I am – Hercules!! The first Davies-free “Doctor Who,” since 1996 just hit BBC’s airwaves. BBC America gets it April 17. “Fried Gold” says of “Eleventh Hour”:

Hi Herc, First time contribution, but thought you might appreciate a take on Matt Smith and Steven Moffat's new Doctor from a slightly less diehard Who fan. No Spoilers ahead, I'll leave the detailed plot synopsis to others. As background, I was never into the pre-RTS Who, thought Ecclestone's run was sporadically good, but loved a lot of Tennant's tenure, especially the Martha and Donna years. Russell T Davies I thought did a great job of resurrecting the character, but I never felt he "got" sci-fi - he always seemed to use the genre to write himself into great but impossible scenarios that he could never quite get himself out of without hideous, head-slapping deus-ex machinas. He was also a bit too sentimental for my liking (although that served him well for Tennant's departure). So I was looking forward to a new series run by Moffat, whose episodes not only had great set-ups, but always concluded in a satisfying manner with all the various pieces clicking into place in entertaining and (for sci-fi) logical ways. Was it a good start? Yes. Yes it was. Let's get the other stuff out the way first. Matt Smith's take on The Doctor is bloody brilliant - although I do fear he's going to split the audience somewhat. For me, he's everything The Doctor should be: blindingly intelligent, a bit pompous, very odd, occasionally funny and extremely charming. However, I can see how his lofty superiority may alienate some viewers. It's now clear to see what Moffat meant when he said that Matt Smith was an old head on young shoulders. He may be the youngest Doctor, but he exudes age-old wisdom and bizarrely makes Tennant look immature by comparison. And now that I reflect on it, that goes for the acting as well. Maybe it's because (judging by recent interview appearances) Matt Smith is genuinely a little odd, but the eccentricities of the Doctor seemed perfectly natural, whereas with Tennant it was always a little forced. Even in the more exaggerated scenes, of which there were many in this episode due to The Doctor's regenerative after-effects, it never came across as too contrived. Karen Gillan as the new companion is promising - cute as a button and strong without being annoying (Moffat seems to acknowledge that a strong female doesn't have to be a nag). She only got to react in this episode though, so we'll have to see how she goes in future stories. But it's obvious her emotional vulnerability (she has abandonment issues) is going to play off The Doctor's lofty detachment rather well. With regard to Moffat, I think he did a tremendous job for what was a very tricky episode for him. He had to introduce a new Doctor, a new Tardis, a new companion, put his own stamp on proceedings AND tell an original story with a beginning, middle and end, all in less than an hour. Not only did he do all that expertly, but he threw in a couple of great one-liners as well ("You're Scottish, fry me something"). The threat was appropriately world-threatening, and unlike some of RTS's capers (all build, disappointing bang), Moffat evolved the story throughout, increased the level of threat just when it was needed, and made sure the upper hand was constantly shifting between Doctor and enemy. I can't be the only one who tired of Tennant's Doctor being up against it for the majority of the time only for him to save the day in a leftfield and slightly unsatisfying way? Sour notes? Well, the new title sequence is a bit naff, with an arrangement of the theme tune that replaces the atmospheric bombast of previous series with something that sounds more like a Casio keyboard demo track with a backing choir. The lightning effects in said sequence also had a whiff of Weird Science about them. And as special guest stars go, Patrick Moore is scraping the barrell (although the idea that the World's leaders would consult him at a time of global catastrophe tickled me). But, all-in-all, I thought it was bloody good. Far better than the awful trailers had been threatening. I really looking forward to what Moffat has in store for the rest of the series - indeed, the seeds are already being planted for the season's no-doubt universe-threatening big-bad.

