Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Dr. Who - The Eleventh Hour (SPOILERS!)

Well, I've just finished catching up with this and, you know, it wasn't quite as bad as I feared it might be.

First impressions - have to say I absolutely loathe, loathe, loathe the new logo, credits and theme. Set my teeth on edge.

The jury is still out on Matt Smith - I feel now that although he'll never be the same as my beloved Ten I might warm to him in time. Which is an improvement. I do have to say though that it wasn't until the final confrontation with the Atraxi that I felt that I finally saw a flash of the Doctor in there. Up until then, I had no sense at all of the Doctor being present.

Amy Pond - I think I could get to like her. The acting was a bit ropey from the actress playing her, but I'm sure she'll settle in just fine.

As for the rest, I read reviews of the previews of this in which the reviewers called it a nice blend of funny and creepy. I'm afraid I felt neither. I didn't find the funny bits especially amusing and I certainly didn't get any sense of Moffat's trademark creepiness which has so often thrilled me in episodes like Blink and the River Song episodes.

Not that I hated it. I can't say that. But it just seemed a very bland, pedestrian outing for the Doctor. Not wonderful, not terrible, just something middling in between. I really liked the Doctor threatening the Atraxi, as I've said, and there were a few bits here and there that were fine, but otherwise, there was nothing much to write home about. And few surprises.

What's coming soon did look exciting though and I'm definitely interested in seeing how Eleven and Amy deal with their adventures. I figure at this point that's as much as I can expect really.

LabRat

Here we are still getting reruns of "the Waters of Mars." We won't have the 11th doctor until April 17, although they've been advertising him nonstop. So thanks for not making the spoilers too spoiling. I wonder why the two-week delay. Do you have any idea how many episodes they will have this year?

Well, I went ahead and watched it online even though I can't watch it on TV for a couple more weeks. I've gotta say, I really liked it. Matt Smith is never going to be David Tennant, and I'm never going to love him as much. Still, I think he's going to be great. I thoroughly enjoyed him. I'm not entirely sure on the Amy Pond Character yet, but I do think I will like her. I'm very excited about this season.

I'm at an SF con this weekend, watched it in the hall with 800+ fans, and I think most of us enjoyed it.

My opinion, the music will take some getting used to, Matt Smith's portrayal is better than David Tennant's first adventure, which had him in a coma for at least the first 30 minutes (odd how people seem to have forgotten that one), and Amy Pond is going to be a fun companion - and well done the BBC for the misdirection on her back-story in their publicity. She's an excellent example of something we see a lot in fanfic but hasn't shown up much in major on-screen characters - someone whose entire life has been affected by the Doctor.

Oh, I haven't forgotten that one at all. He may have been in a coma for the first half, but I saw the Doctor present throughout and it's an episode I really enjoy. Which was something which was lacking for me in this one as I say, right up until the end.

But then, they did have the advantage in introducing Ten that they already had an embedded companion and an established relationship between the two, so admittedly the did have more to contend with in this one, in having to introduce two completely new characters at once.

Another thing which occurred to me overnight was that I didn't get much in the way of chemistry between the two - but that's something that can grow as we go, of course.

I'm certainly half expecting that both of them will grow on me. Certainly, Matt Smith grated on me far less than I'd expected him to. And, to be honest, I think what disappointed me most was the story, rather than Amy and Eleven. It just seemed rather pale and uninspiring coming from a writer who's penned some of my favourite episodes, such as the ones I've already mentioned. I guess I was expecting much more from him. Hopefully, he'll be back on form for the rest of the season. Certainly, the coming soon trailer showed a lot to look forward to.

I understand we'll have a full 13 episode season this year. And I did enjoy Annette Crosbie's little piece where she was suspiciously running over Amy's career choices and coming to some belated conclusions.

LabRat