Review The Woman Who Fell To Earth (2018)

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Your thoughts on this story.....

In a South Yorkshire city, Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan and Graham O'Brien are about to have their lives changed forever, as a mysterious woman, unable to remember her own name, falls from the night sky.






On to the next story.....

THE GHOST MONUMENT......

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/series-11-the-ghost-monument-episode-2.5252/


Back to the previous episode....

TWICE UPON A TIME....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/twice-upon-a-time-christmas-special-2017.2961/
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Having gone to all the trouble of preparing this thread, I haven't got a bloody clue what the episode might be like. :emoji_confused:

A CASTROVALVA type story might be quite nice. But I think this story will be on present day Earth.

I have a feeling that the showmakers might take a leaf out of the Billy/Pat changeover and have Jodie meeting the Daleks straight away to reassure people that, yes, this is the Doctor folks!

I'd like to see some powerful drama too, not whimsy.

But I have a feeling that we will be getting whimsy.

It may wimp out and try to recreate the template of ROSE rather than being bold in it's execution.

Other than that, I don't really have the foggiest!. :emoji_disappointed:
 
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michaellevenson

Member: Rank 8
More than at any other time in the history of the show the minutiae of plot details of the first episode of a new Doctor are of secondary importance, the Doctor's character traits are now vital , the writers must get it right.
They must remember this is the same person as Capaldi's Doc, and Tennant, Troughton, McCoy etc. There has never been even a hint that when regeneration happens it's random as to gender the Doctor ends up as. So I hope it's written into Capaldi's demise that something totally devastating has occurred that basically has meant a total rewrite of the DNA , nothing less can explain a change of sex. But mentally it's the same person, and previously the Doctor after regeneration has been mentally fragile, so we can expect lots of weird behaviour, but that soon settles down. What I don't want to see is lines like;
" sorry , can't run so fast in these heels"
Or " Doc, where you've been? We landed ten minutes ago"
" Sorry , nail varnish not quite dry"
Anything like this and I'm switching off...probably for good.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Yes, I agree, this is an absolutely vital episode. Perhaps the most important single episode since POWER OF THE DALEKS part one.

As for the sex change....

Moffat has been weaving into the show in recent times the notion that a Time Lord can casually choose gender, as easily as changing clothes, so it can now be done on a whim. Yes, I know that we had never had any such hints like that before the Moff, but mucking around with established continuity and giving new explanations for old lore (Clara told the Doc which Tardis to nick, a gear lever is jammed which is why it makes that wheezing, groaning sound etc.) seems to be a pet hobby of his.

So he, in a sense, is the totally devastating thing that has happened. Not to the Doctor, but repeatedly to the dna of the show.

In the upcoming Christmas special, it has already been announced that the Capaldi Doctor will be horrified by the "casual sexism" of the First Doctor expecting Bill to spring clean the Tardis etc. and this is going to be a running joke of the episode.

So I reckon all the signs are in place that the Doctor will choose to be a woman simply to make some kind of point to the First Doctor or out of remorse for his past sexist ways.

A casual choice.

And not remotely dramatic.

Dialogue that I think would be unwise is stuff like....

"At last! I'm a man!" Or anything that imparts anything less than total equality or any sense that the Doctor is suddenly better off with the change. I do not think this should be about point scoring - or retribution for the perceived casual sexism of any long past Doctor - but should instead be total equality to the point where the change is not even worthy of comment on the part of the Doctor.
 

michaellevenson

Member: Rank 8
The Doctor has never been sexist as far as I can recall, and I hope you're wrong about the casual decision to change sex.
If that happens then that's me finished with the show, I'll go buy the complete Star Trek TNG box set, and watch series 4-7 which I've never seen and immerse myself in that for 2018.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I don't blame you. Yes, David Bradley who is playing the first doc again gave away some of the dialogue sprinkled throughout the Xmas special which goes along the lines of.....

BILL: (To Capaldi) Oh, it's so good to see you again! I'm so pleased to see you!

FIRST DOC: He's pleased to see you too my dear! The Tardis needs spring cleaning!

CAPALDI DOC: (Absolutely horrified.) You can't say things like that!

And this will be a running "joke" throughout the episode, the clash of attitudes between the Doctors.

So it wouldn't surprise me that that will be the excuse for the change. Point scoring against the memory of Hartnell and his perceived sexism. Not very respectful of the guy who started it all. And the publicity says that the Capaldi Doc must "face his past to decide his future". It all seems to be heading that way.

I love TNG. Even season one, which at least did some entertainingly strange things as it struggled to find it's feet! :emoji_alien:
 
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Gavin

Member: Rank 6
VIP
I expect they'll be using this episode as a "jumping on" point for new viewers similar to Rose and The Eleventh Hour. So there'll be (hopefully brief) explanations of the TARDIS, regneration, Time Lords, etc. They've got to establish the character of The Doctor as well as three new companions so there's a lot of information to be conveyed. Presuming the companions are from modern day Earth (I'd prefer somewhere/sometime else but not expecting it) it will be some sort of alien attack but I imagine that it won't be anything major, with the aliens taking a back seat to the introductions of the characters. That is, the story won't so much be "about" the alien attack, but the attack will be the plot device that drives the introduction of the characters.