“jannerman” says:

I'll start with a two-word review - fucking wow! Both myself and the good lady have been avid fans of the new who series, we did, unfortunately miss a lot of the first series but have been David Tennant era regulars. I think at about 40 mins in I turned to the other sofa and declared that this has pretty much wiped off the entire Tennant series in one half episode. So, a review, we'll I'll do what I can.... The dorky (or "raggedy" if you want to use the vernacular from the episode itself) Doctor crash lands in the garden of a young girl - in a scene that felt a little like the time travellers wife book/movie - he meets a young Amelia (love that name, one of my daughters middle name that) Pond who tells him that she has a crack in her bedroom. Oddly there's no adults in the house, so there's a bit of time for some foodie comic relief. But it doesn’t take the comedy too far, and this is something I've been worried about for months since seeing the teaser. So the story moves onto the core, and that is an escaped alien prisoner (through aforementioned crack) that has taken up residence in the house. Some of the exposition feels a bit like the wonderful blink episode, but then that's not a bad thing, and the episode moves along at a frenetic pace, the story, although obviously fantastical never really moves totally out of the realm of possibility - with this doctor demonstrating he can use technology to his advantage - the bleary forgetfulness isn't too pushed to the fore and the general feel is one of a local and grounded event. The locations used were few, the effects used were fitting, the acting was suitably solid (wonderful guest appearance by Patrick Moore) and the episode was in places dark, tense, suspenseful, fun, interesting but in general fantastic introduction to the new Doctor, even if the aliens were dispatched a little easily it did give a sense of the Doctors power/reputation and for me if this is the worst episode of the series it's going to be good. The episode did feel like an elongated introduction to the Doctor but it setup the rest of the series so well, Moffatt has definitely given a new slant to the canon. And whilst I'm far from a Russell T Davis hater I think there was definitely room for improvement in the David Tennant series. That said, there were several "oh wow" moments in the episode (and the series trailer that followed, Alex Kingston!) but I simply had to rewind and watch the scene with all (yes all) of the previous Doctors three or four times, I think that Matt Smith is a good actor (see his turns in the Philip Pullman adaptations from the BBC) and on tonight’s evidence this is going to be a lot of fun. I think we approached this with worry, was it going to be too jokey, was it going to be too much like a kids program, the really average trailers didn't help - and this feeling hung about into the first 20 mins of the episode but it simply won us over, the storytelling backed by the actors. David and Russell who??? Bring on the next ep!

“The Geekest Link” says:

The Time Lord is not the only thing to have regenerated in this first, fifth, or thirty-odd (however you want to label it) season of Doctor Who. Everything is different, the show feels more mature, from the opening titles, to the penmanship of the writing, there’s a certain gravitas to the new series, it’s definitely a darker show, a show wrapped in fairy tale and mystery, a show with the fear factor upped just a little. Story wise, this is standard opening fare, the Doctor, newly regenerated, crash lands on Earth, and trouble finds him almost immediately when he discovers an alien life form hiding in the house of a seven year old girl. The rest of the episode explores the background of the new companion, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and sets up the glorious chemistry between them as the Doctor sets about saving the world. We didn’t get to see much of the Doctor’s new character in this first episode, but it’s clear this new man is a magical being, a madman and mad scientist, an eccentric, a Willy Wonka for the new generation. One thing is certain: Matt Smith loves the role and his version of the Doctor will be funny, charismatic and endearing. Smith and Gillan were in fine form and while the episode didn’t sparkle quite as much as expected (although the kitchen scene is genius) and it did feel over long at 65 minutes, in fact, we could have done without the monster of the week altogether and concentrated on the magic between the Doctor and the relationship with his new companion, it was a satisfying start to a series just finding its feet. Overall, it was well worth the wait. New Doctor, new companion, new TARDIS, new Sonic Screwdriver, new head writer, whatever lies in store over the next twelve episodes, one thing is clear: it’s going to be a bumpy (and hopefully terrifying) ride. Geronimo!

