And so it begins again. Matt Smith makes his first full appearance in The Eleventh Hour, the season 5 premiere of Doctor Who. Smith is the eleventh actor to play the role of the Doctor in the long running series and the youngest. A fact that has caused a lot of comment among certain sections of the press and fandom.
As a fan for several decades I’m passed the point where a regeneration has me worried if the show will “ever be the same again”. It’s always worked out so far. But a new Doctor does raise a lot of curiosity about what else will change in the series. So I approached this episode with a great deal of hope and a little concern. Advance comments from the UK were almost entirely positive so my hopes were raised higher and higher. Could an episode of Doctor Who possibly live up to them?
Yes, yes it could. The plot of Eleventh Hour is not particularly strong, but as an episode it’s wonderful. Ever since Doctor Who returned they’ve had a problem with the episodes that introduce the new Doctor. They’re too short. Something has to give. In this case Steven Moffat decided that it was more important to properly establish the Doctor and his new companion Amy Pond rather then spend a long time developing the threat. I’d say he made the right decision.
It’s neither the aliens or the plot were what made this episode. Rather it was Matt Smith’s new Doctor offering a combination of enthusiasm, quirkiness and joy. This is a new Doctor and we see neither the battle weariness of the 9th or the loneliness of the 10th. Reborn he cannot wait to jump straight into the next adventure.
The other key element in this story is Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan. Moffat spends a lot of time and effort making the viewer care about Amy Pond even before she becomes the Doctor’s latest companion. I don’t believe this particular angle has been used before and I liked it. I’m also optimistic based on this first outing that we’ll have a companion who is both competent and independent without being combative. Her interactions with the Doctor were effective at progressing the story without sounding foolish.
Stylistically things were the same yet different. The directorial style was a little sharper than I am used to seeing, the new look TARDIS was wonderfully steam punk. Nothing radically new here, but a refinement to the successful formula. One completely new element was seeing something from the Doctor’s point of view. It worked well this time, but I can see it getting very annoying if they do it on a regular basis.
And while the production was generally slick, I have to say that the opening sequence looked a bit cheesy and Prisoner 0′s special effects weren’t great. But I’m nit picking.
The reality is that I sat and enjoyed every moment of this show. Early on I laughed at the Doctor’s antics and then was completely sucked in as it slowly shifted to a darker, more urgent tone.
Related articles by Zemanta
- First Impressions of the 11th Doctor Who (entertainment.slashdot.org)
- Doctor Who Eleventh Hour – oSeat (atomiurl.com)
- Matt Smith’s racy first episode as Doctor Who (telegraph.co.uk)
- Doctor Who: Matt Smith’s debut in The Eleventh Hour – the verdict (guardian.co.uk)
- ‘Doctor Who’ Showrunner On The Season Premiere, Weeping Angels, And Why Old … (atomiurl.com)
- Viewers think new Doctor Who is ‘too sexy’ (telegraph.co.uk)
- Doctor Who Review – The Eleventh Hour: Matt Smith’s Debut Story (atomiurl.com)
- Millions tune into new Doctor Who (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Series Five of Doctor Who – The Eleventh Hour (aimosi.blogspot.com)
- Tour the new TARDIS video, with production designer Edward Thomas (scyfilove.com)
- Doctor Who The Eleventh Hour review (SPOILERS) (scyfilove.com)
All the reviews I've read so far of The Eleventh Hour peg it as absolutely brilliant, but really, I have to give it a “meh.”
The “meh” is more a reflection on the writing in the first episode rather than Matt Smith's portrayal of The Doctor, which was quite good, I thought.
********SPOILER ALERT*************
The entire opening sequence of having a little girl completely alone in a house through the night with a strange, adult man who appeared out of nowhere – a bit creepy. Yes, WE know he's The Doctor and would never harm her, but in these days and times, I found the portrayal of that a bit irresponsible on Moffat's part.
I also have to disagree with the reviewer's assertion that in Amy Pond “we’ll have a companion who is both competent and independent without being combative. Her interactions with the Doctor were effective at progressing the story without sounding foolish.”
I spent most of the episode thinking that the writing for Amy Pond's character seemed to deliberately encompass every frustrating tv and movie cliche about 'silly women'. The only thing missing was Amy Pond tripping over her own feet and falling during a chase. The Doctor screams at her not to go through the door. She goes through the door, and not for the purpose of saving him, or for any urgent assistance to him. She just goes through the door because she's… curious. The Doctor informs her they have 20 minutes to save the world. She wasted what felt like a good 5 minutes of it locking him to a car asking him who he was, when she'd already met him and had spent her entire childhood drawing pictures of him.
The character seems to operate on one cylinder: precociousness. At a half-hour in, I was longing for a sighting of the sensible Rose, Martha or Donna. One thing I did like, though, is that down the road, it seems this companion may have an intriguing secret of her own.
Matt Smith did handle all the pressure quite wonderfully, but I do hope in future episodes his Doctor will be allowed to find some serious moments.
As for the alien plot, “meh.” Damn, I was eagerly anticipating something on the level of “Blink” — we got the 'scary face/sharp teeth/don't look” thing, but here it felt like a retread.
All that said, next week I will be right back at my set watching the next installment!
All the reviews I've read so far of The Eleventh Hour peg it as absolutely brilliant, but really, I have to give it a “meh.”
The “meh” is more a reflection on the writing in the first episode rather than Matt Smith's portrayal of The Doctor, which was quite good, I thought.
********SPOILER ALERT*************
The entire opening sequence of having a little girl completely alone in a house through the night with a strange, adult man who appeared out of nowhere – a bit creepy. Yes, WE know he's The Doctor and would never harm her, but in these days and times, I found the portrayal of that a bit irresponsible on Moffat's part.
I also have to disagree with the reviewer's assertion that in Amy Pond “we’ll have a companion who is both competent and independent without being combative. Her interactions with the Doctor were effective at progressing the story without sounding foolish.”
I spent most of the episode thinking that the writing for Amy Pond's character seemed to deliberately encompass every frustrating tv and movie cliche about 'silly women'. The only thing missing was Amy Pond tripping over her own feet and falling during a chase. The Doctor screams at her not to go through the door. She goes through the door, and not for the purpose of saving him, or for any urgent assistance to him. She just goes through the door because she's… curious. The Doctor informs her they have 20 minutes to save the world. She wasted what felt like a good 5 minutes of it locking him to a car asking him who he was, when she'd already met him and had spent her entire childhood drawing pictures of him.
The character seems to operate on one cylinder: precociousness. At a half-hour in, I was longing for a sighting of the sensible Rose, Martha or Donna. One thing I did like, though, is that down the road, it seems this companion may have an intriguing secret of her own.
Matt Smith did handle all the pressure quite wonderfully, but I do hope in future episodes his Doctor will be allowed to find some serious moments.
As for the alien plot, “meh.” Damn, I was eagerly anticipating something on the level of “Blink” — we got the 'scary face/sharp teeth/don't look” thing, but here it felt like a retread.
All that said, next week I will be right back at my set watching the next installment!