puppetmaker | New Who Review: The Woman who fell to Earth

Since this is the first episode of a new season of Doctor Who, I thought I would explain my rules for the New Who Review. Anything I think is a spoiler goes behind the cut in this entry. I do allow spoilers in the comments however we are only discussing through the currently aired show so no timey whimey future show spoilers in the comments. I want people to be able to approach the episode on their terms. This means a this point the discussion can cover from “An Unearthly Child” to “The Woman who fell to Earth” and Big Finish along with the canonical books are allowed in the discussion.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much Caroline was looking forward to this episode. At the conclusion she turned to me and said, “That’s MY Doctor.” It isn’t that she hasn’t enjoyed watching Dr. Who both the episodes I grew up with and the episodes she grew up with because she was a Dr. Who fan who wore her fandom proudly to school and in public. But this episode gave her the Doctor that speaks to her on a level that no other incarnation has.

For me it was a lot of fun. Not a perfect episode but one that I will watch again with glee.

Regeneration episodes can really be a mixed bag of the good, the bad, and the ugly. This one wasn’t bad or ugly to me. I think it was one that you could drop just about any of the other doctor’s into it at the same point, post regeneration, it would have worked as an episode. However this one was probably more of a reboot than any other has been due to the circumstances set up in the previous episode. More on that behind the cut.

I thought the cast did very well and I look forward to see how the companions are going to fit into the Doctor’s life. It is a solid ensemble of actors who I can already tell work very well together.

Chris Chibnall has strong ideas of what he wants to do with the show and is hitting the ground running with this episode.

I think one of the things that I liked the most was that I can tell people who are interested in Doctor Who but daunted by the number of years that they can just start with this episode and see if it is their cuppa. It’s a good ‘start here’ episode with all the explanations you need to understand what the series is about with in.

In short happy with the episode and would recommend it to people who want to see what Doctor Who is about.

I did look at the ugly of people who are trying to tear this down and dismiss the entire season off of this episode. The complaints really sound no different from when David took over or Matt took over or Peter took over.

One of the biggest is that they couldn’t get through the accents of the people in the show. If one is truly having problems, then that is why it is good we have close captioning on all TVs these days. I didn’t have a problem but I have an ear for accents that has served me well over the years. I did have to translate a few things for Peter. My snarky response is that maybe if you didn’t assault your ears with turning your headphones up so much that I can tell what you are listening to, you might be able to hear both the low end and the high end of the sound spectrum.

The other complaint is the script. It was either too this or not enough of that. For me it was a serviceable script that would have worked with any of the Doctors in it who would have probably solved the series of problems pretty much the same way. And that’s the sign to me that Chibnall knows what he is doing. The villain has been getting a lot of hate but I feel that the villain was more of a prop in the story of the coming of age of the Doctor into her new self. I loved Jodie’s dialogue and the way that she delivered it. By the end I know who this Doctor is.

This was a total reboot. No TARDIS. Nothing in the pockets. Thank goodness that the clothes magically reduced in size to fit her along with the boots. She would have been swimming in Capaldi’s costume. She has to start from scratch and work her way back to her legacy. I loved the creation of the sonic screwdriver…sorry Swiss Army knife without the knife, which I think is closer to what the device actually is. It’s not sleek or elegant but consider that she was using the equivalent of ‘stone knives and bear skins’ to make one. I am not even put off by the design. I think it is wonderful.

She still doesn’t have the TARDIS but she has three companions and the universe to explore through new eyes.

I really like the cast of this. Each one brings something with them to the role. I am sorry that Grace didn’t make it through. I think she would have made an interesting addition to the group. We have learned enough about each character that we have a solid idea of who they are. I also like that they knew each other. They have a past between themselves before they met the Doctor, which I think is going to play out during the season. They all knew Grace and were devastated when she died.

So solid episode for me and I am very much looking forward to where we go from here.

All I could think of with the last scene was Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the odds of being rescued in space without a spacesuit.

“If you hold a lung-full of air, you can survive in the total vacuum of space for about 30 seconds. But with space being really big and all, the chances of being picked up within that time are 2 to the power of 2,079,460,347 to 1 against, which by a staggering coincidence is also the telephone number of the Islington Flat where Arthur went to a fancy dress party, and met a very nice young woman whom he totally blew it with. “ -Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

I am grateful for this version of the Doctor.