"I’ll be fine. In the end."

Jasmin: Hold on there, madam. I need you to do as I say. This could be a potential crime scene.
The Doctor: Why are you calling me “madam”?
Yasmin: Because… you’re a woman.
The Doctor: Am I? Does it suit me?
Yasmin: What?
The Doctor: Oh yeah! I remember. Sorry. Half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman.

The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Doctor Who

On Sunday, October 7th, the long anticipated moment finally arrived: the debut of the new Doctor, as portrayed by Jodie Whittaker.

I wish I'd enjoyed it more.

It's a reaction that has very little to do with Ms. Whittaker's performance, but rather the material that she's given to work with. After all, this wasn't just her debut as the new Doctor, but also the first episode with Chris Chibnall at the helm as the new showrunner - and in this case, as scriptwriter.

 

And that's really my problem with the first episode, I just didn't like the script. The story is somewhat confusing and held together with the thinnest of plot threads, without ever really taking off as the adventure it's clearly supposed to be.  Admittedly, some of the regeneration episodes have had less than brilliant plots in the past: the new Doctor's first appearance is often more of a character study than a fully featured narrative, intended to showcase the changes caused by the Doctor's rebirth.

Previous first episodes for new Doctors have always given the new actor a definitive moment in which they establish themselves in their new role: Christopher Eccleston's speech about being able to feel the motion of the planet as it travels through the cosmos; David Tennant's rant about not knowing who he is, followed by an object lesson regarding the kind of person he has become; Matt Smith's decision to "put on a show" (one of the better regeneration episodes, in my opinion); and Peter Capaldi's musings about his regeneration and where the new faces come from - not to mention the poignant exchange at the end of the episode when he says to Clara, "You can't see me, can you. You look at me and you can't see me."

 

Unfortunately, Jodie Whittaker never really seems to get that moment.  Regardless, I'm impressed by her take on her new role. She's bold, sincere, confident, determined, and definitely in charge, in spite of her post-regeneration confusion - all good traits for the Doctor - but I felt that it was more her performance than the script that was driving my perception of the new Doctor.

The new companions provide adequate foils for the new Doctor's struggle to embrace her new self, although I'm curious to see how things work out for all of them in the long term.  As the first episode clearly demonstrates, it's not a safe lifestyle choice - collaborating with the Doctor can have fatal consequences.

All that said, I'm going to give the new creative team some rope, with the possibility that the Doctor's development will be a bit slower and more nuanced than past regenerations.  Really, I'm just going to trust the Doctor's explanation:

"Right now, I’m a stranger to myself. There’s echoes of who I was and a sort of call towards who I am. And I have to hold my nerve and trust all these new instincts. Shape myself towards them. I’ll be fine. In the end. Hopefully. I have to be. Because you guys need help. ‘Cause there’s one thing I’m certain of, when people need help, I never refuse.

"Right. This is going to be fun!"

Let's all hope so.

- Sid

P.S. The good news is that this was the most watched episode of Doctor Who since the first 2005 Christopher Eccleston reboot episode. It will be interesting to see if the momentum continues as the season moves onward, or whether it was just the curiousity value of the new female Doctor.  As per the standard joke, time will tell.
 

Honeymoon 11: Vignettes

And, to finish up the Honeymoon series, some random moments from the trip:

"I'm Batspud..."

Our tour bus mascot from Ireland:  Batspud - not the hero our tour needs, but the hero it deserves.

"The Cliffs of Insanity!"

Well, actually the Cliffs of Moher, located in Ireland's County Clare, but these are also the cliffs featured in The Princess Bride for the scenes where Westley, in his role as the Dread Pirate Roberts, is pursuing the kidnapped Buttercup, only to be faced by the deadly swordsman Inigo Montoya when he finally reaches the top.  Good thing that he's not left handed...

“Please look after this bear.”

As part of our time in London, Karli wanted to visit the Paddington Store at Paddington Station, in order to purchase - you guessed it - a Paddington Bear.  I was originally just along for the ride, but I fell prey to my own worst habits and picked up the first Paddington book for a read while Karli was comparing ursine price breaks.  As such, not only did I end up paying for her bear, but I also bought a copy of A Bear Called Paddington for myself:  not my usual thing, but call it a tribute to Fantasy's younger sibling, Make-Believe - and after all, to quote Mrs. Brown, “It's nice having a bear about the house.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve bought women’s clothes.”

Having been unable to find exactly my size when Doctor Who t-shirt shopping in London, we were pleased to see that our AirBnB was just across the river from the Dublin Forbidden Planet International location.  Which, as it turned out, had next to ZERO Doctor Who inventory - it's hard not to wonder if it's politically motivated, it was clearly evident over the course of our time there that the Republic of Ireland is a long way from forgetting its history with England. (But, really, who are they punishing here?)

“When in doubt, go to the library.”

The Long Room at the Trinity College Library in Dublin - in spite of rumours, not used as a set for any of the Harry Potter movies, but a magical place nonetheless if you're in any way a lover of the printed word.  

“Fhtagn?"

 

A somewhat Cthulhoid piece of art in Dingle.  EVERYTHING that I've read on the topic says that it's a bad idea to ask the inhabitants of an isolated seaside village about their enigmatic tentacle statue, especially if you're going to spend the night...

“Doctor Bruce Banner, changed by gamma rays..."

Dublin, Disney Store, Hulk.  Questions?

And, of course, books.

As always, I bought books whenever the opportunity allowed.  In addition to the purchases in Paris, London and Dublin that I've already mentioned, shout outs to Notting Hill Comics in the Portobello Market for Robert Holdstock's Eye Among the Blind, a battered copy of Willy Ley's classic 1958 book Satellites, Rockets and Outer Space, and Murray Leinster's The Brain Stealers, and to the Apple Bookstore in York, for A Storm of Wings by M. John Harrison.  (Which I thought I already owned - and do, as it turns out - but I couldn't take the chance of being wrong.)

- Sid

Honeymoon 10: Nod

'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'

 - Oscar Wilde

We were wandering around Dublin a bit this morning after breakfast, and stumbled across The Gutter Bookshop, a small independent book outlet located in the Old City near Temple Bar.  

As opposed to Forbidden Planet, its single-bookcase science fiction and fantasy section made for a quick browse. Nod just happened to catch my eye, and I ended up buying it - after all, it's hard not to be curious about a post-apocalyptic novel set in the city where you live.

 

- Sid

Honeymoon 9: The Charm of Making

 

We're in Ireland now for the second week of our trip - is it just me, or does even the most banal statement in Gaelic resonate with the sound of Merlin the magician summoning the great dragon?

- Sid