The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)
The Woman Who Fell to Earth was the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who. It was written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Jamie Childs, and introduced Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, Bradley Walsh as Graham O'Brien, Tosin Cole as Ryan Sinclair and Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan.
The episode was a landmark in Doctor Who history as it starred the first ever female Doctor. This was also the first episode of Doctor Who under Chris Chibnall, who took over from Steven Moffat as show runner. As a result, this episode also marked the biggest crew shift since 2010's The Eleventh Hour.
Though The Woman Who Fell to Earth did not include a title sequence on broadcast, it featured a new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme, by Segun Akinola, in its closing credits. The musical score of Akinola features throughout, marking the departure of long-standing composer, Murray Gold.
Synopsis
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Plot
Ryan Sinclair is learning to ride a bicycle with his grandmother Grace and her husband Graham O'Brien, in Sheffield. He becomes frustrated and throws the bike into a forest. As he ventures to retrieve it, he sees glowing golden lines suspended in the air. He taps one and a purple coloured, plant-like entity emerges. Ryan calls the police.
Yasmin Khan, probation police officer, settles a petty dispute, before calling a superior. She asks for more demanding opportunities, and after much pestering, her superior gives her Ryan's case. As she arrives, she and Ryan quickly realise that they knew each other at school. They touch the entity, which burns them.
Meanwhile, Grace and Graham are riding on a train with a man named Karl, there is a disturbance which causes the train to come to a screeching halt, they call for Ryan and Yasmin, before being encroached by an erratic, electrified tentacle creature. They are temporarily saved as the Doctor comes crashing down through the ceiling and electrocutes the creature. It awakens and sends a surge of electricity through the passengers, before fleeing.
The Doctor is questioned by Yasmin, but continues to investigate the train's driver, who died of shock.
Cast
- The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
- Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
- Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
- Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
- Grace - Sharon D Clarke
- Tim Shaw - Samuel Oatley
- Karl - Jonny Dixon
- Rahul - Amit Shah
- Sonia - Asha Kingsley
- Janey - Janine Mellor
- Ramesh Sunder - Asif Khan
- Andy - James Thackeray
- Dean - Philip Abiodun
- Dennis - Stephen MacKenna
- Gabriel - Everal A Walsh
Crew
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References
The Doctor
- The Doctor has recently regenerated from her twelfth incarnation.
- Grace discovers that the Doctor has two separate pulses.
- Before remembering her name, the Doctor states she is looking for a doctor.
TARDIS
The TARDIS is not seen in this episode. The Doctor attempts to track the trail from the TARDIS , however she accidentally transports Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan and Graham O'Brien with her.
Technology
- Some of the Doctor's new sonic screwdriver is made from Sheffield steel.
- Rahul's keyboard was manufactured by Logitech.
Culture
- Ryan uploads a vlog of himself talking about his late grandmother to YouTube. The video is simply titled "Hey", and his YouTube channel is called RyanS.
- Ryan searches Twitter.
- Grace uses Whatsapp.
Music
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Food and beverages
- The Doctor promises they’ll all have a cuppa’ and a fried egg sandwich, the latter she admits to craving.
People
- Graham O'Brien was once a bus driver.
- Graham previously had cancer.
- Yasmin Khan is a police officer.
- Ryan Sinclair is a warehouse worker, while training to be a mechanic.
- Ryan has dyspraxia.
- Graham's friend Kevin tells him the location of the Gathering Coil.
Species
- Stenza, a warrior race and self-proclaimed conquerors of the Nine Systems.
- Gathering Coil, an engineered bio-tech weapon, described as a "semi-species" by the Thirteenth Doctor.
Biology
- The Doctor can't remember the name of her tounge, until prompted by Ryan.
Locations
- The episode is heavily featured in Sheffield, only leaving the city for the cliffhanger.
Story notes
- The episode doesn't feature an opening title sequence, but the new Doctor Who theme, composed by Segun Akinola, is partially played in the scene in which we are introduced to the Doctor, and then over the closing credits, which have returned to a scrolling sequence, not seen since TV: The Time of the Doctor.
- This is the first Doctor Who episode not to be scored by Murray Gold since the start of the revived era in 2005.
- This is the third post-regeneration story to feature no scenes inside the TARDIS, following TV: Spearhead from Space and TV: Robot, and the first in which the TARDIS does not appear at all.
- It is also the tenth television story in which the TARDIS does not appear, following Mission to the Unknown, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Mind of Evil, The Dæmons, The Sea Devils, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Midnight, Heaven Sent, and The Lie of the Land.
- This is the third TV story to not use the regular opening credits, following TV: The Day of the Doctor and TV: Sleep No More[disputed statement].
- Like TV: Sleep No More, the episode title as well as the writer, producer and director credits are shown at the beginning of the end credits.
- The end credits feature a preview of the remainder of the season, similar to TV: The Eleventh Hour and TV: The Pilot, including the names of several upcoming guest stars.
- This is the first non-special episode not to air on a Saturday since TV: Survival.
Ratings
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Filming locations
Production errors
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Continuity
- The Doctor makes her entrance by crashing through the ceiling of the stopped train, after having been dropped from the TARDIS. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
- The Doctor exhibits a northern English accent. She previously had one in her ninth incarnation. (TV: Rose, et al.)
- The Doctor recalls having just been a "white-haired Scotsman", and that her TARDIS is now missing. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
- The Doctor emits regeneration energy while resting. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The Eleventh Hour)
- The Doctor previously fell from a great height and survived. (TV: Logopolis, The End of Time)
- The Doctor once again suffers from post-regenerative memory loss (TV: Doctor Who, The Time of the Doctor) and loses consciousness because of the process. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
- Earth had been used as a hunting ground before. (AUDIO: Moving Target, COMIC: Bloodsport)
- The Doctor makes her own sonic screwdriver. Amy Pond once similarly created a sonic probe. (TV: The Girl Who Waited)
- The Gathering Coil plants DNA bombs, albeit of a different design to that which afflicted John Hart. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)
- The Doctor admits to craving a fried egg sandwich. The Eleventh Doctor also experienced cravings after regenerating. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
Home video releases
DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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Digital releases
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External links
- Official The Woman Who Fell to Earth page on the Doctor Who website
