Rate "The Eleventh Hour"

Mrs Lee wrote:Nope, that's not the correct definition of a virus, not going to go into semantics but what the Doctor writes is a Time Bomb.

Fair enough.

Mrs Lee wrote:
Back to the point Milton Keynes is still a dump

Graymalkin wrote:Surely if you wanted a 'Memory Lane' kind of Orwellian story, set in an identikit hell where every street looked exactly, and banally, the same, Milton Keynes would save you a fortune in CGI?

There's that, of course, and there's some cheating one can do. Bletchley Park is in Milton Keynes (at least officially), but there was also an early comment from one critic that "there's no there, there" - which is something that screams Doctor Who and The Moff in particular.

As for where you'd film....on a roundabout?

Graymalkin wrote:
Surely any civilisation sufficiently advanced that it has mastered interstellar travel would use Macs?

They appear to in Star Trek. I really liked the bridge of the iNterprise. Of course, that only goes as far as the Bridge since Scotty is clearly able to make huge functional changes to the engineering section without reference to a Genius Bar or returning the whole thing to Apple. I'm also pleased that Apple has taken on TNG technology with the iPad.

...I say these things and still can't deny I want a Mac book myself.

It may be incorrect but surely use of the term 'virus' at least meant that everybody watching knew what he was talking about - if he declaimed about setting up a 'time bomb' then very different images would have appeared in the nation's mind...

Dave Webb wrote:Of course, that only goes as far as the Bridge since Scotty is clearly able to make huge functional changes to the engineering section without reference to a Genius Bar or returning the whole thing to Apple...

LL!!!

Graymalkin wrote:It may be incorrect but surely use of the term 'virus' at least meant that everybody watching knew what he was talking about - if he declaimed about setting up a 'time bomb' then very different images would have appeared in the nation's mind...

That is my problem with it, in this day and age if you own a computer and connect it to a network you should know the basics of Malware (yes even Mac users) and TV shows are continually reinforcing the misconceptions so that each time a step forward is made TV and the news pushes us back ten. To be fair if he'd have used Malware I'd have sucked it up.

You can make changes to a Mac without going to a Genius Bar, you've just got to be brave.

Zoltar wrote:Indeed. And what was the brand of that laptop? "Myth"..?

I believe it was "Myth," and the "Y" was replaced with the Greek Letter "Psi."

Patrick wrote:

Zoltar wrote:Indeed. And what was the brand of that laptop? "Myth"..?

I believe it was "Myth," and the "Y" was replaced with the Greek Letter "Psi."

Which makes it mpsith, which is an anagram of Psmith, and an indication that the Big Bad of the series is PG Wodehouse.

(I'm reasonably sure that this is not the craziest theory currently being posted to the internet)

Nick Barlow wrote:

Patrick wrote:

Zoltar wrote:Indeed. And what was the brand of that laptop? "Myth"..?

I believe it was "Myth," and the "Y" was replaced with the Greek Letter "Psi."

Which makes it mpsith, which is an anagram of Psmith, and an indication that the Big Bad of the series is PG Wodehouse.

Makes perfect sense. Clearly,

Spoiler:

Fits like a glove. A big armoured one.

It's not happening here, but the amount of passive-aggressive RTD-bashing I'm seeing elsewhere on the web is a reminder of why I really hate fandom sometimes...

What does "passive-aggressive" mean?

I just wikied it and now don't understand a syndrome that I believe I once did. As far as my understanding goes, it's behaviour that's caused by an inner anger that isn't released with frustration being vented but is pushed deep inside that individual and it results in sulkiness and stubbornness.

For me, it's the little digs that people try and sneak in - lots of praise for the new episode and then some comment like 'real Who is back again'. Maybe passive-aggressive isn't the best way to describe it, but it's that bit of not wanting to just praise the new episode, but having to get in a 'RTD sucks' comment.too that really bugs me.

To be honest, I'd been doing that, but I should stop because it's mean.

Patrick wrote:I believe it was "Myth," and the "Y" was replaced with the Greek Letter "Psi."

That's the one.

Nick Barlow wrote:Which makes it mpsith, which is an anagram of Psmith, and an indication that the Big Bad of the series is PG Wodehouse.

