Eleventh Doctor Review

Eleventh Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Madame Vastra, Clara Oswald

Matt Smith’s iconic performance as the Doctor portrayed an impossibly powerful, old character, who preferred to act absurd and silly to try and forget his dark past and nature.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

Vincent and the Doctor: 10/10

The Time of Angels/Flesh and Blood: 10/10

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang: 10/10

The Eleventh Hour: 10/10

A Christmas Carol: 10/10

The God Complex: 10/10

The Day of the Doctor: 10/10

A Good Man Goes to War: 9.5/10

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People: 9.5/10

A Town Called Mercy: 9.5/10

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe: 9.5/10

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon: 9.25/10

The Power of Three: 9.25/10

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: 9/10

Closing Time: 9/10

Hide: 8.9/10

The Rings of Akhaten: 8.75/10

The Angels Take Manhattan: 8.75/10

Cold War: 8.5/10

The Crimson Horror: 8.5/10

The Time of the Doctor: 8.5/10

The Girl Who Waited: 8.5/10

The Doctor’s Wife: 8.5/10

Amy’s Choice: 8.5/10

The Beast Below: 8.5/10

The Name of the Doctor: 8.25/10

The Bells of Saint John: 8/10

The Snowmen: 8/10

Asylum of the Daleks: 8/10

The Wedding of River Song: 8/10

Let’s Kill Hitler: 8/10

The Lodger: 8/10

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood: 8/10

Victory of the Daleks: 8/10

The Curse of the Black Spot: 7.95/10

The Vampires of Venice: 7.95/10

Nightmare in Silver: 7.5/10

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: 7.5/10

Night Terrors: 6.75/10

For me, the Eleventh Doctor falls behind the Twelfth and Tenth in my reckoning of new series Doctors. I think a main reason for that would be how evasive he is as a personality, there are precious little times we get to see what the Doctor actually thinks and would like. The Tenth has several moments of morose vulnerability, and his ego crescendos in The Waters of Mars in a way that never happens for Eleven. The Eleventh Doctor in many senses is a narcissist, he runs away from death for 200 years, and he makes a last-ditch attempt to convince Amy to leave Rory and travel with him. He’ll even place a phone call to ensure Clara doesn’t leave his future self. In the end, him finally committing to defend Trenzalore is a fitting end. That said, the show has scarcely felt more magical than it did in Smith’s dynamite entry in Series 5, a mysterious wife in River, a fierce companion in Amy, and time-bending mysteries galore.

Now, his best moments.

5. “Take it all!” Much older than he was during his Stonehenge speech, the Doctor’s heart-wrenching pain as he pours out his life and existence to the Old God. It doesn’t work, but you can feel how the Doctor in purple has changed since we first met him.

4. The Doctor’s warming and introduction to Victorian Clara is the clear highlight of The Snowmen, as Clara pieces together his plan and gets introduced to the neon TARDIS in a stunning sequence.

3. “…ok.” It’s a small moment, but as the Doctor explains the plan to save Gallifrey with his past incarnations to the General, everything suddenly goes quiet and the General tells him to do it. The silent “ok” carries the weight of lives of guilt.

2. “Who da man!” Bursting onto the scene in The Eleventh Hour, no TARDIS, no sonic, the Doctor still gets it done and saves Earth from incineration. When Prisoner Zero mimics him, the Doctor doesn’t even recognize himself yet. It was a bit of a long day for him.

1. “Hello Stonehenge!” Although it turns out it didn’t work, the Doctor’s speech to his assembled enemies attempting to get them to flee solely based on his reputation is a tremendous piece of acting and where people fell in love with this Doctor.

Sometimes the Eleventh Doctor era got too complex, with relationships not quite as well defined as I would’ve hoped. For being known as the fairy tale era, the man at the heart of it was surprisingly dark and manipulative. With its emphasis on River, putting the Silence front and center as the arc villains, the Eleventh Doctor era feels weirdly divorced from the rest of the show when the Twelfth Doctor would heavily feature UNIT and the Master again. Still, pound for pound, this grades out as the strongest overall era of the show. Series 7 is definitely weak, but consistently fine enough to keep it holding this title. From the tears of Vincent van Gogh, to a heart-stopping 52nd century showdown against Weeping Angels, to the return of Gallifrey, Moffat brought the excitement.

