Last year, the internet was treated to a vicious debate surrounding the gender-swap of a beloved character. Since 2016’s Ghostbusters, a particular subset of fans felt that changing the genders of their favourite characters from male to female was to their prospective property’s detriment. When the news was announced that Doctor Who’s titular Doctor was going to regenerate with a set of breasts, the internet lit up with debate, some derision, and a sprinkling of hope for a dying series. The premiere of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor had a lot resting on its shoulders—it needed to provide a fresh take on a show that has been running for half a century while maintaining the warmth of something familiar.
For a show that revolves around regeneration, not much has changed over the past few years. The Doctor saves the earth, aliens come to modern Britain for shenanigans, and a human or two tags along for the ride. The same can be said for Chris Chibnall’s first outing as showrunner—while he has given the show a fresh outlook, ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ is still very much the same Doctor Who we know and love. We have the monster of the week (probably the most interesting new monster we have been introduced to for a while), an English cityscape backdrop, and a Doctor who, despite her gender, holds the same quiet intensity as we have come to expect from the character.
Whittaker wins you over within a minute of her appearing on screen in this episode. She seems to borrow a lot from David Tennant when approaching the character and has an energetic, sweet charm to each of her lines. She was the perfect choice of actress for such a bold move—her likeability shines past any doubts or debate surrounding her casting. She is joined by a cast of interesting characters: Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), a young aspiring mechanic, his step-grandfather Graham (Bradley Walsh), and police officer Yaz (Mandip Gill). Having three companions is an interesting move for the show, and while not all characters are adequately developed by the end of the pilot episode (Yaz, in particular, is mostly defined by her profession), it is an interesting dynamic which will make future episodes all the more interesting.
The highlight of this episode, for me, is Chibnall’s decision to keep the story small. We do not have a world-ending event impending, we do not have a mystery-box storyline introduced to us, and we do not have a fantastical story for any of our companions (a la Amy or Clara). The characters we are introduced to are people, not plot devices, and this injects some much-needed humanity into the space-fairing show. Here, The Doctor is concerned with the single life—we see the impact of every death throughout the episode on her, and she lets the weight of every loss hang on her shoulders before she moves along. I didn’t realise how much I missed this aspect of The Doctor before it was reintroduced to me, and it bodes well for future episodes.
While Chibnall’s writing for previous Doctor Who episodes left a lot to be desired, his background in character drama has allowed the show to recapture an essential essence that seemed all but lost in the later seasons. Every life is important, no matter how insignificant to the wider universe. By beginning the show’s eleventh season with a B-story, Chibnall was able to showcase his talents in realistic dialogue and character interactions. Once we are on board with the characters (which happens pretty much immediately), the stakes no longer need to be world-ending to pack a punch, and by the end of this episode, it does.
For those of you who doubted—don’t worry. The Doctor is back, and she’s better than ever.
Leave a Reply