(I'm reasonably sure that this is not the craziest theory currently being posted to the internet)

In a universe that gave us "Epileptic Trees", I'm confident it's not.

Nick Barlow wrote:For me, it's the little digs that people try and sneak in - lots of praise for the new episode and then some comment like 'real Who is back again'. Maybe passive-aggressive isn't the best way to describe it, but it's that bit of not wanting to just praise the new episode, but having to get in a 'RTD sucks' comment.too that really bugs me.

How can you tell 'real Who is back' from just one episode?

Mrs Lee wrote:How can you tell 'real Who is back' from just one episode?

Absolutely. It'll be interesting (well, I say 'interesting'...) to see how and if the reaction changes as the series progresses - after all, we've got episodes from Chris Chibnall and Richard Curtis still to come*...

To begin at the beginning, as someone else famously once said;
The visual part of the titles sequence is not as good as the last one, but still ok.. I give it 7/10..
The theme tune itself, I give 4/10, because it has been wrecked..
The episode? 11/10.. It is absolutely awesome.. I like Matt Smith's Doctor far better than DT's.. He seems to have a touch of both Pertwee and Troughton to me, and he seems more credible as an alien in a "human" form than DT, and somehow he doesn't seem quite so much a fashion icon, but more a real Time Lord.. I love the spontaneous, almost accidental way he finds his costume, rather than how DT's Doctor spent ages in the TARDIS wardrobe room, rather like my wife spending ages getting ready to go out.. (ducks for cover)
Caitlin Blackwood as the young Amelia was fantastic, and that was a really adorable way to introduce the companion, and for the Doctor and companion to meet generally..
Karen Gillan turned out to be more solid than I though she was going to be, and I think she looks set to be a very good companion indeed..
The Atraxi were great, and I hope we see more of them in future series..
I give the whole thing 10/10, except for the theme tune, which I'm sure can be sorted for the next series..

Oh, and by the way, I've watched it no less than 5 times up to now, that's how good it is..

Nick Barlow wrote:For me, it's the little digs that people try and sneak in - lots of praise for the new episode and then some comment like 'real Who is back again'. Maybe passive-aggressive isn't the best way to describe it, but it's that bit of not wanting to just praise the new episode, but having to get in a 'RTD sucks' comment.too that really bugs me.

Yes, I've noticed the snide comments form fandom directed at both Davies and Tennant.

Of course, amongst the more casual viewers, things differ: a BBC3 repeat of Waters of Mars garnered an AI of 95 last week, and Friday's repeat of The End of Time gained 92 and 89 for parts one and two respectively. Saturday's AI was 86, but interestingly (and a definite riposte to any declarations of "smaller audiences produce higher AI's"), the Sunday BBC3 repeat of the Eleventh Hour got an AI 0f 82-- possibly Dr Who's lowest AI since Love & Monsters.

Not that this means much, of course, beyond the public at large missing the style of the previous seasons and David Tennant in particular, and seem to be approaching the new series as exactly that: a new series that has to win the affection of the old all over again.

So far, I'd say Moffat has been successful at that, but I do find it interesting that many of the things "fandom" criticises Davies for (sexual innuendo, celebrity cameos, a push a button to get a slightly illogical conclusion-- just how did the time bomb affect clocks that weren't even connected to any computer system?), Moffat was praised for. Not that I care-- it was fun, witty and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

But I could really do without the rest of" fandom's" snide remarks.

Ah well.

Lee Carey wrote:

Nick Barlow wrote:For me, it's the little digs that people try and sneak in - lots of praise for the new episode and then some comment like 'real Who is back again'. Maybe passive-aggressive isn't the best way to describe it, but it's that bit of not wanting to just praise the new episode, but having to get in a 'RTD sucks' comment.too that really bugs me.

Yes, I've noticed the snide comments form fandom directed at both Davies and Tennant.

But I could really do without the rest of" fandom's" snide remarks.

Ah well.

