The Eleventh Hour, Sat 18:20 BBC1

[Kieran]

So, it be coming up THIS Saturday!

What are the expectations of this? What can we epect from the Moffat era as a whole? Matt Smith? How about the companion?

I feel there will be a lot to talk about so...Let's get the ball rolling.

A new era of the show is always exciting.

[Pooka]

It is.

Exciting.

I'm not having any expectations, as whatever I expect is bound to be wrong!

All I can think is, "Matt Smith. Ace!"

[BBrooks]

I can't wait, I think the Moffat era will be a lot better than the RTD era. Don't get me wrong RTD was great at writing for Doctor Who but Steven Moffat really knows how to write for the show, I think were going to see a much darker and scarier Doctor Who over the next 13 weeks (Brilliant ).

I've already gone over how brilliant Matt Smith's going to be and as for Karen Gillan (PHWOARRRR!!!) she's Beautiful, I would take her for more than just a trip in the Tardis if I was the Doctor.

[Drassil]

All I can think is, "Matt Smith. Ace!"

Followed by "Sylvester McCoy. Amy!" Sorry.

On the whole, I'm very optimistic about the new series. For those who still dearly miss the previous Doctor, embracing the new one may require a leap of faith; but why else would his catchphrase be Geronimo?

Like BBrooks, I enjoyed seeing Matt Smith on Jonathan Ross' show last Friday, having only found out on the night itself. If you missed it, it should still be on iPlayer. The highlight is his highly positive assessment of his co-star. As for the interviewer, you may question whether he's "still got legs" himself at the BBC.

[Pooka]

OH MY GOD THE NEW DOCTOR IS CRAZY

[HStorm]

That was good stuff, a very promising start for the new era. Matt Smith definitely has that something that a classic Doctor needs, which is the ability to be effortlessly weird. He's a natural for the role. (In fact, David Tennant was too, but he kept trying too hard when he didn't have to, and that often spoiled his performances, especially early on). The writing has also improved immensely. It still has the odd unwelcome moment of zaniness, but the dialogue is nowhere near as crude, unnatural or exposition-heavy as last year, and the characterisation is a lot less short-hand. The characters in The Eleventh Hour were not exactly deep, and a couple of them were clearly one-scene jokes still, but they were more real and a touch more serious than most of the walk-ons of the RTD era.

More important, Steven Moffat can actually carry a plot, and progress one without lazy get-outs. There are one or two moments that resembled deus ex machina technobabble in the resolution the Doctor comes up with, but in fact if you can follow what he's saying in his (sadly rushed) explanation, it does make sense, is comprehensible, and is just about possible with technology that already exists on Earth. With Russell T Davies holding the pen there would have been a hidden button on the side of the sonic screwdriver that, when pushed, would cause the starships orbiting the Earth to implode, or some such guff. But here, the Doctor is back to what he always used to be, a cunning, calculating genius who has to think of a solution rather than pluck a previously nonexistent superpower out of his rectum.

Down points. Murray Gold's music is still too over-the-top. He was always blaming this on RTD's instructions previously, but he no longer has that excuse, and he really needs to tone it down a lot. Also, I was hoping we'd seen the last of that screwdriver when it burned out, and I was saddened to see another one pop into existence out of nowhere, especially as it still seems to have ridiculously overblown abilities.
(CONT)

[HStorm]

(CONT)
It used to be a convenient tool for picking locks, but has been turned into a more powerful gun than Megatron's fusion cannon. Please get rid of it! It's just an all-purpose plot device for exhausted writers to get themselves out of a plot corner.

Also, despite the enjoyable earlier moments of the Doctor adjusting to his new generation (fish-custard? Fabulous idea, will try it for lunch tomorrow), a lot of the dialogue he got sounded very much like it was written expressly for DT, particularly some of the "hyper-dramatic revelation" moments, one of the more annoying qualities of the Tenth Doctor.

Further, there are unhealthy signs of recycling. The Doctor saying, "I'll be back in a minute" and then not coming back for years is a direct lift from The Girl In The Fireplace, while a young girl hearing voices from another reality was done in Silence In The Library, and arguably even Blink.

But these are minor niggles, and there were bound to be a few of them with the big change of production crew. All-in-all, the script was as fast-paced as any in NewWho, but still managed to cram in plenty of tightly-presented plot, and avoided being speed-for-speed's-sake, and made suficient room for familiarising us with the new Doctor and companion, both of whom seem interesting and likeable. (I'm sure Amy has been designed to be what they were aiming unsuccessfully for Donna to be.) Special mention for Karen Gillan, who I think looks set to be one of the best companions in terms of facial acting. Jury's still out on the vocals so far, but those eyes are a gift; they convey a tremendous amount of emotion and thought.

Impressive start. 8/10.

[DarkComet]

PIC RELATED

[HStorm]

American spelling. I disapprove.

[HStorm]

Have you noticed that when the Doctor spits the yoghurt out he gets some all over his chin. He then has a brief regeneration-sickness spasm, and after that the yoghurt has vanished from his face?

By the way, why did Amelia not deep-fry a Mars bar? "You're Scottish, fry something." That's always a prelude to deep-fried Mars bars. And he spits out bacon? Is this the first Jewish incarnation of the Doctor? Oh and isn't there something slightly wrong about a 10 year-old girl inviting a strange man who eats fish-custard into her bedroom...?

And do Amelia's eyes change colour as she grows up? She had blue eyes when she was a kid, and then she has hazel eyes when she grows up.

Ah'm jus' sayin'.