Fish And Custard! Who Da Man!

Unlike a movie where the main creative direction comes from the director, on a TV show it's the producer who exerts the greatest artistic control on the project, which then sifts through to the writers, then the regular cast...finally ending up with the director for hire. So when a long running TV series like Doctor Who (46 years...or 6 in it's current, rebooted incarnation) has a complete change in it's primary talent, it's always concerning/exciting to see how the show will inevitably change. Fortunately for us the BBC put Stephen Moffatt in charge and, judging by his first episode as show runner, it's a brilliant step forward from the Russell T Davis years.

Moffatt has the challenging job of balancing certain agendas and story elements, and does this by essentially producing a new pilot for the show. In it, he lays out his mission statement for the show:-

1/ Making it new again. It's Moffatt's belief that Doctor Who is at it's best when it's reinventing itself...so that each new generation of childen that begin to watch it, firmly believes this is THEIR program, and THEIR definitive incarnation of The Doctor.

So, first off we have a brand new Doctor played by Matt Smith. I think that with this first episode, The Eleventh Hour, it's a little unfair to judge his performance as his character is constantly evolving and finding himself throughout...but early indications are extremely positive. He has the eccentricity, charisma and mild arrogance that's required to play the role and he has a pleasing Peter Davidsonesque energy about him that I'd like to see more of. We also get a new companion, Amy Pond, in the shape of cute-as-fuck Karen Gillan. Cynical, feisty, witty and emotionally damaged, it's going to be fun to see how her relationship with The Doctor develops over the course of the season.

The Tardis gets an impressive redesign, inside and out this year too. Subtle changes on the exterior mean the shape is more in line with the Hartnell years and the box itself has been reconstructed to shine in Hi-Def. The new interior is a mixture of the hi-tech and retro, as well as the futuristic and the organic. I loved it in the Davidson years that we got to see some other Tardis rooms and, with the addition of different levels and staircases in the console room, we might get to see just that.

The title sequence has altered too into a darker, more nightmarish version of the time vortex we're all used to seeing while, as expected, the main theme has become at once more electronic (referencing it's roots) and more choral (to give it an even greater, epic feel). Returning composer Murray Gold hasn't stopped there, delivering a powerful score with memorable new themes that hopefully will reappear throughout the season.

2/ The Story. The new adventure, as scripted by the show-runner himself, follows Moffatt's Mantra, which is evident in nearly all his Doctor Who stories. So, no one ends up being killed, and there's a primal enemy (the monster who'll get you if you blink, monsters that live in your own shadows...or the monster that lives in the crack in
your bedroom wall or exists only in the corner of your eye.) Then there's The Doctor's out-of-sequence relationship with the leading lady across different time periods, plus the fact he must persuade and inspire the leading lady to save the world at a critical moment. Oh, and it must end on a major high, despite the darkness that's come before it. All are present and correct here, which only serve to strengthen the story.

As well as story elements being introduced that only serve this hour long episode, characters and situations are carefully planted that will no doubt be referred to as the series progresses. Rory the male nurse will undoubtedly be back, as well as the mystery of the cracks in the universe and the 'silence' that is ominously approaching. And of course there's the drama of Amy's wedding, which she may or may not make it back in time for.

3/ The tone. Just as Russell T. Davis brought a personal agenda to Doctor Who (gay characters and an occasional camp exuberance) so it appears Stephen Moffatt will too. In this case he's subtly transforming Doctor Who into a dark fairy-tale. And on a couple of different levels this is a pretty clever idea.

In story terms, the fairy tale is Amy Pond's. As a little girl she had a friendship with a mythical creature who lived at the bottom of her garden. But rather than it being a fairy or pixie, it was a mad man in a blue box. And this belief in the 'imaginary friend' (that no one else ever saw) was so great that it haunted her into adulthood. And then, after therapy, cynicism and disillusionment has all but wiped that belief away...The Doctor reappears. So instead of it being like the pilot episode 'Rose' where Billie Piper aids The Doctor to fulfill her true potential as a human being...Amy's story is one of regaining her faith, not in religion or God, but in The Doctor. The main narrative thrust is that inside adult Amy is still a little girl who can free her imagination and believe in the fantastical as she once did (like writing to Santa at Easter). So when adult Amy traps The Doctor in the car door, he confronts her and challenges her to believe once more, in a beautifully and hypnotically realised shot (using lens flares and slow motion), that is the emotional, pivotal moment of the whole episode.

Eyes are used in many a movie to communicate the concept of belief. Just look at 'A Matter Of Life Or Death' or 'Blade Runner' to see the visual references to the subtext. Here Moffatt weaves 'seeing' and 'eyes' into the plot to strengthen Amy's story. Prisoner Zero's true form can only be seen out of the corner of your eye while the alien Atraxi resemble giant eyeballs. It's not an accident when Matt Smith walks through the holographic image of David Tennant's face at the climax and exclaims "I'm The Doctor", it's a giant eye that he's talking too. Seeing IS believing, and the Atraxi do indeed believe as they bugger off and leave Earth alone. Also, when The Doctor rushes off in the Tardis, without saying goodbye to poor Amy, after the final Atraxi confrontation, she slowly closes her eyes. In this case, she literally no longer sees The Doctor, which means in that moment, she no longer has her faith and believes in him. I suspect the cynical Amy will be again trying to regain her faith in the fairytale Doctor as the series progresses.

I think it's working on a couple of other levels too. Moffatt has stated in interviews that although Doctor Who is primarily a children's programme, it has, and should continue to, appeal to adults as well. And in the story of Amy Pond, I think Moffatt is daring his adult audience to be just like Amy; to suspend your disbelief and embrace your inner Amelia and come on an adventure with The Doctor. The companion has always been the audience's entry-point into the bizarre world of Doctor Who and crazy weirdos the Timelord encounters. But with Amy he's almost preaching to the unconverted who may be tuning into Doctor Who for the first time and challenging them to have faith, and come along and have fun with it. Again when The Doctor convinces Amy to believe him for 20 minutes or when he convinces the Atraxi he IS the latest reincarnation of the Timelord, he's not just talking to those characters...he's talking to us, the audience. Adults can believe too.

Finally, I think this works on a personal level for Moffatt. He's been a self confessed Doctor Who fan since he was a little boy and has admitted that the executive producer role on the show was his dream job. Indeed he quited his gig on the Tintin movie, with Steven Spielberg AND Peter Jackson no less, so he could take the job. And so a part of Amy's story is his story too. In the episode's final shot we get to see Amy's cartoons of the mythical 'Raggedy Doctor'. Amy's obviously kept the cartoons so she hasn't completely lost her faith in The Doctor. And then he came into her life in a more permanent way. One gets the feeling those are actually Moffatt's childhood cartoons and his faith has been rewarded by running the show in a more permanent way.

Fast, funny, clever, multi-layer and imaginative. This IS the Doctor Who we'd been hoping for. Can't wait to see where the new series takes us.