The highly anticipated, recently adapted Doctor Who episode, finally starring a woman as the timelord, hit our screens.

My first initial thought after watching the new episode for the first time was – yes, this is how Doctor Who should be.

In recent years, the show has faced a few criticisms due to the choices of the same writers, bad story line and characters, but most importantly because of the seemingly lack of enthusiasm to cast a female as the Doctor in a male dominated character. I’ll admit I agreed with most of the criticisms because, to me, the show had gone downhill since I watched it as an eager child. But I didn’t necessarily agree with the feminist approach that it was sexist to only have the doctor as male. Nevertheless, I was excited to see what Jodie Whittaker, a proper Yorkshire actress, could bring to the character. I am so glad I did, as my housemates and I sat and watched it, we all commented on how good it was, and how it felt like the Doctor Who that we watched as kids, rather than the overly complex and all-round bad show it was becoming. Jodie as the Doctor was the new breath of fresh air, the new lease of life that was needed and she embodied the character completely. She may be female and is new to the role of the Doctor, but she was still completely the timelord in her own right and played the role to perfection. Thus, I am really excited to see how all of this new series goes.

As shown in the end credits, there are some amazing actors to come in the following episodes. Doctor Who is back with a bang and a bigger budget. We saw incredible shots in the countryside, a fight on two huge cranes, and just overall better quality production of the show, perhaps encouraging more younger people to become engaged in the show.

One thing that I think is strikingly missing from the show is a new title sequence at the start. A new doctor brings a new theme sequence and adapted song, and unless I missed it, we did not get that in the first episode and I really hope we get it in the episodes to come, because it is a signature element that we need. Finally, I just want to give a shout-out to the legend of ‘The Chase’ that is Bradley Walsh. All I can say is that he was as incredible as ever and he should be held as a national treasure.

Isabella Kemp

Images: [Geek Tyrant, Variety]