It’s time... First review of Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who
When Jodie Whittaker was announced as the 13th Doctor and the first female occupant of the Tardis, many fans raised their ire on social media saying that the series was now ruined, that the Doctor is a Time Lord, not a Time Lady. Having seen the first episode of this new series, it is obvious that this vocal minority are wrong. Whittaker is a breath of fresh air; a talented, emotionally engaged actress who has brought a warmth and a humanity to a show which was largely in danger of disappearing up its own black hole. From the outset, she proved to be a charismatic presence, righting alien wrongs in the gleaming metropolis of Sheffield of all places.
She also showed versatility: at one moment trying to make sense of her regeneration in a stuttering fusillade of unconnected words like a Beckett heroine; the next she was down to earth, tempting her new friends with a “cuppa and a fried egg sandwich”.
Likeable, funny, as brave as a lion, Whittaker’s Doctor has ushered in a brave new era for the 55-year-old show. In her hands, a female Time Lord feels perfectly natural. Whittaker is well served by the supporting cast; Tosin Cole as Ryan, a dyspraxic lost soul in need of a confidence boost and some adventure; sensible policewoman Yasmin (Mandip Gill) and Bradley Walsh’s Graham, a down-to-earth former bus driver who will serve as the series’ sceptic-in-chief. They are an odd bunch – but then Doctor Who has always been about celebrating the outsider, overcoming differences.
But I have reservations about this series, the first to be run by Chris Chibnall (who was responsible for Broadchurch in which Whittaker also starred). The first episode, The Woman Who Fell To Earth, felt very dark and dour. Certainly there was some humour in the dialogue, but the overall tone was too sober for a family show.
“I counted five deaths as well as some touchy-feely navel gazing about mortality and knife crime. Doctor Who’s ratings dipped in recent years and some critics have attributed that to the fiendishly clever scripts that were offered up under the show’s previous head, Steven Moffat.
Chibnall has calmed things down with some much-needed accessibility, but still something is missing.
And that is razzle-dazzle. When the show was rebooted magnificently by Russell T Davies in 2005, there was a genuine sense of wonder, of magical possibilities. Davies knew how to entice children (and the inner-child of us adults) with a series of plotlines that looked beautiful and positively thronged with adventure. Chibnall’s more thoughtful approach is not necessarily a wrong turn, but I do miss Davies’s gift for intelligent populism.
There is also a distinct lack of interest in the show’s heritage. Although Whittaker’s performance captured the essence of previous incarnations of her character, the overall effect of the show sometimes felt like a trip too far from the familiar.
The Tardis is yet to reappear and Chibnall has said, categorically, that we will not be treated to as much of a whiff of a Dalek this series. Doctor Who is a show which, in part, thrives on its heritage and it should be embraced
It has just been announced that the first episode will air at 6.45pm, nestled in between Countryfile and the Strictly results. After this compelling but austere opener, families may be in need of some light glitterball relief.
Let’s just hope that Whittaker’s chutzpah can carry us through to Christmas.
Doctor Who starts on Sunday Oct 7 on BBC One at 6.45pm
‘There was some humour in the dialogue, but the overall tone was too sober for a family show’