The series or perhaps reboot of Doctor Who with Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor had a somewhat sentimental feel to start. Jodie really had a nice balance between manic and considered for most of the time. I was most impressed by the Doctor remaking her Sonic screwdriver from scratch that was sure an inspiring scene for young female Doctor who fans.
Episode 2 was much improved and gave a better sense of how the characters develop. Although the storyline of a race challenge didn’t have a great world building theme, unless they further develop this dystopian storyline further.
But so far this is looking pretty entertaining. The new TARDIS design certainly has a more high fantasy with a bit of steam punk feel to it. Jodi as the the doctor also has a very Elvish ( Elven ) feel too.
Episode 3 Rosa was certainly quite an emotionally intense and confronting episode going back in time during a time of segregation in the US. But luckily the episode did have a few fun quirky moments making references to Banksy and describing a weird hand held device that sends letters, is a camera and is a telephone.
Episode 4, bah, it’s about spiders going mutant due to toxic waste and abandoned experiments? This is probably the weakest episode so far. The only redeeming aspect is the last scene where all the companions really choose to be with The Doctor. Now hopefully we can get on with this new Doctor Who Universe.
Episode 5, classic spaceship drama episode. I’m not really sure about the style overall. The Putain creature was weirdly cute in a sort of Futurama style. This was a kind of missed opportunity to create a Doctor Who-Aliens style episode, but perhaps the horror may have been too much.
Episode 6, another very sentimental episode this time looking at the lives and after effects of the division of India and Pakistan.
Episode 7, Kerblam! clearly a commentary on automation industry, it seems too much like what we currently know. It’s too familiar really, it may as well be set on Earth now. It really should have a more alien feel I think, the name kerblam
Episode 8, Witchfinders. A classic zombie scenario it seems like. I’m not really sure if this was pulled of quite as well as it could have.
Episode 9 It takes you away. This was one the better episodes. Almost like a classic haunted house episode. It had a much more classic Doctor Who feel. Even the cinematography was much better. It had a nice creepy factor without being too obvious. The only slightly odd thing was the sudden lack of production quality of the frog near the end
Episode 10 The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos . This was not too bad, it had a Doctor Who feel though I think there is a sense that the way the series is progressing is not as strongly as it could have been. It may be the lack stronger companions, or the possible lack of so-called chemistry. It’s almost too many people to keep track of without concentrating on world-building aspects for each episode.
The Dalek episode (Resolution) a new years special had quite a good start and the origin story of a particular kind Dalek seemed quite compelling initially. The idea of a body-snatching scenario is a classic trope but this was handled fairly well within the confines of the episode. I’m not sure about the point of Ryan’s father confrontation was worth screen time though. The dalek building itself was quite fun but it seems a missed opportunity to really try to re-imagine the design of the Dalek for this new series. The call out to UNIT organisation by the doctor seemed unnecessary given the controversy of the terminology. It has some good elements but could have been better in some ways. Note: Watched this on ABC iView.
Watching: on ABC HD Channel