End in Nigh, just one thing re the character of Ryan.
He has dyspraxia, (mentioned in the episode) Which a developmental disorder of the brain in childhood causing difficulty in activities requiring coordination and movement. So for someone who has this riding a bike is difficult. A young man that age would not want to try to do that where his mates could see. Also he is obviously trying to ride the bike to please his Grandmother, which is shown later as keeps trying. for me personally it is for once a very, "real" reaction to both a condition and grief.
End in Nigh, just one thing re the character of Ryan.
He has dyspraxia, (mentioned in the episode) Which a developmental disorder of the brain in childhood causing difficulty in activities requiring coordination and movement. So for someone who has this riding a bike is difficult. A young man that age would not want to try to do that where his mates could see. Also he is obviously trying to ride the bike to please his Grandmother, which is shown later as keeps trying. for me personally it is for once a very, "real" reaction to both a condition and grief.
Yes, I spotted the mention of the condition. However, no matter how embarrased he might be to walk at least the three miles up a hill (with supposed Sheffiled stretching out into the distance behind) pushing a bike seems too incredulous to me. Not to mention the mad dash to the train station (20 minutes away was it) for the grandparents. Also apparently abandoning the poor lad to his fate on the moors with his condition seemed a little un-joined up to me. Plus his condition seems to evapourate later in the story.
I agree it was a good idea to introduce the situation, but it seemed to be token to me.
I'm a casual viewer of Doctor Who at best, but especially as the last eight series of DW seemed to be some sort of "closed club" where dipping in and out of stories wasn't very easy because of the mythos and universe that had been created around the character, which made the world quite confusing and inaccessible to the fairweather watcher.
However, I watched the 2017 Xmas special with my elder daughter, Ava, who was at that point 4, and when the Doctor regenerated as a woman, she was delighted in a way that I didn't really anticipate. And from that moment, I knew that I would be (and would really look forward to) watching the next series with Jodie Whitaker.
First thing's first, and I'm aware I might get shouted at, but it is a children's programme, so the main criteria for me was whether or not my now 5-and-a-half year old got on with it. And by that account it was brilliant.
Jodie Whitaker oozes charisma, eccentricity and friendliness; there was no questioning that the four or five humans caught up in the storyline at the start would immediately fall in with her and follow her lead. Even though she seemed to have no idea what was going on, she had enough zap and zing to whisk them away with her and figure it out as she was going along.
The story was just the right amount of complex for Ava; a giant icy spinny-top thing, a writhing ball of electrical tentacles, a young man learning to ride his bike (which I thought was a nice touch, rooting the series immediately in the human world and showing us that, even when we pack away childish things, there are still things we might learn as children do), and a baddie who was more gross than truly scary. Tim Shaw brought a few laughs when we saw the close-ups of his tooth-encrusted face, while the scariest moment came when the Gathering Coils entered the train; and it was the suspense, the waiting, that caused Ava to plunge her head below the blanket for a few seconds. Good direction.
Yes, the deaths were rather gruesome, but all offscreen (although Ava was rather disappointed at that; I wonder if somehow we've cultivated a sort of morbid curiosity in her...?), and the Doctor's sense of fun won out.
The human characters were engaging and I think will do well. I expect (and hope) that Bradley Walsh (Bradley Walsh!!!)'s character Graham will emerge from his shell to do something heroic at some point,
to honour his fallen wife, Grace, who was the beating heart of this first episode.
(By the way, I don't buy that someone who wears his West Ham scarf quite so brazenly in the grittier parts of working class Sheffield is entirely craven), and there seems to be some sort of chemistry between Ryan and Yaz. To what end, I couldn't yet say.
Overall, it's Whitaker's show, and she looked like she was having a ball. For the first time in years, I'll be watching DW as a regular, which for me is probably the show's biggest achievement.
PS Is it wrong that I thought Jodie looked quite good in Peter Capaldi's tatty old coat, if not the oversized bovver boots?
Thought I'd watch it, mostly because I'd enjoyed the arguments in the run-up. Liked it more than I expected, with a few downsides.
Some of the dialogue was ultra-clunky. I won't spoil it. The spiel patronising any audience members who were dubious of a female Doctor whilst overtly directed at someone was the clunkiest I've heard since some dreadful lines in The Last Jedi.
Also, the Doctor in ragged men's clothes looked far better than the outfit she actually adopted. Not even Jesus could love her new wardrobe.
Storyline was simple but it was a Meet The New People episode, and the plot made sense (an improvement on 200 foot high dinosaurs I remember when I stopped watching...). Might watch the next episode.
A gripe I have is that the 'old man' played by Bradley Walsh was mostly a grumpy/reluctant sort, which is fine, then there was a jarring line out of nowhere when he attacked, er, the younger man (I can't remember any of their names...) for being dyspraxic. That's a major dick move, as the kids say, and it seemed to come out of nowhere.
Edited extra bit: forgot to mention something important.
The new Doctor's hair is delightful, but Nyssa-Vex's is even better.
Um... yeah it did. Never watched Doctor Who, never had any interest in watching Doctor Who... until it was announced the Doctor'd be a woman. So I watched it.
I liked her character and thought the ep was pretty good. The 'he has teeth in his face' line made me chuckle.
I have no idea what the Doctor meant by "fried-egg sandwich", but I'm eating one for lunch now. I can guarantee my family's traditional fried-egg sandwich is not what she meant.
Oops, I haven't watched it yet. I shouldn't really be reading this thread. People like me are the reason you need the spoiler tags. (But then again, I've looked behind all those too.)
I thought it was a good episode and I tend to like a darker edge. The amount of telling was annoying (alien saying why he was there seemed to go on forever), some aspects seemed too convenient (like where the new sonic screwdriver was made) and it was a weird place to ride a bike. There are plenty of quiet places around Sheffield at that time of day that don't involve trains and hills. If he was that bad at cycling, he could have ended up over the edge himself.
I'm not sure about Jodie Whittaker yet. Maybe that's partly the changeover from Capaldi's Doctor, which I'm not sure I knew was a thing until I read this thread (I've seen all of the modern series once). I enjoyed it more than that summary makes it seem!
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