Thoughts on Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 1 (Spoilers)

Tweet

Since it aired last Sunday both in the UK and in America, I assume other places as well, I figured most people who were going to watch it have already done so. I put a spoilers warning up anyway. This is the first episode to feature Jodie Whitaker as the Doctor, the first time a woman has played the role. That already made it controversial because it seemed that it was only given to a woman to be politically correct. They had already had one of their characters change sexes - the Master/Missy - and they did a lousy job of it. Sadly, that turned out to be a secondary issue. The first was that the writing was awful. The story was not interesting in the least. Also, there were some huge inconsistencies. In previous episodes it was stated that the Tardis did the translating. However the Tardis was not even on Earth in this episode yet the Doctor could converse with an alien creature she had never seen previously. When the Doctor realizes she has no sonic screwdriver, she makes what she calls a sonic Swiss army knife out of some old spoons. This is akin to an alchemist turning lead into gold. Then she declares that only idiots carry knives. Lots of people carry knives. They are a very useful tool. My last big gripe concerns the character Ryan. He's a young man who can't ride a bike because he has a problem affecting his balance. Yet his grandmother insists that he keep trying. So where do they take him to practice? At the top of a cliff. I get the feeling that Granny doesn't much like Ryan and wants him dead. It wasn't all bad. One of the new companions is a middle-aged man who has cancer but it's in remission. It will be interesting to see if they do anything with that.