11.1. The Woman Who Fell To Earth

Series 11 - 2018

Writer: Chris Chibnall
Series Producer: Nikki Wilson
Director: Jamie Childs
Music: Segun Akinola

Doctor: Why are you calling me madam?
Yaz: Because you're a woman.
Doctor: Am I? Does it suit me?
Yaz: What?
Doctor: Oh, yeah! I remember. Sorry, half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman.

Synopsis

On the side of a hill outside Sheffield Ryan Synclair, his Nan Grace and her husband Graham, is once again trying to ride a bike. His dyspraxia affects his co-ordination making riding a bike difficult. Frustrated he throws the bike over a small cliff into a wood. As even draws in Graham and Grace leave to catch their train, leaving Ryan to go down into the wood to retrieve his bike, which is stuck up a tree.

Behind him he hears a noise and seesa light. When he reaches out to it the light disappears. Moments later a strange object appears. Unsure what to do Ryan calls the police. In Sheffield a trainee police officer, Yasmin "Yaz" Kahn, asks for a challenge. The operator directs her to Ryan, who, it turns out, she went to school with. After catching up Yaz offers Ryan a lift homre. On the way back they are called to a train accident.

The train that Graham and Grace are one is attacked by something, causing the train to loose all power. In the dark many passengers manage to escape before the doors lock, trapping Graham, <>, and a passenger Karl Brian Wright, inside, with a strange mass ot tentacles... and a woman who crashes through the roof.

The mass of tentacles seems very interested in Karl as Yaz and Ryan arrive. Sparks of electricity hit each person in the carriage before the mass of tentacles disappears. Yaz is keen to report the incident to the police. Unsure what to says the Doctor convinces her to wait a while until they have all the facts. The Doctor tells everyone that if they stick with her they may get answers. Karl announces that he doesn't want any anwers and leaves them.

When the Doctor asks if anyone has seen anything else unusual Rynan tells her about the object in the woods. Yaz takes them all to the wood to investigate, but the object has been taken by Rahul to a warehouse in Sheffield. Ever since his sister disappeared seven years ago he has been scanning the area for unusual events. With the object in his warehouse he sets up cameras to watch it.

The Doctor is determined to find the object. Yax uses her contacts in the police, and Graham, as an ex-bus drivers, asks his former colleagues if they have heard about it, whilst Ryan and Grace check social media for any reports. As she has chance to calm down after all the excitement after her regeneration the Doctor collapses.

Grace and Ryan take the Doctor back home. As a former nurse Grace helps as much as she can. 

Inside the warehouse, with Rahul watching, the object opens. At the same time the Doctor suddenly wakes up. Graham and Yaz have returned, and the Doctor feels something in her collar bones. Everyone has had a small DNA bomb implanted when they were on the train. Using Ryan's phone the Doctor is able to track the signals from the bombs back to the mass of tentacles.

In the warehouse Rahul watches as a creature emerges from the object. He asks it where his sister is. The creature tells him he will never know, before killing him and extracting a tooth. The Doctor and her team arrive at the warehouse in time to see the creature leaving. The creature escapes, but inside the warehouse they find the remains of Rahul. The Doctor tries to analyse the object, but she's lost her sonic screwdriver. Realising she is in a warehouse with tools she decides to build a new one.

Using her new sonic screwdiver the Doctor scans the capsule and sees it has a recall circuit, and may have travelled from over 5,000 galaxies away. As the Doctor is trying to work out how to find the creature Graham receives a call about something strange, leading them all to the mass of tentacles on top of a roof. The Doctor is able to stun the mass with electricity and scans it. The mass has been gathering intelligence for the creature. Moments later the creature returns for the mass.

The creature reveals itself as Tzim-Sha (which sounds a lot like T im Shaw) - a Stenza warrior. Its face is covered in teeth - trophies from its victims. Tzim-Sha has one hunt to go - for the human Karl Wright - before he becomes leader of the Stenza. As it part of Stenza rituals one human is randomly selected, and a Stenza warrior is given the challenge of capturing the human. It happened previously to Rahul's sister. But as the Doctor points out the hunt is supposed to be without assistance, but Tzim-Sha had been using the mass of tentacles to track Karl. In other words - cheating. Tzim-Sha transfers all the data from the mass of tentacles before teleporting off the roof.

Tzim-Sha teleports into a construction site where Karl works as a crane operator. Soon after the Doctor and her team find out where Karl works and arrive to see Tzim-Sha climbing up the outside Karl's crane. Graham and Grace are given the task of clearing the site of people, whilst the Doctor, Yaz, and Ryan, go up the ladder of a second crane - a scary prospect for Ryan due to his dyspraxia. Karl can see Tzim-Sha, and also the Doctor signalling him to leave his crane.

Karl gets to the end of his crane arm as Tzim-Sha gets to the cabin and find it empty. The Doctor tells Ryan and Yaz to swing their crane over to Karl's so he can jump across. With instructions found on the Internet Yaz works out how to control the crane. The mass of tentacles has been guarding the crane, and when it detects movement it causes a power surge which stops the crane short or Karl's. The Doctor tries to get Karl to jump. As he gets a run up Tzim-Sha grabs him in mid air and hauls him back.

The Doctor has no choice but to jump from her crane to Karls. Only her legs aren't as long as they used to be, and she only just manages to catch Karl's crane and haul herself up. The Doctor gives Tzim-Sha an ultimatum. Let Karl go or she will destroy his recall circuit that she took from his capsule. In return Tzim-Sha tells the Doctor to give him toe recall circuit or he will detonate the DNA bombs. Tzim-Sha detonates the DNA bomba, but he is affected. The Doctor had removed the bombs and implanted them to the mass of tentacles. When he transferred information he also got a physical transference - the bombs.

As Tzim-Sha is dying the Doctor throws the recall circuit to him, and Tzim-Sha activates it as Karl pushes him off the crane (which the Doctor says he had no right to do).

Unseen by the others Grace had climbed the crane to deal with mass of tentacles using a device created by the Doctor. As Graham wires it up the electricity kills the tentacles Grace loses her footing and falls. Graham comforts her as she slips away.

After the adventure the Doctor has time to recover and finally knows who she is. She also realises she is wearing the tattered clothes of her previous self and goes into Sheffield to find something more suitable. She also has to look for her TARDIS. Using equipment left behind by Tzim-Sha she is able to track the TARDIS to another planet, and construct a teleport that will get her there. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz, are there to see her off. Unfortunately the teleport field is a little bit larger than the Doctor thought, and they are caught up in it and transported... into outer space.

Regular Cast

  • Graham O'Brien: Bradley Walsh
  • Ryan Sinclair: Tosin Cole
  • Yasmin Khan: Mandip Gill

Guest Cast

  • Grace: Sharon D. Clarke
  • Tim Shaw (Tzim-Sha): 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

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 (HD) 1. The Woman Who Fell To Earth Sunday, 7 October 2018 18:45 - 19:45 10.96M 83

Click here to show repeat broadcasts on the BBC

Notes

Acting as a reboot (with new show runner Chris Chibnall) this programme does not have a title sequence.