8.726/10 A full letter grade decline

Series 7 Review

Series 7

Series 7

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Madame Vastra, Clara Oswald

Series 7 features an epilogue for the Ponds, and then gives us a total refresh with Clara Oswald, who shows great promise but is frustratingly underdeveloped.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

A Town Called Mercy: 9.5/10

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe: 9.5/10

The Power of Three: 9.25/10

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: 9/10

Hide: 8.9/10

The Rings of Akhaten: 8.75/10

The Angels Take Manhattan: 8.75/10

Cold War: 8.5/10

The Crimson Horror: 8.5/10

The Name of the Doctor: 8.25/10

The Bells of Saint John: 8/10

The Snowmen: 8/10

Asylum of the Daleks: 8/10

Nightmare in Silver: 7.5/10

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS: 7.5/10

For many people, Series 7 is where the show started to run out of steam, and it does give that feeling. The unique structure does it no favors, you begin with the tweed-wearing Doctor and the Ponds and end with him wearing dark purple and with Clara Oswald. There is a common theme that Matt Smith lost it in this series, and I honestly have to disagree. It’s certainly less electric than his incredible debut in Series 5, but suiting an incarnation now centuries old, the Eleventh Doctor of especially Series 7B feels lived in. I also think his purple ensemble might be my favorite Doctor outfit of all time, formal and whimsy perfectly mixed. The real miss is that Clara Oswald just feels underdeveloped, partly because once we get to the original Clara it’s the third time we’ve met Jenna Coleman and we’re kind of done with it. Still, the power and knowledge imbalance between here and the Doctor and the viewers makes it for awkward viewing and her relationship with the Doctor is essentially ‘flirty’, which is new and different than the puppy-dog love of Rose but still not enough. Thankfully, it will get better. Lastly, a lot of the scripts just aren’t that great. Explosive episodes billed as rehabilitations of the Daleks and Cybermen fall flat, and the Weeping Angels lack their previous punch. Series 7 isn’t a disaster, but it does feel like a show in need of a creative retool.

8.527/10 A disappointing series that goes back to the bag of tricks and finds little new to do

The Angels Take Manhattan Review

The Angels Take Manhattan

Any statue could be an Angel…

Story 230, Episode 789, Series 7 Episode 5

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams

It’s doomsday for the Ponds in a story that has emotional weight, but feels oddly understated in the echo of several near-exits for the pair.

The Review

The Ponds, older and wiser

The Angels Take Manhattan doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation, it’s seen as too convoluted and cheapening the Weeping Angels so badly it took nine years for them to feature in an episode again. I find it better than its reputation, things like the Statue of Liberty being an angel don’t bother me, fridge logic be damned. I’ve never been scared by the Angels, so they don’t get me now either. The conceit of the story is our TARDIS trio found themselves trapped in a loop with no escape, once you see how you’re going to die, it’s set in stone. Doctor Who has chosen this rule to put some limits on time travel shenanigans, once you know the future, there’s no avoiding it. The Doctor is reading a book that suddenly describes what’s happening to the trio that instant, and if he reads ahead, well, now we’re in trouble. I don’t quite buy that this book is the arbiter of the future and can’t be circumvented. It’s only a book, who’s to say that River just doesn’t write a false ending as part of the story?

The couple that dies together stays together

River is here too, running into Rory in 1938 after an Angel sends him there. New York is apparently so full of time distortions it’s nearly impossible for the TARDIS to land there. Amy and the Doctor follow, and discover the Angels are running a hotel to feed on time energy like a battery. Rory sees his aged self die, but thinks of an easy way to stop the problem: die first. With how often Rory’s come back to life, it’s hilarious genre savvy when he guesses he’ll pop back to life afterwards. After struggling initially over whether to choose Rory or the Doctor, Amy chooses Rory and they jump off the building together in a very effective scene. Until that point, the whole story has kind of a weird vibe, there’s never been any build-up to the Angels or anything so at first it seems just like another adventure.

The Doctor begs Amy not to leave him

A good motif throughout the story is the Doctor saying how much he hates endings, a refrain River repeats. They share a nice moment where the Doctor heals her broken wrist, and she admits she never wants the Doctor to see her hurt. Of course, the true gut punch comes right after it seems Rory’s plan worked, and they’re all about to leave. Rory stops, noticing a grave with his name, and one last Angel sends him away. It’s shocking that we never get a goodbye to Rory, but Amy’s is heart wrenching. The Doctor is begging her to choose him and stay with him but Amy refuses: there was never a question that in the end she’d choose Rory. Of course there’s the logic of wondering why the Doctor couldn’t land near New York and walk into see them, but I’ll quietly let it go. It’s nice to see this story be Angels and not Daleks or Cybermen even if they don’t do much. In some ways its a normal story, but that’s how it went: the Ponds stayed with the Doctor until one normal adventure caught up to them.

Thanks to the previous several episodes, we have been ready for the Ponds to move on, but we get one last declaration of love.

