Dr Who — Series 11: Episode 1 — The Woman Who Fell to Earth

7th October, 2018.

*Spoilers*

I’m gibbering excitedly, right now.

As you’ve seen the intros you’ll possibly realise that’s … not necessarily a good thing!

I mean … I’m not EXACTLY Mr Handsome.

Unless you’ve got some very specialised interests!

At any rate … ?

It’s a Sunday night, it’s the 7th October, and the airdate for the opening episode of Jodie Whittaker’s first episode as the Thirteenth Doctor.

Yes: ‘She’ll do.’

Yes, that’s possibly terse … 

But … 

~≈§≈~

Opening with no titles, Episode 1 — The Woman Who Fell to Earth — shows us opens by showing us the YouTube channel of Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) talking about the smartest woman he’s ever known: then showing us he, his grandmother, Grace (Sharon D. Clarke), and her second husband, Graham (Bradley Walsh) trying to help Ryan ride a bicycle.

In an attempt to help Ryan deal with his dyspraxia.

In frustration?

Ryan ends up throwing his bike into a clump of trees: whilst Grace and Graham admit they cannot help … as they have to get the last train home.

Only to find his bike in a tree:  and something glowing by a tree top.

Something that gets him phoning his local police force …

Meanwhile, in another part of Sheffield?

In another part of Sheffield, Trainee Police Constable Yasmin Khan is dealing with parking disputes … and getting rapidly bored … 

Until her boss … decides to get her following up a phone call … 

Which introduces her to Ryan: who it turns out she went to school with.

It’s only then … that Ryan gets a phone call … 

There’s problems with the train … 

~≈§≈~

Now … gibbering … ?

Possibly I’m calming down.

But … ?

Right at the moment, I’ve come away from a fantastic piece of work.

We can possibly — indeed should — argue there’s flaws.

As things stand, the situation with the train should maybe have been reported to Yasmin’s superiors: although this could well be something that’s developed for later.

Some of the editing seems a little jerky: the scenes in the warehouse, where the team discover the body of Rahul, seem to skip a beat or two, maybe.

The plot itself — with a Stenza warrior ritualistically hunting its human prey to qualify for a leadership role in its society — seems derivative of the original Predator movie.

And Yasmin seems halfway between used well … and mildly underused in this episode.

As a counter?   The Stenza seem a touch more developed than the Predators*, the dialogue for this episode, a lot wittier — the Doctor’s line about reliable noses sticks in my mind — and the characters have an emotional depth and strength from the get go.

Graham’s had cancer, for example, Ryan suffer’s with dyspraxia, and both relied on Grace: a Grace who dies at the end of the episode, giving this opening episode an emotional pull that adds depth to the episode.

And left me felling commiserating with Ryan and Graham, impressed with the Doctor’s handling of her new friends troubles, and sharing Yasmin’s career frustrations.

There’s something else I noticed, as well.

Something that was mention in a 2017 edition of the Radio Times was the fact that — as the BBC was spending money refreshing the show —  BBC Cardiff had spent license payers money on new cameras and lenses for The show.

With the intention of giving it a ‘cinematic’ look and feel.

Personally?

I think that’s money well spent.

I am know connoisseur of TV, no expert on the differences between one screen format and another.

But the episode of Doctor Who that I’ve seen tonight is visually beautiful: making Sheffield’s inner city look good, the countryside around it, simply gorgeous.

Frankly, it seems as visually different to the rest of the 2005 version of Doctor Who, as it does to the original.

I can only applaud it!

There’s something else, too.

There’s been a LOT of nay sayers, over the past few months.

People who feel that casting a woman in the role of the UK’s iconic SF hero to be a bad move.

I can sympathise.

Twenty, maybe thirty years ago, I’d’ve felt the same way.

 Tonight, having seen what the new cast and crew have done?

In filming a superb opening episode, one with emotional depth, nicely written, well plotted, episode?

We’ve got a great show … 

And a lead actor who’s good … 

And who IS the Doctor!

Frankly?

She’s baaaaack … !

*        The original Predators movie was fine: as an action film.   The Woman Who Fell to Earth handles the same basic idea — an alien hunter on Earth, treating humans as prey — not as an excuse for gunplay and muscle, but as a problem to be solved.   There’s also a scene where Karl — the alien’s prey — kicks the creature off of a crane.   That get’s the Doctor, angrily, saying “You had no right to do that.”   That … ?   That’s a line from the Doctor we know, one I found reminiscent of both  Pertwee and Tennant … I hope we see more of that …