On Sunday, Jodie Whitaker debuted as the first Yorkshire doctor. It suits her.
Her take on the role thus far has been smart without being 'in-your-face arrogant genius', warm, bubbly and bright, with moments of darkness - i.e., Tim Shaw's fate. He was given a chance. But he didn't have full informed knowledge of the situation. If he'd known, what could he have done but leave?
Does that make his death avoidable?
That said, he was definitely deserving of his fate. He directly killed:
1. That Mechanic Guy Who Just Wanted His Sister
2. Salad Man
3. Granddad Perfect Never Did Anything Wrong.
4. I lose count after like, the third murder.
And plenty of people indirectly/through Tentacle Google.
So he was bad. The implications of this episode though are that his people were using Sheffield to get victims for years. And the Doctor never noticed. Because the Doctor only saves London 99% of the time.
Not anymore. The rest of the UK is brought into focus. And it's a diverse place. Ryan is canonically dyspraxic. Yaz is training as a cop. Bradley Walsh - sorry, I mean Graham - is a cancer survivor. They are characters, not emblems.
As someone whose father is undiagnosed dyspraxic, it's really neat to see that represented. My dad used to hate cycle trips with us. Because he isn't particularly good at it. He also struggles to swim. It's important representation of a disability most people haven't heard of.
Visually, the new series is cinematic. From an acting pov, it's stunning. Writing is strong too. We're on to a strong start.
I can't wait to see what's next.