Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Huge Questions After It Takes You Away
All the major talking points following episode nine of Jodie Whittaker's first series as Doctor Who.
Did this week’s episode take your breath away, or take you out of the moment with its turn from the horrific to the surreal?
After a series which, with a few notable exceptions, has been surprisingly run of the mill, this was the first marmite episode. One that either had viewers fully signed up to Ed Hime’s pick and mix approach to different ways of doing Doctor Who, or that had them scratching their heads at the unadulterated madness of it all.
The tone was set from the off with the Doctor tasting the soil and waxing on about a future sheep versus human conflict. Even that could not prepare us for the bizarre turn of events, after what started out as being a typical base under siege type of adventure, turned into a tale of an ancient pantheistic god who wanted a friend or two and who thought it would be nice to be a frog.
Coupled with the world’s worst dad, flesh-eating moths, and a troll whose stomach rumbles at the thought of human tragedy, this episode is one that is likely to be talked about for years to come.
10. Does The Doctor Really Have Seven Grandmothers?
We know so little about the Doctor’s family, only that she has a granddaughter called Susan, and may have had a human mother. Russell T Davies was not a fan of the latter, an idea that had been introduced in the 1996 TV Movie. Davies came up with an alternative: writing a mysterious Time Lord known only as ‘the woman in white’ into the Tenth Doctor’s finale, who for all intents and purposes was the Time Lord’s mother. Up until now, fans have had to either choose between one version of the Doctor’s mother over another, or write them both off.
This is the first time we have even heard about any of the Doctor’s grandparents, but if she does have several grandmothers, then there is nothing to stop her from having multiple mothers and fathers too. Problem solved!
In a series that has made a big deal of Graham being Ryan’s step-granddad, perhaps we ought to see the Doctor’s grandparents as playing that role in her life, without necessarily being biologically connected. What matters is that Grandma number five used to read bedtime stories to the Doctor.