“palimpsest” says:

Hi Herc The lowdown on the first ep from the new series of DOCTOR WHO, which has just aired in the UK: DOCTOR WHO: THE ELEVENTH HOUR So here it is. After a year of semi-hiatus (the varying qualities of the four 2009 specials) and with the year-long burden of knowing that David Tennant’s time was up in the blue police box, and that show-runner Russell T Davies’ spectacularly successful though increasingly self-indulgent custodianship of the series was also drawing to an end. After a year of largely quizzical reaction to the hiring of relative unknown Matt Smith to play The Doctor (provoking some of the most strident fan-person opinions seen this side of Daniel Craig’s appointment as James Bond), and a fair amount of fingers being crossed that new show-runner, fan favourite and three time Hugo winner Steven Moffat wouldn’t, well, fuck it up first time out, here it is. New WHO under new ownership. Question: was our trust in Moff misplaced? Answer: No. We’re in safe hands here. Don’t worry about the first episode – the story’s pretty much throwaway stuff about an escaped alien prisoner and an intergalactic capture squad, and purely there to hang the getting-to-know-you material onto. The ep’s all about introductions and re-introductions; to The Doctor, to Matt Smith and to Karen Gillan’s Amy Pond. As The Doctor, Smith pitches it somewhere between David Tennant’s less manic moments and Patrick Troughton; he’s impish and perverse, and somewhat darker than the last incarnation. Both slapstick comic and able to turn serious on a sixpence, it’s a piece of remarkable casting. Gillan’s good too, in a storm of legs, attitude and long red hair, but she’s perhaps inevitably overshadowed by this Doctor’s debut turn, and also by Caitlin Lockwood, the young actor who plays her childhood self. Moffat’s script is deft throughout, with some very sharp comic writing, neat nods to previous WHO and to TIME BANDITS, a nice cameo from Brit astronomer legend Patrick Moore, some setting up of story arcs, and a sense of palpable glee at finally being allowed to cut loose. We’ve got a re-worked TARDIS interior, a re-jigged logo and title sequence and a fresh sonic screwdriver. Carpers may grumble at the still over-insistent scoring and some very average CGI, but that’s about all that could be reasonably criticised here. In short, WHO’s back with a fresh sense of purpose, and with, on this evidence, a nigh perfect lead actor and showrunner. Till next Saturday... Palimpsest

“Gabba-UK” says:

Hi Herc, Well, it's the moment we've been waiting for. It's just as well the iPad was just launching in the US only today. If I had to cope with the excitment of that as well as this, well, I think my brain would've melted frankly. Since the anouncment of Matt Smith as the new Doctor, he's just been bobbing in and out of our media radar. Pics would appear from the set. He'd give small quoutes, he's excited, it's going well would be all we heard. All that has changed in this last month. The man is everywhere!! Adverts, interviews, trails for the series. He was on the Jonathon Ross show and he was very charming and obviously hugely looking forward to the first episode being shown. He takes the new Sonic Screwdriver with him everywhere to practice finger twirling it. Pulling it out from his suit got some frankly dirty sounding ooooo's from the studio audience. He's broken four already. He said that he was from the generation that didn't grow up with Who. Is this a plus or minus for him? Time will soon tell. Ross mentioned that he knows people within the BBC that are raving about Smiths take on the good Doctor and his new assistant, Amy Pond. And this is why Doctor Who is unique in television. What other series can have a new actor play the title character, in a completly different style and have the audiance excited regardless? That is the genius of Regeneration. The good will towards him and Karen Gillian from the public and the media is palpable and real... Was it justified?...... "Trust me, I'm The Doctor. " Too bloody right you are!! "Who are you?", "I don't know yet, I'm still cooking. " Cooking on gas too!! Smith is FUN! It's early days days of course but he's gonna have a lot of friends after this first outing. He gets it, he really does. I really don't really want to give much away about the plot but it was written by Stephen Moffet so it's a good one. And almost believable, for something so fantastical. Besides I'm sure the bit-torrents are already beginning to spin around the globe you'll see it yourselves soon enough. The whole look is changed. The new logo was just the start. The famous tune has a new sound, the graphics are better, the TARDIS is bigger... Hang on the TARDIS is bigger? Yep! The TARDIS changes of course to suit the oddities and needs of the newly regenerated Timelord. With the explosive radiation boosted degeneration of the previous Doctor totally wreaking the TARDIS and causing it to crash it kicks him out untill it regenerates itself completely and maybe gets some throw cushions from IKEA. It leaves the Doctor without his resources and his sonic screwdriver is on it's last legs. Speaking of legs.... Karen Gillian is Amy Pond. Hubba hubba. There are going to be a lot of teenage boys having their first crush on Amy Pond. Their dads are going to like her too. And she is brilliant. Fiesty, sexy, determined, the girl next door. You'll fall in love with Amy Pond. So, Smith is funny, cool, manic with a small hint of menace. Amy is cute, sexy as hell, and lovely. And Moffet is in charge. Hurrah!!! What we've got coming. Darleks, Cybermen, the statues from Blink, Spitfires dogfighting in space against aliens. Alex Kingston, new foes to face and 'the silence is coming' Were in for a great 12 more weeks.

