The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)

 was the first episode of series 11 of Doctor Who. Woman was widely marketed as a landmark Doctor Who episode because it was the first to star a female Doctor.

It was further notable for introducing an all-new regular cast, the largest since 1983's Terminus. It also launched a new production team under show runner Chris Chibnall. As a result, this episode had the biggest crew shift since 2010's The Eleventh Hour.

It did not include a title sequence and was the first episode of Doctor Who to have its title given at the start of the end credits. As such, viewers had to wait until the end of the episode to hear the new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme by incoming composer Segun Akinola.

Unusually, it was initially broadcast in an altered form in many markets. The first episode of the programme filmed in a 2:1, its premiere on networks like BBC America and Space was actually in the previous standard of 16:9.

Synopsis
A newly-regenerated Doctor must rally her newfound friends to defeat an alien attack upon a northern town — without the TARDIS to help her.

Plot
Ryan Sinclair is trying to ride a bicycle with his grandmother Grace and her husband Graham O'Brien, in Sheffield. Suffering from dyspraxia, he falls off. Frustrated, he throws the bike into a forest. Grace and Graham comfort him, though insist Ryan collect the bike to try again another time while they head off to the train station. As Ryan ventures to retrieve it, he sees glowing golden lines suspended in the air. He taps one and a purple coloured, plant-like entity emerges. Ryan calls the police.

Yasmin Khan, probation police officer, settles a petty dispute between two women, before calling a superior. She asks for more demanding opportunities, and after much pestering, her superior gives her Ryan's case. As she arrives, she and Ryan quickly realise that they knew each other at school. Yasmin presumes Ryan's just pulling a prank but Ryan remarks he can't even touch the entity, as it is freezing. Yasmin touches finding it burns her hand. Bewildered, she continues questioning Ryan.

Meanwhile, Grace and Graham are riding on a train with a man named Karl when there is a disturbance which causes the train to come to a screeching halt. Grace checks through the window, finding the passengers have fled the train. However, she finds the doors locked, unable to do the same. They call for Ryan and Yasmin, before being encroached by an erratic, electrified tentacle creature. Graham orders Grace and Karl to the back of the carriage but finds it locked. Before the creature can reach them, they are temporarily saved as the Doctor comes crashing down through the ceiling and electrocutes the creature with a metal pipe. She turns to them, insisting she can help however she finds her pockets empty meaning she can't use her sonic screwdriver to open the door. The creature awakens and pins down Karl, who panics. The Doctor insists he remain calm as it hasn't killed them yet so won't kill them now. Yasmin and Ryan enter the train, standing in shock at the creature. The creature scans him then sends a surge of electricity through the passengers before fleeing.

The Doctor begins to take charge of the situation only Yasmin to ask who she is. The Doctor, bewildered by the use of "she", realises she has regenerated into a female. She starts explaining such to investigate the train's driver, who died of shock. Yasmin insists the Doctor stop claiming she will call back up but the Doctor convinces her to hold off on such until they figure out exactly what the alien was.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Jodie Whittaker
 * Graham O'Brien - Bradley Walsh
 * Ryan Sinclair - Tosin Cole
 * Yasmin Khan - Mandip Gill
 * Grace - Sharon D Clarke
 * Tim Shaw - Samuel Oatley
 * Karl - Jonny Dixon
 * Rahul - Amit Shah
 * Sonia - Asha Kingsley
 * Janey - Janine Mellor
 * Ramesh Sunder - Asif Khan
 * Andy - James Thackeray
 * Dean - Philip Abiodun
 * Dennis - Stephen MacKenna
 * Gabriel - Everal A Walsh

The Doctor

 * The Doctor has recently regenerated from her twelfth incarnation.
 * Grace discovers that the Doctor has two separate pulses.
 * Recovering from her regeneration, the Doctor needs time to recuperate. Grace and Ryan see her hands and face glow with regeneration energy.
 * Before remembering her name, the Doctor states she is looking for a doctor.

TARDIS

 * The Doctor attempts to track the trail from the TARDIS, however she accidentally transports Ryan, Yasmin and Graham with her.

Technology

 * Some of the Doctor's new sonic screwdriver is made from Sheffield steel.
 * The Doctor can make a new sonic screwdriver from scrap and alien technology.
 * Rahul's keyboard was manufactured by Logitech.

Culture

 * Ryan uploads a vlog of himself talking about his late grandmother to YouTube. The video is simply titled "Hey", and his YouTube channel is called RyanS.
 * Ryan searches Twitter.
 * Grace uses Whatsapp.

