Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston

Cashing in on Doctor Who mania for the day.

Karen Gillan in PVC

For the Doctor Who fetishists amongst us. Somewhere, red must mean go.

Karen Gillan Strikes a Blow Against Feminism

I assume this interview in Radio Times with Doctor Who co star Karen Gillan is the reason for the sudden uptick in Karen Gillan Google searches for the Eye. In the interview, Gillan addresses her feminist critics that she is playing her character, Amy Pond,as too sexy by telling them to go soak their heads.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Too bad Gillan missed National Offend a Feminist Week by quite some time. I would have made an exception to broaden the scope to international on behalf of her cool Scottish accent alone.

What surprises me about the complaints regarding Gillan’s short skirts and shorts is that Europe is generally more open to sexuality. It is violence that have a terrible time dealing with. Not to mention that, truth be told, gillan’s outfits are quite tame. Certainly not as over the top as many of the homosexual themes that ran through the series under flaming wiener enthusiast Russell T. Davies.

Interesting culture war those Brits are fighting across the pond: gay sex=good; women in short skirts/shorts=bad.

Karen Gillan Strikes a Blow Against Feminism

I assume this interview in Radio Times with Doctor Who co star Karen Gillan is the reason for the sudden uptick in Karen Gillan Google searches for the Eye. In the interview, Gillan addresses her feminist critics that she is playing her character, Amy Pond,as too sexy by telling them to go soak their heads.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Too bad Gillan missed National Offend a Feminist Week by quite some time. I would have made an exception to broaden the scope to international on behalf of her cool Scottish accent alone.

What surprises me about the complaints regarding Gillan’s short skirts and shorts is that Europe is generally more open to sexuality. It is violence that have a terrible time dealing with. Not to mention that, truth be told, gillan’s outfits are quite tame. Certainly not as over the top as many of the homosexual themes that ran through the series under flaming wiener enthusiast Russell T. Davies.

Interesting culture war those Brits are fighting across the pond: gay sex=good; women in short skirts/shorts=bad.

Doctor Who--"The Hungry Earth"

Why must every episode of the Steven Moffat era be reminiscent of one from the Russell T. Davies era? I imagine I would have liked “The Hungry Earth” must better had it not reminded me of the far superior “The Impossible Planet” from 2006. I understand the good doctor has been around for 47 years now, so there is not a whole lot of room for originality, but could they go back a little further than four years to mine for story ideas.

No pun intended with that mining line, because the plot revolves around two married scientists and their family drilling deep into the Earth because they have discovered an area with unusual blue grass. (Blue grass? I will bet it is all Rand Paul’s fault.) Their drilling winds up disturbing the Silurians, an underground race of lizards who once ruled the Earth. The Silurians kidnap Amy and the youngest kid in the family along with the fellow they took in the teaser. The Doctor travels down below to rescue them, but discovers an army ready to invade the surface world.

The plot is…adequate. It is rather predictable because we have seen it so recently in “The Impossible Planet.” A group of scientists feel an area calling to them to drill. They do and discover an ancient menace ready to conquer everything in it path. The big difference is the cast off one off players in ’The Impossible Planet’ were multidimensional and interesting in their own right. In ’The Hungry Earth,” the cast exists to give the Doctor something to bounce exposition off. This is a talky episode, too. There are only a couple action scenes which are quick and soon lost in a torrent of techno babble dialoguer.

I am not familiar enough with British celebrity personalities to know who Meera Syal is, but there appeared to be some excitement as to her guest role. Color me under whelmed, but I was also disappointed with Catherine Tate’s first appearance, yet wound up thinking she made a fine companion once she abandoned her screeching sketch comedy personality and started acting instead. Perhaps Syal has the same problem. If a Googling Wholigan reading this cars to weigh in, it would be much appreciated. For my money, she does not strike make an interesting temporary companion.

Lord bless Karen Gillan and her wonderful legs. That miniskirt she was wearing makes up for a whole lot of shortcomings. Too bad she was kidnapped so early on. Her absence was sorely felt none of the actors really stepped forward to fill the void. The Doctor had to carry the load himself. Fortunately, Matt Smith is shaping up to be a fantastic doctor. Maybe even my favorite.

Why does he not appear terribly familiar with the Silurians? He has met them twice before. Fine make up job on them, though. I have to note that since I have complained about the cheap CGI aliens we have had to suffer through up until now. You just cannot beat a latex mask, even in these days of fancy computer imaging.

