Doctor Who ‘The Eleventh Hour’ open thread

Glenn Hauman

Glenn is VP of Production at ComicMix. He has written Star Trek and X-Men stories and worked for DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, Random House, arrogant/MGMS and Apple Comics. He's also what happens when a Young Turk of publishing gets old.

You may also like...

16 Responses

  1. Mark Lafrenais says:

    Hey! Less of the "bad people" who are ahead!Some of us here are actually from the UK!NON-SPOILER – Episodes 2 and 3 are great as well!

    • Lord Snooty says:

      I'm with Mark on this one !!! Living in UK also means we are 6 hours ahead plus 2 episodes of Doctor Who, so please dont think badly of us :)SPOILER – Episode 3 Daleks team up with Apple ipod and come in all new colours

  2. Jason M. Bryant says:

    Thanks for opening the thread, I did want to discuss it.I enjoyed it. It had a few rough spots, but so did the first episode with Chris Eccleston. Somehow I told myself that since Steven Moffat has written for the show before, the opening show would be perfect from the start. That's not fair, though, it needs a little time to find what works with new actors, sets, and everything else, plus reintroducing everything has to put some burdens on the story.Things felt pretty solid towards the end. The character of Amy is interesting and fun. Once she got to the point of trusting the Doctor again, it felt like things were going strong.It's still a little odd seeing such a young Doctor, but Matt Smith does a great job. He's certainly got that hint of madness that a Doctor needs.I'm looking forward to more.

  3. John Ostrander says:

    I was delighted. I wondered about the fact that Smith was so young so i wasn't sure but by the time he first said, "I'm the Doctor." I murmured, "Yes. Yes, you are." I've actually taken to him more quickly than i did to Eccleson or Tennant (although I ultimately loved both}. i love the new companion as well and am ready to settle in to great fun times in the TARDIS (the redesign of its interior I also like very much).

  4. Jarrod Buttery says:

    The use of regeneration always bothered me. Not the gimmick itself – it's the best trick in serialised television, refreshing both the cast and the show – but its results. The Doctor (and all his race) has THE best trick – when he's injured or wom out, he just regenerates into a new, revitalised body. However, in the early years at least, he usually changed into yet another elderly man! If you could do that, wouldn't you WANT a young, fresh body?

    • Jason M. Bryant says:

      When Romana regenerated she did it in a completely different way. Instead of getting hurt and being forced to regenerate with no idea of the outcome, she just walked into the control room in a completely different body. She didn't like it, so she changed into another, then another, until she found one she liked.Some people have speculated that if a Time Lord activates his regeneration voluntarily, then he has a lot of control. If he waits until it is forced upon him, then he's randomly stuck with whatever he gets.

      • mike weber says:

        The Second Doctor's regeneration form was picked (and forced upon him) by the Time Lords when they caught up with him.There's been speculation that the Doctor's difficulty with regeneration has been because, while he's smarter than the smartest human who ever lived, he's not really very bright for a Time Lord – it took him three times to pass at the Academy, while Romana scored a triple first on her first try…

        • Jason M. Bryant says:

          I don't like that theory. He's outsmarted the other Time Lords many, many times. There are better ways to explain why his academy scores weren't great.

  5. Hollie says:

    The conceit seems to be that each regen is like "rerolling the dice" with little (if any) expectation of the form of the new body. Also, I suspect that many of the folks involved have enjoyed the progression of aging in reverse and its reminder of Merlin.One of the things I liked most about this doctor is how readily he admits his change and growth. My favorite line was probably (badly mangled and poorly remembered) "I had been travelling alone for a while, by choice, but it wasn't working well."

  6. Neil Ottenstein says:

    I enjoyed this first episode, though he did reuse a partially similar plot device in his Girl in the Fireplace (and of course there was the mistime at the beginning of Aliens in London). I really felt bad for poor Amelia having to wait and wait. At the end of the episode she asks him whether he can return close to after they left (so she can get to her wedding). How does she have any confidence in his answer? She waited 12 years for his 5 minutes the first time and then waited anther 2 years.I was surprised that there were so many scenes from later this season in the Ultimate Guide. They were just minor spoilers/teasers of things to come, including one wonderful guest star, but a still a surprise.

    • Jason M. Bryant says:

      "At the end of the episode she asks him whether he can return close to after they left (so she can get to her wedding). How does she have any confidence in his answer?"That's a good question that I also wondered about. I suspect the answer is that she's a little crazy, just like the Doctor. Also, if she's as ambivalent about the marriage as she was about her boyfriend during the attack, then she might subconsciously want an excuse to miss the wedding.

  7. Rob says:

    I have to agree with the esteemed Mr. Ostrander. I wasn't sure about Matt Smith, just hearing that he has "It"… Yes… he certainly does… He is the Doctor. Tho the idea of dipping Fish Sticks into Custard, nearly made me puke.I didn't like the TARDIS interior. Seemed to be forcing the issue with mad scientist piecemealing. Heavy handed, and very unlike Doctor Who. Was fine… just didn't love it.Did anyone else find it strange, that everyone in Amy's town knew who she was? I mean, I get small town life, but still that was odd. And something never seen before. Maybe trying to make a point about small-town life, or maybe there's something special about Amy.BTW: Amy definately leaped over all modern companions as the prettiest companion. Theories and Ideas… not SpoilersDoes the "Silence" clue, maybe referrring to this years "Big Bad" refer to the Silence in the Library. Having something to do with either the Vashta Nerada or River Song?Finally, does Amy Pond have a connection to River Song, or does Steven Moffat just like water references?

    • Jason M. Bryant says:

      Not everyone knew Amy. Some did, others fell for her police officer costume.

  8. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    The younger-each-time regeberation has always reminded me of Merlin aging backwards. In the spoof "The Curse of Fatal Death", Rowan Atkinson's Doctor blasts through all his regens in short order, first becoming Richard Grant, then Jim Broadbent, then Hugh Grant, then Joanna Lumley. And a blazing hot female Doctor is really something to see, as she strolls away with Jonathan Pryce's Master…