Matt Smith and Karen Gillan star as the new Doctor and his companion in an all-new series of Doctor Who. After his explosive regeneration, the Eleventh Doctor awakes to discover his TARDIS is about to crash! After falling from the sky, he pulls himself out of the wreckage to come face-to-face with young Amy Pond. The Doctor promises to take Amy to the stars. But first they must divert an alien plot that could destroy the Earth. The Doctor makes good his promise, and Amy boards the regenerated TARDIS, ready to take to the stars on a series of wild adventures that will change her life. As always, wherever the Doctor goes, his oldest enemies, the Daleks, are never far behind. They are hatching a new master plan from the heart of war-torn London in the 1940s. But they are not the only strange creatures the Doctor and Amy must face–there are also alien vampires, humanoid reptiles, the Weeping Angels, and a silent menace that follows Amy and the Doctor around wherever they go. Episodes 1. The Eleventh Hour 2. The Beast Below 3. Victory of the Daleks 4. The Time of Angels 5. Flesh and Stone 6. The Vampires of Venice 7. Amy’s Choice 8. The Hungry Earth 9. Cold Blood 10. Vincent and the Doctor 11. The Lodger 12. The Pandorica Opens 13. The Big Bang
- Actors Matt Smith, Karen Gillian, Toby Jones, Meera Syall & Neve McIntosh
- Certificate PG
- Year 2010
- Languages English
Sometimes, change is good, as evidenced by Matt Smith’s assumption of the mantle of Britain’s beloved science-fiction hero, Doctor Who, in this stellar series. Replacing David Tennant, who was arguably the most popular incarnation of the Time Lord since Tom Baker, was an unenviable task for any actor. But relative newcomer Smith–the youngest performer to play the Doctor–makes the role his own within the first few moments of the series opener, “The Eleventh Hour,” which introduces his puckish interpretation, as well as companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan). The pair, whose banter is a terrific mix of screwball humor and light sexual tension, are later joined by Amy’s fiancé, Rory (Arthur Darvill), who is not quite whom he appears, as revealed in “The Pandorica Opens.” Old enemies such as the Daleks (“Victory of the Daleks”), the Silurians (“The Hungry Earth”), and the formidable Weeping Angels (“The Time of the Angels”) test the Eleventh Doctor’s mettle, as does the series’ central adventure, in which a host of the Doctor’s foes, including the Cybermen and the Sontarans, unite to seal him in the fabled Pandorica, an inescapable prison located within Stonehenge. The 13 episodes of Series 5 are thrilling, thoughtful, humorous, and altogether addictive–in short, as good a series of Doctor Who as any that’s been produced. When compared to the archival Doctor Who releases, the six-disc set of the Complete Fifth Series comes up somewhat short in the supplemental feature department, but there are still a number of worthwhile extras to complement the episodes. Chief among these are the six commentary tracks, most of which feature newly minted show runner Steven Moffat (Sherlock), as well as Gillan and Darvill, and run the gamut from giggly, lightweight chats to informative looks at the production process. Less interesting are the video diaries by the three series leads, which are amusing but forgettable fluff, as are the outtakes and Doctor Who Confidential Cut-Downs. The Monster Files provides a look at the series’ key villains, including the new designs for the Daleks and the monstrous Alliance, which Moffat reveals as being comprised of whatever costumes were available at the time of shooting (!). A barrage of TV spots and promos, including a US spot, round out the extras. –Paul Gaita
Woo Who! How could I not love it? After all the angst about “Who is this young upstart?”, “Who decided to have an incredibly ‘young’ Doctor?” and most of all “Who was the idiot who decided that Matt Smith would be the perfect follow up to David Tennant?” this first series (in my mind) proved all the naysayers to be completely wrong.This young man, under Mr Moffit’s aegis, has shown us a multifaceted character, a young man’s face that can express such old emotions, that depth of anger that links all three new doctors and a wonderfully whimsical surface that can occasionally make me laugh out loud.As far as I’m concerned Matt Smith’s performance is the perfect antidote to the doomed darkness of David Tennant’s last days as the Doctor and this first series has been such fun. Okay, many adult viewers have complained that the stories have been simplistic or ridiculous but they certainly showcased the new team’s acting chops whether you liked them or not. Amy is growing into a strong, modern woman and if I had daughters I’d be proud to think that she was as determined, caring and intelligent as Ms Pond. We all thought Rory would be a damp squib that would turn up whenever he was needed but, instead, he became Rory the Centurion: Amy’s guardian, a man the Doctor can trust and, bless him, the man who dies, all the time, over and over… and every time I’m as horrified as the last!So, yes, remember Chris Ecclestone’s powerful, playful Doctor, weep over the little death of David Tennnant’s demise but don’t belittle young Mr Smith’s performance. Remember that last episode where he sat beside Amy’s bed telling her all those wonderful things, his face mirroring his emotions, the shadows of the old man drifting across his face and then tell me he’s not the right man for the job.Long live the Moff!