“The Hungry Earth” was not bad, just under whelming. I cannot say it was even a lot of set up for a more exciting second part, although the preview does look promising. The episode was all about meandering to get to the cliffhanger and Amy’s legs. It could have been so much more. The episode was penned by frequent Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall. Considering how many episodes of that show were subdued for budgetary reasons in its early run, that may explain, his presence may explain “The Hungry Earth”’s anorexia.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Doctor Who--"The Hungry Earth"

Why must every episode of the Steven Moffat era be reminiscent of one from the Russell T. Davies era? I imagine I would have liked “The Hungry Earth” must better had it not reminded me of the far superior “The Impossible Planet” from 2006. I understand the good doctor has been around for 47 years now, so there is not a whole lot of room for originality, but could they go back a little further than four years to mine for story ideas.

No pun intended with that mining line, because the plot revolves around two married scientists and their family drilling deep into the Earth because they have discovered an area with unusual blue grass. (Blue grass? I will bet it is all Rand Paul’s fault.) Their drilling winds up disturbing the Silurians, an underground race of lizards who once ruled the Earth. The Silurians kidnap Amy and the youngest kid in the family along with the fellow they took in the teaser. The Doctor travels down below to rescue them, but discovers an army ready to invade the surface world.

The plot is…adequate. It is rather predictable because we have seen it so recently in “The Impossible Planet.” A group of scientists feel an area calling to them to drill. They do and discover an ancient menace ready to conquer everything in it path. The big difference is the cast off one off players in ’The Impossible Planet’ were multidimensional and interesting in their own right. In ’The Hungry Earth,” the cast exists to give the Doctor something to bounce exposition off. This is a talky episode, too. There are only a couple action scenes which are quick and soon lost in a torrent of techno babble dialoguer.

I am not familiar enough with British celebrity personalities to know who Meera Syal is, but there appeared to be some excitement as to her guest role. Color me under whelmed, but I was also disappointed with Catherine Tate’s first appearance, yet wound up thinking she made a fine companion once she abandoned her screeching sketch comedy personality and started acting instead. Perhaps Syal has the same problem. If a Googling Wholigan reading this cars to weigh in, it would be much appreciated. For my money, she does not strike make an interesting temporary companion.

Lord bless Karen Gillan and her wonderful legs. That miniskirt she was wearing makes up for a whole lot of shortcomings. Too bad she was kidnapped so early on. Her absence was sorely felt none of the actors really stepped forward to fill the void. The Doctor had to carry the load himself. Fortunately, Matt Smith is shaping up to be a fantastic doctor. Maybe even my favorite.

Why does he not appear terribly familiar with the Silurians? He has met them twice before. Fine make up job on them, though. I have to note that since I have complained about the cheap CGI aliens we have had to suffer through up until now. You just cannot beat a latex mask, even in these days of fancy computer imaging.

“The Hungry Earth” was not bad, just under whelming. I cannot say it was even a lot of set up for a more exciting second part, although the preview does look promising. The episode was all about meandering to get to the cliffhanger and Amy’s legs. It could have been so much more. The episode was penned by frequent Torchwood writer Chris Chibnall. Considering how many episodes of that show were subdued for budgetary reasons in its early run, that may explain, his presence may explain “The Hungry Earth”’s anorexia.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Doctor Who--"The Vampires of Venice"

I am generally inclined to think the BBC does period pieces better than contemporary or future drama. “The Vampires of Venice” supports that theory. Sixteenth century Venice is quite nice. The setting is the saving virtue for the episodes. There is a lot of been there, done that with some dodgy CGI thrown in for good measure.

The episode takes place shortly after the conclusion of “Flesh and Stone.” the doctor interrupts Rory’s bachelor party by popping out of the cake instead of the bikini girl and whisking him away in the TARDIS. We forgo all the rigamarole that must have gone into convincing im to go along. Yes, he knows the doctor from “The Eleventh Hour,’ but I was surprised how quickly he became acclimated to the idea his fiancee is traveling with the Doctor on the eve of her wedding and easily goes along with it.

The Doctor continues in his quiet quest to build up their relationship, so he takes them to 16th century Venice for a romantic getaway. As is the custom, they all get tangled up I a plot to cut off Venice from the rest of the world and convert it to an environment a race of alien refugees can call home.

