The Eleventh Hour. 24 Hours On....

I went into last night's Series 5 Premiere with an open mind. Have to say that I thought it was a superb episode. Matt Smith has nailed it straight away, Karen Gillan was excellent, the new TARDIS is sublime, etc etc. Rather than go on further I thought I'd post some of your thoughts that have made their way to CT Towers by email.

Cary Woodward: I remember being very upset when Jon Pertwee changed into Tom Baker then within 2 weeks of Tom's performance I couldn't remember poor old Jon. This feeling was again realised when David regenerated but once again history repeats itself. Matt's performance was both intelligent and zany, the madness of Tom, the silliness of Troughton and a real sense of enjoyment of life from Matt himself. I think we are in for a fantastic 13 weeks ahead. We are so lucky 47 years later that our beloved programme is still being
produced, it is by far the best drama on television. Geronimo!

Kate Griffiths: How good was that!! What a start for Matt and Karen. They absoultly shone. I'm in love with them allready. Young Amy was really good too. Was nice to see the Doctor still can't get the TARDIS to land when he wants it too. The Doctor might look young but you could tell from that he's not especially at the end with the Atraxi. It had the perfect balance of drama and humour (fish fingers and custard, do you think it will catch on?).I loved it when the Doctor was driving the fire engine.

Matt and Karen have said in interviews what fun they have working together and that really shows on screen. I like the new TARDIS interior a bit more traditional, which brings me to the only thing I didn't like - the theme music what have they done to it, it's rubbish. I can see why they wanted a new begining but why mess about with what works. That said however it's my only critiscm. Doctor Who is back!

Matthew Kilburn: And so there were six of us, with a seventh joining after broadcast, in a second-floor flat in a small Oxfordshire town, gathering to watch 'The Eleventh Hour'...

...and the verdict was generally positive. Opinion was divided on the pre-titles sequence, with some finding it too comedic. The new theme music was generally regarded as a misfire - much of the familiar character of the
music has been stripped out on first acquaintance.

Mostly, though, we thought that Matt Smith overcame any apprehensions we might have had - his performance as the Doctor was coming from a different direction from David Tennant's, less forced, less prone to smugness. Storytelling had changed for the better too; while Russell T Davies's freneticism and focus on the emotional journeys of a few viewpoint characters helped make the programme the success it has become, it was good to see more emphasis placed on the creation of a coherent world for the Doctor to visit.

One danger perhaps was that some thought we hadn't a clear sense of Amy as a character, compared with Rose, Martha and Donna; but Steven Moffat unfolds his characters at a different pace to Russell. There were cheers for the projections of past Doctors, and an interest in freeze-framing the images of earlier foes to see who we missed. Karen Gillan's characterization of Amy had remote echoes of Emma Peel, complementing the updated Avengerland of Leadworth. These were just the most obvious of a series of homages within and without the fiction of the episode to past Doctor Who and established influences on the way the series has worked.

Our imaginary friend is back, and on the strength of this episode he is good for more fairytales yet.

So far, so good! More of your thoughts to follow tomorrow.

Tony