The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

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Graham Kennedy
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The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

Post by Graham Kennedy »

So, one trip to BBC iPlayer later...

Overall, I liked it. Some random thoughts...

Jodie does pretty well as the Doctor. I like that they still made her a little 'disabled' after her regeneration, but I also like that they didn't go over the top with that and have her conked out for like 3/4 of the episode (I'm looking at you, Christmas Invasion!) I have to say the accent is a little bit off-putting, but I think I will get used to it. And I'm glad they resisted the temptation to ape previous regenerations - no "Oh no, I'm not ginger!" or "Oooo, new teeth" or anything like it really. Those are great and funny lines, but the joke has been done, and revisited and done differently. I'm glad they chose not to revisit it again.

Likewise, I adored Tennant's big "I'm the Doctor!" speech in Christmas Invasion, and Matt Smith's "I'm the Doctor" speech is amazing... but at the same time, I liked that they didn't give Jodie a big "I'm so awesome" speech. It seems like they constantly tried to recapture that moment with Smith's Doctor, which had the effect that it seemed like he was very boastful about himself, constantly monologuing about how dangerous he was. It got old, and I'm glad that they didn't do it here.

The tentacle ball - liked it! Creepy effect, well done.

The alien. Hmmm. A little bit "Predator" for me. But the teeth thing was a great ewwwwwww moment! I also assumed it would be two aliens fighting with Earth as the battlefield, so I was right there when she said it. And so I was glad that they twisted that and did something different instead.

And I liked that the alien was brazenly cheating on his test. Predators seem very keen on following their hunting code, and the fact that this guy was a big Cheaty McCheatface set him apart more, which is good.

I didn't like the way the DNA bombs just vanished. Yeah, I get that they wanted to pull that out as a surprise ending, which is fine, but it left me wondering when she did that - did they even have the time? I seem to recall that from the last time Bus Driver Guy complained about it onwards, there really wasn't time to do it. I guess I will have to watch it again with that in mind, but it seemed like a nit at the time. Maybe when she told it what was happening it would have been nice to throw in a little five second flashback showing her taking them out or something.

All in all it wasn't a fantastic story, but it was a pretty solid and workmanlike one.

I wondered about the number of companions. It looked like too many in the promos, and I think it is too many in the show. They've set themselves a big challenge in finding things for them all to do, every episode. I know that there have been multiple companions in the past, but remember that stories used to take anything from 3 to 6 episodes to do, so there was plenty of time to feature everyone. I'm willing to be convinced if it works in practice, but it's a concern.

Like the cliff-hangar ending, too. I've heard that they might not have the Tardis around for a while - no clue if that means it will be along next week or several episodes away or not in the season at all. I hope it shows up soon, I like having the old girl around. And I'll be intrigued to see the new interior.

All in all I'll go 8/10.
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Re: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

Yeah, 8/10 seems about right to me. And overall that's how I feel too, Graham. A really solid story. A few niggling things, but nothing too bad or too numerous.

And yeah, the whole teeth thing was very creepy. And not something I expected!
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Re: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

Post by IanKennedy »

I pretty much agree with most of that. Except she did have plenty of time to deal with the removal of the bombs. She spent at least 1/2 an hour building a sonic screwdriver. I took it that it was done as part of that. Even while they didn't even know it had happened. It fits with the timing of removing them, finding the tentacle ball and inserting them in that, He then did the upload and took them in.

Now you could say that it was cruel of her to remove them and then not tell them she had done, but that's what seemed to happen.
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Re: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

Post by RK_Striker_JK_5 »

IanKennedy wrote:I pretty much agree with most of that. Except she did have plenty of time to deal with the removal of the bombs. She spent at least 1/2 an hour building a sonic screwdriver. I took it that it was done as part of that. Even while they didn't even know it had happened. It fits with the timing of removing them, finding the tentacle ball and inserting them in that, He then did the upload and took them in.

Now you could say that it was cruel of her to remove them and then not tell them she had done, but that's what seemed to happen.
She was still having trouble remembering her name. I can believe it legit slipped her mind.
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Re: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (spoileriffic)

Post by Nutso »

Finally saw it. I like her Doctor a lot. But, I don't know if I've ever disliked any actor's performance of the Doctor.

I like the detail of the villain being a cheater to his own race's principle. Since he teleported at the end, I guess we'll see him again. Kind of interesting how it ended with accidental companions.
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