The conflict is pretty exciting. Matt Smith’s Doctor is a man of action even more so than David Tenant’s. there are swordfights 9Well, sword v. broomstick) , explosions, runnig through dark tunnels, climbing high towers and such. That is all good fun. But the backdrop is such recycled stuff.

The “vampire“ alien planet has been destroyed by the crack in the universe in the same way the ’ghosts” from “The Unquiet Dead” lost their planet in the Time War and every alien species from the fourth season lost theirs to Davros and the Daleks. The theme of survivor’s guilt is trotted out yet again when the head alien appeals to the Doctor to let her sacrifice 200,000 people to save her civilization so as not to have another genocide on his conscience.

Rory needs his own paragraph here. There is a lot of Mickey Smith in him. He is a bit of a goofy Beta male who fears he cannot compete with the Doctor for Any‘s affection. He also repeats the frequent mantra that the doctor is a dangerous man because people around him take great risks in order to impress him. To both their credit, the Doctor takes care to not interfere in Rory’s romance with Amy and Rory shows more security in his status than Mickey ever did. I hope this growth continues now that he is a companion and not just an occasional guest star.

The CGI was particularly bad. The aliens looked terribly fake and the sequence with the Doctor climbing up the tower in order to shut off the alien steam punk device was laughably pitiful. I would have preferred a make up job for the aliens and canning some of the long distance action shots of the Doctor.

‘the Vampires of Venice” was fun, but flawed. The fifth season is having a tough time breaking new ground. I like Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, but they are just not getting the material yo break away from what has gone on before. Virtually every episodes takes two or three elements from the Russell T. Davies era and claims it is something fresh because there is a new Doctor. It is not working out very well. We are halfway through the season with no unique Steven Moffat feel yet. Not a good sign.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Doctor Who--"The Vampires of Venice"

I am generally inclined to think the BBC does period pieces better than contemporary or future drama. “The Vampires of Venice” supports that theory. Sixteenth century Venice is quite nice. The setting is the saving virtue for the episodes. There is a lot of been there, done that with some dodgy CGI thrown in for good measure.

The episode takes place shortly after the conclusion of “Flesh and Stone.” the doctor interrupts Rory’s bachelor party by popping out of the cake instead of the bikini girl and whisking him away in the TARDIS. We forgo all the rigamarole that must have gone into convincing im to go along. Yes, he knows the doctor from “The Eleventh Hour,’ but I was surprised how quickly he became acclimated to the idea his fiancee is traveling with the Doctor on the eve of her wedding and easily goes along with it.

The Doctor continues in his quiet quest to build up their relationship, so he takes them to 16th century Venice for a romantic getaway. As is the custom, they all get tangled up I a plot to cut off Venice from the rest of the world and convert it to an environment a race of alien refugees can call home.

The conflict is pretty exciting. Matt Smith’s Doctor is a man of action even more so than David Tenant’s. there are swordfights 9Well, sword v. broomstick) , explosions, runnig through dark tunnels, climbing high towers and such. That is all good fun. But the backdrop is such recycled stuff.

The “vampire“ alien planet has been destroyed by the crack in the universe in the same way the ’ghosts” from “The Unquiet Dead” lost their planet in the Time War and every alien species from the fourth season lost theirs to Davros and the Daleks. The theme of survivor’s guilt is trotted out yet again when the head alien appeals to the Doctor to let her sacrifice 200,000 people to save her civilization so as not to have another genocide on his conscience.

Rory needs his own paragraph here. There is a lot of Mickey Smith in him. He is a bit of a goofy Beta male who fears he cannot compete with the Doctor for Any‘s affection. He also repeats the frequent mantra that the doctor is a dangerous man because people around him take great risks in order to impress him. To both their credit, the Doctor takes care to not interfere in Rory’s romance with Amy and Rory shows more security in his status than Mickey ever did. I hope this growth continues now that he is a companion and not just an occasional guest star.

The CGI was particularly bad. The aliens looked terribly fake and the sequence with the Doctor climbing up the tower in order to shut off the alien steam punk device was laughably pitiful. I would have preferred a make up job for the aliens and canning some of the long distance action shots of the Doctor.

