The (Regenerated) Doctor Who Thread: Reverse the Polarity!

[Shrive]

They killed off the wrong black person

That's true #justiceforsaladman

[Philjia]

They killed off the wrong black person

That's true #justiceforsaladman

[The Huskar Social Union]

Saladman best supporting character 2018

He was living the dream.

The dream of drunkenly tossing Salad at teeth predators before being flash freezed to death

[Platypus Bureaucracy]

Good, still liking Jodie, but still just too many damn characters.

The Tardis scene really demonstrates the problem. No one gets to have a big 'whoa it's bigger on the inside and it's a spaceship and a time machine my mind is blown ohmygod' bit, because the scene is split between four people instead of the usual two. Everyone needs to say something, so no one gets to really say anything.

Yaz obviously gets it worse than anyone else; two episodes in and all I can say about her is that she: has a fairly normal-sounding family, wants more interesting police work and is...quite nice, I guess, since she waited for Ryan at the bottom of that ladder. It's not even that she's badly-written. She's just not written. Ryan is still wooden as hell, but at least he has an existing relationship with Graham, a bit of conflict there. I also guess I'm eating my words: Bradley Walsh is the best of the new companions.

Also what the hell was that big "we're not giving up" moment? It seemed like they were all going to start working together to find a solution, but then the Tardis just turned up. So what was the point? They resolved to act, then didn't need to.

[Philjia]

Good, still liking Jodie, but still just too many damn characters.

The Tardis scene really demonstrates the problem. No one gets to have a big 'whoa it's bigger on the inside and it's a spaceship and a time machine my mind is blow ohmygod' bit, because the scene is split between four people instead of the usual two. Everyone need to say something, so no one gets to really say anything.

Yaz obviously gets it worse than anyone else; two episodes in and all I can say about her is that she: has a fairly normal-sounding family, wants more interesting police work and is...quite nice, I guess, since she waited for Ryan at the bottom of that ladder. It's not even that she's badly-written. She's just not written. Ryan is still wooden as hell, but at least he has an existing relationship with Graham, a bit of conflict there. I also guess I'm eating my words: Bradley Walsh is the best of the new companions.

Also what the hell was that big "we're not giving up" moment? It seemed like they were all going to start working together to find a solution, but then the Tardis just turned up. So what was the point? They resolved to act, then didn't need to.

Having three companions did work a couple of times, but those times were all between 1963 and 1966. In the 60s, stories were long. Really long. Stories were almost entirely over 100 minutes, with many being a staggering 150 minutes, with the three shortest stories being The Edge of Destruction, which is weird and experimental, Mission to the Unknown, which is really just a Doctorless prologue to the epic The Daleks' Master Plan, and The Rescue, which serves as an introduction for Vicki. Three companions didn't work in the Fifth Doctor's era in the 1980s, with Nyssa then Turlough being relegated to smaller roles, even though most of his stories were 100 minutes as well, and their introductions were staggered over several stories.

[Philjia]

Hang on, they took the middle eight out of the closing theme! The bounders!

[Eastfield Lodge]

Decent story, great 'monsters', loving the new TARDIS interior. But yeah, agreed that it got too cramped there with characters.

My Timeless Child prediction: it's going to be the "Crack in the Wall" of Jodie's era. Stenza probably not related to it though. A long complex arc culminating in the regeneration to the 14th Doctor. Either that or just the series finale, but I think the Stenza will primarily feaure in that.

[Astrolinium]

I thought it was okay. More detailed thoughts in the spoiler. New poll's up.

I like the Stenza as arc villains, or whatever they're shaping up to be.
Jodie is still stellar but her and Ryan especially had a bit of weird dialogue this episode. Now, a lot of Doctor Who characters have had to deal with wooden dialogue and they've made it more or less work but I don't know that Tosin Cole has the chops for it.
The moment at the end when the Doctor gave up was incredibly strange to me. It was out of place enough that my hope here is that it's setting something up, perhaps with the Doctor having been rattled by whatever this "Timeless Child" thing is, but if it's not then it'll just end up being bad writing.
Angstrom and Epso were great characters.
The episode wrapped up really weird. I don't think endings are Chibnall's strong suit. Angstrom & Epso's arcs ended... fine, I guess, for what they were, but the cloth things didn't feel like the climactic villains that I think they were supposed to be. This really ought to have been a two-parter, there wasn't time to fit in all the mystery and have the stakes actually feel like what the dialogue hyped them up to be.
She redecorated. I don't like it. The walls are actually really cool, and I like the concept of the TARDIS interior as, like, a cave with the police box projecting into it, but I don't get the big crystal pillars and a lot of the little things on the console are just... weird? Why would the TARDIS have a little TARDIS light in it? The biscuit dispenser (I think that's what it was) is neat, but the hourglass is way too on the nose for my tastes. Probably the weakest TARDIS design... I was going to say of the reboot but actually it might be the weakest of the whole 54 years, if I'm being honest.
EDIT: Some more thoughts: I like each of these companions but I do agree that so far, I'm not convinced we can get away with a TARDIS team this large with episodes this short. It looks like Yaz might get fleshed out more next week, so perhaps once that happens we'll find I'm wrong, but honestly it might have made more sense to just have Graham and Ryan along. Graham's great, he's definitely my favorite of the three.

