Doctor Who: The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Calling all Doctor Who fans! The Doctor is back! And she is a woman! And she is awesome!

Aaron Earls (@WardrobeDoor) has been writing fun review type posts on new episodes of Doctor Who for a while now, and earlier this year on Twitter he mentioned that he was looking for some new people to join the discussion. So Hannah Long (@HannahGraceLong), Jenna DeWitt (@Jenna_DeWitt), and I are joining the fun! 

Here is a preview of my contributions to the first post, but click on over to The Wardrobe Door to read the full post!

(And yes, there are spoilers ahead, so be sure to watch the episode first!)

*****

It’s early days yet, but what do we think of the new Doctor?

Neyhart: I already absolutely love Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor! She seems to be a fun mix of 10 (David Tennant) and 11 (Matt Smith), with her own spin of course. And I do think it is important that we are able to see those connections to previous Doctors in order to believe that we are still watching the same character in a new body.

I’ve always enjoyed watching the newly regenerated Doctor trying to acclimate to his (and now her!) new body! It really is a clever little writing convention! As the audience is trying to adjust to this new version of this character, so is the Doctor!

And when she finally remembered who she was and announced it I got goosebumps: “Bit of adrenaline, dash of outrage, and a hint of panic knitted my brain back together. I know exactly who I am … I’m the Doctor.”

This is the largest cast of characters the new show has thrown at us as a regular TARDIS team – how does that change the dynamics we’ve seen before?

Neyhart: This was a concern I had when I saw the teaser that showed us they would be introducing that many new characters. Some of us are predisposed to root for this new Doctor, we want to like her, but she’s still new.

Obviously, we need a new companion, maybe even two, but three? That seems like it might be pushing it. It was a little hard for me to get into the first episode, despite my enthusiasm for this new Doctor, and part of that was the pacing.

It just seemed like it was moving too slowly at first and taking too long to see the Doctor on the screen. And I’m sure the writers were trying to build suspense, but they also needed to tell us something about four brand new characters, which slowed things down.

That said, I really loved the dynamic between Amy Pond and Rory and the Doctor in seasons 5-7, so if this series can give us something like that again, I could definitely get on board!

We’ve had a death in the first episode. (Spoilers, sweetie) How do you feel like the change of showrunners impacted how this plot twist was handled?

Neyhart: I was very upset that they killed Grace! She was the one I liked best! I can see how her death will make Graham and Ryan feel freer to travel with the Doctor, but I’m still not happy about it! Honestly, I’d be okay if they decide to bring her back later somehow. I know some people don’t like it when the writers do that, but if I like the character enough, I don’t mind.

Part of what makes Doctor Who are the villains and monsters. What did you make of the Stenza warrior dubbed “Tim Shaw” by the Doctor?

Neyhart: Eww! No! Gross! I never like the episodes that lean towards creepy/scary. Basically, if it borders on horror at times, I don’t like those parts, and like Hannah mentioned, there was a definite horror element here. Beyond that, I don’t find this guy very interesting.

*****

Be sure to click over to The Wardrobe Door to read the full post!

The Theology of Doctor Who

I was invited to write a guest post on two of my favorite things: Theology and Doctor Who! Here is the beginning of that post. Please hop on over to Hope N. Griffin's blog to read the rest of it!

I love theology (studying/thinking about God) and I love Doctor Who. But do they go together? I say yes! My obsession with Doctor Who started a few years ago when several good friends of mine with similar sci-fi and fantasy interests fell in love with Doctor Who. I figured if they loved it so much, so would I. And I was right.

For those who don’t know, Doctor Who originally premiered on the BBC in 23 November 1963. (The very next day after C. S. Lewis died in fact. Coincidence? Or could Lewis have been the original Doctor… ;-)  The “Classic Who” era ran from 1963 until 1989, and then the Rebooted Series (sometimes called the “New Who”) launched in 2005 and is still going strong as the longest running and most successful sci-fi series in television history. The show follows the Doctor, an ancient Time Lord with the power to regenerate into a new body whenever he is mortally wounded.

As silly and fun as the show can be at times, Doctor Who has a lot of heart (no pun intended, though the Doctor himself does in fact have two hearts). Throughout the adventures in time and space, themes of love over hate, are interspersed with those of wonder and curiosity, belief and goodness. The nature of our choices and free-will are explored along with themes of war vs anti-violence. Doctor who navigates the complexities of morality in an always changing universe.

There is Christian symbolism aplenty. The series reboot is sometimes referred to as a “resurrection” and the Doctor himself experiences death and resurrection as he transforms from one incarnation to another. (I believe Lewis would appreciate this as part of the dying and rising god mythos.) ...

Please read the rest over at Hope N. Griffin's page!

Book Review: The Salvation of Doctor Who

The Salvation of Doctor Who: A Small Group Study Connecting Christ and Culture by Matt Rawle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Matt Rawle's book, The Salvation of Doctor Who, offers spiritual insights and connections between Doctor Who and the Christian faith. The book is divided into four sections, where each section focuses on a different part of Doctor Who (the T.A.R.D.I.S., the Doctor’s enemies, the nature of time, the Doctor himself, etc.) The chapters are short, intended to be read daily, in-between the meetings with the small group.

As the subtitle of the book tells you (A Small Group Study Connecting Christ and Culture), this book is meant to be used as a guide for a small group study. I’m guessing this is why I found it a bit repetitive in nature since I read it all in one sitting. I also felt like the book was a bit disjointed at times: Rawle would throw in tidbits about Doctor Who and then the next paragraph would start with a Bible verse without really any real transition. And while some of the comparisons he made were on point, others seemed like a bit of a stretch.

I also disagreed with some of Rawle’s theology, but not significantly enough that it hampered my enjoyment of the book. Overall, I don’t regret reading the book, but I probably won’t read it again.

(Thank you Netgalley and Abingdon Press for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)


View all my reviews