Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth (11x01)

New Doctor! New show-runner! Something to get excited about!

Cons:

One of the new companions, Ryan, starts off the episode making a video blog about the most amazing woman he's ever met. He starts the story with how his grandmother was helping him ride a bike, and then tells the whole adventure with the Doctor and aliens and all that. In the end, his grandmother Grace ends up dying trying to help save the day. Turns out, the video diary was about Grace, not about the Doctor, as we are led to assume at first. Only, it's such an obvious subversion of expectations that it came across juuuust a little bit cheesy. I felt emotional when Grace died, but something about Ryan's words pushed it too far into campy territory for me.

I'm sure this will come with time, but thus far I'm not getting much of a read on Yasmin, or "Yas", as a character. This story really was about Ryan, Grace, and Graham, and their family dynamics, which is totally fine and lovely. So Yas, who will round out the trio with Ryan and Graham, felt a bit one-dimensional to me in this particular episode. All we know about her is that she's a new cop who wants more excitement. Maybe we don't need to know more than that right away, and it is of course a little unfair to make a judgment based only on the first episode. I'm sure I'll learn all about her in time!

As thrilled as I am to be moving away from all things Moffat, this episode contained a remarkable lack of connection to anything that came before it. No companions, no setting, no nothing. The most we got was the Doctor making a few little remarks about how she used to be a Scotsman, and that her legs used to be longer, that sort of thing. These "soft reboots" that we get when there's a new doctor and new companions all at the same time, can be a good way to reinvigorate the show. But they can also make it difficult to find the coherence in these stories.

Pros:

Honestly, though, this episode was just lovely. The first thing I really noticed was how simple and Doctor Who-like the plot was. The Doctor finds herself abruptly thrust into a strange situation, with a couple of odd alien sightings, some scared yet brave humans, wacky humor, and a somber yet hopeful ending. It feels like just the "back to basics" story we desperately needed to untangle ourselves from the mess of recent years. It wasn't an episode destined to be remembered for anything other than a new Doctor's first appearance, but maybe that's okay.

Jodie Whittaker is doing a great job. She's funny, but not too whimsical. She's recognizably the Doctor, a person who always helps when people need it, but she's not a "bad-ass" in the traditional sense of the word. She's afraid of the alien threat enough to run away when things look bad, but she'll stand between the danger and her new human friends too. She's charming, and clever, and willing to role her sleeves up and do what needs to be done.

I could see how some people might think this episode was a little tame, but I rather liked the simplicity, as I mentioned above. It lent itself to some hilarious moments, like the Doctor being unable to understand the alien introducing himself, so she ends up calling him "Tim Shaw" for the rest of the episode. There isn't some big alien invasion, just a single dude on a hunt. The wackiest that this episode gets is that the target of the alien's hunt is a crane operator, so the climax takes place up high on precarious beams. I also liked the dude who was being targeted by the alien. He obviously has some self esteem issues, but he uses motivational tapes to remind himself that he is special and valued. I liked that little quirk.

Appropriately for this premiere, things don't get too serious or dark, until the end, when Grace falls to her death. Her passing is a catalyst that brings Graham and Ryan into a new chapter of their lives. Obviously the Doctor's arrival is part of that big change as well. We see that this step-grandfather and step-grandson relationship isn't on the firmest footing, so one of the journeys of this season will be to see if Grace's death can bring these two closer together as they go on adventures with their new friend.

I also enjoyed the hints we're seeing of the Doctor's lasting principles. She tries to give "Tim Shaw" a chance to redeem himself and make the right choice, and when that doesn't work, she still plans only on returning him home, not killing him. His would-be victim actually attempts to kill him by pushing him off of the crane, but he teleports away before he can fall to his death. The Doctor tells the man: "you had no right to do that." It reminded me a bit of the 10th Doctor's first episode, when humans made a choice to kill an alien threat instead of letting them leave, and the Doctor expressed his displeasure at that choice. Here, obviously it was a much smaller, more muted example, but it's good to know that some key character traits are consistent throughout.

I'm really encouraged by what I've just seen in this premiere. It was a muted, simple episode, but it did what it needed to do. It served as a spring-board for a new Doctor. We got to see her heart and her comedy and her principles. As we move forward, I'm sure the stories will be more adventurous, and the companions will become more well-rounded and interesting.

8/10