The Eleventh Doctor: He Will Always Remember

[Lisin]

I have to say that while I watched from the beginning of the reboot I would say Matt Smith was "My Doctor" I loved him so much with the Ponds and Clara, his run has more of my favourite episodes than anyone from The Eleventh Hour and Vincent and The Doctor, to The Doctor's Wife and on and on. Amy yelling to the Raggedy Doctor that he was late for her wedding was so perfect for me. I have a real emotional attachment to that relationship.

[Saint TV]

I think that Eleven will always be my Doctor despite the fact that I really hated a lot of the writing during his tenure. I was also not Amy's biggest fan although I liked Rory. I think I'll miss Matt enormously when the show returns.

[HauntedBathroom]

Matt was a cracking Doctor. He's going to be hard to replace, but I can't imagine that Peter Capaldi will let us down.

[Valerie]

I cried so hard when Matt regenerated just because so much of the last four years of my life has been tied to the show, the fandom, and the characters. I had the show helping me through depression and personal stuff and I'll always remember that.

[TooMuchCoffee]

I just rewatched The Lodger this morning. I love to watch the more stand alone episodes for a quick fix. Then I popped back over to TWoP to read Jacob's recap - for old time's sake. It was a nice morning.

Matt is so good at physical comedy and I swear his face is rubber. He can convey so much by moving a teeny facial muscle.

 

[OakGoblinFly]

I have to say that while I watched from the beginning of the reboot I would say Matt Smith was "My Doctor" I loved him so much with the Ponds and Clara, his run has more of my favourite episodes than anyone from The Eleventh Hour and Vincent and The Doctor, to The Doctor's Wife and on and on. Amy yelling to the Raggedy Doctor that he was late for her wedding was so perfect for me. I have a real emotional attachment to that relationship.

I adore The Doctor's Wife; it might be my favorite episode of Eleven's run (and I think due in no small part to the wonderful acting by Smith and company and the writing by Neil Gaiman) - this episode contains some of my favorite Nu-Who quotes/exchanges.

Amy Pond: She's the TARDIS?

The Eleventh Doctor: And she's a woman! She's a woman and she's the TARDIS.

Amy Pond: Did you wish really hard?

[jeannie]

I really loved Matt as the Doctor. I was skeptical because he's so young (and looks even younger than his age), but man...he was amazing. I think it's possible that Eleven's episodes made me cry more than those of Nine or Ten. The Vincent Van Gogh episode, the last episode with the Ponds, the episode where it's revealed who River really is, and then..."I will always remember when the Doctor was me." Buckets. Buckets and buckets of tears.

I'm not sure I fully understand everything that happened during his tenure (the River stuff, much as I loved it, was a little too timey-wimey for me, and I couldn't keep track of the timelines after a while), but he was so unbelievably fun to watch. He brought the physical comedy like no one else. Like I said, he was amazing. I hope he goes on to have a wonderfully successful lifelong career. He is so ridiculously talented.

[RedHackle]

Came here looking for this thread.  I admit, I'm a johnny come lately to Doctor Who; all the people I love and respect most in the world have been big fans forever, so finally one day started watching (I started with the first Christopher Ecclesteon epsidode) and while all the doctors have something to offer, I'm an Eleven girl all the way.  Matt Smith - I can't say enough good things about his run.  I also liked his companions the best - River and the Ponds, even Clara.  (Never understood all the Clara hate - I quite like her.)

I'm liking Capaldi but I will miss Matt Smith forever.  Love. This. Man.  And the Vincent episode?  Don't get me started.

[elle]

In the Impossible Astronaut? The first doctor is the Doctor we see later in the season. He list his age as being somewhere around 200 years older than the other doctor in the episode. It does seem to me that he could/might have ran from the time "he dies" to put off death. 

 

It seems no real time passes from the Doctor's "Death" to when they find him in the diner since they go looking for who is Number 1 from the Tardis Blue envelopes. 

The more I see that episode, the more I am convinced that the Doctor that appears in the diner is the same Doctor who just escaped the Tessaselecta.  There is something in the way Matt Smith plays those scenes that makes me think that he knows more than he is letting on.  Why is he so surly about going to 1969?  I also think that River suspects that this an older version of the Doctor too and that is why she slaps him.  He just had her complete the mission by killing him and here he is talking about straws?

 

Then, at the end of the episode when she kisses him goodbye and he reacts as if this was the first time they kissed, I start wondering if my theory is wrong.

[ohjoy]

I don't believe the Doctor with the straw is younger than the one who just "died" in the Tessalecta.

