Doctor Who - Matt Smith's Debut

Tonight marked the beginning of a new era for Doctor Who, as Matt Smith made his debut as the Time Lord, the 11th actor to do so.  He took over from David Tennant, who left the role on New Years Day.  Judgements over him have been made, but how did he do?  


As I am not a regular viewer of Doctor Who, here is the review of Episode 1 from Doctor Who fan, good friend of mine and fellow BA Journalism student at the University of Northampton, Rochelle Lye.


DOCTOR WHO - EPISODE 1


By Rochelle Lye

Tonight saw the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, beginning his journey in time and space on the silver screen. It is the first time that fans saw what Matt Smith would bring to the role and with David Tennant being the Doctor in many hearts, he had an incredibly hard job on his hands. However being a Tennant fan myself, even I was felt incredibly moved by Matt Smith's performance.

Matt Smith has had to work hard at winning the public over and seems to have the most support in his home town Northampton, where he recently jumped on a Doctor Who bus along with his colleagues to visit the school he used to attend. To think Matt Smith was on the path to becoming a footballer, until an unfortunate injury stopped that career path and made him turn to acting.     

Clearly the Doctor Who team have re vamped the whole production, what with a new introduction and music, doctor, an assistant and writer, it seems that they have gone a bit old school, which I see as both good and bad.... I would have liked it if they had kept the Doctor Who music that had run throughout previous Doctor Who episodes.

However this is nothing to worry about. This explosive episode saw a slightly madder side of the Doctor, which is what we have seen before when Tennant first started out.

There were some witty lines and disgusting habits. (I beg you Matt Smith please do not dunk fish fingers in custard again) And of course alien forms are out to destroy the whole of Earth... again, leaving the Doctor with only 20 minutes to save earth and without a sonic screwdriver or his faithful TARDIS, which has also been re vamped in a beautiful way, to help him, what was the Doctor to do. Use a mobile phone and a laptop of course.

But it is not just Matt Smith that gives a surprising performance. Karen Gillian, who plays Amy Pond, the Doctor’s new glamorous assistant, is also just surprising. The red head, gives fans hope of a power strong assistant since Billie Piper's Rose. Yet she has a surprising Donner Noble situation, being a runaway bride, let’s hope the Doctor doesn’t find out too soon. 

This episode is really all about the Doctor and Amy and therefore we are not really introduced to anyone else that will have a real impact on the Doctor’s life.  

All in all, I think fans will be impressed by the new look and the up coming episodes look as explosive as the first.