[Doctor Who] 5x01 - The Eleventh Hour

So this week marks the return of Doctor Who. It also marks the dawn of a new era: That of Matt Smith and Steven Moffat.

Now allow me to warn you in advance, I am as it happens a bit of a fan of Steven Moffat’s work. It is my opinion that the workings of his mind are only beaten by that of the late Douglas Adams. Which is a nice symmetry since Douglas used to write for Who back in the day.

As always when I look at a piece of art – whether it be book, television, film, dance or music – I look for character, story and soul. So lets start with the story.

Is this episode a story about an intergalactic criminal known simply as Prisoner Zero, or is it a story about a little girl meeting a strange man who she is drawn to for the very reason we are? He’s intriguing, confident yet eccentric and to cap it all he knows about as much about himself as we do – very little.

Little Amelia Pond (brilliantly portrayed by Caitlin Blackwood) is swept away by the stranger who suddenly invades her quiet if depressing life – no parents, living with an Aunt who, judging by her lack of appearance during the madness, shows little interest in her – and treats her with a certain respect.

Matt Smith’s Doctor is a little of what we’ve come to expect and some we haven’t. The first point of note is that he does have some similarities to David Tennants Doctor. Well of course he does. The most recent memories he retains or of his previous regeneration, a persona and look I might add that this time around he was very upset to be losing. The new aspects of Smith’s roll of the dice were clearly beginning to emerge towards the end of the episode, a strange seriousness that didn’t quite fit the rest of what was coming forth. I choose to believe this was intentional and we’ll see Eleven mature into a new character over the next couple of episodes as he accepts the loss of Ten.

Not so little Amelia Pond has grown up into Amy played by the lovely Karen Gillan. Or has she? She’s grown to be a little cocky, a lot smart-mouthed and to not be ashamed of who she is or how she looks. She accepts who she is – which is going to be a good influence on the Doctor due to the previously mentioned problem. However, in the moments when they truly connect it appears Amy hasn’t grown up as much as she likes to think. A nicely acted scene with her storming away from The Doctor, throwing a bit of a childish tantrum is proof enough and falls nicely alongside the fact that without the guidance she’s needed in her life – that she likely thought even he could give her when he showed up that night years earlier – she’s rebelled.

The kiss-a-gram job. The attitude. Her playing at reality yet not quite seeming to live in it. These are all things that Moffat excels at creating in his writing. Yes, Moffat likes to use sex. He likes to talk about it, joke about it, even show it off a little as with the police womans outfit. However he doesn’t do it for no reason. In fact he does very little without thoroughly laying out his ideas first.

This story, while as a standalone action tale it may have been a little weak, has been a success. It has introduced The Doctor, Amy and her social structure but as well as this it has spread a few breadcrumbs for the rest of the series: Use of Prophetic dialogue.

Sure the CGI had its faults. The alien threat was a little sketchy, until the end at least and of course people are going to have problems letting go of the amazing Mr Tennant. All in all though? You can’t deny its got people talking. A good start in my opinion and I’m looking forward to seeing where we go next. After all, there’s the whole universe at the push of a button…