Re: Doctor Who – The 11th Hour (5x01) - (Discuss – Grade | SPOILERS) U
After taking time to rewatch and digest the episode, a few things stood out at me. Here they are in a kind of random-vomit point form -
First, and it's probably just me, as I said previously, Matt Smith is awfully young. He's not so bad in motion, but looking at some of the freeze-frames of the Doctor and his companions (well, ok the Doctor, Amy & her bf) it just looks like 3 adolescent kids standing there!
The flipside of this is that he is also much nearer to his physical peak and therefore more athletic and he could also go on to do the series for a long time.
The "Who da man?" line was met with the scourn it deserved. It was mildly amusing & mildy embarrasing, but I am glad it is in the past now.
People used to talk about an actor 'hitting the ground running' when his or her characterisation came together from the very start. Tom Baker springs immediately to mind. I think these days they probably spend a bit more time fleshing out the characters prior to being thrust in front of a camera, but even so Matt Smith has definitely carved out a place for himself and left his mark from the very start.
Second, though the story was reasonably well written and expertly executed, the Prisoner Zero concepts and plotline are mundane. Despite this, I got a definite classic Who vibe from it all. A sinister crack in the wall, an escaped body-snatching alien prisoner, a giant big-brother style eye looming over the camera and our heroes - I could really see all these things being done on the old show.
The little actress who played Amelia did a fantastic job and deserves the utmost commendation - as do those who saw fit to cast her in the first place.
I think those who are predicting a romance here between the companion and the Doctor are indulging in a bit of wishful thinking. But hey, we'll find out as the series progresses.
The incidental theme used for the Doctor is interesting. IIRC, it starts as a slow four chord progression with a single repeating melody over the top. This in itself has a very cool 'epic saga' quality to it (it's actually an old trick you see in alot of movie trailers. The Abrams Star Trek trailers are a good example. You have this melody which repeats while the chords shift underneath, changing the context of the melody with each chord change). The drums then kick in to drive it into a higher gear. Then, near the end, this is all joined by a 2nd melody over the top of the first which is completely bonkers. It sounds all zany and madcap, though it's still strictly ordered and in sequence.
In a way this simple theme neatly encapsulates the Doctors character. And this is why I said in the other thread, that although I felt a bit 'meh' over the main theme arrangement, some of the incidental music within the episode is among Gold's best work on the series.
The rooftop scene was kind of cool, though I wonder where the aliens got all those pictures of Daleks, Cybermen, Sea Devils & Sontarans. As Australis pointed out, those fish creatures from The Doctor's Daughter should not be in the sequence, should they? Seems a mistake.
A few more things I noticed (which have no doubt been mentioned in this thread already) - 'Silence Will Fall' was repeated a couple of times by Prisoner Zero. Is this a RTD-style foreshadowing or prediction, like the Ood's 'Your song is coming to an end' thing? I also wonder what was the significance of the monitor/oscilloscope in the TARDIS showing the exact same shaped line as the crack on Amy's wall?
What was the point of the Doctor saying (to paraphrase) 'And if you don't trust me, then my man Geoff will speak for me' ? What the hell is Geoff going to do that will convince the experts? Not to mention leaving someone so completely 'green' to help co-ordinate the experts - it all seemed a bit rushed and a bit silly. Also hacking computer networks, and the depictions of the networks themselves, continues to be represented poorly in Doctor Who and does not resemble real life in any way. Though this was probably a tad better than Mickey's launching missiles via his web-browser in World War Three/Aliens of London.
Still a very impressive start overall. The 'Coming Soon' trailer looked suitably awesome. I can't wait.
Oh dear God, The, that's fabulous, and probably sums up in one word what so many of us have tried to express to Bones for a while now.
