The Eleventh Hour review/squee/rambling/meta.
(I KNOW I owe replies to comments. Will get there, promise.)
So, review thing. Will try to go through the ep and highlight various things that stood out for me. But I shall start with a quote:
“Maybe this isn't new but it is my view: Doctor Who is a fairy tale - not sci-fi, not fantasy but properly a fairy tale. And I don't mean Disney-style where the endings are changed and everyone lives. Doctor Who is how we warn our children that there are people in the world who want to eat them.”
Steven Moffat
I know I’ve used this before, but I love it to distraction, and I think this is why the show works so well for both children *and* grown-ups. The children see the story, we see the story *and* the coding beneath. :)
But going back to the [very start of the] episode: Where did his jacket go? He was wearing it at the end of EoT, and he must have taken it off at some point prior to falling out. (Not that this bothers me, I just noticed.)
Random: I love the moment when he’s clambered back in and rests against the door.
Anyway, then we get too wee!Amy and I just totally and utterly fell in love. (Praying to Santa!) She’s just so *cute*! The food tasting was fabulous (the girls LOVED it) and to me it was totally a shout out to when Tigger first shows up in Winnie the Pooh, and tries everyone’s food before he discovers what it is that Tiggers like. (If you do now know what I am talking about, then shame on you! Also, run out and by a copy of Winne the Pooh as soon as possible. You can thank me later.)
And:
“Beans are evil! Bad bad beans!”
And hurling out the plate with the bread and butter (“And STAY out!”) was brilliant too. Although “You’re Scottish. Fry something.” easily wins as best line! *g*
Anyway, we have all this silliness (and how much do I love that the Doctor just *expects* the first person he meets to feed him? Too much by far!), and then it turns on a dime - the Doctor remarking how Amelia seems to be taking everything in her stride...
“Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall.”
I think that was the moment when he just clicked for me. (Show Don’t Tell, Insightful Doctor Is Insightful!) Also, taking a child completely seriously is made of too much win to explain.
And then scary crack with GIANT EYE behind it, and the Doctor fixing it. (The idea of a scary crack apparently came from Moffat’s younger son who had a scary crack on *his* bedroom wall!) And I want to point out that despite everything else he fixed the crack! I think this is very important - partly because this was what she prayed for, but also because that was concrete proof of the fact that he'd been there.
Anyway, it leads to 'I’ll be back in five minutes':
“Trust me, I’m the Doctor.”
Followed by heartbreak.
*huggles poor little Amelia*
Cut to grown up Amy and cricket bat etc, and one of my favourite lines:
“Do I just have a face that nobody listens to? Again...”
Newly-regenerated Doctors are fun! :)
Also - and this is not a criticism, just an observation - but Matt’s ‘What? Whatwhatwhat?’ are nowhere near David’s.
Then follows lots of running around, and I love how ANGRY Amy is. What I liked so much about Donna was the fact that before going with him in S4, she’d seen how scary he could be. Amy, however, has learnt that he breaks people’s hearts and doesn’t keep promises (which might be an even more important lesson). I think she has *issues*, huge massive issues that hopefully will be explored, because he - in many ways - destroyed her childhood. (As Moffat said in the Confidential - she was probably really mean about Santa and the Toothfairy.) green_maia dislikes the fact that he always says 'trust me', and I think having someone around who knows how little weight that actually carries is going to be interesting. [more on this later]
Also - duckpond without ducks. Let me tell you know: THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT. If it isn’t, I’ll eat my cat.
Lots of fun with meeting Rory (his surname is Williams, and in my head he’s related to Rhys - he seems to have a bit of the same nose too *g*), who has grown up in the shadow of the Doctor, poor thing. But he seems competent, so I'm crossing my fingers that we won't get a repeat of Rose/Doctor/Mickey.
The Doctor of course is brilliant and saves the world ("Who da man?") and there’s so much there that I'm not even going to start (my time is limited...) Suffice to say that I could watch the Doctor being magnificent and saving the world with a phone and a laptop and a fire engine every week! :)
But - thinking back to The Christmas Invasion, I love the moment where Ten opens the TARDIS doors and is just *the Doctor*. And I think that moment comes when Eleven calls the Atraxi *back* to Earth...
It is so very school teacher-y (going with the outfit here) - ‘Where do you think you’re going? Now come back and apologise properly and promise to never ever do that again, understood? Or there will be consequences, got that?’
Must take a moment to appreciate his determined search for clothes, because there’ll be no more ‘Raggedy Doctor’ - as I said, this is when his persona snaps into being.
The changing his clothes scene is brilliant on so many levels - not just for Rory’s embarrassment, or Amy’s ‘I’m totally watching’ (which are fun) but also because the Doctor’s rather impatient “Turn your back if it embarrasses you!” is totally him (“You’re ~naked~!” “Oh yes!”) - he is clearly not embarrassed or particularly bothered, which is perfect for someone so cerebral.
