"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.