Trailer Spoiler
Definitely saw Alex Kingston in the trailer, but she didn’t look like cool and sexy explorer, she looked more like a Helena Bonham Carter crazy Tim Burton type character.
Still, I think that Smith did a very good job. The beginning part was a little over-wacky. The food was good, but the hanging-out-the-door with Big Ben made me and the wife think far too much of Harry Potter moments.
Smith had some huge shoes to fill, and I think so far he’s done a great job.
-Joe
Any thoughts about upcoming story arcs?
Laptop with the word Myth on it?
Wedding day tomorrow. To who?
Anything else people spotted?
Well, I’m sure that “silence will fall” will play a role, as they were pretty heavy-handed about that.
Yeah, that combined with the cracks are going to be right up there with the stars going out and the four-tap rhythm, I’m sure.
-Joe
Yeah, Moffat is outstanding when it comes to time travel and general creepiness, both of which were greatly used in this new episode.
I had trepidations about the new series, since I loved almost everything about the RTD years so much and knowing that *everything *was changing (new Doctor, new TARDIS, new music, new titles, new creative & production team, etc.) really made me nervous. But, while everything did change, everything still stayed the same!! It’s still the same show and same character, just with a new look. And I am liking Matt Smith’s portrayal already. I loved the bit at the end of him walking through the montage of faces wearing his full new costume. Brilliant!
The only thing I did not like was the new theme song. In fact I *hated *it. The first 15 seconds of it are awful. Until the regular theme kicks in, it’s just blah. The new titles & logo are also just… eh.
I loved it!
I saw it fully expecting to hate the new Doctor (the guy’s my age and that’s just wrong) and unlike every single other person on the planet I wasn’t sure Moffat really understood what the show’s all about.
Well… the plot, as noted, is barely there, the new music is just awful and the villain was crap. But…
Matt Smith just nailed it for me. I accepted him as the Doctor instantly, which is more than I can say for Peter Davison or Tennant. The new companion was incredibly sexy in her police costume and I shudder to think what all the good people in the internet will do with the pictures. The montage of old enemies and past Doctors was wonderful and “silence will fall” sounds mighty intriguing. (I first heard it as “science will fail”, which to me would be even better.) The slapstick stuff I could take or leave but didn’t find in the least bit offensive.
Here’s hoping the rest of this season is as fun as the first episode. I just really, really wish that the new producer stops trying to make the Doctor into a superhero. I agree with those that feel the sonic screwdriver should go; if it was just used to open or lock doors it’d be great, a neat device to avoid all those contrived escapes every time the Doctor was cornered, but the damn thing’s become a magic wand. Also, the bit where the Doctor says “look me up” and the aliens run away was used once already in the library story and to do it twice is one time too much already. Sure, it worked this time, but it’d have been better if it had never happened before and the next time it’ll just be ridiculous. Moffat can do masterful scares, but he has a tendency to make the Doctor too “magical” and it annoys me mightily - The Doctor Dances is one of my favorite episodes, but the library planet two-parter had a great (scary) first act and fizzled on the second when the scares went away and were substituted by a celebration of the wonderful Doctor and his wonderful future girlfriend and all the wonderful wonderfulness that came with the two. The thing is both stories had exactly the same structure. Blink was genius but The Girl in the Fireplace, despite one of the best concepts the show ever had and good creepy villains was way too rushed because we had to have another peon to the Doctor’s and Marie Antoinette’s greatness.
To sum it up: liked the episode, loved the new Doctor, still very nervous as to what’s still to come.
I thought that was meant to be a clear indicator that it’s the day before Amy and Rory’s wedding. Could be wrong, of course, but:
The Vampires in Venice episode is a wedding present to them from the Doctor - a trip to medieval Venice.
Aye, I totally agree but it wasn’t specifically said so there is the possibility of a change of groom.
There were two things i’d say were notably good about it (in general I liked it, but you know what I mean).
First was that the timing and the pace seemed exactly right to me. There wasn’t any dead air, and on the other end it didn’t seem rushed. Things carried on at a good rate. Hopefully something that’ll continue when they have an actual story to tell rather than just setting everything up.
Second was that I liked that the Doctor was considerably more of a jerk than Tennant was. All the Doctors in general have the tendency to be jerkish in terms of arrogance and not explaining their plans (when they have one), but in Tennant’s case it wasn’t really played particularly strongly. Smith was sarcastic and dry at times, not Mr. Perfect, which bodes well, I think. He shouldn’t be everyone’s friend; when he’s still somewhat stand-offish seems right to me.
Even better if a character has much growth to come. It sets up the puzzle of how the character gets from this point A to the B that we know the character ends up as.
“If you’re a doctor, why does your box say ‘Police’?”
Something that my mind has blanked on for some reason…
At the end, after pretty much everything else is resolved, we see young Amelia sitting on her suitcase waiting for the TARDIS. Didn’t it go all happy with the TARDIS sound starting up?
Or did I imagine that?
-Joe
I noticed that too, Merijeek. I guess that was supposed to be some kind of dream sequence?
No idea. Being written by Moffatt I have confidence that it is going to make sense - as others have said, he really seems to have grasped time travel.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe it’s not the Doctor’s TARDIS. Or if it is, it’s not The Doctor steering it.
Two insane theories:
Someone else, big money on Auntie Invisible, is a time traveler. Amelia goes for rides with her sometimes. That’s why she took the weirdness of the Doctor’s arrival so well. Of course, this presupposes that all time machines make the same TARDIS Noise ™.
It’s the TARDIS looping back on Amelia’s timeline for some reason. Either Amelia herself steering it to go back and try to fix something (avoid therapy bills, tell herself “whatever you do, don’t DO THAT ONE THING”) and it’ll cause all sorts of problems since I didn’t see her packing a Paradox Machine in her suitcase.
-Joe
It’s really pretty clearly a dream sequence though.
Really? Damn, I’ll have to rewatch it, then.
I suspect that Amy/Amelia’s psychological issues are going to be a major factor in her interactions with The Doctor, however.
-Joe
Oh yes I think that’s a pretty safe bet! 
We know nothing of her missing parents or her mysterious Aunt. I bet there is more to tell here.
Thoughts:
Hated the theme tune.
Loved the new TARDIS.
This is at least the third time the Doctor has stolen clothes from a hospital. Can’t they come up with something more original than that.
Matt Smith was better than I was dreading. But he’s still too young. And he’s still too similar to David Tennant. They really should have given him a new personality.
anyone else keep thinking “Douglas Adams” all through the episode? There’s a room made invisible with a S.E.P. field, only visible if you catch it out of the cornder of your eye. And the Vogons broadcast on every radio and TV set “People of Earth, your attention please…” warning of the destruction of Earth in a few minutes time.
The Vogon similarities, sure. But the SEP field would also be known as the Perception Filter, something used extensively at the end of Season 3.
–Joe
One interesting detail that I didn’t notice until it was pointed out on another forum.
The later part of the story seems to be set in the present day, give or take a year. But for some reason …
see at 33:09.
Rory’s id cardwas issued in 1990, and he seems the same age now.
This has to be deliberate and significant.
A few other mysteries.
Where are Amy’s parents
Who is the unloved Aunt, and where is she?
Why is Leadworth so cut off from the rest of civilization?
Why are there no ducks on the duck pond
Is Amy Pond connected to the duck pond somehow?
Who is Amy going to marry? (Rory? Some people are assuming that, but it’s not certain)
“Silence will fall” (obviously the new season phrase, like Bad Wolf, and Mister Saxon)
