Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (2018) - Review

Doctor Who rocketed onto our television screens last night after (yet another) eighteen month hiatus with...a guy trying to ride a bike. Chris Chibnall's opening episode, 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth', is filled with subtle, small-scale character moments like this. Ryan talking about "the greatest woman [he's] ever met"; Graham's heartfelt speech at the funeral; Grace recognising Yaz from Ryan's school ("hello Ryan's nan!"); and the Doctor's little speech about her family near the end. Amongst all the alien shenanigans you expect from Doctor Who, there are these smaller moments built on character in a way I haven't really seen the show do for a long time.

Whilst Bill and Nardole were unique and likable characters, neither of them had character arcs, while Clara's character arcs never felt fully-formed or were contradicted at the last second. Even Amy's character journey seemed to have concluded by the end of Series 5, while Rory's continued on for a little longer, and River Song...oh, River Song. How I wish you were handled better. Oh well.

Under Chris Chibnall's reign as showrunner though, we are introduced to characters fully-formed, believable and flawed. Ryan is trying to conquer his dyspraxia (and the episode never beats you over the head with it), Yaz wants to do more as a police officer and feels held back, while Graham's too scared and over-protective; he's aware of how precious life is, and how short it is.

The only "flawless" character is possibly Grace, who spurs everyone on after the Doctor and helps where she can. Naturally, Chibnall decided that she was the character to kill-off. Assuming that this isn't undone (after all, this is Doctor Who), Grace's death was quite a shocking and heartfelt way to end the episode. It doesn't drag the mood of the episode down, but it adds weight to the proceedings, and demonstrates the danger present in being with the Doctor - reiterated with the cliffhanger ending. Steven Moffat's Doctor Who always found ways of avoiding death, so much so that I half-expected Grace to suddenly wake up after her fall, but Chris Chibnall seemed to use this moment to demonstrate that yes, there are consequences to Doctor Who now. Characters are going to develop, and they are at risk of death. I don't think Ryan, Yaz and Graham need to die, but I think killing Grace was a good way of bringing stakes and emotion to the series moving forward.

And then of course we have the monster-of-the-week, credited as Tim Shaw. I didn't really like Shaw at all. His character seemed to be very much that of the Predator, his look that of a Power Rangers villain, and his voice seemed strangely un-threatening. I quite liked that his ideal trophy was a tooth (a strangely original concept for a Doctor Who monster), but as a villain I never really found him threatening, or even too believable. The costume looked terrible, despite the make-up work, and really served to remind me that yes, Doctor Who has a budget. Sadly. That being said, the squiggly drone monster (no idea what to call it) was a really great idea, realised spectacularly well. Initially I was incredibly pleased to see such a strange creature, not just a guy in a suit with a load of prosthetics on. Imagine that. I'm not 100% sure how they created the drone creature, but I see that as a good thing - it makes it easier to believe.

From a production standpoint, 'The Woman Who Lived' is a stunning episode of Doctor Who. The cinematography looked gorgeous, now shot in 2:1, with some really strong colour tones. I am seriously curious as to whether the BBC shot the series in 4K (especially now that they've started releasing 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays), but it is worth complimenting Jamie Childs' directing here. He does a cracking job right from the start, and the final few shots demonstrate some pretty magnificent work from the visual effects team. Segun Akinola's score is subtle, haunting and brilliant throughout, while his new rendition of the theme tune is to die for. Amazing work.

But, let's save the best 'till last - Jodie Whittaker. The Thirteen Doctor. What. An. Entrance. Jodie just instantly becomes the Doctor as soon as she appears in the episode, and despite her erratic moments, she really dives into the role. I almost completely forgot she was wearing Peter Capaldi's costume for the episode until she gets her new clothes (which, for the record, have already become iconic), and her new sonic screwdriver is...not as good, but Jodie sells it pretty spectacularly. To be honest, our new Doctor is just great, and the series doesn't even draw attention to the gender-change, which I (personally) think was the best way to handle it.

Overall, 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth' is a triumphant, if flawed return from Doctor Who. The pacing was a little strange at points and the "coming soon" teaser was very bizarre, but the cast really shined throughout this episode. Sure, the villain was a bit rubbish, but the Doctor and her new friends were all...oh, what's the word? Ah yes! Brilliant. 8/10

Comments

  1. Congratulations Pete Messum Reviews. I have nominated you for the Geek Hut Doctor Who Blogger Award.

    This award is for the best blogs created by fans of Doctor Who. Please visit the webpage to get your award badge.

    https://geekhut.space/the-geek-hut-sci-fi-blogger-award/doctor-who-blogger-award-2/

    We only request that you nominate 3-5 Doctor Who blogs that you think deserve to be added to the list of bloggers worthy of attention.

    Add these to a blog post with a link to the awards page and some information about your blog. We will then link to the nominated blogs from our site.

    Thank you for your work offering great Doctor Who content over the years.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Movie Review

Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022) - Review

Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks (1985) - BFI Event Review