The announcement last year that the new Doctor Who would be female has obviously made this latest fresh start more notable than the previous few. As when Steven Moffat took over in 2010, we have a new creative team and an entirely new cast but the gender switch makes this regeneration feel much more significant. The decision to make the Doctor a she has been coming for years, of course, hinted at first back in the 1980s and then the concept of Time Lords switching genders being seeded in the new version of the show, most notably with the Doctor's nemesis the Master becoming Missy during Peter Capaldi's tenure. For some, the Doctor becoming female has been a deal-breaker, some die-hards swearing off watching Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor. As for this reviewer? I actually like the concept of a female Doctor and the new energy it could bring and the advance publicity that has portrayed a more colourful, diverse and less complicated, family friendly reboot to finish off a Sunday evening. Of course, the biggest test isn't whether Jodie is any good - just watch Broadchurch, she's an astoundingly talented actress - but whether the scripts are up to scratch. It's all about the story, regardless of whether the Doctor is male, female or undecided. Chibnall's first script then has a LOT to live up to, not just brushing away the memory of the tired last years of Moffat's reign (you could almost feel the exhaustion coming out of the telly despite Capaldi being consistently brilliant) and convincing those who have lost interest in almost a decade of self-referential, timey-wimey, over-complicated fabrications but in proving those who feel a female Doctor can't work (and some even actively want this version to fail) that they're wrong. 'The Woman Who Fell to Earth' then is the single most important episode of Doctor Who since 'Rose' brought the show back in 2005.
And boy, did this feel different. We've got used to a style of Doctor Who that has evolved but stayed largely the same since 2005. From the off with the slower pace, the reduction in sitcom one-liners and the more cinematic visuals this did indeed feel like a new show. I would say it is as big a change as between The War Games and Spearhead From Space. Of course, this being Doctor Who, some things must stay the same, and this new era starts in the way that An Unearthly Child, Spearhead From Space and Rose did, introducing us to a new cast of people and have the Doctor seen through them. This time around we get a quartet of Sheffield based folks. The pick of the new friends is Tosin Cole as Ryan, a black 19 year old with dyspraxia who we meet with his gran Grace (Sharon D Clarke) and second husband Graham (Bradley Walsh) who are trying to teach him to ride a bike. When Ryan tosses his bike down a hill in frustration, he inadvertently sets in motion the plot as he activates an homing beacon that leads an alien hunter to Earth. Calling in the police, Ryan is surprised to find the young probationer that arrives is old primary school classmate Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill). This group find themselves united when a strange alien ball of what look like snakes attacks the train Graham and Grace are going home on - and then the Doctor literally falls into the story. Hats off to writer and new showrunner Chris Chibnall, after only a brief few scenes I was invested in these new characters, Ryan in particular with a disability that causes him much embarrassment and heartache. These are very easily people I can see myself wanting to spend time with, each having quickly established personalities. This felt more like the TARDIS team of 1963 rather than the dysfunctional one of 1982 and all the better for it. Some bemoan the fact that we now have four regulars but I'm looking forward to it. This feels like a proper ensemble, a reconfiguring of the show's dynamic.
That said, the show is called Doctor Who so most will focus on the lead member of this ensemble. Young, blonde and full of energy, she recalls Peter Davison to a large extent but with a dash of David Tennant's madcap delivery. Chibnall quickly gets the 'she's a woman!' issue out of the way and then it is not mentioned again. This is the Doctor, plain and simple and in most respects Whittaker was spot on. The actress has a likeable, endearing quality and this could be the most adorable version of our hero since Tennant as well. This was just as well as much of the episode was dark and industrial, the colourful nature of the advertising obviously something that will kick in next week. To be truthful, the story wasn't that special or memorable, the alien threat basically the Predator but on a budget and with locations that emphasised the drab. The new sonic might have a dash of Sheffield steel but this episode will have hardly have viewers rushing to book a weekend there. It was Whittaker's energy that kept this opener going and the quick rapport she established with her co-stars. If I did have any reservations it was that she seemed to lack a little of the authority of Tennant or Capaldi, an issue I had with Davison as well. However, for a debut I warmed to Thirteen far quicker than I did to Twelve or Nine and even Tom Baker was not the full package until The Ark in Space. Each new Doctor has a defining moment and for me it was when she jumped from one crane arm to another, risking her life to save another, exactly what I want from my hero. Chibnall seems to be positioning the show, and the Doctor, away from the more mythic quality that bled into RTD's run as it developed and which dominated Moffat's. I don't imagine we'll get any titles with 'Doctor' in them anytime soon. This is an accessible, down to earth Doctor, welcoming and inclusive. With the TARDIS still MIA and with a cliffhanger to end on as well, there was much to like and to make a viewer tune in for the next instalment and hopefully the more leisurely pace will pick up with the show back to 45 minutes. I'm not sure if the younger kids would have found this opener fast moving enough and it was not scary either, two key things the renewed show will need to prosper. However, though I had a couple of reservations, I love that I have no idea what next week's episode will be like and that the show has regenerated as much as the Doctor herself. It's a thumb's up from me.
70s Rating: ****
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