The debut episode of a new Doctor is
always an exciting event for Doctor Who,
as the series is reborn in a new form just like its protagonist.
There is always a mix of excitement about the changes that are
coming, nervousness about whether they can live up to the show's long
and storied past, and a bit of mourning for the previous Doctor who
will be missed. And there is always a sense that the show can be
anything, and could change in drastic ways. Doctor Who has
completely reinvented itself several times throughout the last 55
years during its title character's regenerations, and the beauty of
the series that has allowed it to last so long is that it always
manages to both become something new and exciting, and to remain
somehow quintessentially Doctor Who.
The premiere of series 11 is without a doubt one of those complete
reinventions; the biggest of them since the series first got its
bigger-budgeted, modernized revival in 2005. Of course, most notably
this marks the first time that the Doctor has regenerated as a woman:
not only a landmark moment for the series, but a very appropriate and
important choice for the cultural moment that we are in, when a
strong woman protagonist righting wrongs and fighting injustice is
(forgive the pun) just what the Doctor ordered. But that isn't all:
this is also the debut of a new showrunner who must make the series
his own after the long yet divisive tenure of Steven Moffat. So, with
such big changes both in front of and behind the camera, how does The
Woman Who Fell To Earth do at
kicking off a new era for the 37-season-and-more saga of the Doctor?
In short, very well indeed.
After
eleven previous regeneration episodes, Doctor Who knows
how to tell this story, and in his first episode as showrunner writer
Chris Chibnall sticks to what works, while applying both his own
personality and that of new Doctor Jodie Whittaker to that framework.
This is the same basic introducing-the-new-Doctor framework that was
perfected when Third Doctor Jon Pertwee took over from Second Doctor
Patrick Troughton back in 1970, and while various introductory
episodes have tried different approaches with varying results, this
is pretty conclusively the perfect way to soft-reboot the series into
a new era, largely because it is basically a skeleton constructed for
the personality of the new Doctor and new companions to inhabit. It
works like this: knowing that viewers are going to miss the Doctor
whom they've known for the last few seasons and will take some time
to warm up to the replacement, the premiere doesn't start from the
perspective of the new Doctor, but through the eyes of the new human
companions who we initially get to know as audience-identification
characters. Then we are able to get to know the new Doctor at the
same time our freshly-established supporting characters do,
facilitating a less jarring transition to the new character while
also giving the new Doctor a solid group with whom to develop their
own chemistry and personality. This generally happens against the
backdrop of a not-too-elaborate alien invasion plot which is strong
enough to be solid introductory story, but simple enough to leave the
script time to focus on the characters and interpersonal dynamics,
who are the real show. It works well as an adventure, but works even
better as a showcase for the new Doctor-companion ensemble, as we get
our first taste of what this era has in store. This certainly isn't
intended as a criticism, suggesting that these introductory episodes
are too similar; far from it. After 55 years (on and off) of Doctor
Who existing as a sci-fi saga,
it has simply figured out the perfect way to build a new world and
establish a new central cast while easing the viewer into the reality
that yes, this is different than what we are used to, but yes, it is
also definitely the series that we love. It's an archetypal
storytelling method which allows the writer to showcase what they're
going to bring to the table in terms of character, wit, atmosphere,
and personality. Sure, it generally means that a new Doctor's first
episode won't have the greatest story in the world in a standalone
sense, but it also means that the new Doctor will get plenty of
opportunities to make an impression and show us why they are worthy
of the name.
Jodie
Whittaker certainly does that: after a gradual set-up that first
introduces us to her soon-to-be-companions (chiefly Tosin Cole and
Mandip Gill), she quite literally drops onto the scene with a series
of brilliant moments that really show us why she was a great choice
in the role. As the first woman to play the Doctor, it should be no
surprise that she is bringing an energy and a presence to the role
that is very much her own, but she is also very clearly the Doctor,
right from the start. There are instantly recognizable (but not
overpowering) personality traits like the manic, excitable speech
patterns of David Tennant and Tom Baker, and the
awe-struck, sensitive whimsy of Matt Smith and Peter Davison; she
clearly has drawn from the well of the various ways that the Doctor
has been played in the past, so we get that sense of a through-line
of personality connecting the regenerations. And of course, just as
instantly recognizable is the core philosophy of kindness, optimism,
and humanism that always defines the Doctor. Yet she is also very
much making the role her own, bringing a unique energy that never
feels derivative of past Doctors despite being in some ways informed
by them, and she takes full advantage of the fact that, as the first
woman to play the Doctor, she has great freedom to figure out exactly
how the Doctor would be as a woman. But beyond all of that analysis
and talk of Doctor Who lore,
she is also just extremely fun and charismatic as the Doctor,
striking that wonderful balance of adventurousness and humor that
defines the character at his or her best. While her vision of the
Doctor is certainly still forming (as the character herself says),
she is already excellent in the role. Her companions are off to a
strong start as well: while the usually large number of characters in
this episode doesn't allow us to get to know any of them too well
yet, they make a very strong first impression, with Cole and Gill
having strong chemistry both with Whittaker and with each other. It
seems pretty clear that they will be a very strong TARDIS team.
The
script features some pretty excellent speeches from Whittaker's
Thirteenth Doctor which speak to the nature of the show itself. Her
soliloquies about evolving into new versions of yourself and choosing
what sort of person you want to become absolutely seem to address the
ways in which the power of the series lies in its ability to change
into new, bold, and interesting things, and seems to refute the
sexist bashing that her casting received from certain corners of the
fandom. These words from the mouth of the Doctor herself remind us
that change has always been at the core of the show, and that the
Doctor should be the sort of hero that her particular time needs; and
right now, with this new season premiering just a day after Brett
Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, and in the midst of
the ongoing reckoning of the Me Too movement, the hero that our time
needs is definitely a woman. This first episode will make those of us
who have been eagerly awaiting her debut cheer, and also is more than
purely Doctor Who enough
to convince any skeptics that her casting was definitely the right
call. And while it will take something a bit more narratively unique
than the classic, archetypal regeneration story for us to really see
what Chris Chibnall has in him as showrunner, the first impression
that he gives is quite positive as well. The Woman Who Fell
To Earth is a very strong debut
for what appears to be a promising era of Doctor Who
featuring an excellent new Doctor. I can't wait to see what Chibnall
and Whittaker can accomplish now that they have introduced
themselves; next Sunday cannot come soon enough.Score:
- Christopher S. Jordan
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