The Eleventh Hour. Final thoughts.

Here's the last batch of your reviews & comments on "The Eleventh Hour" that I'll be posting. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to email me. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on "The Beast Below".

Tony

John Howe: The Eleventh Hour was a deftly crafted vehicle in which we are introduced to a new Doctor and a new companion in the most inventive of ways. The story of Prisoner Zero's escape was strong but the staged introduction of the new TARDIS crew to the viewer, and to each other was a real masterstroke from Moffatt.

Matt Smith eased effortlessly into the role as if it had been made for him giving us a quirky off key Doctor of the kind last seen when Tom Baker was at the TARDIS helm. The scene where he "borrowed" his costume from the Hospital was deliciously reminiscent of the manner in which Jon Pertwee "acquired" his whilst the scene depicting the images of the 10 Doctors which Smith then stepped through to introduce himself was simply magical! A great introductory performance from Karen Gillan and the twin hooks of Amy's forthcoming wedding and the opening of "Pandorica" provide us with a great deal to look forward to in the next 12 weeks. All in all I'd say the TARDIS is in very safe hands!

Mike Purser: The episode started well with some excellent interaction between the young Amy and the Doctor. This was a good choice as a starting point to begin the development of the mystery to come. Under normal circumstances would a little girl trust a young man in her home when she is alone? However, as we found out Amy is not your usual little girl and we do know that the Doctor seems to emanate an aura of trust. He has used this ability in many situations before and I am sure this ploy will be used many more times. Generally as things developed this story seemed to be a twist on a monster being in the cupboard and Earth under threat of destruction. There have been too many stories with the Earth under threat of destruction.

Matt's portrayal has a degree of resemblance to his predecessor, but could already see him adding his own characterisations as the story moved along. The new look with the bow tie has a certain level of throw back to the first and second Doctor which works well. Karen Gillan as the grown up Amy makes a fitting companion to the Doctor, as she does not take what he says for granted and knows her own mind. Destruction of the sonic screwdriver was a simple way to give Matt his own version later. I do wonder if this was done to show things have changed or a commercial ploy so a new version can marketed.

Overall the story had excellent pace with the usual level of running around. At least this was mostly outside and not in the usual corridors. The ending did feel a little rushed but was done in style as we expect from the Doctor. Think it would be better if each episode could run for about 75 minutes so it has a chance of doing each story more justice. A little flash back montage at the end was a good idea, reminder of the history of all the different Doctors who have gone before. I'll miss David in the role but believe Matt has made a good start. Reserving final judgement on his characterisation of the Doctor until the end of this season's stories.

There are items where they have really got it wrong with the series. What has happened to the theme tune? Seems to be confusion of sounds and was not like the clean crisp theme I would expect. The new TARDIS interior, what is going on with the console? Looks like it was built from car scrap and surplus office supplies. Hate the typewriter idea, taking things to a new level of stupidity with that idea. Also, since when does the console create a sonic screwdriver. The Doctor always built his own sonic device which I think gives it a personal touch. The new logo is adequate but not dynamic. Generally believe the new logo was done for commercial reasons rather than just marking the changing face of the Doctor.

For the future would hope later series spend more time away from Earth. Have had too many Earth bound stories recently.

Gary Merchant: As part of the audience at the screening arranged by Jeremy Bentham at Krosse Keys, there could have been a danger of the event overshadowing the episode. Within minutes, those concerns were forgotten as the Eleventh Doctor arrived unceremoniously in the garden of Amelia Pond. From that moment, we were all caught up in the fun and excitement of seeing a new Doctor finding himself and heading into the first of his new adventures. A major bonus point was that the regeneration was not the main focus of the episode, allowing the story to stand on its own. And so many great one-liners - "All we've got is a Post Office -and it's closed." - "But he's the Raggedy Doctor - you drew pictures of him."

With David Tennant still upermost in people's minds, it could be argued that Matt Smith was perhaps too similar to his predeccesor in his performance, but as an introduction to a new Doctor and a strong story, the opening episode more than lived up to my expectations. As always with a new incumbent, the first episode can give no real indication of how this Doctor will develop, but with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan at the helm of a newly designed TARDIS, I look forward to the rest of the season with interest.

​Andrew Banks: I had never seen Matt Smith act before, but I think he fitted into the role quite well. It is clearly early days for his new take on the Doctor, but at the very least he made a promising start. The story itself reminded me of Spearhead from Space with the hospital setting, the use of duplicates and the scene in which the Doctor borrows a new set of clothes.

I think the rest of the cast were good. It seemed a little odd to see Olivia Colman in a sinister role. This is because I mainly know her from her part as Sophie in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, but I still think that she gave a good performance. I was surprised that the Doctor didn't realise Amy was not a real police officer straight away. The shortness of her skirt was certainly not standard police issue! I enjoyed this story a lot more than the Christmas episodes, which I felt were rather incoherent. ​