Doctor Who (Spoiler/Episode discussion)

A nice opening episode and introduction for Jodie as the new Dr. I was really surprised by Bradley Walsh. I know he has been in Corrie, but when he was first mentioned for DW I wondered whether he would work as a companion in the show. After tonight, I’m actually starting to warm to him. As for the other two companions, it’s nice to see a bit of depth to these characters even after just one episdode.

As for Jodie, I thought she gave a solid performance, even if there were traces of Matt Smith at times. A big shout out for Sharon D Clarke who was brilliant in her role. I would loved to have had her as a kind of reoccurring character in the series.

The writing overall, I thought was solid enough, and certainly better than some of the previous stories that have been shown which were terrible in my opinion ( the moon as an egg episode is definitely one to forget). A promising start to the series. I loved the fact it was based in Yorkshire, it gave us some nice scenery as a backdrop.

Really enjoyed the 1st episode, Jodie Whittaker was great, can't wait to see more from her! Have to be honest this was the first episode I watched since David Tennant left!!

I haven't watched it for years but tuned in out of curiosity and loved it.

Jodie was perfect. Lovely to see such overwhelming positivity online too, instead of all the usual trolling.

Rule of thumb is that you have to give a new Doctor 3 episodes to bed in, and I’m not quite sold on JW yet - but she is miles better than Capaldi, who I actively disliked and broke up with after ep 3.

Not quite as good as Tennant (who will always be my Doctor) and Smith just yet, but I saw promising flashes of both of them in there.
I’ll be back for more next week.

I mean this was the Sharon D Clarke show really, wasn’t it? She was stunning from start to finish and to be honest I’m gutted Bradley Walsh didn’t die instead so she could go zipping through time and space with Jodie and the crew. I really like Jodie, I agree some of the dialogue was a bit preachy, I kept feeling like they were writing scenes deliberately to go in the trailers because most of her monologues did make it into a trailer or two. Tosin was very good, as was Mandip, Bradley wasn’t bad either. I’ve watched every Who episode on first transmission since 2005 (even the crap ones in 2012/13) and I have really high hopes for Chibnall’s era.

Exactly! none of them hit it pitch perfect the first night (Tennant came bloody close, because he's well, Tennant) Smith convinced me by episode 3 for sure, Capaldi I liked but never loved. 

But given it's a whole new team, not just new Doctor, it's going to take a while for it to really bed in, which is fine. Because I really feel it's only going to get better. 

Fun fact, they started filming on Halloween and the crew made a cake to look like the tentacle alien thingy! (a friend's wife works on it and I saw a picture, looked erm, questionably delish) 

I actually think that The Christmas Invasion is a belter of an episode, and only seems to improve the more I look back on it. I mean, The Doctor's in bed for half of it! How did RTD and Tennant pull that off?!

And I really enjoyed Matt Smith's first episode too. Fish fingers and custard - brilliant.

I can't actually recall Capaldi's, which is how little impact it had on me.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of the Who's, watched them with my kid when he was small. Last night it was on in the background while I did other stuff .... I know there's supposed to be brain burps in the transition but the slapping of forehead "gosh aren't I daft I can't remember my name" goings-on felt a bit "gosh aren't I a silly woman" for me. Dithering numptyness. I really hope that gets knocked on the head. Thankful the diversity has extended to a companion of age rather than the usual youngsters with Bradley Walsh - the Who's have a wide age range of fans.

Teaser of Alan Cumming in forthcoming episodes - well, just WOW on that one! I'll have to actually sit and watch.

I think my only irk with this was the missing opening titles. I missed that familiar swoop into the time vortex.
I wonder if that was just a one off for the opener?

I’m really looking forward to the more historical stories with James I and the one with the Civil rights story if I’ve guessed right based on the guest star list at the end of last nights episode as well as what I’ve read online.

I like the fact that they haven’t given too much away with the forthcoming stories (which according to the new producer is a deliberate change from previous years) means that it will be a real surprise each week as a viewer. Also its great that the producers have gone down the route of an age diverse range of companions rather than sticking with the younger ones which for me was getting a bit boring and repetitive. Hopefully they will use this to great effect over the coming weeks. My only concern is that by having so many companions is whether they will be given enough to do each week and have some character development over the series. This is where I think the new series does fall down slightly in comparison to the classic series. Because individual stories where shown over a number of weeks, it allowed the companions to have their own adventures during the stories as well as linking up with the Dr.

With respect to the theme tune, ok we only got a glimpse of it at the end credits, but I was certainly very happy with what I heard and that the familiar sound was there. I think if there was too much change, I’m sure there would be a social media meltdown. I just hope when we get the full titles next week they keep with showing the actors face during the titles. I missed that when the new series started, but was made up when they reintroduced it later on.

Forbidden Planet sent me an email today advertising a Doctor Who Barbie. It actually looks quite like the matching publicity photograph.

There isn't a Funko Pop! one yet but when there is it will no doubt look like disappointment and laziness, just like all the others in the series.