By ^o^CORVUS^o^

“I’m not SCARED.”
“Course you’re not, you’re not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of the box, man eats fish-custard, and look at you…just sittin’ there. So you know what I think?”
“What?”
“Must be hell of a scary crack in your wall.”

The Verdict: Great!

To say that the pressure was on the somewhat revamped DOCTOR WHO production team would be something of an understatement. The David Tennant era was very, VERY successful for the programme and for the BBC, and more than a few people were disappointed by his departure.

Such is the way of things for Doctor Who, as is the usual gaggle of stubborn fans who draw a line in the sand and decide they don’t like “the new guy”, despite not having watched his first outing. Its unfair and silly, yes, and its also business as usual.

Still, the success level of the RTD era meant that it was vital that Steven Moffat and the production team get it right, and do so right out of the gate. So, how did they do?

The Story…

For my money, this was one of the better regeneration-stories I’ve seen, and found it was better than 2005′s “The Christmas Invasion“. The pace was right, starting out rather fast and strong, then slowing things down, and then picking them right up again for the big finish. Plus, Matt Smith didn’t have to spent a lot of time lying on his back, unconscious, as Tennant’s Tenth Doctor had in that story. No, Eleven was up and around virtually the whole time, even when he was admittedly “still cooking” as he acclimated himself to his new form.

Its been mentioned elsewhere, but its important, and thus bears repeating here: Moffat has a real talent for taking mundane things and finding a way to make them seem threatening. If anyone could make a shallow crack in a wall menacing, it would be him, and he manages to do so here quite readily. It does indeed seem as if Moffat’s Doctor Who tenure will, at least for this series, hew towards his propensity for touches of “Gothic” horror that remind many an older viewer of the work of Phillip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes, an era that so many are so fond of. Being a big fan of that era myself, this really speaks to the old fan in me, and I’m pleased that Moffat is playing to his strengths.

The plot does suffer a bit, as all regeneration stories usually do, because the new Doctor, his new persona, his new companion, AND a “new” TARDIS, all have to be introduced in 45-minutes, while still offering up a big problem for the Doctor to solve, and an enemy to overcome. As such, the notion of an escaped, intergalactic criminal is a simple one, but its executed well enough. And Moffat even found time to hint at a larger, looming disaster, with comments on a settling silence and a crack in the universe that will open the ominous-sounding Pandorica, all of which will continue to dog the Doctor and Amy the entire season in one form or other.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was that the Doctor was forced into saving the world without his sonic screwdriver, as it had been damaged and ended up burning itself out in his attempts to expose “Prisoner Zero” to the alien Atraxi police-force. He had to cook up a workable plan that he could execute in 17 minutes in order to save the world from being “boiled” by the Atraxi. His improvisation was clever AND funny, and I hope its a hint of things to come. The Sonic Screwdriver is a great tool, but during the RTD era it had become overused to the point of near-absurdity, so here’s hoping Smith’s Doctor will have a few more moments where he’ll have to MacGuyver a solution and make due with the proverbial “kettle and some string”.

The Performances…

When it comes to performances, I don’t think I can easily overstate just what a superb job I think Matt Smith did in his first full outing as the Doctor. He was, in a word, excellent. He had big shoes to fill, and it looks like he’s stepped into them quite admirably. I was sold on him from the moment he poked his head from the overturned TARDIS, smiling, as he looked at Amelia Pond and asked her for an apple. Pure Doctor WHO magic!

There were moments when Smith would evoke snippets of Tennant’s Doctor at times, as well as bits and pieces of previous Doctors as well, all of which I’m sure was intentional. Its a move that would more readily ease viewers, particularly the younger ones, into the transition. It all came together in the end – that crucial transition was made and he was the Doctor…a “proper, bonkers Doctor” as Moffat has said, and I eagerly anticipate the adventures to come.

Karen Gillan was equally brilliant as Amy Pond, a girl who lost her “imaginary” friend for 12 years only to get him back as a grown woman, finding her world shaken up in the process. Her performances hit all the right tones, and when you get Matt and Karen together, the pair of them really sparkle. They make an awesome duo and their interplay is superb, and you can really feel the connection between the two of them. I feel that the development of the nature of their relationship is going to make for some interesting viewing, and that Moffat is going to throw some unexpected curves our way in that regard. She’s going to be an interesting, entertaining companion. And it doesn’t hurt that she’s so easy on the eyes, but that’s my Y-Chromosome talking, so take that as you will.