The Tessalecta!Doctor brings everybody (including older River, who knows what's coming) together on the beach (inadvertently mentioning that's aged 200 years since Amy last saw him), the space suit containing younger River shows up, and Tessalecta!Doctor "dies". His friends set a funeral pyre with the help of Canton Everett Delaware III, then return to the diner, where they encounter SpecialStraw!Doctor, who claims an age that is not much older than the last Amy saw him. River slaps him, because (1) she was just forced to watch her younger self "kill" the Doctor, but also (2) she needs Amy and Rory, and even this younger SpecialStraw!Doctor, to believe that she's just as much in the dark about what's going on as they are. Having done that, they proceed to solve the 1969 mystery, which is the goal Tessalecta!Doctor had in mind by gathering them all together (in addition to giving Amy the memory she would need to know when time went wrong (ocurring in the season finale for the audience) and giving younger River proof that he didn't hold her actions against her). Once they had defeated the Silence (or so they thought), SpecialStraw!Doctor returns River to her cell, she lays one on him, and he's completely taken aback -- which continues with the seasonal theme of the Doctor and River not quite being on the same page about each other.

I think SpecialStraw!Doctor is so goofy, and then so surly, because for all the secrets the Doctor keeps, he really does not like people keeping secrets from him. (And since he has not yet learned who River is, it's easier for him to turn his irritation on her than anyone else in the group.)

[elle]

Happiness is...stumbling onto an Eleven marathon in time to watch the end of "The Big Bang" and then the "Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon"!

 

Well, really, stumbling onto an Eleven marathon anytime ;0)

[supposebly]

Happiness is walking home listening to my "I am the Doctor" Compilation. Maybe I'm having a disconnect with Twelve because he doesn't seem to have a catchy theme? Or I'm missing it because I'm so annoyed with Clara and the show these days.

 

I just watched a rather odd movie with Matt Smith and Eva Green called Womb. I don't know what to say. It was gorgeous but....it had a rather strange subject matter.

 

I can't find a "Actors in other things" thread. Do we have one?

[BizBuzz]

I can't find a "Actors in other things" thread. Do we have one?

 

Funny, we actually don't. you can create one yourself, or one of us can do it for you, your choice!

[tv-talk]

Yeah I agree that the high points of NuWho have been with 11, Smith was great and had some really good story arcs for awhile before it all went south. I cant describe how much more I prefer the Doctor who stood off his combined enemies at Stonehenge...vs the "I'm an idiot" Doctor that Capaldi has been given.

 

The great aspect of the Doctor which was explored with 11 is that in fact if you spend who-know-how long traveling through Time and Space changing timelines and rewriting histories, saving civilizations, letting others die...at that point you ARE the most influential being in the Universe even if that was not your intent. I thought it was brilliant to have that happen organically, the show has been on for decades with the Doctor tooling around doing his thing...eventually it all adds up to the Doctor we see at Stonehenge. Why didnt they just vaporize him? Because long ago they all realized that he's ahead and behind them in Time, killing him at any one point may accomplish nothing and in fact make things worse. They back off because the Doctor when you add it up is almost completely unknowable to an extent and they feared him. I think that was terrific writing because it wasnt forced at all, it's the natural progression of what the Doctor would represent to the peoples of the Universe when you add up all of Classic Who. 

 

The backstory on Amy and the Doctor was fantastic too. Having him meet her as a little girl when he;s out of sorts after a regen establishes their deep affection for each other while eliminating all the flirting, romance angles that tends to drag the show down at times. Compare that to Clara just being handed title of "most important person in Universe and Doctor's closest companion ever" without actually any real development to that. Consider the brief CGI montage of Clara being at every point with the Classic Doctors vs child Amy and Matt in the kitchen...there isn't much comparison imo.

 

12 has his work cut out for him!

[HauntedBathroom]

Actually, the reason why some of the races fled at Stonehenge was that they'd already planned to lock him in the Pandorica. But yes, quite a lot of them were frightened by what he'd done in their past. Which leads organically to Elevens decision to step back into the shadows, because his enemies are starting to target his friends, rather than aim at him.

 

I do like Twelve, and I think his growth through his first year as he comes to realise what sort of man he is has been brilliant, but Eleven is still my favourite Doctor.

[supposebly]

 

Funny, we actually don't. you can create one yourself, or one of us can do it for you, your choice!

 

I'd rather not. I suck at titles and I don't want to be responsible for a bad one!

[Which Tyler]

"Cast in pocket universes" would seem the obvious title

[elle]

I know that "The Name of the Doctor" introduces the War Doctor, but after watching "The Day of the Doctor" and then TNotD, it makes so much more sense with Eleven going to Trenzalore.      

 

And I can pretend that awful between 11 and 12 episode didn't happen.                      

