The Woman who fell to Earth is the first episode of the eleventh series of the modern era and the 37th season overall. It is the first full story to feature the 13th Doctor and second overall. It is the first episode for new composer, Segun Akinola, showrunner, Chris Chibnall, executive producer, Matt Strevens and companions, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan. The episode also features the 7th design of the sonic screwdriver. This episode is the second episode of 841 not to feature the title sequence.
I'm so sorry this is so late. With Doctor Who moving to a Sunday it is very difficult for me in my busy work filled life to get a second viewing in order to give a review. A general summary before I get into the nitty gritty was that the episode was alright. What I was worried about, that is a feminist propaganda piece, did not occur, thank goodness. However I was not a fan off many, many things which will be noted below.
Doctor Rating
13th Doctor : 6/10 - I started these reviews at the start of the Capaldi era so I have all of his scores cataloged. Without going back to see this, I don't believe that he ever scored lower than an 8. Now Jodie's score is nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman. In fact, I thought the episode handled that fantastically, exactly how I wanted. I just did not think Jodie delivered the heavily Tennant-esque lines very well. Now this is her first episode so she is allowed to be rusty, but I did not like my first real taste of her. The line where she remembers that she is the Doctor should have been incredibly impactful , but sadly, for me at least, it was not.
Companion Rating
Ryan Sinclair: 6/10 - I'll start with Ryan because, for this episode at least, I believe he was the main companion. Ryan having dyspraxia (apologies for the spelling) is very interesting, but I am cautious whether Doctor Who is the right show ground for alterting audiences over the condition. I'm worried that the writers might forget that he has it in certain episodes. A friend of mine joked that Ryan learning to ride a bike might be this series' arc. Ryan gets a 6 simply because I felt he was a bit bland. This is is first appearance though, so I'm not writing him off yet!
Yasmin Khan: 7/10 - I thought Yas was probably the strongest of the 4 membered TARDIS with no TARDIS team. She seemed to have some depth to her but again she could have been a bit more developed.
Graham O'Brien: 7/10 - Graham's score is no reflection of the legendary and great actor that is Bradley Walsh. I believe Bradley played this part to perfection. The score isn't a 10 due to the fact that Graham had nothing to do really and just was a background character. I just didn't feel him
Companion Total: 20/30
Enemy Rating
Tiz-Sh'a: 7/10 - I'm not calling him Tim Shaw. I didn't like that joke. Tiz-Sh'a was quite a simplistic villain but his backstory was very original and the teeth thing developed his race well. He is also very slow, as Ryan was able to climb a crane quicker than him and he has dyspraxia and a late start!
Story Rating
Story: 6/10 - The story was very simple but that is necessary for an opening episode. I didn't like the fact that there was no title sequence, although the music that we begin to hear when the Doctor appears and what we hear in the credits was very good. I didn't think the story flowed in parts either and the battle ground on the crane was not as exciting as I think it should have been.
Scariness: 7/10 - The villain was fairly creepy
Seriousness: 6/10 - The DNA bombs were quite serious but were always put to the sidelines of the episode, which was a mistake in my opinion
Humour: 5/10 - I'm afraid I thought the jokes fell incredibly flat in this episode, in particular the Tim Shaw joke. I did laugh once though and that was the throw-away line reference to Capaldi.
Continuity: 5/10 - This episode was going to not rely on the past, and it certainly did that. Low continuity marks due to lack of title sequence and the fact that it didn't explain the TARDIS very well.
Total: 29/50
Significant Cast Rating
Grace O'Brien: 6/10 - Grace ended everything with love and was incredibly underdeveloped. The most incredible woman that Ryan described her as, was not put across in my opinion. Her death felt incredibly random and uneventful
Karl: 8/10
Ramesh Sunder: 7/10
Rahul: 7/10
Total: 28/40
Total: 90/140
Series 11 Rankings:The Woman who Fell to Earth: 64.29%
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