On a recent anniversary of the transmission of Rose, I took the opportunity to re-run a review of it I’d written immediately after its transmission and for a long defunct site. I think, on the whole, I got it right all those years ago, and the review stands up pretty well. (Hit the link above to see if you agree.) In a similar spirit, this is the sixth anniversary of the transmission of The Woman Who Fell To Earth, and here’s the review of that I wrote immediately after its transmission. As with the Rose piece I’ve changed nothing, only done a light copy edit. The Woman Who Fell To Earth is also one of only four Doctor Who episodes to be the #1 programme for the week so, because I like starting sub-series within series, consider this the first part of a new one, where we’ll look at little bit of each of those in turn.

“You’re my number one” - Part One

The simultaneous debut of new Doctor Jodie Whittaker and new showrunner Chris Chibnall in The Woman Who Fell To Earth constitutes the second big shift in twenty first century Doctor Who, following 2010’s The Eleventh Hour, which saw the Doctor Matt Smith and executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat succeed David Tennant and Russell T Davies respectively.

The post 2005 version of the series is a flagship series, a tent pole for BBC One, in an way twentieth century Doctor Who never really was; and now as in 2010 there’s a lot riding on the programme being able to renew its popularity and creativity between seasons through a change of behind the scenes personnel.