I adored Jodie Whittaker's Doctor. She had that "oh, how interesting!" and "yeah, we'll need to fix that" response that I expect from my Doctor, with a sort of dry humor that worked for me (that's somewhat on the writer, but the delivery also matters a lot). She reminds me a bit of Nine, and of the New Who doctors, Nine was definitely mine.

I'm retroactively annoyed by the promos, which use all the Very Serious "I'm here to help" lines without the zany follow-ups that make them work (kind of).

The plot wasn't anything special in Doctor Who terms. The most interesting twist was that Dr Teeth was cheating on his leadership exam (at least he's still eligible to sit on the Supreme Court), but it didn't lead anywhere. Early days on Whittaker's performance. There's definite promise, but it's obviously a first ep.

They are leaning WAY WAY in on the "this is all new, hello new viewers would you like some exposition since you have never watched an episode of this show before, hey did you just tune in after a commercial break no worries we have even more explanations for you!" and I'm hoping they will stop after this episode and just get on with it.

I LURVE Jodie Whittaker, so I was pretty much all in.

I love Jodie Whitaker, and I thought it was an excellent episode for welcoming in new viewers. My Doctors are 9 and 11. 12 eventually grew on me, but it took a very long time. The new companions are okay so far, but I miss Bill. Overall, I'm happy with somewhat simpler episodes that don't scream "Look what a clever writer I am!"

Billytea, how old was Ryan when he started watching.

I really liked it. I figured I would, I've enjoyed Jodie Whittaker in past work and been charmed by her in interviews/panels, and Matt Smith was the only New Who actor that I've had difficulty buying in the role. She was more proactive, commanding, and had a bit more bite than the promos led me to believe, which is a plus—that latest one that ended with the hazy white light and soft music made it seem like the show was going to become a Touched by an Angel reboot.

New companions seemed interesting and likeable across the board, which is good. I didn't immediately love any of them like I did Amy or Bill (well, except Grace, but she was clearly too perfect a person to survive), but I'm interested in seeing more and think they'll play well off one another.

I liked the smaller scale, and the production values felt like a short feature film rather than episodic television. Maybe it was the mostly location shoot and lots of night time scenes, but it felt more real than Doctor Who usually does to me. I'm interested to see if it keeps that quality moving forward.

I did miss the TARDIS, and the title sequence. (Why wouldn't they feature the latter in the big highly publicized season premiere?)

Billytea, how old was Ryan when he started watching.

Tricky question. Ryan gradually eased into watching Doctor Who, and isn't really done yet. The first full adventure he watched was Day of the Doctor, at which time he was four years old. He did have to vacate the room at one point for reassurance cuddles.

He's progressively got better at coping with the scary stuff, but he's very cautious about that, and there are still many adventures he's not willing to watch (like Blink, Midnight or The Doctor's Wife). It's really the last year or so that he's been ok with the scare level in your typical Doctor Who, so from eight or so.

On the other hand, I was watching Doctor Who religiously from five years old at the latest.

Thanks. ltc just turned three. So maybe I'll try next year with some of the less scary episodes.

I liked the smaller scale, and the production values felt like a short feature film rather than episodic television. Maybe it was the mostly location shoot and lots of night time scenes, but it felt more real than Doctor Who usually does to me. I'm interested to see if it keeps that quality moving forward.

I found the dark feel to be a bit grim, and I'm not sure what it was in service of; but I do agree about the realism, and am pretty certain that'll continue. With Rose (and to some extent with the subsequent companions), Russell T Davies basically mashed Doctor Who with a British soap opera, with real people with a life and relationships outside of the Doctor. That was not a trick in Moffat's toolbox, his world was always more insular and turned towards the Doctor.

Last night felt like a return to having fully realised characters. Not that they're quite fully realised yet, it's been one ep and there's quite a lot of them. But they're people grounded in real relationships and having their own dramas completely outside the weirdness the Doctor brings. Per Broadchurch, it's central to what Chibnall does well, so I'm pretty certain that'll continue.

Thanks. ltc just turned three. So maybe I'll try next year with some of the less scary episodes.

I think that'll work with her. Ryan is a particularly cautious kid. I'm pretty sure ltc is going to be bolder in her Doctor Who-watching habits.

Incidentally, a couple of weekends ago Ryan had a playdate with a classmate and his younger brother (I think about seven). They both have been watching all of new Who, without skipping any episodes, and apparently are loving it. (I made the younger brother's eyes bug out when I told him I owned over 110 of the classic series adventures.)

Graham (stepdad) looked familiar, and I looked at his acting credits, couldn't place him. Then I checked the credits under "Himself" and realized I'd seen him as the host of a British game show. I would not have thought, "And next step, Doctor Who companion!"

I am glad for the new vibe, not Man Doctor and Female Companion.