“Candy ass monkey suit” says:

Hi Herc Just thought i'd chip in with a quick rundown on tonight's first episode of the new run of Doctor who. EP 1 "The Eleventh Hour", writer Steven Moffat Well it's finally here ! Countless months after Matt smith was unveiled as the new Doctor, long long before David Tennant had actually finished his last year in the show, we finally get to see if this is the man who can carry the show on after the sheer brilliance of enjoying David Tennant for 4 yrs. For the most part he delivers in spades but more on that in a moment. The Eleventh Hour is the first ep of a new look show..as we know Russell T Davies the old Exec producer/head writer and it's previous Doctor the afforementioned D Tennant have departed the show.The fans choice the amazing Steven Moffat was given the reigns to the show and as such has given the show a complete make over, from new doc to new assistant and even a new tardis! Everything about the look of the show is fresh,complete with a new title sequence and music. i won't give too many spoilers to the story but briefly the ep kicks off right after "The End Of Time" pt 2 with a newly regenerated doctor and damaged tardis crashing to earth. After landing in the garden of a young girl called amelia pond the doctor realises that the crack in the wall in her house is actually a gateway to an alien prison the doc soon realises the prisoner (called zero) has escaped. The doc has only 20 mins to save the earth and without the still damaged tardis and a completley broken sonic screwdriver will he save the earth in time?? Well the story to the eleventh hour is its least interesting element to be honest. This ep plays very similar to other season openers like "Rose" and "New Earth" nothing amazing but ok. Where the ep really shines though is the interplay between new assistant Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Matt Smiths dynamo of a doctor. Smith is mostly pretty darn good. Lots of who fans had reservations over him but i can assure the american fans and fans worldwide that Smith has all the kooky charm in spades to play the doctor. I personally don't think that smith is dramatically as good an actor as Tennant was but he makes up for this in other areas. At the end of the ep we get a look at the new tardis, albeit briefly. It looks pretty cool and is bigger than Tennants/Ecclestones Tardis.The console is made up of old mechanical devices like typewriters and so on. Apparently later on we get to see the swimming pool and new library sets too ! All in all a solid start to the season ! Whats good then ?? Matt Smith and Karen gillan quickly make us fall in love with them and dispel any notion they werent up to the job. I still prefer Tennant personally but am looking forward to smith really getting to nail his character down the line. The new Tardis! as i said before,very very cool ! The new title sequence. The voortex look much much better to the old one..not too sure about the revamped theme tune yet but early days! The bad stuff The CGI as done by who regulars The Mill was pretty ropey. After their stellar work on The Waters Of Mars and most of the last couple of yrs this was very disappointing. The alien ship looked really cheap and something more like early Babylon 5 fx ! maybe there wasn't much money left after some of the stuff later on needed more time/money? Agreat start overall to a new era in Who ! The atraxi story was a bit shite but this was nothing more than a set up episode for the other 2 eps to be honest. this on paper is moffats least interesting story but it was never gonna be another classic. There was too much to set up. 3 stars ***

“Kelvington” says:

Any problems in tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, can easily be forgiven by the amazing ride the show offered over it sixty four minutes. The new Doctor, Matt Smith whom I was scared was a terrible choice for the role, puts on the timelord like he was born to play the part. If you are expecting to see anything left over from the Davies era, well, think again. There is nothing here that’s even remotely familiar to the previous incarnation of “Doctor Who”, Moffat has wiped the slate clean. From new Titles, updated Theme, and even changed the colour of the TARDIS herself. It’s a very retro ‘60’s TARDIS complete with white seal. The inside of the TARDIS is saved until the last few minutes to give us one last Christmas cracker in the episode. It’s sleek and multileveled and looks cool. The console feels like it came off the set of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” but beyond that they didn’t miss a thing. The story was excellent, and it shows how strong “Doctor Who” can be if given a good story. No TARDIS, no tech, and very little time to save the world. Just the Doctor and his huge brain going at it. Now on to his new companion, played by Karen Gillan, she’s amazing. She no Billie Piper, but she can act, and she’s wicked cute. The Doctor comes into her life as a child, and then picks her up as an adult. This works very well, because for the whole of her life, the Doctor has been there, if only in her dreams. I will be curious to see where this leads. The monster this week was both familiar and frightening. Familiar in that it looked like a CGI anaconda that hung from nothing in particular. I kept waiting for them to pan up to see the rest of the snake, but they never did. It was also familiar to “Red Dwarf” fans as it could shape shift to other people, just like in “Red Dwarf”. The Doctor is in a race against time to prevent the whole of the Earth from being destroyed to find this alien, who also was a prisoner. The prison guards who reminded me of the crystalline entity in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” except these had huge CGI eye balls attached were not very frightening but more interesting. In the end the Doctor saves the day, using a laptop, a mobile, and his keen brain. He picks out a new outfit and just when the aliens scamper off with their prisoner, he calls them back to remind them, that this planet is protected. In that moment we get to see a brief glimpse of his former selves just to remind us of his roots. All in all, it was a great start to the season, Steven Moffit, my hat is off to you, and I look forward to see what you bring to the rest of the series. My only complaint is how heavily they laid on the big bad of the series with the phrase, “silence will fall”. OK, we get it, you have something you will carry on for all the episodes, but they really did hit us over the head this one. It better pay off. Just my 2¢

“Drsambeckett” says:

Well. Out with the old and in with the new. Or if not ‘new’, at least something vaguely different to what went before. The Tenth Doctor has officially left the building, and it’s time for the young upstarts to take over the Tardis and continue the never ending adventures through time and space. It would barely be worth the effort to explain the nonsensical story at work here, and frankly I expected better considering this is the season opener and is supposed to set the tone for everything that is to come, but in the end, the story is not what matters here. There is a weird alien snake thing that can take the form of anything it has made a psychic link with over a certain period of time, more specifically the patients in a coma ward at the local hospital. But this creature has been living in the house of Amy Pond for the past 12 years, having escaped through a prison that appears as a crack on Amy’s wall. We first meet Amy when she is a little girl, and she encounters The Doctor just after he has crashed the Tardis into her garden after a near collision with Big Ben, and he promises to return to her in just five short minutes. But being The Doctor, he makes a mistake and reappears 12 years later. He goes into the house searching for a little girl and is whacked on the head by a woman wearing a police uniform. This is Amy, and she isn’t that happy to see the man she took to be an imaginary childhood friend. Soon the snake alien, known as Prisoner Zero, has escaped and is causing chaos. This somehow leads to the Earth being incinerated in 20 minutes, with only The Doctor to stop it. Enough about the story, it is largely irrelevant. How is Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor? Well, he was actually pretty damned good. He puts in a deliberately uneven performance, for The Doctor is still discovering who exactly he is, so we go on that journey with him. In this first episode we see mostly comedic elements to his character, there is little of the darkness we saw from David Tennant, but is a definite shift in personalities. This new Doctor certainly seems a little wild. Karen Gillan also impresses as Amy Pond, the final revelation about the ‘stuff’ she has to do the next day is a good one and is an interesting twist on the Doctor/Companion relationship. Possibly the most impressive thing is the micro skirt she wears for most of the episode, Amy is after all, a kissogram, not the usual reputable occupation we have come to expect. And it would be wrong not to mention the new Tardis and theme tune. The tardis interior is spectacular and magical. The new theme tune is terrible, it barely even sounds like Doctor Who. So in conclusion. Not bad at all. Hardly the disaster I was expecting. There was another trailer shown at the end, which to be honest, showed far too much for my liking. My main issue with this season is the lack of imagination. Cybermen again. Daleks again. Its business as usual for The Doctor.