I'm also interested in what the companions will be like - will they all know each other or will they be an unconnected group that get caught up in events together?
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Covertly filmed glimpses of that first episode have started appearing.......


JODIE Whittaker has been pictured filming her first scenes in Doctor Who.

The actress will take over from Peter Capaldi in playing the titular Time Lord at the end of the Christmas special and now fans are getting a look at her first scenes as the classic heroine.

She has been pictured filming in her predecessor's time-travelling outfit for her first scenes set shortly after her regeneration.

Strutting across an industrial park with her new companion Graham (Bradley Walsh), the Doctor looked on a mission - no doubt to save the world again.


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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Well, one thing's for sure.

We have not gone back to the planet Vulcan as I can't see any mercury fumes anywhere.

Or Daleks, for that matter.

That's one of my stupider theories probably shot in the head.


And, as Turlough would say.....

"Oh no, we're on Earth again!"


Three boring, suburban, modern day companions (who probably can't act very well) on stand by!


Come back JNT!

At least you gave us Nyssa (alien), Turlough (alien), Adric (alien), Tegan (Australian), Peri (American), Kamelion (Robot), Ace (modern day, but found on another planet!)

Yes, some of the above were disastrous in their realisation, but at least they were imaginative and tried to be different.

No doubt the three newbies will never show a trace of wonder at the amazing worlds they are thrown into. They will be too busy being glib. Or poorly acted. Or both.
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Okay, I am going to make a prediction...

I was baffled by the ending of the Christmas Special, with the Tardis seemingly rejecting Jodie's Doctor.

Then it occurred to me what Chibnall is up to....

It seems obvious to me now that the Tardis did, in fact, reject the new Doctor. Because the Doctor was now a woman.

I am now willing to put money on it that there will be a scene where Jodie enters the Tardis console room, which is dimly, moodily lit, perhaps still smoking with anger, and the Tardis is sulking because her beloved Doctor is no longer male. (The Tardis seems to only find males appealing. It liked Rory after all.)

The dialogue will go something like this....

DOCTOR: I know you are sulking, but, listen, I am still the Doctor. Give me a chance! It's not fair to judge me, just because I am no longer what you wanted me to be. Blah blah blah....


Thus reassuring both boys - and also the adult people whom the production team consider overgrown schoolboys - in the audience that this Doctor, this female Doctor, is still a hero worth following.

In the same way that they had Matt Smith ringing up Clara to reassure her that this new old bloke was the Doctor. Thus reassuring the audience.

The scene, I predict, will end with the Tardis stopping sulking - the lights will come up and the smoke will disappear - and to show it accepts the new Doctor, a brand new sonic screwdriver will fly out of the console, across the room, for Jodie to catch and she will break into a smile, accompanied by triumphant orchestral music.

Then off she goes back to resume her first adventure after this strange interlude/interruption.

Such an obvious ploy and it now seems clear to me that a scene, something like the above, is likely to happen.

In an attempt to address and deal with any and all naysayers by talking about the issue in the show itself.
 
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Gavin

Member: Rank 6
VIP
I am now willing to put money on it that there will be a scene where Jodie enters the Tardis console room, which is dimly, moodily lit, perhaps still smoking with anger, and the Tardis is sulking because her beloved Doctor is no longer male. (The Tardis seems to only find males appealing. It liked Rory after all.)
I really hope not. I would be incredibly insulted by such a patronising scene.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
UPDATE: What we know so far.....

The recently regenerated Doctor meets three special, but different humans, Graham, Yasmin and Ryan. As she gets to know them better, she decides to make them her new companions.

From IMDB


And they are breaking into an industrial park for some reason.

Something like that...
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
We have a title, it seems....

THE WOMAN IN BLUE

.... according to a deleted tweet.

This could be wrong, but I have changed the title of this thread for the time being at least.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
SPOILERY LONG-DISTANCE FOOTAGE:

Have posted this before elsewhere but for those who missed it....

While this may not be from episode one... it is, at least, our first glimpse of the Whittaker Doctor in action - along with her companions....



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Footage (in the form of one 52 second long scene) got leaked from this episode - and I have seen it - but the BBC are pulling it down constantly.

If I find it I will post it... while it lasts.....

The new sonic screwdriver has also been revealed/leaked.
 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Only saw it once, but the footage goes something like this.....

DOCTOR: When we met, why did you call me Madam?

YASMIN: Well... Because.... You're a woman!

DOCTOR: I am?!? (Pause.) Does it suit me?

(Doctor then trying to remember own name.)

DOCTOR: It's on the tip of my..... (Urgently points towards own open mouth.) That"!! What's that?

YASMIN: Tongue?

DOCTOR: Yes!!! That's it!

There was more after that, to do with what Yasmin's character does for a living.
 
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