There She Goes is a BBC Four (later changed to BBC Two for the second series) comedy-drama series created by Shaun Pye, based on a true story. It revolves around the family of Rosie Yates, a nine-year old girl with an unknown chromosomal disorder (at first, although the 2023 special reveals it to be DYRK1A Syndrome) as her parents Simon (David Tennant) and Emily (Jessica Hynes) and her older brother Ben manage day to day life with her.
Each episode frequently switches from present day (2015 for the first series, and 2017 for the second series) (where we see a day in Rosie's life) and the past (when Simon and Emily gradually learn about Rosie's condition from when she was born, to when she was a toddler).
It was first broadcast on October 2018, with a second series following on July 2020 and a special in 2023.
This series contains examples of:
- Abuse Mistake:
- In "We Need To Talk About Rosie", one of Rosie's special needs teachers tells Simon that she has recently received bruises on her legs and sides of her body, and Simon becomes panicky when the school decides to report to social services who comes to visit them and investigate their parenting. However, it turns out that her bruising came from her habit of rolling down hills (or as they call it, "roly-poly puddings") with the stones and twigs causing them.
- In "414", someone calls the police after seeing Simon and Em dragging Rosie into their house (she had a meltdown on their walk) and accuses them of kidnapping her.
- Baths Are Fun: Zigzagged - Rosie loves baths, but her wanting one is seen as a pain, with stuff such as her wanting to overdo it on the bubbles and turning on the shower when Simon and Emily try to force her out of it.
- Big Brother Instinct: Ben has been shown to be caring towards his younger sister, most notably in the 2023 special when he reveals that he would be willing to look after her in the event that their parents die.
- Day in the Life: "One Day in the Life of Rosie Yates", being the first episode of the series, is one which focuses on a typical day for the Yates family. As expected from a family of a severely disabled child, it is a challenging one, with events such as their struggles to get her to the park, get her to eat and use an AAC board, and having to look for poop.
- Delicious Distraction: In the first episode, Rosie manages to get in the drawer of her parents in their bedroom and starts rooting through some dangerous stuff. Simon manages to lure her away using crisps.
- The Diaper Change: "Bubble Chess" features a scene where Simon changes Rosie's nappy at Baby Sing. He is shocked by the size of the poop and announces that it was a bonding experience, although Emily is not amused.
- Dramatic Irony: Rosie favors her maternal grandfather, nicknamed "Grandad Gandalf" (who she calls "gaga") for reasons no-one can understand. He's at best indifferent to her, while her grandmother is extremely attentive.
- Fictional Fan, Real Celebrity: Simon and Emily are huge fans of nerd culture, including Star Trek and Lord of the Rings.
- First Period Panic: "414" features Rosie getting her period for the very first time. Naturally, being a severely disabled teenager with no grasp of the concept of menstruation or any way of explaining her issue, she doesn't take it well, going off on a brutal meltdown (that goes towards physically harming herself) that worries the rest of her family. Thankfully, they do realize what is happening and decide to get her on the pill to regulate her hormones, although it does open discussion about what her future will entail now that she is growing up.
- Flashback B-Plot: The show shifts between the time period of the 2010s, involving Simon and Emily dealing with the issues of a disabled child (teenager in the 2023 special), and the 2000s, featuring them slowly realizing that their newborn baby is disabled.
- Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: During the 2000s scenes, Emily and Simon invoke this dynamic, with Emily being the one to be more concerned about the wellbeing of her daughter and Simon being the one more likely to goof off and brush off concerns. Come the 2010s however, Simon is much more responsible.
- Foreshadowing: In "Marmalade Chunks", when Rosie becomes grumpy and uncooperative (asking for the "car" and obsessing over suitcases) during a family holiday in Devon, her Grandad John (Simon's step-father) asks if she's started menstruating yet, much to the disgust of Grandad Gandalf. One episode later, in the 2023 special, she has her first period and goes into a brutal, self-harming meltdown because of her not being able to understand what is happening to her, due to the severity of her learning disability.
- Not What It Looks Like: In the 2023 special, Rosie has been acting up (probably due to her struggling to cope with puberty (and possible pre-period pains)), forcing her parents to drag her kicking and screaming down towards their house. Trouble is that this looks like a child kidnapping, so Simon is given a visit from the police. Simon's efforts to prove himself innocent is not helped by the fact that Rosie is not willing to corporate and is covered in soup stains, which resembles blood, although he is thankfully not arrested.
- Parental Favoritism: Though Emily is a good parent, she prefers Ben to Rosie, due to the stress of looking after Rosie with a severe learning disability.
- The Speechless: Rosie is unable to talk beyond grunts and hisses, although her parents are trying to get her to use AAC. She does begin to start saying some words in Series 2 however.
- Stepford Snarker: Deconstructed. Simon is known for his sarcastic remarks revolving around the topic of Rosie, but it is also known that he often uses his remarks as a defence mechanism against his anxieties about parenting a learning-disabled child.
- Toilet Humour: One of the signs of Rosie's disability is that she tends to hide her own poop, with a scene dedicated to Simon and Emily looking for it. It turns out to be in the doll's house, apparently having a tea party.
