It’s that time again where kids and adults alike are going to be hiding behind their sofas, terrified at what monsters are on the screen this week, ready to be saved by our time traveling hero, The Doctor. You might have heard, that is if you haven’t been living under a rock, that we have a new Doctor this year, played by the first female actor to play the role, Jodie Whittaker. Plus that’s not the only new thing this season. We have: new writers, including executive writer, Chris Chibnall, new directors, and a new music composed by Segun Akinola and for the first time in the show’s history, airing on Sunday evenings.
If you’re a new fan of the show, a rundown of the premise. The Doctor is a time traveling alien from the planet Gallifrey, who stole a time traveling vehicle called the T.A.R.D.I.S. The Doctor then travels to Earth and other alien worlds with his/her companions/assistants/friends, helping out and saving the day. This season is a great jumping on point as everything is new. So here are my five thoughts on “The Woman that Fell to Earth” Warning: Spoilers ahead.
1, Jodie Whittaker, The Doctor
Just like her predecessors, there has been a great sense of anticipation about what our new Doctor would be like, even more so, since she is the first female actor to take the role in the show’s fifty plus years. From the moment she enters, or shall we say falls onto the screen, she takes control and immediately oozes Time Lord. Her interactions with the rest of the cast feels like she was born to play The Doctor.
Throughout the episode, it feels like Jodie gets more and more of a grip on what her Doctor would be like, giving off elements of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor mixed with the action hero of Matt Smith’s Eleventh, yet she still makes it her own. Once she utters the words “I am the Doctor” you really feel that she is. There were two instances that really shined for me; the first was when The Doctor had to make her new sonic screwdriver. The way Jodie captures the scene is brilliant, she gives it energy and a sense of playfulness and wonder, and secondly when she is choosing her new outfit in a charity shop/thrift store. She yet again gives it a sense of playful energy that really makes you like the new Doctor.
2, New Friends
In this episode we are introduced to The Doctor’s new friends in a very organic way. We meet Ryan (Tosin Cole), his Grandma, Grace, (Sharon D. Clarke) and his step Grandad, Graham (Bradley Walsh). Grace and Graham are teaching Ryan, who is in his late teens and has Dyspraxia, a mental condition that effects coordination, on how to ride a bike.
After having fallen off a few times and thrown his bike over a hill top, Ryan is told to go find it by his Grandparents, to which he finds an alien pod. After touching it and sending off a mysterious signal, he calls the police, to which we are introduced to the last of The Doctor’s new friends, Yazmin Khan (Mandip Gill), who is a police officer wanting more from her job. After showing up on the scene, she finds out they, her and Ryan, used to go to he same school. Immediately, everyone is connected, with Ryan’s grandparents and now Yazmin. This is genius, as stated above, everyone knows each other but have all their own roles to play. Ryan has difficulties to overcome, Grace just wants to help, Graham wants no part in it and Yazmin wants more out of life, a perfect gang, group, team, fam? for the Doctor to lead. This is demonstrated, when the Doctor meets all of these characters and asks them to find out information on strange happenings around town. Grace goes and asks her friends on social media, Graham asks his old Bus driver friends and Yazmin asks at her station where she gets the cold shoulder.
The one character who stands out for me is Graham. As we see him throughout the episode, he doesn’t want any part of it and is only there to make sure Grace is ok. Once she’s gone, he is left with a sense of emptiness. I feel we’ll see him develop in a way, which we’ll see him become stronger and either become The Doctor standoffish voice of reason or completely embrace the Doctor’s crazy life.
Continued below3, New Enemies
Executive writer, Chris Chibnall, has stated that in this season we aren’t going to have any old monsters make an appearance. All the enemies will be new and this episode doesn’t disappoint. We are introduced to Tim Shaw, an intergalactic predator type alien who hunts humans as prey. He has arrived on earth in the pod Ryan found in the woods and activated by touching the said pod. The alien on the other hand is somewhat creepy. When it has attacked and killed its ‘prey’, it will take out a tooth and stick it on its face. It’s not as timeless as say a Dalek, but will definitely stick with me for a very long time.
4, No T.A.R.D.I.S, No Problem.
The Doctor’s vehicle, the T.A.R.D.I.S, which stands for Time and Relative Dimensions In Space, last. seen in the previous episode “Twice Upon a Time,” it was exploding all around the Doctor, we don’t see it or it’s interior on screen. I personally think waiting on the reveal on the interior for a future episode leaves me more excited for it.
That being said, the setting is now in Sheffield, England, rather than the normal setting of London. Not having the T.A.R.D.I.S. which the Doctor can go back to, keeps the episode in a state of motion, which really adds to Whittaker’s Doctor, she really does feel like she’s on a mission to help and would never stop until the job is done. This isn’t the only time the Doctor hasn’t had the T.A.R.D.I.S, through most of the third Doctors (John Pertwee) he was stranded on Earth, but this is the first time we haven’t seen the interior reveal in the first episode, which is a good thing as it lets fans enjoy the new Doctor, Ryan , Yazmin and Graham.
5, More to come…
The action in this episode also goes through leaps and bonds, from The Doctor making her own sonic screwdriver with a massive blow touch, to a confrontation with Tim Shaw on top on of cranes, this episode has a little bit of everything. At the end of the episode, there was a coming soon trailer which announced most if not all of the up and coming guest stars, which included Alan Cummings (Instinct), Chris Noth (Sex and the City) and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch).
In conclusion, I personally think that this was a very solid episode with introducing the New Doctor and her friends in a very organic way, but also feeling slightly familiar which should make old fans of the show and new ones feel welcomed. I for one, am happy to have Doctor Who back on the TV and I am very excited in whats ahead.
