The Eleventh Hour

I really enjoyed this, definitely one of the better introductions to a New Doctor, but not the best. I particularly enjoyed when the Atraxi eye thing scanned The Doctor and we get to see all the previous incarnations but unfortunately blink and you will miss it.

The trying new food thing went on a bit too long and was a bit over the top but besides that this was a solid episode worthy of re-watching many times.

The TARDIS crashes towards Earth with newly regenerated Doctor on board not knowing fully what's going on. On Earth a young girl Amelia Pond, who has a crack in her wall, with noises coming from it asks Santa for help, and outside crash lands The TARDIS. The curious youngster tries to help and the unfinished Doctor investigates the crack in the wall. The TARDIS plays up so The Doctor repairs it, and returns to the house, some years later only to be clobbered by a sexy Police Woman, who turns out to be Amelia. A warning comes from Prisoner Zero's guard, Incineration unless the Prisoner gives himself up. The Doctor has to find a way to make him. When confronting Prisoner Zero in one of its disguises, he is told 'The Pandorica will open and silence will fall.' Amy (Amelia) joins the Doctor.....

Some fun effects at the start kick off the new series in big style. The Attraxi ships were good too.

Great to see Annette Crosbie, legendary actress, and even better to see Tom Hopper. I know Olivia Coleman is in everything but she is a splendid actress, she's great, and the hospital looks very creepy when it's been trashed too.

You can see the changes already, it has a different feel, even the credits are new (a definite improvement.) Matt has big shoes to fill, Tennant had made the role his own, a promising start from the fresh faced young actor, he's quirky and has a definite energy, he's very likable. Amy's fun start as a kissogram was funny. Very funny in parts just lacking the emotional attachments that Tennant was able to inject. Some very good dialogue, particularly from Coleman. 7/10

Amelia Pond has a crack in her wall, It's a fracture of sorts, not the kind when you fall, there's a prisoner too, secreted inside a room, that's perceptively hidden, slimy, damp and in gloom.

There's a raggedy man with a battered old box, has a sonic device that can unpick most locks, the oncoming storm, the Doctor, our hero, now on the scent of Atraxi Prisoner Zero.

But the convict can shift, take another disguise, avoiding the stalk in the sky with one eye, let battle commence, the Time Lord is back, will we soon find out more, of this ominous crack.

The first episode with Matt Smith as The Doctor (apart from his brief appearance after regenerating).

This is an excellent start for Steven Moffatt as 'showrunner' and Smith as the 11th Doctor.

The episode is entertaining and well acted. Smith had an extremely hard act to follow for me as David Tennant as the 10th Doctor is, in my opinion, the best since Tom Baker. I was slightly concerned by Smith 's over excited, almost childlike portrayal straight away but overall felt it was a strong debut and the episode has grown on me even more over time. Matt is very engaging and fun and is my daughter's favourite Doctor.

The storyline of the alien on the run is not exceptional but is solid quality, fun and enjoyable. The other story elements of having the Doctor arrive at different points of Amy's life and the effect that has on her is what lifts the episode up in quality. Amy and Rory make good first impressions as the new 'companions' and overall the script and story is good.

It is quite epic in nature with imminent world destruction threatened and then the declarations that alien attackers better be scared of the wrath of the Doctor. This scene with the flashes of previous Doctors shown in a striking way was the best moment of the episode I think.

Smith is not quite as much to my personal taste as Tennant but I really like him as an actor and he is a great Doctor.

The minor grumbles I have are very small: The story of 'prisoner zero' is not as brilliant as the time travel elements of the story.

The CGI effects of the alien monster are not very good and the effect of it appearing to hang down from above does not really make sense to me - Where is it hanging from? Surely the whole creature should appear? Strange.

I was not a big fan of the alien inhabiting a dog owner and his barking dog and mixing up their 'voices' either but it made sense in the context of the story.

There is so much good stuff in this with humour, drama and imagination. It is very good indeed.

My Rating: 9.5/10.

There have been change of production teams before in Doctor Who. The eleventh doctor era was a huge regeneration for the show.

Steven Moffat was the new head writer and showrunner. He heralded a brand new production team and handpicked Matt Smith as his Doctor.

Adam Smith was chosen as director for the opening episode and he brought in a fairy tale mini movie aesthetic.

The newly generated Doctor is zooming past London landmarks as the damaged Tardis crash lands in the garden of young Amelia Pond. She is afraid of the crack in her wall.

The Doctor still cooking after his change realises that little Amelia has good reason to be afraid. An alien known as Prisoner Zero has escaped from and is hiding in Amelia's house.

However he pops into the Tardis and promises to be back in a few minutes. Little Amelia waits for him, he does show up what he thinks is the next day. Only it is 12 years later. Little Amelia is now Amy Pond (Karen Gillan.) A kissogram girl with a troubled history. No one believed her story of the raggedy Doctor who showed up one night.

However Prisoner Zero is still in the house and his captors, the Atraxi threaten to burn the planet if Prisoner Zero is not returned.

Just as with RTD's opener Rose. The inspiration for the Eleventh Hour is Jon Pertwee's introduction in Spearhead of Space.

Now London is no longer the base. Amy lives in a village which is 30 minutes drive away from Gloucester. The Doctor gets his clothes from a hospital locker, the same as McGann's Doctor as well.

Moffatt has clearly spent a lot of time in the opener. There are some sly call backs to previous Doctor Who episodes from the RTD era. Fleshing out the characters of Amy and her nerdy boyfriend Rory. Also seeding the arc story for the season.

There were some bonuses, a cameo from Olivia Colman. Or as Moffat said, if he had known that she would one day win an Oscar, she would had got more lines.

The real plus was Matt Smith who hits the ground running. Too many times the Doctor is incapacitated after regeneration, here Smith very much hits the ground running. Even Tennant was bedridden for his introductory episode.