Cue the rooftop. The montage was lovely, and so was the callback to Ten’s “It. Is. Defended!” (‘Respect mah authoritah!’), but the line that made *me* squee was Moffat’s re-use of a line from ‘The Curse of Fatal Death’:
Atraxi: “You are not of this world.”
The Doctor: “No, but I’ve put a lot of work into it.”
(The original line: “I'm afraid this is, the end. Look after the universe for me, I've put a lot of work into it.”)
Also, I love how he claims the Earth as *his* [in a slightly God-like manner]. I almost wrote that it’s the closest thing he has to a home, and then... oh. TARDIS.
And he runs!
Clearly Moffat ships Doctor/TARDIS over anything else, which is MORE THAN FINE!
“Look at you. Oh you sexy thing...”
So he nips off for a little trip - just the two of them... ♥
And back to poor Amy.
I love their talk in front of the TARDIS - the way he seems to have settled into himself. And this line is just so... doddery? Dunno how to describe it, but he sounds about 75 [not to mention 900]:
“Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting.”
And this completely cracks me up, all of it:
Amy: "You kept the clothes."
Doctor: “Well I just saved the world. The whole planet for about the millionth time. No charge. Yeah, shoot me, I *kept* the clothes.”
Amy: “Including ~the bow tie~!”
Doctor: “Bow ties are *cool*!”
Amy: “Are you from another planet?”
(Apparently he’s nicked clothes from hospitals twice before [Three and Eight]. This pleases me no end.)
And then he snaps his fingers OMG!
Ever since ‘Forest of the Dead’ I’ve been looking forward to River’s Doctor...
“Now my Doctor... I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor... in the TARDIS... next stop: everywhere.”
AND NOW HE’S HERE! \o/ Yes, this ep recycles elements of that story (The Vashta Nerada running away from him, and then he snaps his fingers to open the TARDIS) - but there was a lot of darkness in that story, people dying, the Doctor despairing, and there wasn’t a swagger in his step. This time - oh yes.
"All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will... Where do you want to start?" (Next stop: everywhere.)
Still, my favourite line might be:
“I’m definitely a madman with a box!”
It’s just perfect, and why are there no icons? I have looked in every icon post I could find, and there's not a single one with that text. I needs it!!! (Well the 'Madman with a box' bit. Ten was The Lonely God (and I loved him for it), but I am more than happy to run along with the Madman With A Box now. The Doctor is dead, long live the Doctor! :)
A few extra thoughts:
Re. Amy, then kalichan has a brilliant post talking about how Amy is a fangirl, so I won’t go into that, except say that it’s clever. Although I remember someone remarking how Amy can also be Old Skool fans, who grew up with the Doctor - and then he disappeared. And although they're all grown-up now, they still see that TARDIS and suddenly believe in magic again...
And as for Amy and the Doctor... in interviews they’ve been described as ‘two lost souls’, and I can see where that comes from. I love the fact that she within *seconds* pin-points the reason he wants her to come - the fact that he is lonely. Remember what he's just been through, losing everyone (again): His home/family, the Master, Donna, Martha, Rose... I remember once remarking that the difference between Nine and Ten is that Nine *finds* people, and Ten loses them, which isn't quite true, but I think that accounts for part of the difference in them. In the end, everyone leaves, usually not out of malice, but nevertheless he ends up as lost and upset as little Amelia sat on her suitcase.
Now I’ve seen some reviews being upset that he seems so cavalier about the pain he put her through, and I think this is partly his standard coping mechanism of putting on a facade - but I also have a feeling that he understands how she’s come to see him. He was her childhood fairy tale come to life, and he wants to give that back to her. 'Yes I *am* that amazing', he says. 'Yes, I was worth waiting for'. He does his best to validate her belief in him, and I think this might be what she needs. (That said, I’ve seen it stated over and over that she’ll be the most *difficult* New Who Companion, since she - obviously - doesn’t take his word as gospel, and I’m looking forward to the sparks flying.)
___
Trailer: Favourite bit DEFINITELY the bit with River blowing a kiss and spacing herself (which we’ve seen before, and gone wtf? over) - and then seeing that she’s falling out to the Doctor in the TARDIS! This makes me so happy, I can’t even! *flails*)
Saturday is a long way away...
My girls like Matt VERY much now. The youngest (who DIDN’T like him for the last year+ because he wasn't Tennant), was won over by this ep, so yay! :) Mostly though, my show is back and I am dancing. And I discovered that being spoiled can be a good thing. I'd seen the new screwdriver (lots - Matt keeps it with him at all times, which I love too much for words), and had a peek at the TARDIS, and even knew a fair bit about the episode in advance, so all the NEW things weren't a shock, but more of a 'Oh I see, that's where that comes from', which was lovely. That said, I am now retreating to my spoiler-phobe status! :)
So, review thing. Will try to go through the ep and highlight various things that stood out for me. But I shall start with a quote:
“Maybe this isn't new but it is my view: Doctor Who is a fairy tale - not sci-fi, not fantasy but properly a fairy tale. And I don't mean Disney-style where the endings are changed and everyone lives. Doctor Who is how we warn our children that there are people in the world who want to eat them.”