‘the Vampires of Venice” was fun, but flawed. The fifth season is having a tough time breaking new ground. I like Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, but they are just not getting the material yo break away from what has gone on before. Virtually every episodes takes two or three elements from the Russell T. Davies era and claims it is something fresh because there is a new Doctor. It is not working out very well. We are halfway through the season with no unique Steven Moffat feel yet. Not a good sign.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around XLVI

It is time once again to round up all the bloggers gracious enough to link to me this week.

TARDIS Newsroom links to my review of Doctor Who--"Time of the Angels."

The Other McCain links to Alyssa Milano.

Classic Liberal links to Alyssa Milano and Karen Gillan. On a more serious note, Classic Liberal also links to Stephen Hawking and Contacting Aliens.

Zwetz links to slandering Tim Tebow.

Mind Numbed Robot, like Bartles & James, thanks me for my support.

Darker Me links to Olivia Munn Naked with Elephants.

A sincere thank you to all who linked. If you linked to me in the last week, but I do not have you here, you unfortunately fell through the cracks of Technorati, Google Blog Search, and Sitemeter. Please drop me a note in the comments and I will update with your link.

Full Metal Jacket Reach Around XLVI

It is time once again to round up all the bloggers gracious enough to link to me this week.

TARDIS Newsroom links to my review of Doctor Who--"Time of the Angels."

The Other McCain links to Alyssa Milano.

Classic Liberal links to Alyssa Milano and Karen Gillan. On a more serious note, Classic Liberal also links to Stephen Hawking and Contacting Aliens.

Zwetz links to slandering Tim Tebow.

Mind Numbed Robot, like Bartles & James, thanks me for my support.

Darker Me links to Olivia Munn Naked with Elephants.

A sincere thank you to all who linked. If you linked to me in the last week, but I do not have you here, you unfortunately fell through the cracks of Technorati, Google Blog Search, and Sitemeter. Please drop me a note in the comments and I will update with your link.

Karen Gillan

Karen Gillan

Doctor Who--"The Time of the Angels"

While I have thoroughly enjoyed Steven Moffat’s short reign on Doctor Who, I have had the complaint of a lingering Russell T. Davies vibe of which I am eager to rid. Thankfully, “The Time of the Angels” finally has. This is classic Moffat--a manic Doctor, competent companions, and gothic horror that is scary as all get out. Not to mention the first cliffhanger I have gotten genuinely excited about since ’The Stolen Earth” way back in 2008.

Consider the episode book ended with pure awesome, The pre-title sequence in which River Song inscribes an SOS on a stone table 12,000 before the Doctor finds it with instructions to rescue her from floating in space was the best I have seen so far. Old school Wholigans may flog me unmercifully over some other from 1970-something if the need strikes.

River has returned and has promised to deliver the Doctor in order to investigate the wreckage of the ship from which she fled. She also demonstrates, much to the Doctor’s irritation and Amy’s delight, a better skill at piloting the TARDIS than the Doctor has. Turns out, he flies it by the seat of his pants for fun. That grinding noise is actually because he leaves the parkig brake on.

The ship miscarrying the weeping angels from the Hugo award winning “Blink.” They changed a bit Instead of sending a victim back in time like then, now they chop heads off. Considering the dark, claustrophobic feel of this episode, I do not mind the change. Having your head chopped off for taking your eyes off an angel is heavy incentive to not blink, no?

Moffat recycles an element from “Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead” by having the agels, who have no voice, speak through the dead like the Vashta Marada. It is a frightening trick and every bit still as effective, so I do not mind seeing it again here. I do still hope there is not a whole lot of recycling for the future.

I can only guess at the cliffhanger’s resolution, but I suspect any fans are going to be upset the Doctor used gun. To my knowledge, he has only de so once before when the Fifth doctor pointed a laser rifle at Davros. Some still have their feathers ruffled about that one eighteen years later. The Eleventh Doctor is young, cocky, and has an edge to him. Using a gun in a desperate situation fits his personality. It is not like he shot at someone, either.

I like seeing Alex Kingston return as River Song. She will always be Elizabeth Corday to me, but seeing her play a looser, more adventurous character is fun. Along the same lines, I am really enjoying Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. I did not mention the subplot where she is apparently slowly turning to stone after a videotape encounter with an angel reminiscent of The Ring. I also note the emphasis on her wonderfully shaped legs. They know what boys like, no?

