The Doctor will see you now...

New series of Doctor Who has begun!
If you haven't already caught it (and are a UK resident) go check it out on BBC iplayer now.  Otherwise, read on as I detail the delights of the new Doctor and his companion (so yes, there may be spoilers)...

Starting out...
Other than the brief yet dramatic transformation scene that occurred during the end of Tennant's final episode of the two-parter The End of Time, which was aired on New Year's Day this year, Saturday's new episode was Matt Smith's proper first outing as the eleventh doctor.  And what an outing it was.

What happened with The Eleventh Hour?
I don't want to go into too much spoiler filled detail, however I really enjoyed what new lead writer, Steven Moffat, did to introduce us to the new characters and a new mystery or two that will obviously plague the Doctor during the rest of the series.  It's Bad Wolf all over again, but potentially even worse news for the universe.

Watching Saturday's episode reassured me that having Moffat take over from Davies was a good idea.  The man that bought us such terrors as The Empty Child in the first series of the reboot of Doctor Who, has cleverly introduced yet another Runaway Bride as the companion of the Doctor, and this is a woman who has an even more interesting background than previous companions.  Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan, is a lady to watch.


Matt Smith as the new Doctor
David Tennant had built up a rather large fan base during the previous series, but Smith, though maybe not the cup of tea of die-hard Tennant fans, has made the role this own.  The youngest actor to play the Doctor yet, Smith bought an energy to the role that younger viewers were certainly able to identify with.  I do believe that I genuinely enjoyed watching him in the role, but I won't say outright that he is amazing until I have seen a few more episodes.

Only criticism...
At times, it was difficult to believe what the Doctor was getting up to whilst trying to save the world.  Moffat's uses of technology were perhaps, at times, stretching the realms of disbelief just a little too much.  Hopefully this won't be something that happens with every episode. 

The next episode of Doctor Who - The Best Below can be caught on BBC1 Saturday 10th April at 6:15pm.

Related links
Official BBC Doctor Who website
Wiki entry on Doctor Who