Agreed 100%.. For me it was the "little digs", and even the bigger digs at DT and RTD etc that made me leave a certain forum a few months ago; that and the stupidity of people being banned there again for little or no reason as well, just as happened in that forum's previous incarnation.. I really do not want to see the new series being picked apart by anyone in the manner it almost certainly will be there, which is why I prefer this forum.. For me, the criticism of DT and RTD elsewhere has got on my nerves because of its intensity over the last four years, so I intend to simply enjoy the new series, and occasionally watch the repeats or DVD's of all the old ones too.. Whatever the critics say about it, I am looking forward to a great journey..

You're a true Wrinkly John!

Frank wrote:Full review as ever my pretties is right here:
http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2010/04/doctor-who-series-5-eleventh-hour.html

...I guess I'm going to recommend Blogger... (large donation arrives in bank account - kerching)

Thanks for your advice, Frank! I have joined Blogger, and...
- posted my first publicly-oriented blog, and
- I think, for the first time online, I'm talking about the (any) Doctor Who theme version.
It's... well, I guess it's never got my attention before now.

So be wary of what you've helped start but kind re: this noob's first post...
http://cuenotes.blogspot.com/2010/04/series-5-doctor-who-tv-theme.html

warped wrote:So be wary of what you've helped start but kind re: this noob's first post...
http://cuenotes.blogspot.com/2010/04/series-5-doctor-who-tv-theme.html

An excellent first post, Warped.

I new something had been missing from the new series...

Review: The Eleventh Hour

It's impossible for me to think of The Eleventh Hour without viewing it in the exceedingly positive hindsight of the next two episodes. I'm not aware of the order of filming, but a lot of the flaws in the season opener feel quite different to those in the following two episodes. This may be purely down to the unusual episode length, not quite a single and not quite a double episode, but there was a definite shaky feel to the running in places, with the story occasionally giving the impression of a production team trying a bit hard.

In other places, the story was brimming with confidence and, occasionally, imagination. The use of time travel as an interesting part of the story rather than merely a plot device is by now a Moffat staple, and he uses it well here. The way the escaped prisoner was realised was good, although this plot bore obvious resemblances to Smith and Jones. The episode also featured some very interesting and welcome visual techniques, such as the stop-frame rewind demonstrating the new Doctor's thinking processes. It's clear that Moffat has some definite ideas about moving the series along.

Hopefully, one of these will involve looking at the incidental music. I've nothing against Murray Gold in particular, when he's on form. Occasionally he can get away with practically ballet-style musical accompaniment, such as in The Runaway Bride, when he rises to the occasion. But other times, when he lacks good ideas, he doesn't seem to consider turning down the volume an adequate improvement. And no, I'm not referring to the actual volume, but the musical weight: IE orchestration and musical response to story events. The latter particularly annoys me, as the decision to signpost dialogue with musical cues made the plot's progress seem far more clunky than it actually was.

In other areas, however, the episode got it spot-on. This includes, generally, the Doctor's introductory scene with Amy (although I could personally have done without his wanton destruction of a plate of bread and butter), and the wonderful meal of fishfingers and custard, which I've had an unaccountable urge to try ever since. Matt Smith is also mostly very good, although occasionally the dialogue can seem a little forced, and on a plot level I wasn't entirely convinced by the haphazard way he dealt with the world authorities.

The climax worked well, unusually featuring quite a calm, puzzle-like showdown. A definite noteworthy moment for Smith's doctor was when the prisoner appeared as Amy and the Doctor. Rather than being drawn by their taunts that his appearance earlier in Amy's life has created an obsession, the Doctor dismisses it quickly and draws the conclusion that it's because she can hear him. This calmer, more scientific element to the Doctor's character makes a timely comeback after Tennant's rather over-used skill at emotive facial expressions.

Then, unfortunately, Moffat decided to go for yet another hero's parade for the Doctor. I fail to see the use of having yet another long-winded, pompous speech from the Doctor about how he defends earth, and it all looked suspiciously like an attempt to bump up Smith's first appearance through having him walk through a series of clips of previous Doctors. This was not necessary, and did more to diminish the new Doctor than to impress, as he was far more interesting on his own.

Put simply, Smith doesn't need comparisons to other Doctors. His performance, even though more shaky here than in the next episode, demonstrates why he was cast. He is the Doctor, in a far more effortless way than David Tennant, good though he was.

6.5/10