Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour...

[fajrdrako]

I can't go to bed without saying something about Doctor Who episode 5x01, "The Eleventh Hour". After all, it's our fist episode with the new Doctor (except for a glimpse), our first look at Amy Pond, and our fist episode with Steven Moffat at the helm, sans Russell T Davies.... Yup, everything changes.

So:

1. I liked Amy Pond as much as I expected to. I particularly liked the way she was introduced as a child of seven.... Waiting for the Doctor, and waiting, and waiting: that was poignant. Then we learn that she used her "imaginary friend" the Doctor as a spur for art, writing, the imagination... and no one believed he was eal. I loved all of that.
   
   
2. I loved Amy's "police" miniskirt and all the jokes appertaining thereto. Loved the explanation of it - she's a kiss-o-gram girl! I kind of wish she'd go on wearing the police costume... Just like I wished Gwen Cooper had worn her police uniform after the first Torchwood episode. Ah well. I wonder what Amy will wear in the next episode? And wouldn't I love to have free reign of the TARDIS wardrobe, like she got? Lucky girl. Playing dress-up with the Doctor. Speaking of which... the scene where he changed clothes was fun.
   
   
3. Will the Doctor really bring Amy home in time for her wedding? I wouldn't bet on it. And since she seems to have a brain, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't either. Which argues some ambivalence about her getting married. I assume she's marrying the nurse?
   
   
4. Are the Atraxi old villains for the past, or new ones? ...Looking at the Wikipedia entry, they seem to be new.
   
   
5. I love it when the Doctor goes all legal and cites the Shadow Proclamation and threatens aliens who misbehave.
   
   
6. So we see the new TARDIS design. Glittery. The TARDIS has gone sort of 1950s showgirl on us. I like the sense of space, of distance, of mysterious exits and entrances - or did I imagine it? The TARDIS console room with Nine and Ten seemed to me like a closed space; this seems like a Hub.
   
   
7. The swimming pool was in the library? Say what? ...But then, when you redecorate, you do have to move things into anomalous places, like putting the kitchen pots and pans in the bedroom, so I suppose this is the TARDIS's equivalent.
   
   
8. I don't like the bow tie but if Eleven does, I can live with it. I do like the braces, and the shoes, and the hair, so I suppose it comes out all right.
   
   
9. The Doctor seemed a little loopier than I like, but then, it's the post-regeneration phase, so he'll probably mellow a bit. I hope.
   
   
10. I liked the bit where the Doctor was showing off his knowledge and intelligence to the leaders of Earth. Cool. I can't quite picturing Nine or Ten doing that, but that's okay. Nice difference. This Doctor seems more willing to show himself, and introduce himself.
    
    
11. I liked the village setting of Leadworth. Amy doesn't have parents, but I suspect at some point we'll meet the aunt, who so far seems to be either neglectful or evil - but it's too soon to be sure. After three companions from the London area (four, if you count Wilf), it's nice to see someone who's from a different environment entirely.
    
    
12. Nice house and garden Amy has, too.
    
    
13. I liked the idea of the shape-stealing alien who could be in multiple bodies. That was nicely different and creepy, a very Moffat-like touch.
    
    
14. Rory reminds me of Mickey. Caught up in the action, not sure what to do about it, sort of dweebish but not unattractive. You can see why Amy would like him, but you can also see why she'd run off with the Doctor.
    
    
15. Lovely use of time anomalies - the different clocks and clock faces, the miscalculations of the regenerating/redecorating TARDIS, the sense of countdown with twenty minutes to the end of the world. Amy ages twelve years, and the Doctor expected five minutes.
    
    
16. No sign of his telepathic insight, though, since even though he touched her, he didn't know Amy was Amelia.
    
    
17. So what do I think of Matt Smith as Eleven? I didn't come to love him quickly, as I did Ten. I don't remember when I fell in love with Nine, whom I still love best and most: I do know it wasn't on the first viewing of the first episode, but that he grew on me, and I was adoringly obsessed before I even realized what was happening.
    
    Eleven seemed less real to me, more cartoonish, less convincing as a character than Nine and Ten were. I understood who and what he was only because I have the background of the two previous Doctors to extrapolate from. I'm left feeling I still don't really know what Eleven is like.
    
    But I certainly didn't dislike him in any way; he could be a lot of fun. We'll see what I think next week.