Food and beverages

 * The Doctor promises they’ll all have a cuppa’ and a fried egg sandwich, the latter she admits to craving.

People

 * Graham O'Brien was once a bus driver.
 * Graham previously had cancer.
 * Yasmin Khan is a police officer.
 * Ryan Sinclair is a warehouse worker, while training to be a mechanic.
 * Ryan has dyspraxia.
 * Graham's friend Kevin tells him the location of the Gathering Coil.

Species

 * The Stenza are a warrior race and self-proclaimed conquerors of the Nine Systems.
 * The Gathering Coil is an engineered bio-tech weapon, described as a "semi-species" by the Doctor.

Biology

 * The Doctor can't remember the name of her tongue, until prompted by Ryan.
 * The Doctor uses her nose to time when she will lose consciousness.

Locations

 * The episode heavily features in Sheffield, only leaving the city for the cliffhanger.

Story notes

 * The episode doesn't feature an opening title sequence, but the new Doctor Who theme, composed by Segun Akinola, is partially played in the scene in which we are introduced to the Doctor, and then over the closing credits, which have returned to a scrolling sequence, not seen since TV: The Time of the Doctor.
 * The episode title, while at first glance appears to reference the Doctor's fall from her TARDIS, is also potentially a reference to Grace's death since the episode is framed as a story that Ryan Sinclair is telling about the greatest woman he ever knew, his grandmother Grace.
 * This is the first Doctor Who episode not to be scored by Murray Gold since the start of the revived era in 2005.
 * This is the third post-regeneration story to feature no scenes inside the TARDIS, following TV: Spearhead from Space and TV: Robot, and the first in which the TARDIS does not appear at all.
 * It is also the tenth television story in which the TARDIS does not appear, following Mission to the Unknown, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Mind of Evil, The Dæmons, The Sea Devils, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, Midnight, Heaven Sent, and The Lie of the Land.
 * This is the third TV story to not use the regular opening credits, following TV: The Day of the Doctor and TV: Sleep No More.
 * Like TV: Sleep No More, the episode title as well as the writer, producer and director credits are shown at the beginning of the end credits.
 * The end credits feature a preview of the remainder of the season, similar to TV: The Eleventh Hour and TV: The Pilot, including the names of several upcoming guest stars.
 * The initial two broadcasts on BBC America did not feature even the end credits. Viewers in America had to wait until the episode was available on demand to hear the full, new theme arrangement. Instead, BBCA ran a live "after party" celebrity analysis of the episode beginning immediately after the final scene.
 * This is the first non-special episode not to air on a Saturday since TV: Survival.

Ratings

 * 3.26 million (UK overnight)
 * 8.2 million (adjusted by BBC)

This was the highest overnight rating for a regular episode of Doctor Who in over ten years.

Filming locations

 * Sheffield, England
 * Hunter House Road - parking dispute
 * HTC plant (near Meadowhall) - construction yard
 * Cardiff - filling in for Sheffield
 * Police station, exterior - Hallamshire Police HQ
 * Roath Lock Studios

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The Doctor makes her entrance by crashing through the ceiling of the stopped train, after having been dropped from the TARDIS. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
 * The Doctor exhibits a northern English accent. She previously had one in her ninth incarnation. (TV: Rose, et al.)
 * The Doctor recalls having just been a "white-haired Scotsman", and that her TARDIS is now missing. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)
 * The Doctor emits regeneration energy while resting. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The Eleventh Hour)
 * The Doctor mentions an exploding TARDIS could be the end of the world. (TV: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang)
 * The Doctor spends almost the entire episode wearing her predecessor's clothes, similar to her eleventh incarnation. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
 * While making her sonic screwdriver, the Doctor holds up a spoon, similar to her predecessor. (TV: Robot of Sherwood, Heaven Sent, Hell Bent)
 * The Doctor previously fell from a great height and survived. (TV: Logopolis, The End of Time)
 * The Doctor once again suffers from post-regenerative memory loss (TV: Doctor Who, The Time of the Doctor) and loses consciousness because of the process. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
 * Earth has been used as a hunting ground before. (AUDIO: Moving Target, COMIC: Bloodsport)
 * The Doctor makes her own sonic screwdriver. Amy Pond once similarly created a sonic probe. (TV: The Girl Who Waited)
 * The Gathering Coil plants DNA bombs, albeit of a different design to that which afflicted John Hart. (TV: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang)
 * The Doctor admits to craving a fried egg sandwich. The Eleventh Doctor also experienced cravings after regenerating. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)

DVD releases
to be added

Blu-ray releases
to be added

Digital releases
to be added