8.75/10 The Angels take the Ponds, but they take the Doctor’s hearts first

The last outing

The Power of Three Review

The Power of Three

The Slow Invasion commences

Story 229, Episode 788, Series 7 Episode 4

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Kate Stewart

Doctor Who finally deals with what happens when a companion stays so long their life gets mixed in with the Doctor’s.

The Review

The countdown begins

For how badly Chris Chibnall’s tenure as show runner has handled the relationships between the Doctor and her companions, it’s amazing he wrote this story that does it so maturely. It’s based around a ‘Slow Invasion’ a genius idea where mysterious cubes appear one day and nobody knows what to do with them. They’re obviously alien, but for a full year don’t do anything. Throughout Series 7 so far, the Ponds’ on/off again TARDIS traveling has been a unique dynamic, wanting to go on adventures but just as soon get home and see their friends. Here, it gets even more mixed up as there’s an ongoing alien mystery, but no immediate threat for a year. Rory and Amy are both surprised by how much they are enjoying ‘real life’, having grown past awkward young adulthood to having a stable marriage and career. Doctor Who is escapism, but what if you don’t want to escape?

Yes, Kate Stewart met the Ponds!

In an understated debut, we are introduced to Kate Stewart, new head of UNIT and of course daughter of the legendary Brigadier. Jemma Redgrave portrays a capable leader who is also a bit starstruck by the Doctor, and it’s a nice debut. Sadly due to production issues involving an unruly actor, the solution to the cubes is opaque. Something called the Shakri is here to kill all humanity, the Doctor does a little sonic screwdriver thing and the day is saved. Got to dock points for that. In the end, it’s Brian who convinces the Ponds to keep traveling with the Doctor, because no one has that opportunity. He says this even knowing from the Doctor that companions have died. Amy and Rory end up choosing the Doctor over real life. Let’s see how that works out.

The Ponds make the choice to stick with the Doctor in a mature story showing what happens when you have to choose between both.

9.25/10 The ending of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory happy one last time is an iconic photo.

The iconic trio

A Town Called Mercy Review

A Town Called Mercy

It’s the Wild West!

Story 228, Episode 787, Series 7 Episode 3

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

Doctor Who makes a long awaited return to the American west, with a surprisingly detailed moral dilemma.

The Review

The Gunslinger

Filmed beautifully on location in fake America (Spain), A Town Called Mercy perfectly captures the feel of a western, complete with a complex moral dilemma at its heart. The Gunslinger, whose creation is depicted in a short prequel, is a cyborg cowboy, a perfect villain for a Doctor Who western tale. The town in Nevada is called ‘Mercy’, which somehow is not the most on the nose name for a town in the show. As an American, I can confirm that the setting seems like a town that would be a stop in True Grit. Upon arriving, we learn the Gunslinger is going after its creators, one of whom is the ‘alien doctor’, a man named Jex. Jex is played like an ex-Nazi who has been living the quiet life in retirement, he seems like a nice man but the coldness of a man who would create these monsters like the Gunslinger to end a war.

The Doctor Jex

The other key performance after Adrian Scarborough’s Jex is Ben Browder’s Isaac, the Marshall who gives his life for Jex because to him America is the land of second chances. Echoing the last story, the Doctor almost gives up Jex to die, but Amy convinces him not to. The Doctor tries an unlikely to succeed plan after the Gunslinger says he’ll kill the whole town, but Jex decides to commit suicide and end the crisis on his own terms. The Doctor’s willingness to considering killing Jex is surprising, but the last two stories have shown very difficult situations and how the Doctor reacts in them. As a successor of Matt Smith’s would say, sometimes it’s not a very flat team structure.

The Wild West leads to a story that I think should be much more remembered than it is. Sure, Amy and Rory don’t get much to do, but the setting is beautiful and the viewers struggle with the dilemma along with the Doctor.

9.5/10 I mean, the Gunslinger just looks cool

The Doctor at high noon

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Review

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

The TARDIS gang

Story 227, Episode 786, Series 7 Episode 2

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

In a fun romp, the Doctor and his TARDIS gang take on a rogue Silurian ark and one of the most despicable villains in the show.

