Firstly, before we talk about anything else, we MUST recognize the fact that Jodie Whittaker is the very first female doctor… Holy Smokes! This is a giant moment for Doctor Who fans and television history in general. It seems odd that we are still having “first female” moments but, like Emilia Clarke (GoT’s Dany Targaryen) said, “it’s about bloody time!” This is an extremely impressive choice for the writers and, as the episode proved, it was a great path for the Doctor.   

We begin the regeneration episode initially by meeting people who we can assume are the Doctor’s new partners. I’m not so sure I liked the story about Ryan not knowing how to ride a bike, but I know it was supposed to exhibit how sweet his Nan and Graham were about it. I feel like I missed something there or maybe it was meant to be a simple story leading to a moment of perseverance and inspiration. However, the suspense soon begins and wipes away this strange beginning. 

Very quickly the drama heats up. We are in one of the first scenes of the show and there is an abrupt stop to the train ride for Nana Grace and Graham. This is where we meet our first monster! I was so shocked we were going to be introduced to the monster before the Doctor. *SPOILER ALERT* Then, at almost the exact same moment, the Doctor arrives by plunging through the roof of the train. It was such an unexpected entrance that made me incredibly excited to witness. She was completely unaware of being a woman, which lead to one of my favorite lines of the show when Yasmin, the cop, called her a she and she is slightly stunned. “Am I? Does it suit me?” Then she says, “sorry, half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman.” These lines are exactly those of the witty, hilarious Doctor and I loved it. She continued on fighting the monster and planning their precautions like a badass.  

As for the introduction to other new characters, I really enjoyed the older couple. I found Graham to be surprisingly funny with his little quips. I think Ryan and Yasmin might suit the Doctor well, and I look forward to seeing their progress together. We also see some new monsters! One of the two was exciting. The gathering coils, electric monster from one of the introductory scenes was compelling to encounter. You could not tell exactly what it was but after the Doctor explained it as “weaponized biotech” and a “semi-species” that made it that much cooler. The second monster was a Stenza, which I was not as pleased with. It was disgusting in appearance but it did not seem that scary to me. It had the habit of taking a tooth from the people it killed and putting it in his skin… WTH!? He reminded me of Jeepers Creepers but I still wasn’t that fearful of him. This might be due to the writing as the whole group (including the Doctor) stood up to it. I would have preferred more terrifying scenarios in this episode, but I understand it is only the beginning. 

Although it is the first episode, I am already completely hooked by Jodie Whittaker playing the Doctor. She pulls off that slightly arrogant, mostly charming, and totally softhearted character.  The way she asked for help from Ryan and Yasmin at the end, when she needed to rebuild her TARDIS, was almost sweet. I think we can see her being cuter than the others but still having that sharp/goofy Doctor quality. For example, the scene where she is about to pass out and tests the time it will take by checking inside her nose was played so genuinely that is was even more hilarious. After checking she states that it seems like she is going to faint in approximately 2 minutes and 19 seconds, followed up by a quick “forget the 2 minutes” and then passes out. Also the outfit sequence is funny because it is stereotypically female of her to not like anything she is trying on in the dressing room but I can also see any other Doctor doing that if they actually went shopping. We saw a couple of new pieces to a regeneration story that are not included in others as we also switched writers along with genders here. Never has a Doctor really shopped for their telltale outfit before.   

With Steven Moffat leaving and the Doctor being a female, we are in for some major changes this season but it looks like they are going to be bright and we will likely feel connected to it just the same as before. This episode was a good introduction for Jodie as the thirteenth Doctor. I cannot wait to see what her TARDIS looks like as she has to rebuild it, especially since the sonic screwdriver she built was brilliant. The ending was also remarkable the way the effects looked, but I don’t want to spoil it too much for those who may not have seen it. For the spirit and congeniality Jodie already conveys, but the lack of creativity with the enemies, I give this episode an 8 and I highly recommend old fans and newcomers check this season out as it is sure to be an exciting adventure!