Dingwall |
Pete Tyler, full name Peter Alan Tyler, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, played by Shaun Dingwall. He is the deceased father of The Doctor's companion Rose Tyler and first appeared in the episode "Father's Day".
Pete was a jack-of-all-trades and a budding entrepreneur who was constantly involved in various get-rich-quick schemes, from selling flavoured health drinks (named "Vitex") to trying to market solar power panels. Most of these schemes were unsuccessful, however, leading to tension in his relationship with Jackie, Rose's mother. Jackie also accused Pete of cheating on her on a few occasions.
Pete was born on 15 September 1954, and died on 7 November 1987 in a hit-and-run accident when Rose was about six months old.
In "Father's Day", Rose asked the Doctor to take her back to 1987 so she could witness her father's death. Jackie had told Rose as a child that her father had died alone, and Rose wanted to be there for him. When she was faced with the reality of what she was seeing, however, Rose impulsively rushed forward and saved Pete from being run down, changing history and causing a temporal paradox that damaged time. This attracted the destructive Reapers, who began to "sterilise" the wound in time by devouring everything in sight.
Pete eventually figured out that Rose was his daughter, and on listening to her describe what an ideal father he had been, also realised that Rose was lying to cover up the fact that he was supposed to be dead. The presence of Rose awakened Pete's paternal instincts; to save everyone and restore history, he deliberately stepped in front of the car that should have killed him. His sacrifice dismissed the Reapers and put time back on track, although history did change to a small extent — this time the driver did not flee the scene, and Rose was there to hold Pete's hand while he was dying. Pete died with a smile while looking on his daughter's face.
After the Doctor sent Rose back to her native time to keep her out of danger, Rose would recount to Jackie that she was the blonde girl who was with Pete when he died, citing how important the Doctor was to her. Although Pete was gone, it was his persistent spirit and a penchant for (as Jackie put it) "mad ideas" that Rose inherited. These pushed her to keep trying even when all hope seemed lost in the season finale "The Parting of the Ways", and save the world again.
| Doctor Who universe character | |
|---|---|
The alternate Peter Alan Tyler |
|
| Pete Tyler (parallel) | |
| Affiliated | Cybus Corporation The Preachers |
| Species | Human |
| Home planet | Parallel Earth |
| Home era | Early 21st century |
| First appearance | "Rise of the Cybermen" |
| Last appearance | "Doomsday" |
| Portrayed by | Shaun Dingwall |
A parallel Earth version of Pete Tyler (played again by Dingwall) appeared in the 2006 series episodes "Rise of the Cybermen", "The Age of Steel" and "Doomsday". In this universe, not only is Pete still alive, but his Vitex health drinks have become hugely popular, and he is rich and successful (although he privately admitted to the President of Great Britain that they are just fizzy drinks). However, he and Jackie had not had children (although they had a pet terrier named Rose) and were separated. In addition, his company had been bought by Cybus Corporation, leaving him relatively powerless.
The first assault of the Cybermen was at his mansion, on the occasion of Jackie's 40th birthday (even though Jackie insisted it was her 39th). At first believed to be one of Lumic's minions, Pete revealed that he had in fact been a mole (under the name of Gemini) secretly broadcasting information about Lumic's dealings on an encrypted channel. He believed he was getting it to the Security Services, but was disappointed to discover he had in fact been communicating with Ricky Smith's small-time resistance group, the Preachers. He agreed to infiltrate the Cyber-factory and was horrified to discover that Jackie had been converted into a Cyberman.
Escaping from the burning factory, Pete was eventually responsible for severing a rope ladder which Lumic (now the Cyber-Controller) was using, sending Lumic falling to his apparent death. Rose tried to tell Pete about her origins, but he was unable to handle this information, quickly slipping away to help deal with the mess Lumic had left.
In the 2006 series finale, "Doomsday", Pete had apparently moved into a position of leadership in the People's Republic. The surviving Cybermen from Lumic's factories had invaded the Doctor's universe thanks to a breach between realities caused by the passage of a Dalek void ship. Using technology from his universe's version of the Torchwood Institute, Pete, Mickey Smith and Jake Simmonds travelled to the Doctor's universe to help defeat the Cybermen. It became apparent, however, that constant travel between the worlds was damaging both universes, and only the Doctor could seal the breach.
Initially, Pete was ambivalent about the fate of the Doctor's world, Rose and that world's version of Jackie, but was ultimately unable to shake his concern for them. He met Jackie when he crossed over, swiftly forming a new relationship with her after an initial awkwardness, and later rescued Rose from falling into the breach. Following the sealing of the breach, all three Tylers were a family again on the parallel Earth, along with Mickey. When last seen, he and Jackie were expecting another child.
Unlike Billie Piper, Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke who reprised their roles as Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith, the character of "Pete Tyler" did not appear in the season 4 finale; however Pete is mentioned briefly as Jackie exits the TARDIS who states to Rose, "We're in bloody Norway, I'll have to ring your dad to come get us." It is also revealed in this final scene that he and Jackie have had a son, "Tony", and that he was on the Nursery Run.
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