Thoughts on tonight's Doctor Who (Spoiler warning):
The new theme tune is absolutely brilliant. I think Delia Derbyshire would have approved of it, and she didn't approve of most of them.
Several of the plot beats were very clearly telegraphed - such as Grace's death and Karl being the focus of the threat - but that's not necessarily a problem for an opening episode. The plot is generally subsidiary to the character work in a first episode, and that was all very well handled. There were plenty of signs of promise for the series going forward, though I remain somewhat hesitant regarding Chris Chibnall being the man in charge. Still, I'm optimistic at the moment.
Jodie Whittaker's performance was extremely assured and displayed nothing which would led me to believe she will be anything other than a huge success in the role. The Doctor's change of gender was generally underplayed, and quite rightly in my opinion. If you can change your body then it stands to reason that changing genders would be no big deal.
Some of the press reports have reported the 13th Doctor as being dark and brooding in her portrayal. There was nothing like that on display here, though you can never judge a Doctor based on their regeneration story; if that were the case we'd all still think of Sylvester McCoy as having been a prat-falling buffoon.
It's about time the Doctor bought a new outfit from a charity shop; makes a change from stealing them from hospitals at any rate. Strangely, though, I thought she really suited Peter Capaldi's outfit, and could have seen her wearing that had it not already been established as the Twelfth Doctor's outfit. I did really enjoy the almost Colin Baker-era reaction of the companion to her new outfit - You're not wearing that.
