Rewatchalong: "The Eleventh Hour"

[randomgirl666.livejournal.com]

Since we had a very positive response to the idea of rewatching season 5, I felt there was no time like the present. So our first rewatchalong officially starts now!

Since this is the first one, here's some stuff I'm going to be thinking about whilst I watch, but feel free to talk about whatever the hell you like.

1. Has that scene with the Doctor in Amelia's kitchen aged well? I have a feeling it might be a bit OTT, but we'll see.
2. Was this episode the only place where Amy's job as a kissagram was ever mentioned? Whatever happened to that?
3. How has Matt Smith's take on the Doctor changed since this first episode?
4. Does everything make more sense or less sense with the benefit of hindsight?

Comments in the....uh.... comments. Beware of spoilers from two years ago!

ETA: You can also watch the additional scene, set between "The Eleventh Hour" and "The Beast Below" here.

Comments

[libertine-lust.livejournal.com]

OOoh *breaks out the boxset*

[hilandmum.livejournal.com]

As many times as I've watched this episode, I think it's time to watch it again with your questions in mind.

[randomgirl666.livejournal.com]

Just watched it. I'd forgotten how bloody brilliant this episode was, in fact it may be the best Moffat-era episode so far. And so FUNNY. Little Amelia Pond is wonderful, I especially love the way she says "Had to move to England. It's RUBBISH." I was wondering if the scene in Amelia's kitchen would seem a little OTT, but I still find it quite charming. And I love that Amelia hesitates for all of a second before running off and packing her suitcase.

Those first few scenes are so spooky and magical and charming. Remember seeing those first few shots of Amelia's garden and thinking "wow, are all Doctor Who episodes going to be like this from now on?" And then we're suddenly into the action and it's all running around and hurling accusations about and running into people's houses and grabbing random strangers. The energy of this whole episode is amazing. Even watching it for the third time, I'm not messing with my phone or my computer, I'm totally engrossed. It's full of perfect little touches like when the sonic screwdriver activates all the electrical devices in the area and the woman on the motorized scooter goes veering off or the idiots standing gawping at the sun with their videophones or Jeff having to convince the boffins to save the world off-screen, because there's just not enough TIME to waste on that. This is what I love about Moffat episodes: you don't need to see everything, because there's so much going on already, it doesn't really matter what you've missed.

There's a couple of things that don't really work, one of which is adult Amy's introduction. I'd forgotten about her fake "English" accent. The whole part where she's pretending to be a police officer and then just pretending not to be Amelia doesn't really work (or at least it didn't if you were one of the millions of people who already knew Karen Gillan had been cast as a new companion called Amy). The fake accent sounds Australian, police officers don't generally beat up intruders with cricket bats and that skirt certainly wasn't regulation length. Perhaps we're not meant to be convinced, but it's hard to see why the Doctor would be either. And was Amy's whole job as a kissagram only ever a plot device to make this introduction work? Because I don't recall that it was ever mentioned again and it does seem out of step with pretty much everything else we know about Amy. Besides, where's the demand for kissagrams in the 21st century in a sleepy English village?

Also, that Dr Ramsden character was ridiculous. "Well I know there's SOMETHING weird going on with the coma patients and this nurse is about to hand me what he thinks is evidence, but never mind cos my beeper just went off, so I'll just suspend him and put a permanent black mark on his record instead."

Still, when Amy ditches the accent, she's brilliant. Indignant and angry and not about to back down just because a man she saw disappear in a box 12 years ago has showed up again and revealed an alien living in her house. Matt Smith is perfect. I'd forgotten how fully formed his Doctor was, even in the first episode (although I know it's not the first one he filmed). From the second he pops his head out of the TARDIS, you're like "oh, I was worrying about nothing with all this 'youngest doctor ever' stuff."

It helps that this is a really good story. The Doctor's plan is actually a really good plan (much better than some of the power of love endings from season 6). Computer virus, phone, boffins, zeroes, photos. It's really clever but simple enough that anyone can understand. I've seen people saying they don't like the fact that the Doctor calls the Atraxi back to boast about how awesome he is, but I have no problem with random displays of arrogance. It's the Doctor after all, and that scene really does a great job in saying "I'm the Doctor now, bitches, deal with it."

The moment when the TARDIS takes off and Amy has that smile of pure joy on her face is one of my favourite in Doctor Who history.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, her job kind of vanished. Maybe it was just to troll people and/or for her intro scene with the wavering English accent.

I can't decide if later Eleven would strip off in front of people like that. I could go either way on that one.

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

I still like the scene in the kitchen. I think Eleven is always over the top... AND I LOVE IT!