Fantastic fairy tales Series Five of Doctor Who was it’s first in high definition and the first with all the new producers, including head writer Stephen Moffatt. This fairy tale series includes some fantastic episodes:- The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels, Vincent And The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens to name just a few, and the collection also has all the Confidential cutdowns and lots more features. A must for Doctor Who fans everywhere!!!
That Difficult Fifth Series There is a received wisdom that Russell T Davies’ time on Doctor Who divided fans and that he delighted and appalled in equal measure. Well, all that seems a long time ago now, and as nothing compared to reactions to Steven Moffat’s first series at the Who helm. Of course, Moffat has a long and accomplished track record, including the underrated and, in the last year, co-writing the superlative and the screenplay for the upcoming Tintin movie. And this is before we even start to consider his contributions to : The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl In The Fireplace, Blink and Silence In The Library/Forest of the Dead. Unlike Davies’ broad emotional sweeps, Moffat seemed more adept at dealing with tricksier elements of plotting and continuity, something which would play a large part in series five’s arc. Reaction to the series was polarised between those who thought that he had trashed the entire franchise to those, like me, who thought he had breathed new life into it. It was not an unalloyed success, but there were many wonderful highlights to justify the rating.Episode one introduces us to a new Doctor, a new TARDIS, a new companion and, shock horror, new titles! Matt Smith is surprising, looking (as some have noted) like a young man built out of parts of old ones, but sounding as beautifully eccentric and alien as The Doctor should be. Frankly, from the moment of, “Fry something, you’re Scottish” and “Fish custard”, I was sold. It was an episode that took lots of chances, including the wonderful time lapse sequence where The Doctor first meets Rory. And it was a nice touch to position Smith in the canon in his meeting with the Atraxi (who still sound uncomfortably like a brand of handcream to me).In contrast, the promised thrills and spills promised in episodes 2 and 3 were a bit underwhelming. The Beast Below was a serviceable pot boiler to introduce us further to the new TARDIS occupants, though the much heralded Smilers turned out to be something of a red herring in the larger scheme of the plot. If episode 2 was underwhelming, then the Daleks’ appearance in episode 3 was probably the biggest let down of the entire series, feeling as much of a misfire to me as series 3’s clunking Daleks in Manhattan. The design of the new generation Daleks aroused huge amounts of anger and negativity. These were almost secondary matters compared to the story, which simply did not work. It was also disappointing that the solid Bill Patterson was not that well used in his role.After this lull, however, things started to pick up again with the Weeping Angels double bill The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone. Reintroducing the high point of series 3 was a risky gambit, but one which allowed both Smith, Gillan and the returning Alex Kingston some time to develop their characters and really let them fly. The second part in particular was stunningly good. In comparison, the following Vampires of Venice could have been a real disappointment, but happily wasn’t, managing to maintain some of the two parter’s momentum. What is noticeable by this stage is the crackling dialogue and the rapidly developing interplay between the Doctor, Amy and Rory: it’s this kind of writing that the Moffat Who really manages to excel at.Next came the Silurian two parter: The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. In retrospect, these episodes, while serviceable, are not hugely spectacular. They left me feeling much the same as I had with series 4’s Sontaran encounter: glad that they’d been revisited, but not wedged in the mind in the same way other episodes were. Such things are common in mid-series, where it’s possible for the pace to drop off a little in anticipation for the run-in to the end.In contrast, Vincent and The Doctor was simply stunning. It’s an episode resonating with colour and real emotional power (though some accused it of being emotionally cheap and manipulative), and possibly my favourite full episode of the run. Tony Curran’s van Gogh is by turns inspirational, irrational and convincingly tortured; it’s a fine performance and does Richard Curtis’s script justice.I wasn’t expecting much from The Lodger, having a difficult relationship with James Corden. Thankfully for me, the Corden of the showed up, instead of the one from Horne and Corden. The main thread of the plot was almost incidental here; we got much more fun from Smith playing for laughs and the rather sweet relationship developing between Corden’s Craig and Daisy Haggard’s Sophie. It was a fine appetiser for the inevitable finale…..which didn’t disappoint…