[elle]

The Christmas Special, the one with the shark, is it ever explained what Abigail had that was incurable?  I have a hard time believing that the Doctor in all his travels could not find a cure for whatever she had, just as I have a hard time believing he could not cure Pirate Hugh Bonneville's son.

[snarktini]

Watching Vincent and the Doctor for the many-eth time. Oh, I just love this episode! It makes me all teary. (Which is, frankly, not an emotion I usually tolerate very well.) It's a beautiful, poignant story.

Miss Eleven lots. After Ten I didn't think I could love another, then came Eleven and I loved him as much, maybe even more. So it's been disappointing and surprising never to warm up to Twelve. 

[rainbowrockgal]

On 10/10/2016 at 10:37 PM, snarktini said:

Watching Vincent and the Doctor for the many-eth time. Oh, I just love this episode! It makes me all teary. (Which is, frankly, not an emotion I usually tolerate very well.) It's a beautiful, poignant story.

. 

I think this is one of my most favorite episodes! I watched it the other day and am watching it again tonight!!

[Camera One]

My streaming service got "Doctor Who" so I started binge-watching it a few months ago.  It's hard to read comments without episode threads and without accidentally seeing spoilers.

Anyway, I am halfway through Season 5, so I guess I'll post in this thread.  

I liked the Season 1 Doctor but the fact that Rose continued on made it easier to continue onto Season 2.  Even though the companions changed, having the same Doctor in Season 2-4 also made it easy to transition between seasons.

With Season 5, there was both a new Doctor and a new companion (and maybe new writers as well?), and I've found myself quite bored by the episodes.  I haven't connected with the new companion and I'm not finding the new Doctor all that likeable either.  It's hard to motivate myself to watch the next one so I've taken a break of a month.  I think Rory has been a good addition, though, since I find him more relatable than Amy.  I'm forcing myself to watch the eighth episode as background noise while I'm doing some mundane tasks.  I actually like this episode more because the kid was charismatic.

I had heard a lot of good things about Dr. Who, and I like sci-fi/fantasy but I think I've been a little disappointed by the series overall.  I'm not a big fan of monster shows and redshirts dying and that's what this show seems to be mostly about.  Still, I've liked it so far overall.  I'm sure I'll get used to the Eleventh doctor eventually, but it has taken a lot longer than I expected.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Camera One

[Llywela]

10 minutes ago, Camera One said:

With Season 5, there was both a new Doctor and a new companion (and maybe new writers as well?),

New showrunner, yes, for season 5, and with him a new style as well. Every era of Doctor Who tends to be quite different, in many ways.

[tessaray]

I loved Matt Smith's Doctor but I pretty much hated Steven Moffat by the end of his time as showrunner.  I did like S5 - especially the last 2 episodes - and some of 6.  (He wrote some popular episodes during the RTD years, so everyone had really high hopes for him.)  He did get tangled up in the timey-wimey, so much so I had to Google timelines more than once but there were some bright spots too. Definitely a mixed bag. 

[Sakura12]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

I had heard a lot of good things about Dr. Who, and I like sci-fi/fantasy but I think I've been a little disappointed by the series overall.  I'm not a big fan of monster shows and redshirts dying and that's what this show seems to be mostly about.  Still, I've liked it so far overall.  I'm sure I'll get used to the Eleventh doctor eventually, but it has taken a lot longer than I expected.

You're in what is known as the Moffat era. Season 1-4 was the RTD era. Which is still my personal favorite. I like the 9 and 10 and I liked the companions. Moffat wrote some amazing episodes in RTD's era like Blink. As a showrunner he didn't work for me. I liked season 5, but after that I found myself losing interest. I never really got on board with Amy and Rory the way others had. I liked them well enough but I never loved them like I did Rose, Martha and Donna. 

Smith was okay as the Doctor, however again I didn't really connect with him. Tennent remains my Doctor. 

[HauntedBathroom]

I loved Eleven and his era. My favourite of the whole show, it's just so inventive witrh the best Team TARDIS ever,

[VCRTracking]

Just watched the first 4 episodes of season 5 and am liking it so far. I now get why the Eleventh Doctor is the favorite for a lot of people. I first saw Matt Smith on The Crown and because Prince Phillip is written to be such an asshole I liked his acting but I didn't get the fuss about him.  However he is so likeable and goofily charming as the Doctor. He has the same fun energy of the Tennant's Ten but without the baggage. I think the difference would be if Ten told someone they were an alien the reaction would be surprise. With Eleven the response would be "Yeah, that sounds about right." The premiere was a great intro. Love Karen Gillan as Amy and she and Smith have great chemistry. Also Olivia Colman! Nice surprise there. Eleven made a strong first impression. Also helps that he has a cool, new theme music that plays whenever he's being a badass!