Steven Moffat
I know I’ve used this before, but I love it to distraction, and I think this is why the show works so well for both children *and* grown-ups. The children see the story, we see the story *and* the coding beneath. :)
But going back to the [very start of the] episode: Where did his jacket go? He was wearing it at the end of EoT, and he must have taken it off at some point prior to falling out. (Not that this bothers me, I just noticed.)
Random: I love the moment when he’s clambered back in and rests against the door.
Anyway, then we get too wee!Amy and I just totally and utterly fell in love. (Praying to Santa!) She’s just so *cute*! The food tasting was fabulous (the girls LOVED it) and to me it was totally a shout out to when Tigger first shows up in Winnie the Pooh, and tries everyone’s food before he discovers what it is that Tiggers like. (If you do now know what I am talking about, then shame on you! Also, run out and by a copy of Winne the Pooh as soon as possible. You can thank me later.)
And:
“Beans are evil! Bad bad beans!”
And hurling out the plate with the bread and butter (“And STAY out!”) was brilliant too. Although “You’re Scottish. Fry something.” easily wins as best line! *g*
Anyway, we have all this silliness (and how much do I love that the Doctor just *expects* the first person he meets to feed him? Too much by far!), and then it turns on a dime - the Doctor remarking how Amelia seems to be taking everything in her stride...
“Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall.”
I think that was the moment when he just clicked for me. (Show Don’t Tell, Insightful Doctor Is Insightful!) Also, taking a child completely seriously is made of too much win to explain.
And then scary crack with GIANT EYE behind it, and the Doctor fixing it. (The idea of a scary crack apparently came from Moffat’s younger son who had a scary crack on *his* bedroom wall!) And I want to point out that despite everything else he fixed the crack! I think this is very important - partly because this was what she prayed for, but also because that was concrete proof of the fact that he'd been there.
Anyway, it leads to 'I’ll be back in five minutes':
“Trust me, I’m the Doctor.”
Followed by heartbreak.
*huggles poor little Amelia*
Cut to grown up Amy and cricket bat etc, and one of my favourite lines:
“Do I just have a face that nobody listens to? Again...”
Newly-regenerated Doctors are fun! :)
Also - and this is not a criticism, just an observation - but Matt’s ‘What? Whatwhatwhat?’ are nowhere near David’s.
Then follows lots of running around, and I love how ANGRY Amy is. What I liked so much about Donna was the fact that before going with him in S4, she’d seen how scary he could be. Amy, however, has learnt that he breaks people’s hearts and doesn’t keep promises (which might be an even more important lesson). I think she has *issues*, huge massive issues that hopefully will be explored, because he - in many ways - destroyed her childhood. (As Moffat said in the Confidential - she was probably really mean about Santa and the Toothfairy.) green_maia dislikes the fact that he always says 'trust me', and I think having someone around who knows how little weight that actually carries is going to be interesting. [more on this later]
Also - duckpond without ducks. Let me tell you know: THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT. If it isn’t, I’ll eat my cat.
Lots of fun with meeting Rory (his surname is Williams, and in my head he’s related to Rhys - he seems to have a bit of the same nose too *g*), who has grown up in the shadow of the Doctor, poor thing. But he seems competent, so I'm crossing my fingers that we won't get a repeat of Rose/Doctor/Mickey.
The Doctor of course is brilliant and saves the world ("Who da man?") and there’s so much there that I'm not even going to start (my time is limited...) Suffice to say that I could watch the Doctor being magnificent and saving the world with a phone and a laptop and a fire engine every week! :)
But - thinking back to The Christmas Invasion, I love the moment where Ten opens the TARDIS doors and is just *the Doctor*. And I think that moment comes when Eleven calls the Atraxi *back* to Earth...
It is so very school teacher-y (going with the outfit here) - ‘Where do you think you’re going? Now come back and apologise properly and promise to never ever do that again, understood? Or there will be consequences, got that?’
Must take a moment to appreciate his determined search for clothes, because there’ll be no more ‘Raggedy Doctor’ - as I said, this is when his persona snaps into being.
The changing his clothes scene is brilliant on so many levels - not just for Rory’s embarrassment, or Amy’s ‘I’m totally watching’ (which are fun) but also because the Doctor’s rather impatient “Turn your back if it embarrasses you!” is totally him (“You’re ~naked~!” “Oh yes!”) - he is clearly not embarrassed or particularly bothered, which is perfect for someone so cerebral.
