Doctor Who – The Woman who Fell to Earth – Thoughts

Hello my TV Geeks!

As an avid fan of Doctor Who. I like the stories, the monsters, the vision of space and alien life. The basic idea of it is one of the main reasons I love this show. It has an enduring legacy that it has garnered. It has a similar appeal that Star Trek has for me. Why wouldn’t it, they started in the same decade.

“Change, my dear. And not a moment too soon.”

But Doctor Who is something I loved as a child, and now is something I bonded with my kids over.

I’ll admit my patience for Doctor Who had waned slightly during the last few series. Not because of Peter Capaldi, but because of the writing and direction. I made a video about it you can watch here.

I felt Capaldi was made for this role, and yet the stories just didn’t match. But then the decision was made to start afresh. New cast, new crew, and a New Doctor.

It’s no secret that the appointing of the first female Doctor has been met with both praise and criticism. But for an alien who can change their entire body down to the cellular level, it’s fairly a moot point.

The Doctor who fell to Earth

The seventh of October 2018 saw the Doctor crash onto our screens. Thirteen years after Christopher Ecclestone brought the character and mystery back to the BBC. That mystery has been firmly returned as we are introduced to the 13th incarnation of the Doctor.

Throughout its 54 year run, The Doctor has never been a woman. Once we’re reintroduced to the character, we know she is the Doctor, and yet we know nothing about her. We have been given an opportunity to have a new show that happens to be 54 years old.

Jodie Whittaker brings to the role a new, yet familiar energy. After speaking to other viewers, I found that I saw a lot of Tennant in her performance, yet others saw Smith. Knowing that this is the first episode, and the Doctor is going through the regeneration, it’s clear why there may be this mix of personalities.

She is quirky, funny, and clever. Able to turn from being stern and kind in the blink of an eye. Bringing her own personality too, giving the alien Tim Shaw, an ultimatum, before a threat. Then she scolds a man for kicking Tim Shaw off the crane. She is clearly the same Doctor, but we still no nothing about her.

The Companions

The cold open helps establish the story. It helps establish the new characters, before we’re even introduced to The Doctor. The focus on the story and the new characters is a nice return to something that hasn’t happened since Amy Pond.

We get four companions in this episode and due to their firm establishment, by the end we are emotionally invested in them. So much so that by the final shot, we are hooked and wish that we could watch the next episode now.

I won’t go into detail about the companions, as there are far better reviews out there for this. But the way they were introduced, and how they became part of the story wasn’t forced. They felt like real people, with real problems, and then an alien crashes into their lives.

The characters are interesting in their own right, and my fellow Geek KJ has already gone into Why Representation matters. So give it a read.

The story

The story was basic, a small problem for the Doctor to solve whilst regenerating. There was no Invasion force akin to Ecclestone, Tennant and Smith. It wasn’t over long and cinematic like Capaldi’s introduction. It felt intimate revolving around one night, and not leaving earth until the end.

We see an alien has been sent to earth to hunt a man. It’s almost a kid friendly Predator film, with fewer mandibles and more teeth. The costume of Tim Shaw (I will not use his real name) wasn’t brilliant, but some of those teeth looked like they needed a good clean. But, he did what needed to happen. Challenge the Doctor and lose.

Hold your breath!

The episode ended with a cliffhanger. The Doctor and the three companions go finding the TARDIS as it has been absent for the whole episode. They all end up floating in space, struggling for oxygen. What more is there to say?

It’s probably one of the best cliffhangers we’ve had since Tennant started to regenerate at the end of The Stolen Earth. As I said, I wanted to see what happens next. We know the Doctor will get out of it, but we don’t know if they’ll all get out of it alive.

This episode has set up an exciting series to come. I personally am excited; I want to know where they can go next.

The TARDIS

The lack of a TARDIS makes me wonder, will this series focus on the Doctor locating it? Could we be getting a series arc that revolves around a TARDIS-less Doctor? It would be an interesting change of pace if she doesn’t have her trusty time machine.

It would also make sense why in Whittaker’s reveal she had to find the key!

The Woman who Fell to Earth was a brilliant debut episode for a new Doctor. It started calmly; setting up the characters and story, then gave us The Doctor. Jodie Whittaker within the first few minutes of being on screen proved she is the Doctor. I hope the rest of the series is as exciting, and the stories continue to be as enjoyable as this was.

She is the Doctor and hopefully, she is here to stay!

 

The Ultimate Movie Geek appeared to us much the same way the Doctor did. Only instead of a train it was more of a bathroom in a seedy pub. And it was through a window, not the ceiling. And he didn’t jump up and say anything clever, he just sort of moaned and cursed and said some unkind things about someones mother. But, he bought us a round afterwards and he’s been with us ever since. You can follow him on facebook and on YouTube.

Nathaniel Jepson

I am the Ultimate Movie Geek and I love movies. I also have a movie based podcast called the Man About a Dog Movie Pod or MAaD Movie Pod.

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