“The Woman Who Fell to Earth” – Teasers Explained
Clint Hassell reveals the answers to last week’s hints and teasers for Series 11, episode 1 “The Woman Who Fell to Earth.”
SPOILERS FOLLOW…!
- 1. The episode contains a gut punch of a twist that has been public knowledge for a while now.
The previously announced episode title refers not to the Doctor, as expected, but to Grace. - 2. Ryan is to Graham as Susan is to One.
Graham is Ryan’s (step)grandfather. - 3. Ryan and Graham aren’t the only two new companions with a history.
Ryan and Yasmin attended primary school together. - 4. I kept thinking “That’s a Hershey’s Kiss!” making a bit of the episode unintentionally funny.
“Tim Shaw”’s alien craft is significantly less threatening when it is shaped like the iconic Hershey’s Kiss, making it appear to be made of chocolate on the inside. - 5. When we first encounter her, Yasmin is wearing the same outfit that Amy Pond was when she met Eleven.
Both are wearing a police officer’s uniform, when they first appear. - 6. Though the episode contains no opening credit sequence, we do hear a bit of the theme, as the Doctor is first introduced.
- 7. “Oh! I hate empty pockets!”
– The Doctor - 8. “That’s exciting. No, not ‘exciting.’ What do I mean? ‘Worrying.’”
– The Doctor - 9. A curious facet of the Doctor’s binary circulatory system, subtly hinted at in “Smith and Jones,” is directly referenced: the Doctor has two ******.
The Doctor has two pulses. In “Smith and Jones,” Martha is alerted to the fact that the Doctor is an alien when she hears two pulses in her stethoscope, but wisely remains silent on the matter. - 10. I honestly don’t remember the character’s name, but he’s basically Fox Mulder.
Fox Mulder is a leading character in The X-Files franchise. When he was a boy, Fox’s sister was seemingly abducted by aliens. Mulder became obsessed with learning the truth of her disappearance. Sounds like a guest character from this episode, no? (Incidentally, that character’s name was named “Rahul.”) - 11. “IF I DIE CLICK HERE”
Ryan and Yasmin find a video file with this title on Rahul’s computer. - 12. The Doctor briefly wields her weapon of choice from “Robot of Sherwood.”
She holds a spoon aloft, while building her new sonic screwdriver. - 13. Despite what you’ve been told, the sonic screwdriver doesn’t appear. It’s a sonic ***** **** *****, now.
It’s a sonic Swiss Army knife, now. - 14. I do not want to know how long it takes Tim Shaw to brush and floss before going to bed.
“Tim Shaw” embeds a tooth from each of his victims in his face, as a trophy. - 15. Yes, per tradition, Thirteen wears the previous Doctor’s outfit for the majority of the episode.
- 16. There is a poignant reference to Four’s death.
A sign at the base of the crane warns of the “danger of death” for climbing on the metal framework (see pic below). The Fourth Doctor died after falling from the framework of the Pharos Project radio telescope. - 17. “bit of adrenaline, dash of outrage, and a hint of panic”
The Doctor claims that these are the things that “knitted [her] brain back together,” post-regeneration. - 18. There are two times when the episode is intentionally misleading about which character is being referenced. Both will break your heart.
In addition to the episode’s title, Ryan’s initial webcast references a woman who is “smart, funny, caring, special . . . proper special.” Again, this is not the Doctor, as expected, but his grandmother, Grace. - 19. 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, The Lie of the Land, The Woman Who Fell to Earth.
These are the only Doctor Who stories in which the TARDIS does not appear. - 20. At least one of Chibnall’s claims about Series 11 appears to not be entirely true.
Chibnall claimed that Series 11 would consist of ten standalone episodes, but the episode’s cliffhanger indicates that there will be a bit more continuity than expected.
