Not necessarily in modern Britain.
You can get a lot of opinions though.
Sometimes contradictory ones on the same page.
Spoilers The Woman Who Fell to Earth grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
Not necessarily in modern Britain.
You can get a lot of opinions though.
Sometimes contradictory ones on the same page.
It’s that one step removal. A Daley shoots a space colonist. Scary, exciting, far removed from real life. Someone’s nan? What if it was my nan? Keep bringing it closer to home, and pretty soon it’s just bad for kids. What of the kids who recently had a bereavement? What if their nan is ill atm? Just só the adults can go ‘ohh edgy’. The yeti on the loo in tooting beck works, because it’s a yeti on a loo. If it’s some grim thing, powerful, could be anywhere? No. Not so hot. It’s what has annoyed me since at least Deep Breath. Too much for adults in áreas it should stay kid friendly.
Interesting twist
Loved it. Story line was a bit run of the mill but the cast was great.
My only real knit is that I felt Grace was going to die from the get go. It would have been nice if they had included her in the promo material as she stuck out like a sore thumb given how close the 4 of them were connected.
Jodi was great, Walsh was a lot better than I expected especially at the memorial service.
I have gone overboard and rated it Oh, brilliant. Which it was.
My only real knit is that I felt Grace was going to die from the get go. It would have been nice if they had included her in the promo material as she stuck out like a sore thumb given how close the 4 of them were connected.
Jodi was great, Walsh was a lot better than I expected especially at the memorial service.
I have gone overboard and rated it Oh, brilliant. Which it was.
How is it bad for kids?
I'm no child psychologist, but if anything I'd say seeing someone go through the same thing would be more helpful in coming to terms with it, rather than damaging.
On the whole, enjoyable stuff. Not brilliant. Not awful. Enjoyable.
Things I didn't much like: Not a lot of plot to speak of. The pseudo-Hirogen was only mildly creepy and even less interesting (although his being a cheat was a nice touch). Quite disappointed Grace was killed off. Bland music.
Things I need to be convinced about: The companions. Okay, but nothing remarkable and the person I liked best was dead at the end of the ep.
Things I did like: Ryan didn't manage to ride his bike (brilliant and realistic). The whole notion of a companion with a disability (which going on this start will be treated respectfully). The episode looked fabulous. The Doctor building stuff from scratch. Graham's speech about Grace.
Thing I was stoked about: Whittaker is the Doctor.
When she was cast I remember saying (or agreeing with someone who said) in the corresponding thread that I wanted two things: The writing to pick up and for Whittaker's Doctor to be recognisably the Doctor. The jury will remain out on the first for some time yet; one episode is pretty much meaningless in that regard, particularly what is in effect a pilot ep for the new Doctor and companions. The second, on this evidence, is a damned good start.
I'll probably watch next week.
Things I didn't much like: Not a lot of plot to speak of. The pseudo-Hirogen was only mildly creepy and even less interesting (although his being a cheat was a nice touch). Quite disappointed Grace was killed off. Bland music.
Things I need to be convinced about: The companions. Okay, but nothing remarkable and the person I liked best was dead at the end of the ep.
Things I did like: Ryan didn't manage to ride his bike (brilliant and realistic). The whole notion of a companion with a disability (which going on this start will be treated respectfully). The episode looked fabulous. The Doctor building stuff from scratch. Graham's speech about Grace.
Thing I was stoked about: Whittaker is the Doctor.
When she was cast I remember saying (or agreeing with someone who said) in the corresponding thread that I wanted two things: The writing to pick up and for Whittaker's Doctor to be recognisably the Doctor. The jury will remain out on the first for some time yet; one episode is pretty much meaningless in that regard, particularly what is in effect a pilot ep for the new Doctor and companions. The second, on this evidence, is a damned good start.
I'll probably watch next week.
How is it bad for kids?
I'm no child psychologist, but if anything I'd say seeing someone go through the same thing would be more helpful in coming to terms with it, rather than damaging.
They aren’t going through the same thing though. You can fight a monster, you can think a figure like the Doctor can make things ok, at worst, death and loss become something that is used for entertainment, a funny para of a story. It’s like arguing watching a film with rape in must be good for rape Victims...and if you find that offensive, ask yourself, where does the line get drawn?
As I say, a big part of it is in the presentation, what purpose it serves in the story, and for who. There’s a reason ‘fantasy violence’ is deemed more suitable for audiences than ‘realistic violence’ and why how much that, and as has been mentioned, and the tension, is sustained over a period of time. Especially when little ones tend to engage more with the stories they experience, and maybe don’t have thousands of stories saved up from a longer life seeing and hearing them.
I’m no child psychologist either, but I am a parent XD
It’s a line that has got fuzzied.
Doctor Who 11.01 'The Woman Who Fell to Earth' Review
The first episode of series 11. The opening scenes, before the Doctor appears, were done rather well, efficiently introducing each of the 'new best friends' as characters. Ryan trying to deal with his problems. Graham being supportive of his wife's grandson (more on Grace below). Yas wanting more than being a beat cop who has to deal with parking rage. The progression from Ryan throwing the bike away, to finding the strange alien (egg, or device) thing, was well done. From there to the scenes on the train is a logical progression.
From her sudden appearance on the train onwards, the Doctor is much like her previous selves, taking charge and wanting to solve the issue that is threatening the Earth (or just the population of Sheffield). “When people need help, I never refuse,” is very apt. Her memory problems are consistent with previous post-regeneration stories (e,g. Castrovalva, the TV Movie, Deep Breath). Her building of the new sonic multipurpose device from Sheffield steel was done very well also. Also consistent with aspects of previous Doctors.
