Doctor Who Series 11: 8 Ups & 2 Downs From 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth'

1. Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor

Jodie Whittaker. Just, Jodie Whittaker. She completely knocked it out of the park.

There is always that fear of the unknown when it comes to a new Doctor and a new showrunner, but episode one has put those fears to rest. It doesn’t mean there won’t be a duff note later in the series, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thankfully, the Doctor’s gender is not a focal point. There was that concern, since some felt her casting was ‘pandering to political correctness,’ but that ‘madam’ scene is pretty much all there is to acknowledging this new portrayal of the Doctor. Hopefully, this series won’t be chock-full of social commentary like the last one. If it’s touched upon in the same way to when The Doctor punched that bloke in Thin Ice (you know, for being racist toward Bill) and that’s kind of it, then great.

The Doctor being male was no big deal before, so why should it be any different now?

Finally, her characterisation. She has this Tennant eccentricity paired with a very diluted Matt Smith ‘look I’m being weird because I’m an ALIEN,’ which is absolutely a good thing as Doctor Eleven acting overly weird on Earth was massively grating. Jodie nails that comedic weirdness, and overall, she already looks to be a truly magnificent Doctor.