35.1 The Eleventh Hour

[matthewsee]

First of all I am referring to the 2010 season as season 35 based on my season count of the 1963-89 series the four Big Finish audio seasons that Paul McGann did when he was the current Doctor and the TV seasons since 2005.
The Eleventh Hour sees a brand new Doctor, the Eleventh in his official opening adventure accompanying by a new title sequence and new version of the series theme.
Matt Smith makes a solid debut as the Eleventh Doctor directed by fellow Smith, Adam Smith. Showrunner and the episode’s writer Steven Moffat provides a very good starting point for the Eleventh Doctor and Amy.
The Eleventh Doctor says he wants apples. Bananas got referenced in Steven Moffat’s earlier stories The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances & Girl In The Fireplace. Is Mr Moffat trying out every fruit in his scripts? Talk about Girl In The Fireplace, the Eleventh Doctor first meeting Amy then known as Amelia when she was a little girl is reminiscent of the Tenth Doctor first meeting Reinette. Amelia was played by Caitlin Blackwood, Karen Gillan’s real life cousin, talk about keeping things in the family.
Quite a funny moment when the Doctor bumped into a tree.
It was quite fun seeing the Doctor and Amelia together in the kitchen as the Doctor tries out every food from Amelia’s fridge. Surprises that came in this episode include Amy not being a real PC and that she was dressed that way for a kissogram, the cameo by Patrick Moore, once again seeing clips of all the past Doctors and the Sea Devils (as they are only monsters seen in the clips who not yet made a comeback).
All of this is capped off at the end with the wonderful scene in the new TARDIS interior with Amy joining the Doctor on his travels.
A great introduction to Amy and I for one am glad of her being on board the TARDIS.

[matthewsee]

Confidential Cutdown – 5 x 1 – Call Me The Doctor:
Steven Moffat provides a good reminder that all the Doctors are the same person with different faces.
Quite fun seeing Matt Smith and Ed Thomas exploring the TARDIS interior.
Steven Moffat said considering that Matt Smith is not that familiar with Doctor Who he was tonally perfect as the Doctor and it is quite obvious here how much Matt enjoys playing the Doctor.

[matthewsee]

For the scene in which images of all the previous Doctors were seen, the audio descriptor on DVD says “various Doctors”. Since the images were all of Matt Smith’s predecessors, I think the audio descriptor should have said all the Doctors in order to make it clear to the viewer that they were seeing all the Doctors. Not some, most, but all of them.

[matthewsee]

Steven Moffat explains that he always planned to introduce Amy Pond for the 2010 season regardless of whether it was going to be with new Doctor Matt Smith or if David Tennant had stayed on a little bit longer (and if it had been for the latter the season opener would obviously not been called The Eleventh Hour):

www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/05/steven-moffats-unused-doctor-who-story-arc-what-if-david-tennant-had-stayed-for-one-more-year/




While Amy had narrowly missed the Tenth Doctor, Karen Gillan had earlier made her Doctor Who debut but not as Amy Pond in one of Tennant's episodes The Fires of Pompeii.

[matthewsee]

Steven Moffat finally solves a mystery from The Eleventh Hour just passed its 12th anniversary on April 3 2022:
www.inverse.com/entertainment/doctor-who-mystery-explained