The Eleventh Hour

[meddow]

In short: It was wonderful!

Best thing I've done all year is avoid most of the pre series five (it is series five right? Or are we reverting back to one again?) Doctor Who hype. I really did not know what to expect, and I think that added to the wonderfulness of this episode.

So, Eleven, I love him. I love him to pieces. I think it was the fish-fingers in custard that initially won me over (couldn't agree with him more about backed beans, btw). Matt Smith is perfect for the role, and Eleven's delightfully arrogant and oddball but not obnoxiously so and without Ten's intenseness and not a hint of the lonely god about him (hopefully he's now worked through his last of his kind issues). He reminds me of Five.

And Amy. The young actress who played Amy when she was young was really great. I honestly wouldn't have minded if he took her along at that age. Her sitting on her suitcase broke my heart. I see the show has returned to the old!school habit of having the companions be orphans.

I love older Amy as well, snarky and resourceful, what more could you want in a companion. Love how she was constantly being embarrassed by her friends bring up the 'Raggedy Doctor'. Aww. Nurse guy shall show up again, right? I like him too. They made a great trio.

The story wasn't much, but then it didn't need to be. It was more about establishing the characters. In true Moffat style, it managed to be really scary.

The “Earth is protected” thing was a bit Ten/Christmas Invasion. And, is it? Really? *cough*thefourfivesix*cough* Couldn't help but love the previous Doctors, every single one of them, showing up though.

Olivia Coleman! I adore her. Shame she didn't have a bigger role. And was that Anwar's mum from Skins?

Love the HD look. All the colours this episode were so bright. It really made it feel like a fresher Doctor Who. Love the new TARDIS. My favourite bit is the floor around the console being glass.

Two quibbles: Kiss-o-gram? Really? Would have been cooler if she was a cop (I've wanted a police officer companion for some years now). That sets off buzzers in my brain and bothers me for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on right now (maybe because Amy's job is to do with her looks and being a sexual object). There was bit of controversy about Moffat's writing of female characters, and maybe he should have stayed away from that job. We shall see how it pans out.

And what is it with weddings? I though that was RTD's thing. Apparently not.

Comments

[settiai]

Or are we reverting back to one again?

Most of fandom's still calling it Series 5, from what I can tell, but I've noticed that a lot of sources are slowly reverting back to the original numbering and referring to it as Series 31. Even the BBC's done it a few times, I believe.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Series 31 works. Ugh, TV show numbering can be a nightmare sometimes.

[catslash.livejournal.com]

The kissogram thing is weird because it's so coy. Making her, say, a stripper would have been more honest, but it's a family show, gotta keep it wholesome, so - kissogram. It's sexualizing her while keeping it PG at the same time, which is annoying. I think I would have liked it better if she'd just been a stripper, because how often do you see that as a profession on TV without it being the entire point of the character's existence? It would at least be a fresh take on the idea, and less twee than a freaking kissogram.

Not that I'm thrilled with the idea of sexualizing her through her profession, but if they're gonna do it, they may as well do it without trying to be cute about it. It is a job that people have, after all (as opposed to kissogram, dude, I don't know about you, but I have never heard of that being an actual JOB before), and you do what you gotta do, especially in a small town without tons of jobs on offer.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I have never heard of that being an actual JOB before

Neither. So of course, my mind naturally goes to cutesy stripper.

I think you put your finger on what's bugging me about it. They can't go down the route of having the show actually explore and having a mature discussion about having its lead female character having a sex-related job because of its target audience. If they can't talk about it, they gave her that job why? The only reason I can think of is that it makes Amy slightly sexy for the 'Dads,' a attitude I thought the show was past, given its not that 1970s any more.

Besides, Amy Pond, small town constable would have been awesome.

[catslash.livejournal.com]

I would totally have gone for singing telegram, a la Clue; it still provides the excuse for the uniform, it allows room for the sexy, but it does not imply that Amy's job involves sexual contact. Even strippers don't have to touch their clients so intimately, ffs.

I would, of course, also find Amy the cop totes acceptable. :D I did actually find one thing about her real job genuinely funny: I had taken note of the stockings she was wearing (complete with seams up the back) and thought, "Really? Are they really gonna be pulling this kind of shit with her wardrobe?" And there turned out to be an actual reason for it within the script. Not a great reason, but I still found it a fun, sly little visual joke.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Amy having a job as a singing telegram would also be a perfect excuse for the show to have a musical episode.

I had taken note of the stockings she was wearing

Me too. I was busy thinking to myself through that scene that it was the least convincing police uniform I'd ever seen.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

"Couldn't help but love the previous Doctors, every single one of them, showing up though."

I am a sucker. That makes me teary every time. I love the Doctor and his epicness.

I like the kissogram thing in that she's so little I might not quite buy a cop and also I have issues about cops and kissogram seems to work as something she just has to do to get by. And that town is so damn tiny, I doubt it needs much in the way of cops. But she doesn't seem to love her job, so maybe her arc will lead to finding something grander to do.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

She's so little I might not quite buy a cop

That's true. But still, if the town was small enough to have little use for police, it should be small enough to have little use for a kissogram (particularly one without her own transportation and so can't go far).

[erinpuff]

if the town was small enough to have little use for police, it should be small enough to have little use for a kissogram (particularly one without her own transportation and so can't go far).

That's what I don't get - does she go around kissing the same three people every day or something? Maybe we'll find out that she's gotten another job in the two years in which the Doctor failed to turn up.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Hopefully she's found something else to do in those two years. She didn't seem all that happy with the job.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

"it should be small enough to have little use for a kissogram"

Fair. Though it probably makes it easier not to have to kiss strangers on commission.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

True. But you'd feel bad for the partners of her regulars.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

I was really impressed by the opening episode. I didn't delve into spoilers apart from watching the series trailers, so I didn't really know what to expect, and I LOVE Eleven. As you said, he manages to get that hyper-energy thing like Ten, but owns it in his own way, without complicating it with angst (well, not yet anyway!)

I think Amy could be kickass. I do like her established history with the Doctor however. That was a nice touch that made her feel more fleshed out to me. But as others pointed out (but I didn't even think about at the time), it smacks strongly of The Girl in the Fireplace. Not that it bothers me at all.

All in all, an awesome start.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

She's quite like Sally Sparrow and River Song as well, in that there was weird time travelling hijinks involved in their first meeting. Moffat apparently really likes timey-wimey stuff happening when he had his characters meet the Doctor.

I can't wait for the rest of the season. I'm hooked.

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to have Doctor Who back! My quibbles about the episode are the same as you're, but overall I really enjoyed it. I like Amy already, and Eleven is just so... Doctor-y.

I've been pretty out of the loop, fandom wise, so I didn't now what to expect, but I'm now quite looking forward the the rest of the series.