I cannot wait to see part two.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Doctor Who--"The Time of the Angels"

While I have thoroughly enjoyed Steven Moffat’s short reign on Doctor Who, I have had the complaint of a lingering Russell T. Davies vibe of which I am eager to rid. Thankfully, “The Time of the Angels” finally has. This is classic Moffat--a manic Doctor, competent companions, and gothic horror that is scary as all get out. Not to mention the first cliffhanger I have gotten genuinely excited about since ’The Stolen Earth” way back in 2008.

Consider the episode book ended with pure awesome, The pre-title sequence in which River Song inscribes an SOS on a stone table 12,000 before the Doctor finds it with instructions to rescue her from floating in space was the best I have seen so far. Old school Wholigans may flog me unmercifully over some other from 1970-something if the need strikes.

River has returned and has promised to deliver the Doctor in order to investigate the wreckage of the ship from which she fled. She also demonstrates, much to the Doctor’s irritation and Amy’s delight, a better skill at piloting the TARDIS than the Doctor has. Turns out, he flies it by the seat of his pants for fun. That grinding noise is actually because he leaves the parkig brake on.

The ship miscarrying the weeping angels from the Hugo award winning “Blink.” They changed a bit Instead of sending a victim back in time like then, now they chop heads off. Considering the dark, claustrophobic feel of this episode, I do not mind the change. Having your head chopped off for taking your eyes off an angel is heavy incentive to not blink, no?

Moffat recycles an element from “Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead” by having the agels, who have no voice, speak through the dead like the Vashta Marada. It is a frightening trick and every bit still as effective, so I do not mind seeing it again here. I do still hope there is not a whole lot of recycling for the future.

I can only guess at the cliffhanger’s resolution, but I suspect any fans are going to be upset the Doctor used gun. To my knowledge, he has only de so once before when the Fifth doctor pointed a laser rifle at Davros. Some still have their feathers ruffled about that one eighteen years later. The Eleventh Doctor is young, cocky, and has an edge to him. Using a gun in a desperate situation fits his personality. It is not like he shot at someone, either.

I like seeing Alex Kingston return as River Song. She will always be Elizabeth Corday to me, but seeing her play a looser, more adventurous character is fun. Along the same lines, I am really enjoying Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. I did not mention the subplot where she is apparently slowly turning to stone after a videotape encounter with an angel reminiscent of The Ring. I also note the emphasis on her wonderfully shaped legs. They know what boys like, no?

I cannot wait to see part two.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Doctor Who--"Victory of the Daleks"

I understand hooligans are sick of hearing about Russell T. Davies now that Steven Moffat has taken over, but the reign of Moffat is paralleling the first season RTD headed. There was an introductory episode, one set in the far future, and then a historical episode in which the doctor teams up with a British icon. Back then, it was Charles Dickens. Here, it was a reasonable facsimile of Winston Churchill.

World War II history is a pet interest of mine, so I generally enjoy any chance to visit that setting. “Victory of the Daleks” did not do much to satisfy either my penchant for the Second World War or my fondness for the Daleks. I cannot say there was much fundamentally wrong with the episode. It just lacked the scope one would hope for in reestablishing the Daleks as a major villain. It seemed like the only purpose of the episode was to explain how they could still exist and offer them a chance to escape to fight another day.

A scientist named Edwin Bracewell has allegedly built a new type of weapon that can accurately shoot down the .Luftwaffe planes currently blitzing London. These Ironsides, as he calls them, are actually Daleks, but only the Doctor seems to realize that. They are otherwise obedient servants wanting nothing more than to win the war for the good guys. That is until the Doctor acknowledges them as Daleks after a rather crazed episode of violence. His recognition is all it takes to put their plan to revive their race into motion. Bracewell is an android plant, as well asa doomsday bomb, they utilized.

This is where most of the episode loses me. The Daleks ad the Doctor have a Mexican stand off for the bulk of it. Despite this, they manage to recreate their race with a new, multicolored design. Seriously, these new Daleks look like pastel Christmas lights. I prefer the brown and black models or even the solid grey of old to the new ones. I do not want Teletubby Daleks, but that is what we now have.

Bracewell, in an effort to find purpose, modifies some Spitfires for use in outer space and attacks the flying saucer in a goofy scene reminiscent of Independence Day. I will give some props for the CGI, though. It was better than I expected. The Doctor has to call off the attack and spare the Daleksi order to save London. Before departing, the Daleks activate the bomb inside Bracewell. It is tuned to his emotions, so Amy deactivates it by getting him to talk about an old flame. So this is yet another time the companion saves the day.

