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[initial reactions] Doctor Who 11x01 - The Woman Who Fell to Earth
Overall, I liked it! Except for one thing , and I’ll go over the one thing in the section I’ll call: Oh Chibnall, No!
1) I like the Friends/Companions! And I think I kind of get why they are being called friends. It’s because Yaz, Ryan, and Graham do start of that way. They’re actually in the same vein as Bill Potts was. Twelve got to know Bill before the Doctor invited to mentor Bill. Instantly, I find myself liking Yaz and Grace.
Ryan’s still a bit rough but I can see the Doctor looking at both Ryan and Yaz and unconsciously adopting them.
BTW, it’s so strange to think that Ryan and Yaz are the same age as Rose was when the Doctor first met Rose.
2) I’ve recently come off of Torchwood, and one thing I hadn’t expected to notice about Chibnall’s Who is that it felt more Torchwood! I didn’t know what I was expecting, more Broadchurch, maybe?
3) The music is a lot more ambient (is that the word?) which is something to get used to, I got used to Murray Gold’s very in your face ‘FEEEEEEEEEEL THIS NOW’ music, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just Segun Akinola’s musical sensibilities are a lot different.
4) One thing I also noticed, Moffat’s brand of wit and sense of humor really seeps into his scripts and into his Who. I admit, I kind of miss that, Chiball’s a more serious writer I think. And more... Classic Who style of writer.
5) Okay, I danced around it enough let’s talk Thirteen!
OMGILOVEHERALREADYILOVEHERALOT!AL;KDJFL;AJDFKJALDJFL;AJDFLKJADLFJ!
Jodie Whittaker got it. She is the Doctor, a temporarily amnesiac, still in the process of cooking, Doctor.
Also, I know Chibnall said this is a recruiting year and that new viewers didn’t need to know all the previous history of Doctor Who. He’s right, of course but there are easter eggs and presents for long time fans too!
Since Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor I’ve now started to consider that the previous experience of a Doctor informs the next Doctor in the regeneration and I feel that it holds true with the Doctor’s transition from the Twelfth to the Thirteenth. Twelve made sure that this time around, all his hard fought lessons will keep and from the word ‘brilliant’, Thirteen is exactly as Twelve wished his next regeneration would be.
I know that there are a lot of people who say Thirteen had shades of Eleven and Ten, and it’s partly that but for me too I see an unbroken line from Twelve to Thirteen and in fact the moment Thirteen turns around and questions Yasmin’s skepticism the Doctor had shades of Twelve.
I was initially worried that Thirteen won’t have the Doctor’s penchant for anger, and I am so glad to be proven wrong!
Thirteen might be a ball of energy and charm (and boy does Whittaker pull it off!) underneath that is an undercurrent of anger. Thirteen seems ready to scrap with any being out to hurt other people; where initially in series 8 Twelve was a live nerve of emotions suppressed with an armor of seeming indifference, Thirteen felt like her easy grin can fall away in the face of her righteous fury.
(Also, I just wanted to mention there seems to be a lot of moments where Jodie Whittaker looks like she’s freezing!)
Thirteen, much like Twelve before her, isn’t enamored by grand titles by others and for herself. Grandeur, as Paul Cornell mentioned in a recent podcast, always seem to sit poorly on the Doctor’s shoulders so the way Thirteen says ‘she’s just a Traveler’ felt so good and real because the Doctor’s finally achieved what they’ve been trying to do since she was Eleven: go back to the basics.
I don’t know if it’s just me but does anyone else feel a sort of Second Doctor vibe with Thirteen? Especially when Thirteen answered Ryan and Yaz’s question about dealing with her grief. Her answer felt like an echo of what the Second Doctor told Victoria (one of the very few good things from Tomb of the Cybermen).
Post-regeneration and Tim Shaw (the irreverence! I love it!) kept Thirteen in Sheffield but I wasn’t surprised when Thirteen showed signs of wanting to move on.
Thirteen has no intention of staying in one place especially when she spent most of her Twelfth regeneration staying put. Thirteen’s determination to find the TARDIS tripled to the point that she’s opting to use unfamiliar and dangerous technology to find her TARDIS.
6) Thirteen’s description of undergoing regeneration, every cell in their body burning and fizzing. The matter a fact way she stated it, even though it sounds like the most horrific thing. I can’t help but remember the Day of the Doctor novelization and its description of regeneration, that it’s like walking into an inferno and a hurricane and the person who walks out the other side is another person. But I like Chibnall’s addition here: that the Doctor was still the same person, but there are new instincts too to the new person they come out as.
And now for the things I did not like:
- This is going to be a bit unpopular but I didn’t like the direction of the episode, I could blame the script for some of the slow downs but most of the time I feel like it’s actually how a scene was shot that gets me. I.e.:
The first time the Doctor confronts Tim Shaw and instead of doing a wide shot we see a really tight shot to Tim Shaw’s face or the moment on the crane where Thirteen pats herself down to find the switch, it should be funny except I felt like the camera should have pulled back a bit to sell the funny moment.
- Oh Chibnall No: What was that with Grace?! There was no call to kill Grace! There must be a twist here somewhere! Because between Grace and Graham I know who I want Thirteen to bring along with her!
I am both mad and disappointed Chibs.
Because what a way to mar an otherwise lovely episode! I hope the other writers step up and take Chris by the shoulders and shake him when he’s on the way of writing something like what happened with Grace: No, mate. No.