The Review

The Doctor and the male Ponds

Just like Asylum of the Daleks, another variable is thrown into the Ponds’ life as we get a quick introduction to Rory’s father Brian. This time, it works, as Brian is recognizably someone that could be Rory’s dad and has very understandable reactions to get thrown into a spaceship with dinosaurs. Amy and Rory’s marriage feels lived-in and real, and Amy dresses more maturely than she has throughout the show previously. The show separates them for most of this story, with Amy hanging around with Queen Nefertiti and John Riddell. Yes, the Queen Nefertiti, who is tiredly introduced wanting to make out with the Doctor. Getting a bit tiring seeing strong historical women forcing themselves on the Doctor. John Riddell is a fictional big game hunter from Africa who is a chauvinist so charismatic you end up liking him. Of course, Nefertiti decides to abandon her people to live with him, which doesn’t make too much sense? Listen, Chibnall is rolling here.

Solomon the bastard

Still, the story works because of the propulsive energy that it has, and the novelty of seeing lots of dinosaurs. We also meet Solomon played by future First Doctor David Bradley, a horrible person who massacred the Silurians on-board their ark and pledges to ‘break Nefertiti’s spirit’. The guy is a bastard, and Matt Smith’s hardened reaction to him is surprising from his normally bouncy Doctor but completely in line. It is a bit shocking that the day is saved by the Doctor having missiles fired at the ark kill Solomon instead, but he’s so evil you can’t help but feel okay with it. The sets and costumes are great, and the maturity of Solomon’s evil and Brian Williams having a revelation that leads him to travel make it a satisfying story.

It’s one of Chibnall’s best scripts, a fun ride with well-defined emotional relationships and a nasty villain.

9/10 Not as funny as I remembered, but it’s a fun story.

The Doctor riding a triceratops

Asylum of the Daleks Review

Asylum of the Daleks

In the Parliament of the Daleks

Story 226, Episode 785, Series 7 Episode 1

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald (sorta)

We meet a whole lot of Daleks, an intriguing soufflé girl, and rush an entire plot about divorce.

The Review

Insane Daleks

The pitch for Asylum of the Daleks is irresistible: every Dalek variety ever in one place, all insane, what’s not to love? Despite how slickly produced the story is, it kind of falls flat. The main problem is The Daleks never provide any menace. We get the Dalek Parliament which is of course a fun idea, but nothing much comes from it. Those Daleks are all asking the Doctor for help (which Defender of The Daleks will do again but earlier for the Doctor), so they’re not after the Doctor. The insane Daleks are too brain-scrambled to do anything and come across more as old broken Daleks than vicious crazed lunatics: not what I imagine to be the desired look. The biggest legacy of this story is a brief return to Skaro foretold in the spooky prequel, and the Dalek puppets inhabiting people. Those are scary and effective, including the fact that people don’t even know they are Dalek puppets. Still, the whole idea of a Dalek asylum is kind of wasted: The Witch’s Familiar will do this better.

The Ponds having marriage issues

The real big mistake in this story is introducing Amy and Rory getting a divorce, and dealing with it all in the same story. Even for people who watched Pond Life it comes seemingly completely out of nowhere. Eventually the truth comes out that Amy was going to let Rory go so another woman could give him children. Heard of adoption? It’s baffling to me to introduce this major stress in their relationship, and then in an admittedly well-acted scene the two are finally honest with each other and it works itself out. I’m not intrinsically opposed to an arc of Amy and Rory having relationship issues, but maybe that should’ve been an arc throughout an entire season rather than just in one episode. They also don’t really do much to contribute to the plot at all, but it’s fun seeing Amy in heavy moody make-up I guess.

Oswin Oswald, the soufflé girl

The best part of this is a classic twist as Jenna Coleman shows up way earlier than advertised as Oswin, a young flirty woman seemingly trapped in the Dalek ship. There are lingering questions, mainly the Doctor wondering where she gets milk for a year for her soufflés. It turns out ‘exterminate’ slowed down sounds a lot like ‘egg stir’, explaining the soufflés which is some impressive wordplay. Tragically, Oswin is actually a Dalek and is so powerful she was fighting back. If you didn’t know the news that Coleman had been announced as the new companion, she’s just another guest character and your shock will take place later on. It’s fun, but it’s not enough to save a bizarrely structured episode. Hey, at least we get all The Daleks wondering ‘Doctor Who?’ after Oswin wipes their database of the Doctor.

Amy and Rory are getting divorced for some reason, and insane Daleks end up not being all that threatening.

8/10 Cool visuals keep it from going lower, but just a weirdly out of sync episode.

I AM NOT A DALEK

Pond Life Review

Pond Life

Enjoying breakfast

Story 225.5

Doctor: Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

Pond Life is a short but amusing snapshot of life as friends of the Doctor.

The Review

The Ponds

Companions usually seem stuck between never seeing the Doctor or never seeing home, so glimpsing the part-time lives of the Ponds is a fun idea. Old friend Chris Chibnall writes these three little vignettes taking place over five months. The Doctor once pops in having been from the future, and one time leaves an Ood servant behind who does all the chores for the Ponds. It’s all fun and games until the surprising fifth installment with Rory angrily storming out of the house with Amy in tears behind him. It’s a fine slice of life.