“Stanton” says:

The good: (1) Matt Smith. I'd completely forgotten about David Tennant within twenty minutes. Whoops. Some of the characteristics of the last Doctor have been retained, but comparisons just seem wrong - it's an appropriate rejumble. (2) Amy Pond looks quite promising - a companion who doesn't quite trust the Doctor - to the extent that her laughing with him at the end struck false. Hopefully some of the distrust will continue through the series. (3) A very clever dog, some scary little girls, and a great performance from Olivia Colman. The monster part of the plot was the best bit. (4) The relationship between the Doctor and young Amy was really lovely - kudos to the young Amy, who was sweet without being saccharine. (5) The fairy-tale-ness that the production team have been talking about came through, and I really liked the Tim Burton feel of some of it, but the art department could extend it through to all of the sets... (6) Sir Patrick Moore as a defence genius... Bring him back already! The bad: (1) A wee bit too long. I guess there was more to cover than a normal episode, but Moffat's script didn't feel as focussed as normal. (2) Some of the special effects - particularly the alien spacecraft - were a bit naff. (3) Not sure about the theme music - still not as scary as the 80s! Summary: I'm already sold on the new Doctor and companion. The script was probably the weakest Moffat's done for Doctor Who for years, but still miles better than RTD... Four out of five...

“V'Shael” says:

Hi Herc, You're probably getting a lot of emails about Doctor Who's premiere, but I don't see any on the site yet, so I'm throwing my two cents into the ring, if there's still time. In a nutshell, brilliant. I think this is easily the best "first episode" for a Doctor. I had been getting some doubts after some fairly lacklustre reviews from the special premiere event a few weeks back. But no, I can see now where that's coming from. The whole monster thing with Prisoner Zero was fairly tame. However, the dialog, the science (perception filters), the intro to the new characters, and even the child actress playing the young Amelia... were all on top top form. I loved the Doctors reaction to the foods, the dialog like "You're Scottish. Fry something." And my heart just about broke when Amelia packed her case and ran outside to wait. (Mostly because I already knew, thanks to spoilers, that she was going to be disappointed.) Matt Smith is exactly as good as others had claimed. He is inspired in the role. And I took time to get used to Ecclestone and even Tennant. Smith has convinced me right from the word go. More like this please. More more more. With Steven Moffat at the helm, it's never been a better time to be a Doctor Who fan.

“Legend113” says:

I have been a reader of your site for a long time but never contributed until now. I watched the first episode in the new series of Doctor Who tonight. I absolutely loved it. it had a completely different feel and vibe to it from the previous series in terms of new opening titles, new Tardis, new companion and of course, a new doctor. The pacing of the episode was very good and didn't let up for the whole episode. there were some very funny lines and the script was very sharp, vastly improved from the last series. What I liked was that the emphasis of the episode was not on the enemy hiding within the English village, but the new doctor instead. Matt Smith played the character very well and put his own unique spin on it whilst the new companion came across very well. They are going to play off each other very well over the coming episodes. Matt Smith came across as very eccentric but also likable. he seems a great mixture of the previous two doctors. his dress sense is eccentric and we get a glimpse of his new sonic screwdriver towards the end. There is a beautiful set up for the future plot lines in the series and I am now very excited for it. I would rate this episode 8.5 out of 10 and a great exciting and highly promising start to the new series.

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