--
Sorry if it's rambling, really late here and I'm really sleepy!
1) I like the Friends/Companions! And I think I kind of get why they are being called friends. It’s because Yaz, Ryan, and Graham do start of that way. They’re actually in the same vein as Bill Potts was. Twelve got to know Bill before the Doctor invited to mentor Bill. Instantly, I find myself liking Yaz and Grace.
Ryan’s still a bit rough but I can see the Doctor looking at both Ryan and Yaz and unconsciously adopting them.
BTW, it’s so strange to think that Ryan and Yaz are the same age as Rose was when the Doctor first met Rose.
2) I’ve recently come off of Torchwood, and one thing I hadn’t expected to notice about Chibnall’s Who is that it felt more Torchwood! I didn’t know what I was expecting, more Broadchurch, maybe?
3) The music is a lot more ambient (is that the word?) which is something to get used to, I got used to Murray Gold’s very in your face ‘FEEEEEEEEEEL THIS NOW’ music, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s just Segun Akinola’s musical sensibilities are a lot different.
4) One thing I also noticed, Moffat’s brand of wit and sense of humor really seeps into his scripts and into his Who. I admit, I kind of miss that, Chiball’s a more serious writer I think. And more... Classic Who style of writer.
5) Okay, I danced around it enough let’s talk Thirteen!
OMGILOVEHERALREADYILOVEHERALOT!AL;KDJFL;AJDFKJALDJFL;AJDFLKJADLFJ!
Jodie Whittaker got it. She is the Doctor, a temporarily amnesiac, still in the process of cooking, Doctor.
Also, I know Chibnall said this is a recruiting year and that new viewers didn’t need to know all the previous history of Doctor Who. He’s right, of course but there are easter eggs and presents for long time fans too!
Since Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor I’ve now started to consider that the previous experience of a Doctor informs the next Doctor in the regeneration and I feel that it holds true with the Doctor’s transition from the Twelfth to the Thirteenth. Twelve made sure that this time around, all his hard fought lessons will keep and from the word ‘brilliant’, Thirteen is exactly as Twelve wished his next regeneration would be.
I know that there are a lot of people who say Thirteen had shades of Eleven and Ten, and it’s partly that but for me too I see an unbroken line from Twelve to Thirteen and in fact the moment Thirteen turns around and questions Yasmin’s skepticism the Doctor had shades of Twelve.
I was initially worried that Thirteen won’t have the Doctor’s penchant for anger, and I am so glad to be proven wrong!
Thirteen might be a ball of energy and charm (and boy does Whittaker pull it off!) underneath that is an undercurrent of anger. Thirteen seems ready to scrap with any being out to hurt other people; where initially in series 8 Twelve was a live nerve of emotions suppressed with an armor of seeming indifference, Thirteen felt like her easy grin can fall away in the face of her righteous fury.
(Also, I just wanted to mention there seems to be a lot of moments where Jodie Whittaker looks like she’s freezing!)
Thirteen, much like Twelve before her, isn’t enamored by grand titles by others and for herself. Grandeur, as Paul Cornell mentioned in a recent podcast, always seem to sit poorly on the Doctor’s shoulders so the way Thirteen says ‘she’s just a Traveler’ felt so good and real because the Doctor’s finally achieved what they’ve been trying to do since she was Eleven: go back to the basics.
I don’t know if it’s just me but does anyone else feel a sort of Second Doctor vibe with Thirteen? Especially when Thirteen answered Ryan and Yaz’s question about dealing with her grief. Her answer felt like an echo of what the Second Doctor told Victoria (one of the very few good things from Tomb of the Cybermen).
Post-regeneration and Tim Shaw (the irreverence! I love it!) kept Thirteen in Sheffield but I wasn’t surprised when Thirteen showed signs of wanting to move on.
Thirteen has no intention of staying in one place especially when she spent most of her Twelfth regeneration staying put. Thirteen’s determination to find the TARDIS tripled to the point that she’s opting to use unfamiliar and dangerous technology to find her TARDIS.
6) Thirteen’s description of undergoing regeneration, every cell in their body burning and fizzing. The matter a fact way she stated it, even though it sounds like the most horrific thing. I can’t help but remember the Day of the Doctor novelization and its description of regeneration, that it’s like walking into an inferno and a hurricane and the person who walks out the other side is another person. But I like Chibnall’s addition here: that the Doctor was still the same person, but there are new instincts too to the new person they come out as.
And now for the things I did not like:
- This is going to be a bit unpopular but I didn’t like the direction of the episode, I could blame the script for some of the slow downs but most of the time I feel like it’s actually how a scene was shot that gets me. I.e.:
The first time the Doctor confronts Tim Shaw and instead of doing a wide shot we see a really tight shot to Tim Shaw’s face or the moment on the crane where Thirteen pats herself down to find the switch, it should be funny except I felt like the camera should have pulled back a bit to sell the funny moment.
- Oh Chibnall No: What was that with Grace?! There was no call to kill Grace! There must be a twist here somewhere! Because between Grace and Graham I know who I want Thirteen to bring along with her!
I am both mad and disappointed Chibs.
Because what a way to mar an otherwise lovely episode! I hope the other writers step up and take Chris by the shoulders and shake him when he’s on the way of writing something like what happened with Grace: No, mate. No.
--
Sorry if it's rambling, really late here and I'm really sleepy!
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(*waves* HELLO!)