The tiny snippets we get into the Doctor’s life are hilarious, my favorite with him laying down ‘backwards vocals’ on a rap album.

9/10 I really miss these.

Caught out in the rain

The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe Review

The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe

There’s something in the trees

Story 225, Episode 784, 2011 Christmas Special

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: Amy Pond, Rory Williams

Despite a shaky middle plot, the emotional punches of The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe are some of the most satisfying in all of Doctor Who.

The Review

Madge and her spaceman angel

The two stars of this episode just want their family back at Christmas, starting with Madge Arwell. The Doctor in a spacesuit (hilariously with backwards helmet) crashes near her and she drives him to a TARDIS in 1938. In 1941, her husband is a pilot in World War II, and she’s received a telegram that he’s been lost over the Channel. She takes her kids to an old country estate house for Christmas while lying their dad will make it, and is surprised to see the Doctor has made ‘some changes’ like hammocks for the kids and lemonade on tap. Claire Skinner is great as Madge, when the Doctor and her kids disappear through a portal she holds her one against the Androzani miners here to destroy the forest. The Doctor does say things ‘got clinch-y’ in the middle, and this plot does too. It’s like Moffat came up with the idea of ‘Christmas tree planet’ and worked backwards from there. Essentially, a forest of sentient trees and they’re trying to escape getting burned down. The only other characters: the miners, are pretty one-note.

The souls of the trees

The issue with this story is it kind of gets uninteresting during all the speculation about the trees and what’s going on. Ultimately, an environmental story has been done plenty of times and the only new things here are small gags like the Doctor telling his sonic that aliens made of wood were inevitable. We get a bit where men = weak and woman = strong, which the Doctor takes an embarrassingly long time to figure out. The climax is heart-wrenching as Madge flies the trees’ souls through the vortex but then sees her husband’s plane and breaks down admitting he’s dead. When they land, Madge has to finally tell her kids, but we have a miracle: she guided her husband home for Christmas. Yes it’s almost tanked by the Doctor saying ‘humany-wumany’ which causes severe cringe, but I’d genuine and emotional and you can’t help but me moved.

The Doctor returns home

Madge’s reunion pulls on the heartstrings, but we just met her this story. The prequel has the Doctor sending a message to Amy in the TARDIS, but of course it’s been centuries since she’s traveled with him. Madge asks if the Doctor has people who care about him, and he says they all think he’s dead. After he gets scolded, we get one of the most emotional moments in all of Doctor Who, where the Doctor surprises Amy at Christmas. She briefly yells at him for leaving her for two years (creating another dating issue), but gives him an emotional hug and Rory invites him in for dinner. The story ends with the Doctor shocked to see he is actually crying, and there’s nothing like seeing someone as strong as the Doctor cry. Yes, the plot is pretty basic, but a hug between the Doctor and his mother-in-law makes it all wash away.

This is the Christmas special I like to watch most around the holiday, just because of how emotional it is.

9.5/10 Muddled plot keeps it from a 10, but it’s great

Coming home for Christmas

Series 6 Review

Series 6

Series 6

Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor

Companions: River Song, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Madame Vastra

Series 6 is more ambitious than its predecessor, but is done in just by a very odd structuring and not delivering on some key plot points.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

A Christmas Carol: 10/10

The God Complex: 10/10

A Good Man Goes to War: 9.5/10

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People: 9.5/10

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon: 9.25/10

Closing Time: 9/10

The Girl Who Waited: 8.5/10

The Doctor’s Wife: 8.5/10

The Wedding of River Song: 8/10

Let’s Kill Hitler: 8/10

The Curse of the Black Spot: 7.95/10

Night Terrors: 6.75/10

The addition of A Christmas Carol certainly improves the score here, but it’s in the Series 6 blu-ray set so I’m counting it here. The best other story is The God Complex, which doesn’t do anything special but executes its narrative so flawlessly it ends up here. For me the best story of the myth arc is the soaring A Good Man Goes to War where the Doctor rises higher and falls flatter than he ever has. The central conceit around the Doctor dying and feeling he’s not worthy of love unfortunately doesn’t land. The midseason break structuring really break this up, and I think the series and episodes as a whole could’ve done with some serious rearranging. Like, The Girl Who Waited right before The God Complex doesn’t seem to make too much sense, and you’d think there would be more fallout from the former. Still, the entertainment is still there!

8.708/10 A small step down from Series 5