Cue the rooftop. The montage was lovely, and so was the callback to Ten’s “It. Is. Defended!” (‘Respect mah authoritah!’), but the line that made *me* squee was Moffat’s re-use of a line from ‘The Curse of Fatal Death’:
Atraxi: “You are not of this world.”
The Doctor: “No, but I’ve put a lot of work into it.”
(The original line: “I'm afraid this is, the end. Look after the universe for me, I've put a lot of work into it.”)
Also, I love how he claims the Earth as *his* [in a slightly God-like manner]. I almost wrote that it’s the closest thing he has to a home, and then... oh. TARDIS.
And he runs!
Clearly Moffat ships Doctor/TARDIS over anything else, which is MORE THAN FINE!
“Look at you. Oh you sexy thing...”
So he nips off for a little trip - just the two of them... ♥
And back to poor Amy.
I love their talk in front of the TARDIS - the way he seems to have settled into himself. And this line is just so... doddery? Dunno how to describe it, but he sounds about 75 [not to mention 900]:
“Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting.”
And this completely cracks me up, all of it:
Amy: "You kept the clothes."
Doctor: “Well I just saved the world. The whole planet for about the millionth time. No charge. Yeah, shoot me, I *kept* the clothes.”
Amy: “Including ~the bow tie~!”
Doctor: “Bow ties are *cool*!”
Amy: “Are you from another planet?”
(Apparently he’s nicked clothes from hospitals twice before [Three and Eight]. This pleases me no end.)
And then he snaps his fingers OMG!
Ever since ‘Forest of the Dead’ I’ve been looking forward to River’s Doctor...
“Now my Doctor... I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor... in the TARDIS... next stop: everywhere.”
AND NOW HE’S HERE! \o/ Yes, this ep recycles elements of that story (The Vashta Nerada running away from him, and then he snaps his fingers to open the TARDIS) - but there was a lot of darkness in that story, people dying, the Doctor despairing, and there wasn’t a swagger in his step. This time - oh yes.
"All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will... Where do you want to start?" (Next stop: everywhere.)
Still, my favourite line might be:
“I’m definitely a madman with a box!”
It’s just perfect, and why are there no icons? I have looked in every icon post I could find, and there's not a single one with that text. I needs it!!! (Well the 'Madman with a box' bit. Ten was The Lonely God (and I loved him for it), but I am more than happy to run along with the Madman With A Box now. The Doctor is dead, long live the Doctor! :)
A few extra thoughts:
Re. Amy, then kalichan has a brilliant post talking about how Amy is a fangirl, so I won’t go into that, except say that it’s clever. Although I remember someone remarking how Amy can also be Old Skool fans, who grew up with the Doctor - and then he disappeared. And although they're all grown-up now, they still see that TARDIS and suddenly believe in magic again...
And as for Amy and the Doctor... in interviews they’ve been described as ‘two lost souls’, and I can see where that comes from. I love the fact that she within *seconds* pin-points the reason he wants her to come - the fact that he is lonely. Remember what he's just been through, losing everyone (again): His home/family, the Master, Donna, Martha, Rose... I remember once remarking that the difference between Nine and Ten is that Nine *finds* people, and Ten loses them, which isn't quite true, but I think that accounts for part of the difference in them. In the end, everyone leaves, usually not out of malice, but nevertheless he ends up as lost and upset as little Amelia sat on her suitcase.
Now I’ve seen some reviews being upset that he seems so cavalier about the pain he put her through, and I think this is partly his standard coping mechanism of putting on a facade - but I also have a feeling that he understands how she’s come to see him. He was her childhood fairy tale come to life, and he wants to give that back to her. 'Yes I *am* that amazing', he says. 'Yes, I was worth waiting for'. He does his best to validate her belief in him, and I think this might be what she needs. (That said, I’ve seen it stated over and over that she’ll be the most *difficult* New Who Companion, since she - obviously - doesn’t take his word as gospel, and I’m looking forward to the sparks flying.)
___
Trailer: Favourite bit DEFINITELY the bit with River blowing a kiss and spacing herself (which we’ve seen before, and gone wtf? over) - and then seeing that she’s falling out to the Doctor in the TARDIS! This makes me so happy, I can’t even! *flails*)
Saturday is a long way away...
My girls like Matt VERY much now. The youngest (who DIDN’T like him for the last year+ because he wasn't Tennant), was won over by this ep, so yay! :) Mostly though, my show is back and I am dancing. And I discovered that being spoiled can be a good thing. I'd seen the new screwdriver (lots - Matt keeps it with him at all times, which I love too much for words), and had a peek at the TARDIS, and even knew a fair bit about the episode in advance, so all the NEW things weren't a shock, but more of a 'Oh I see, that's where that comes from', which was lovely. That said, I am now retreating to my spoiler-phobe status! :)