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Yes, Matt was so__ good, and I loved Amy and Rory !!!!

[elle]

13 hours ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Yes, Matt was so__ good, and I loved Amy and Rory !!!!

Note to @VCRTracking - watch this after all the Amy/Rory episodes if you don't want to be spoiled.

It was a shame that this scene was not shot.  Hated that episode but this at least would have been a nice callback to the original Blink where Sally received the letter from her friend plus giving closure to Brian.

(still don't understand why they couldn't be rescued)

[gonzosgirrl]

15 hours ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Yes, Matt was so__ good, and I loved Amy and Rory !!!!

I wasn't a huge 11 fan, but my gosh, this was great. It really should have been a part of the story. ETA: in case this is a spoiler-y question:

Spoiler

Why did Rory make a point of saying they adopted. Was there a reason he and Amy couldn't have biological children? I don't recall it.

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by gonzosgirrl

[Llywela]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I wasn't a huge 11 fan, but my gosh, this was great. It really should have been a part of the story. ETA: in case this is a spoiler-y question:

  Hide contents

Why did Rory make a point of saying they adopted. Was there a reason he and Amy couldn't have biological children? I don't recall it.

 

To answer your question,

Spoiler

yes, it was mentioned that Amy couldn't have children anymore after what happened to her when she was abducted and baby Melody taken from her. They were hazy on the reason why, though, and it mostly came up as the cause of temporary marital disharmony with Rory in one episode.

 

[gonzosgirrl]

2 hours ago, Llywela said:

To answer your question,

  Hide contents

yes, it was mentioned that Amy couldn't have children anymore after what happened to her when she was abducted and baby Melody taken from her. They were hazy on the reason why, though, and it mostly came up as the cause of temporary marital disharmony with Rory in one episode.

 

Thank you. I did not remember that.

[Camera One]

I just finished Season 5, and I did like the last two episodes more - "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang".  I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the earlier stuff from the season come back at the start of the episode like Vincent Van Gogh, Churchill, etc .  I was pretty disappointed when Rory "died" right after I last posted here saying I was glad Rory joined Amy in the Tardis, so I was glad he came back again. 

I also liked River more in these last two episodes.  I didn't like River in "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone"... those two episodes felt like a retread of the original stone angel episode and didn't feel enjoyable.  

I still can't say I fully enjoy the Eleventh Doctor, nor Amy, but I'll keep watching and hope it gets better.

[DanaK]

I've not finished with Smith's era yet, as I got stuck at the beginning of Series 6 when Amazon  dumped Doctor Who from Prime, but I had trouble understanding the end of The Big Bang in Series 5. Did Amy just wish or demand the Doctor appear after he got stuck on the other side of the crack or what? As I think I understood it, the cracks and the Tardis exploding apparently messed up the universe, Earth and Amy were among the dying embers of the universe. So the Doctor took the Tardis to close the cracks and reset things, which then brought back Amy's parents and Rory and things were right again, but the Doctor was stuck behind some crack. Then Amy demanded at her wedding that the Doctor come back and he did, I guess? If this all gets answered later, then just say that, otherwise is there a good explanation on how everything turned out alright?

[VCRTracking]

5 hours ago, DanaK said:

I've not finished with Smith's era yet, as I got stuck at the beginning of Series 6 when Amazon  dumped Doctor Who from Prime, but I had trouble understanding the end of The Big Bang in Series 5. Did Amy just wish or demand the Doctor appear after he got stuck on the other side of the crack or what? As I think I understood it, the cracks and the Tardis exploding apparently messed up the universe, Earth and Amy were among the dying embers of the universe. So the Doctor took the Tardis to close the cracks and reset things, which then brought back Amy's parents and Rory and things were right again, but the Doctor was stuck behind some crack. Then Amy demanded at her wedding that the Doctor come back and he did, I guess? If this all gets answered later, then just say that, otherwise is there a good explanation on how everything turned out alright?

I just watched the episode and I think what happened was because she absorbed so much energy from the crack in her room that remembering the Doctor brought him back. The Doctor told young Amelia the story of his life which planted the seeds of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" and River giving her her diary.

[VCRTracking]

Having now watched season 5, "A Christmas Carol" and the two "Comic Relief" shorts "Space" and "Time" it's clear that while previous showrunner Russell T. Davies was more about aliens, especially zany ones and Earth invasion stories Steven Moffat really really likes all the "timey-whimey wibbly wobbly" stuff. Time travel paradox stories can be really hit and miss for me but so far I find it all neat and hasn't been headache inducing yet.

Edited January 12, 2020 by VCRTracking