She’s here, she’s finally here!
After 55 years, the quintessentially British Doctor of the BBC’s “Doctor Who” has finally regenerated into a female form. And the effect is, honestly, almost beside the point, so natural is actress Jodie Whittaker (“Broadchurch”) in the role of the time-traveling, two-hearted, mischievous alien who saves the world (well, a world) every week.
(The new season premiered Sunday; episodes air at 8 p.m.)
Whittaker is so organically right for the part that her femaleness seems almost an afterthought; her character has to be reminded a couple of times throughout the episode that her gender’s changed, and her reaction is little more than gentle bemusement.
Possible bombshell: This isn’t the Doctor’s first go-round as a lady. “It’s been a long time since I bought women’s clothes!” she calls from a dressing room as she tries to figure out her new signature look, which ends up involving adorable suspenders, calf-length pants and a hooded coat that is destined to be coveted by women all over the globe: So. Many. Useful. Pockets.
Under the helm of new showrunner Chris Chibnall (the creator of “Broadchurch”), the long-running BBC show announces a different tone right from the start. It’s a wise move on Chibnall’s part: This is a series that needed some fresh blood, from its angst-ridden hero to its bombastic storylines and often dialogue-obscuring soundtrack. The premiere episode here, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth,” reminded me, more than anything, of “The X-Files,” when it was really good. It takes you back to the days when “Doctor Who” was a fun sci-fi procedural. And though the going line about this show is that it’s for children, I’m thinking this season might be a little too dark for the easily spooked ones.
In that vein, we get a plot about an alien who comes to Earth sport-hunting humans, whose teeth he wears embedded in his face as trophies (in a possible nod to the monster from the first season of SyFy’s “Channel Zero”). Aesthetically, he resembles some gleaming villain out of a Marvel movie, which makes his blokey name, Tim Shaw, even more incongruously funny. This is “Doctor Who” at its best — nerdy and chilling and quick with a joke.
And, most significantly of all, generous of spirit, a quality that simply shimmers off Whittaker. A hallmark of the show is its refusal to cast the monster-of-the-week as a villain; rather, the Doctor, in her/his infinite wisdom, tends to try to see things from the other’s point of view. And even if Tim Shaw is a tough one to defend, he’s still given a choice to head back whence he came: “Earth,” Whittaker’s Doctor tells him, “is not a hunting ground.” Even my sci-fi-resistant husband was not immune to Whittaker’s charms: He nudged me halfway through and mouthed, “I LIKE her!”
The Doctor’s newly acquired band of companions (Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole), and more generally this episode’s cast, is also notably diverse: I think I saw more nonwhite faces in this one episode than in the last three seasons combined. And speaking of broadening horizons: There are also more female directors and writers on the show this season than ever before.
No disrespect to outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat, who did great and memorable things with the series, but I can’t wait to see where the Doctor takes us this year in time, space and, yes, inclusion.