[Philjia]

I thought it was okay. More detailed thoughts in the spoiler. New poll's up.

I like the Stenza as arc villains, or whatever they're shaping up to be.
Jodie is still stellar but her and Ryan especially had a bit of weird dialogue this episode. Now, a lot of Doctor Who characters have had to deal with wooden dialogue and they've made it more or less work but I don't know that Tosin Cole has the chops for it.
The moment at the end when the Doctor gave up was incredibly strange to me. It was out of place enough that my hope here is that it's setting something up, perhaps with the Doctor having been rattled by whatever this "Timeless Child" thing is, but if it's not then it'll just end up being bad writing.
Angstrom and Epso were great characters.
The episode wrapped up really weird. I don't think endings are Chibnall's strong suit. Angstrom & Epso's arcs ended... fine, I guess, for what they were, but the cloth things didn't feel like the climactic villains that I think they were supposed to be. This really ought to have been a two-parter, there wasn't time to fit in all the mystery and have the stakes actually feel like what the dialogue hyped them up to be.
She redecorated. I don't like it. The walls are actually really cool, and I like the concept of the TARDIS interior as, like, a cave with the police box projecting into it, but I don't get the big crystal pillars and a lot of the little things on the console are just... weird? Why would the TARDIS have a little TARDIS light in it? The biscuit dispenser (I think that's what it was) is neat, but the hourglass is way too on the nose for my tastes. Probably the weakest TARDIS design... I was going to say of the reboot but actually it might be the weakest of the whole 54 years, if I'm being honest.

It's definitely the worst New Who TARDIS, but in Classic Who it's up against the Season 14 interior. I would agree no others come close though, even the Season 9 interior with it's washing up bowl roundels.
LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS BROWN!

[Astrolinium]

I thought it was okay. More detailed thoughts in the spoiler. New poll's up.

I like the Stenza as arc villains, or whatever they're shaping up to be.
Jodie is still stellar but her and Ryan especially had a bit of weird dialogue this episode. Now, a lot of Doctor Who characters have had to deal with wooden dialogue and they've made it more or less work but I don't know that Tosin Cole has the chops for it.
The moment at the end when the Doctor gave up was incredibly strange to me. It was out of place enough that my hope here is that it's setting something up, perhaps with the Doctor having been rattled by whatever this "Timeless Child" thing is, but if it's not then it'll just end up being bad writing.
Angstrom and Epso were great characters.
The episode wrapped up really weird. I don't think endings are Chibnall's strong suit. Angstrom & Epso's arcs ended... fine, I guess, for what they were, but the cloth things didn't feel like the climactic villains that I think they were supposed to be. This really ought to have been a two-parter, there wasn't time to fit in all the mystery and have the stakes actually feel like what the dialogue hyped them up to be.
She redecorated. I don't like it. The walls are actually really cool, and I like the concept of the TARDIS interior as, like, a cave with the police box projecting into it, but I don't get the big crystal pillars and a lot of the little things on the console are just... weird? Why would the TARDIS have a little TARDIS light in it? The biscuit dispenser (I think that's what it was) is neat, but the hourglass is way too on the nose for my tastes. Probably the weakest TARDIS design... I was going to say of the reboot but actually it might be the weakest of the whole 54 years, if I'm being honest.

It's definitely the worst New Who TARDIS, but in Classic Who it's up against the Season 14 interior. I would agree no others come close though, even the Season 9 interior with it's washing up bowl roundels.
LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS BROWN!

I dunno, that's a fairly unflattering picture of Tom Baker's woody (haw haw), but I thought it at least looked sort of warm and inviting in the show itself. Sort of a precursor to the TV Movie's version, almost. This new one is just kind of like "what if Matt Smith's TARDIS tried too hard to be fun and ended up not being fun at all, with added Sheffield steel".

[Philjia]

It's definitely the worst New Who TARDIS, but in Classic Who it's up against the Season 14 interior. I would agree no others come close though, even the Season 9 interior with it's washing up bowl roundels.
LOOK AT THE GLORIOUS BROWN!

I dunno, that's a fairly unflattering picture of Tom Baker's woody (haw haw), but I thought it at least looked sort of warm and inviting in the show itself. Sort of a precursor to the TV Movie's version, almost. This new one is just kind of like "what if Matt Smith's TARDIS tried too hard to be fun and ended up not being fun at all, with added Sheffield steel".

I think on balance I'd agree that the new one is the worst, if only because the wooden one at least has an overall style, while the new one looks like it was designed by a committee who'd all been separated from each other and given entirely different design briefs.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I actually love the new TARDIS, to be honest. We still have to see it fly, and we have to see a TARDIS-heavy plot like with Smith.

I hope they don’t screw up Rosa Parks next week.

Few thoughts on the Child: could be the Master, althought that would ruin the finale of Capaldi a bit. Could be Davros, or it could be a reference to the Nightmare Child at the end of the Time War. Of course, it could be the Doctor himself too. There have been references that what we know as the first incarnation wasn’t actually the first incarantion.