“Victory of the Daleks” was decent, but I expected more. A key point to the seasno story arc is that Amy does not recognize Daleks even though she should. While it is still not clear exactly what year Amy if from, it has to be after a major Dalek incursion on Earth. Something else must have escaped through thecrack like Prisoner X which is altering the timeline.

I am going to give “Victory of the Daleks” three stars anyway, mostly because I really like Matt Smith’s version of the Doctor. He adds fun to the character that has been missing I the revived series. He can still be intense--sometimes frighteningly so--but without the whole emo rot David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston thrived on.

Rating; *** (out of 5)

Since there is a lot of excitement about Karen Gillan as of late, here is a revealing photo of her drunk. Hopefully, it satisfies all your fantasies.

Doctor Who--"The Eleventh Hour"

I have just seen the first episode of the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who. The result is mixed emotions with a large dose of optimism for the future.

First things first. There was big concern in fandom about whether Karen Gillan asAmy Pond could attract young, male eyeballs aswell as Billie Piper did. Considering I have had 5,000+ visitors already today searching for photos, I am confident she got the job done. Who does not dig a hot redhead?

I have been looking forward to watching “The Eleventh Hour” since it was first announced Moffat would be taking over for Russell T. Davies. Moffat has been my favorite Wholigan writer. The episodes he has penned since the revival, like “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Blink,” have risen above the typical fare. Granted, I do not expect that sort of thing every week--I did not get it with ‘The Eleventh Hour,” to be honest--but the change at the top has been a long time coming.

Looking back, I have not particularly enjoyed an episode of Who, save for last November‘s “The Waters of Mars,” sice the fourth season finale back in the summer of 2008. Davies was phoning it in throughout all but one of David Tennant’s last appearances as the Doctor. He fell into a repetitive rut.

While I am on the subject of smacking down the RTD era, I have to cofess to never having been a huge fan of David Tennant. Hopefully, all the fickle fan girls are too busy swooning over that Twilight drivel to burn me in effigy over the admission. I am one of the rare birds that preferred Christopher Eccleston. Regardless, the weepy,emo doctor, longing for Gallifrey has grown tiresome no matter who was playin the Doctor. Everything screamed for a change.

So how were the changes here? Like I said above, a mixed bag.

I am going tocut “The Eleventh Hour” some slack because of all it had to do. Episodes which introduce a new Doctor are generally not the best because a lot has to be established and neither the new actor, nor the writer, have a comfortable feel for what they should be doing. I was not a big fan of “Rose” or “The Christmas Invasion,” either.

“The Eleventh Hour” felt like an overlong introduction. I knew there were marks it hadto hit: the awkward regeeration, establish the Doctor’s new personality, an alien menace, introduce the companion, and make it all work in a relatively short period of time. There was a rushed feeling of getting all that out the way before morecreativeadventures could be had.

I say more creative adventures later because “The Eleventh Hour” did not feel so muh new as taen elements from the RTD era and spinning them into a new story. There are little things, like the Doctor having a penchant for apples instead of bananas and saying “Geronimo” instead of “Alonzi” as his catch phrase, but there were bigger examples, too. Amy Pond has a distinctive Rosevibe to her. She’s lonely, even with a Beta male boyfriend like Rory, who is not much different than Mickey Smith, underemployed, and dreams of the Doctor as a prince charming coming to take heraway. He did so the day before her wedding, so there was a Donna Noble touch there, too. The overall plot fet a lot like ’The Christmas Invasion,” though I suspect may will feel I am being harsh in saying that.

Nevertheless, it is obvious it will all work. Matt Smith’s Doctor is far less emo and more maic, charming, brilliant, and with a more subtle menace than tennant or Eccleston. I like that, because it promises to cast aside that whole ’lonely angel” vibe that has been going full blast for five years now. I am wary that Amy has the same schoolgirl crush rose annoyingly possessed for way too long before her, but I am going to assume Moffat will not travel the same road as RTD with it.

I thought the Prisoner Zero has escaped from an one-dimensional prison and his jailers are going to destroy the plaet to stop him was typical, but nothing special. Not good, not bad. Just standard who villains handled all in a day’s work. I need to see more of the dynamics of how the newest up works before I decde how much I like it. But since I am curious to see more, “The Eleventh Hour” did its job.

Rating: *** (out of 5)