The concept of the Hunter is not new in Science Fiction (I haven't seen any Predator movies, but I was reminded of the Hirogen from Star Trek: Voyager), nor is the concept of taking teeth as trophies (last seen in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), but this depiction was unique enough. The Doctor's way of opposing him was consistent with previous Doctor's but with her own quirks. However the real kicker is with Grace sacrificing herself to take out the creature the toothyNotHirogen was hunting.
The concluding portion of the episodes, with the Doctor getting to know her new best friends was a cherry on the cake, especially with her attending Grace's funeral and comforting Ryan when his dad doesn't come. The cinematography of the concluding shot of the four after they are teleported was an efficient conclusion. 9.5/10.
From her sudden appearance on the train onwards, the Doctor is much like her previous selves, taking charge and wanting to solve the issue that is threatening the Earth (or just the population of Sheffield). “When people need help, I never refuse,” is very apt. Her memory problems are consistent with previous post-regeneration stories (e,g. Castrovalva, the TV Movie, Deep Breath). Her building of the new sonic multipurpose device from Sheffield steel was done very well also. Also consistent with aspects of previous Doctors.
The concept of the Hunter is not new in Science Fiction (I haven't seen any Predator movies, but I was reminded of the Hirogen from Star Trek: Voyager), nor is the concept of taking teeth as trophies (last seen in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), but this depiction was unique enough. The Doctor's way of opposing him was consistent with previous Doctor's but with her own quirks. However the real kicker is with Grace sacrificing herself to take out the creature the toothyNotHirogen was hunting.
The concluding portion of the episodes, with the Doctor getting to know her new best friends was a cherry on the cake, especially with her attending Grace's funeral and comforting Ryan when his dad doesn't come. The cinematography of the concluding shot of the four after they are teleported was an efficient conclusion. 9.5/10.
I completely disagree with pretty much everything you said. I know you Brits have that "stiff upper lip" shit going on, but that's just crap, and ultimately more damaging than anything that was or can ever be shown on a TV screen. Emotions, especially those of grief and loss, should be dealt with and sheltering kids from dealing with them only creates adults unable to cope with emotions.
Death of a grandparent is something that everyone has to go through, and quite often when one's still a child, so I strongly disagree that this is in any way content unsuitable for children, especially if it's done like it was done in this episode, with enough screentime given for characters to grieve their loss.
I haven’t seen the episode. And I agree dealing with it is important. I just do t think a TV program that’s supposed to be a bit escapist is the place to do it.
Well..what´s the alternative? You can´t have X in the story because it might trigger Y because of Z, and you can`t have A because it might trigger B because of C...and you leave it out...with what kind of story do you end up with if you leave out everything that could trigger or "be bad" for somebody? You end up with no story at all.
Those kids just get WAY to protected these days anyway. We change fairytales and stuff to make it more suitable, I was asked to play a scary character less scary once.."because of the kids..."... I used to be scared or depressed about TV and movies all the time as kid...but guess what...I didn´t grow up a psychopath. I just learned to deal with it. Learning to deal with stuff like that is part of growing up....pampering and disneyfing everything won´t help.
And no...I`m not advocating showing Texas Chain Saw Massacre to 6 year olds or anything like that...
As I said, you work out Who your audience is likely to be, and cut your cloth accordingly. Future space soldier getting hit by a negative quantel filter, even if they have a name or character development of some kind, is very different to a person that your audience is going to identify with themselves in some way. Not many six year olds know futuristic space colonist soldiers...what with living in the present, I can safely go with none of them do....but almost every six year old has a nan. If your older audience wants more edge, more character development in characters who won’t live to the end credits, more darkness, then stick the show on BBC 3 or after the watershed. Every creator needs to think about their intended audience, and you know what? Sometimes that means making a choice about what you show. If the twenty somethings are your market, make the show for them. Don’t fudge with some kids heads because you want to take a family show and stick some extra corners on it.
As I say, I haven’t seen the episode, but I have seen plenty of Who, and know it’s a misstep it’s made before. (The eighties Dalek episodes are great for adults. Terrible for kids. Most of Baker The Seconds run is genuinely too dark for an under ten, which is probably how I ended up watching a lot of The A Team.) So pick the audience and the time slot.
On the whole "nan dying" thing. I think it's good when it's done appropriately, with people mourning and overcoming their loss and all that stuff. I thought that was the case with Grace (although I'd hope that the other characters still deal with her death in the upcoming episodes). What I didn't like was the death of the random grandfather at the construction site, where we just learned that this guy is really nice to his granddaughter and then gets killed and has his teeth ripped out without ever being mentioned again. That was handled... Less well, IMO.
Well, for me, it’s not the death, my kid knows about death. Its not how close the character is to a real person. It’s the image of the creature that I know he wouldn’t like. He was more scared of the Wampa in Empire Strikes Back than anything else.
Again, YMMV. Still, a solid episode and looking forward to the series. A nice change of pace.
I haven’t seen it yet, precisely because I haven’t had the chance because it’s not suitable to watch with little one. So, it might be watched later after bedtime. To be fair, it’s been like this since capaldis first episode.
Unfortunately I was bored. The episode seemed to drag scenes out like on the crane for example. It could have had more tempo. So far this Doctor is tame, less quirky than the others. I hope future episodes pick things up more.
I'm disappointed there are no returning villains from the show's 40 year history.
I'm disappointed there are no returning villains from the show's 40 year history.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode and Jodie quite a bit. The companions (so far) felt more like the one-off groups from Planet Of The Dead, or Midnight. Nothing against them, maybe it's been so long since there were 3 companions, it'll take getting used to the different dynamic.
So no love for the first 15 years?
So no love for the first 15 years?
They're probably referring to the fact that the show was off the air for about 15 years between 1989 & 2005, save for one movie. So it really is more like 40 years in two non-consecutive blocks.