And while I’m on the subject of Amy Pond, let me also say that Caitlin Blackwood was wonderful as the 7-year-old Amelia/Amy. She was cute, patient, resourceful, funny, brave, and ultimately a little tragic. As I watched this lonely child pack up her things following the departure of the Doctor, I knew immediately why she was doing it, and that it was going to end up breaking her young heart. The Doctor didn’t mean for it to happen that way, of course, but the effect was the same, and it was interesting to see how this fairy-tale encounter with the “madman with a box” had shaped her life.

The other members of the cast did a fine job: Annette Crosbie was delightfully dotty as Mrs. Angelo, Olivia Colman was nicely menacing during her stint as Prisoner Zero’s penultimate human disguise, and Arthur Darvill came off as comfortingly mundane as Rory, Amy’s boyfriend and currently jilted fiance’, and I’m sure that we’ll see just how all of this has affected his life as well, and I’m not talking about what promises to be a really big phone-bill.

Getting Technical…

Some said that the quality of the effects took a downturn, but, honestly, I didn’t find it too terribly noticeable, save for within the new title sequence, which I’m still not sure about. The TARDIS looked a bit off in the titles, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. I though that the design of Prisoner Zero’s true form was inspired and spooky, and I immediately thought “Hrm, deep-sea fangly-fish eh?” when I saw it (Thank you SO much, Strong-Bad). I did love the odd and fantastic design of the Atraxi, and I hope they pop up again someday.

One of the most eagerly-anticipated aspects of the new series was, without a doubt, the new TARDIS interior. I was a bit disappointed to find that the Radio Times telegraphed that reveal a few days in advance by printing photos of the new TARDIS set, but I understand their desire (and the BBC’s) to do so. Fortunately, I found out about the photos today, after I’d already seen the reveal in the episode proper, and so it didn’t blunt the impact for me.

Frankly, I was blown away by the new set, and I feel that it struck the perfect mix of the various console-rooms from the classic series, and the previous version introduced in 2005. It was yet another magical moment, and one that made me feel like a kid again and I just couldn’t stop smiling. I love that the idiosyncratic, bric-a-brac, piecemeal nature of the previous console was continued and improved upon, and featured such things as a typewriter, a pinball-launcher, an old computer keyboard, knobs from an old-style sink, a gramophone trumpet, and the receptionist’s-bell that was retained from the previous console. When paired with the surrounding console-room, its a wonderful blend of high-technology mixed in with the absurdly fantastical, and I just love it.

Murray Gold returns this season to compose the show’s scoring, as if there was any real doubt, and while the keen-eared listeners can certainly tell its Gold’s work, he has changed a few things up.

Gone is the familiar, wistful “Doctor’s theme” that we heard throughout the RTD era, having been replaced with a more upbeat piece of music that I really like. There were times when his scoring reminded me more than just a bit of Steve Jablonsky’s work on the two “TRANSFORMERS” films, and since I like Jablonsky’s work a lot, it was interesting to hear those familiar qualities.

He also seems to have tuned down a little of his previous bombast, and while I loved his work, many feel that the music was often so loud that it detracted from the tone of events rather than contributing to them, and I can see their point. This time out he seems a bit more restrained, and its a welcome change of pace.

I mentioned the title-sequence above, and getting back to that I have to say that Gold’s newest version of the Doctor Who theme is a bit different, interesting, and rather neat. Gone is “the chase” counter-melody, having been supplanted by a new counter-melody that accompanies the opening percussion, one that builds in intensity until we hit the more familiar musical “chorus”. Speaking of, Gold has returned a sense of mystery to that chorus, and to the theme overall, which felt a bit absent from his theme arrangements of the RTD era. It was something I was very glad to hear, and his newest arrangement has impressed me, and I’m hoping we’ll soon hear a longer version that includes the middle-eight.

Overall Impression…

To bring it all together and sum it all up, I felt that “The Eleventh Hour” was a very strong season opener, a fine debut for Matt Smith’s Doctor, and a very promising indicator of the tone and pace of the adventures to come. I’m definitely excited about the show’s future, and can’t wait to see the next episode. Thank goodness I only have to wait a week!