I've had a busy week. Now that I have some time to spare I'd better review the latest Doctor Who episode before a new one airs tomorrow.
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First, I'll quickly list the predictions I guessed correctly about the new series' first episode starring Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor:
- Nothing
Now, I'll quickly list the predictions I guessed wrong:
- Everything
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I was sure the Doctor and the TARDIS were going to be reunited by the end of the episode. As the Doctor was saying goodbye to her new friends and standing on the makeshift teleporter I thought, "This is it. The Doctor is going back to the TARDIS!". No, it didn't happen. For some reason the teleporter transported the Doctor and the new companions to what appears to be deep space. That's the cliffhanger that should be resolved in tomorrow's episode.
I guess that's a passable way for her companions to start their adventures with the Doctor.
But what about the episode's beginning? To me honestly it seemed like it was a setup for a late 1970's episode of The Tomorrow People.
Again, I guess that is a passable way to introduce the new companions.
Photo Source: Doctor Who
Fortunately the episode began to feel more like Doctor Who when Ryan (Tosin Cole) touched a glowing dot inside a series of glowing golden lines that suddenly appeared in the air and an intergalactic Hershey's Kiss spacecraft showed up. It was revealed later in the episode that by touching the hologram-like icon Ryan was consenting for the entire planet of Earth that aliens could come and hunt a randomly chosen human.
The episode also reveals later that a character named Rahul (Amit Shah) had a sister that may have been another randomly chosen human that had been hunted seven years earlier. If that is true then seven years prior some other person must have touched a similar light that appeared in the air to give consent for the aliens to hunt on Earth.
Or maybe a bird accidentally flew into the light and gave consent for the entire planet. It doesn't seem like these alien hunters care much about who gives consent on behalf of the Earth.
Photo Source: Doctor Who
So far I've been referring to the "alien hunters" but do the alien hunters species have a name? Yes. The two aliens competing against each other are Stenza T'zim-Sha warriors that the 13th Doctor nicknamed "Tim Shaw". I Google searched the name Tim Shaw. Apparently the name refers to a British engineer who is currently hosting several science-related TV shows. According to Wikipedia Tim Shaw was also born in Sheffield, which is a nice tie-in to where this episode takes place in.
I was hoping for a lot more from this episode. Maybe my expectations were too high and that's my problem. I found the story average for modern Doctor Who. I don't have any strong opinions about the new companions yet. Jodie Whittaker is a great actress and I believe she does deserve to play the Doctor. Over more episodes I think the new cast will acclimate to the roles they are playing.
On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this episode maybe a 5 or a 6.