[Vassenor]

I actually love the new TARDIS, to be honest. We still have to see it fly, and we have to see a TARDIS-heavy plot like with Smith.

I hope they don’t screw up Rosa Parks next week.

Few thoughts on the Child: could be the Master, althought that would ruin the finale of Capaldi a bit. Could be Davros, or it could be a reference to the Nightmare Child at the end of the Time War. Of course, it could be the Doctor himself too. There have been references that what we know as the first incarnation wasn’t actually the first incarantion.

Not sure how to gel that theory with the fact we know there's no legacy content in this season.

[Philjia]

I actually love the new TARDIS, to be honest. We still have to see it fly, and we have to see a TARDIS-heavy plot like with Smith.

I hope they don’t screw up Rosa Parks next week.

Few thoughts on the Child: could be the Master, althought that would ruin the finale of Capaldi a bit. Could be Davros, or it could be a reference to the Nightmare Child at the end of the Time War. Of course, it could be the Doctor himself too. There have been references that what we know as the first incarnation wasn’t actually the first incarantion.

It'll be some new addition to the continuity. Or a blatant rip off of the Cartmel Masterplan. One of the two

[Eastfield Lodge]

I actually love the new TARDIS, to be honest. We still have to see it fly, and we have to see a TARDIS-heavy plot like with Smith.

I hope they don’t screw up Rosa Parks next week.

Few thoughts on the Child: could be the Master, althought that would ruin the finale of Capaldi a bit. Could be Davros, or it could be a reference to the Nightmare Child at the end of the Time War. Of course, it could be the Doctor himself too. There have been references that what we know as the first incarnation wasn’t actually the first incarantion.

In before a Loki-style reveal - the Doctor is not actually from Gallifrey, but a child rescued and taken in by the Time Lords, with no memory of his/her time before Gallifrey (extra regeneration to boot just to help).

[Astrolinium]

Gonna try to actually do some more data analysis this series, since we have the polls every week anyway and might as well use them for absolute mad science. I didn't save any of the ones from previous seasons, but maybe if I'm lucky the Wayback Machine has weekly archives of this thread from Fridays. Probably not though.

Anyway, here's the final tabs for "The Woman Who Fell to Earth". In the future I'll post tables of the ratings for all episodes of the series to date so we can compare. Also gonna keep an updated table in the OP, mostly so I don't have to hunt down the incredibly-annoying-to-make code every week.

Scientific-ish Lungbarrowian Index of Ratings from Polling (SLIRP)

Episode	5	4	3	2	1	Aggregate Score
11.01 ("The Woman Who Fell to Earth")	41%	32%	24%	0%	3%	4.08

[Skylus]

I like this episode. Sad to see that there's really mixed opinions about it.
I also like the new TARDIS design, it needs more light though.

[Ameriganastan]

This episode cheated.

A reference to Venusian Akido? How can I hate an episode referencing my second favorite Doctor?

Anyhow, I liked it. Little slow until

the murderbots showed up

but they have a good repertoire, so I didn't mind.

And the Stenza aren't just gonna be one-off bad guys. That could be interesting or bad. Hope they improve the design a little next time they show up.

Good episode. Dig the new TARDIS interior.

[Nation of Quebec]

I also liked the episode and the new TARDIS design. Gives off very old-school vibes.

Honestly my biggest complaint so far is that Yas needs more screen time. They probably should have stuck with one or two companions instead of three.

Sounds like the Stenza and the Timeless Child are going to be this season's arc. Interesting to see where they go with that.

[Ameriganastan]

- Jodie is the weak link. She's just the Tenth Doctor, but without the quality of David Tennant's performance.

The Hell you say. If anything, she did something here (The hatred of guns) better than Ten. He was such an obnoxious, pretentious A-hole about that during that Sontaran two-parter. She did it way better.

[Skylus]

Another thing I have is that the title theme is realllllyyyyy short this season. Still am freaking happy they used the '63 lead though.

[Ameriganastan]

Apparently that little cookie dispenser doohickey was a surprise the prop crew put in, cause those things are Whittaker's favorite cookies. That's nice of them.

[Platypus Bureaucracy]

Apparently that little cookie dispenser doohickey was a surprise the prop crew put in, cause those things are Whittaker's favorite cookies. That's nice of them.

*biscuits.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Apparently that little cookie dispenser doohickey was a surprise the prop crew put in, cause those things are Whittaker's favorite cookies. That's nice of them.

Custard Creams, they are fucking amazing.

Not as good as Bourbons though

[Earthbound Immortal Squad]

I actually love the new TARDIS, to be honest. We still have to see it fly, and we have to see a TARDIS-heavy plot like with Smith.

I hope they don’t screw up Rosa Parks next week.

Few thoughts on the Child: could be the Master, althought that would ruin the finale of Capaldi a bit. Could be Davros, or it could be a reference to the Nightmare Child at the end of the Time War. Of course, it could be the Doctor himself too. There have been references that what we know as the first incarnation wasn’t actually the first incarantion.

What about that Rani timelord wasn't she an outcast.