The second part of the Christmas story 'The End of Time' saw Matt Smith's first appearance as the Doctor, when emerging from his regeneration and taking control of the TARDIS. Matt Smith's full debut as the Doctor in 'The Eleventh Hour' on Easter Sunday, 2010 may not have silenced the critics, who have deemed him "too young", but I think he'll do nicely. In this 65-minute special, Matt Smith certainly brings out the likeable eccentricity, which is a key ingredient of the Doctor's appeal. As always with 'Doctor Who', there was a strong cast, including Annette Crosbie, Nina Wadia, and Patrick Moore! The story was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, and was produced by Tracie Simpson. This was also the first 'Doctor Who' since the departure of writer and producer Russell T. Davies.
'The Eleventh Hour' begins with the TARDIS hurtling towards Earth, just missing Big Ben, before landing in the garden of a little girl called Amelia Pond (Caitlin Blackwood), who takes him into her house. The Doctor starts trying out various food, eccentrically dismissing what he doesn't find edible, until he decides that he likes fishfingers... and custard. In an opening which is vaguely reminiscent of 'Alice in Wonderland', Amelia reveals to the Doctor a crack in the wall of her bedroom, and behind the crack are the Atraxi, who are running a prison. There's also the three problems of a crack in time and space, the Atraxi saying that the dangerous Prisoner Zero has escaped, and that the TARDIS has a critical problem, which the Doctor goes away to deal with.
When the Doctor comes back, little Amelia Pond has aged 12 years, and has become an alluring kissogram dressed as a WPC. She's now known as Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan). Prisoner Zero, meanwhile, has been living in Amy's house, and if he doesn't give himself up then the Atraxi will take things out on the Earth. A fearsome shapeshifting creature, with strangely joined teeth, Prisoner Zero, the Doctor works out, can be defeated by a computer virus, which needs to go around the world. Then this will alert the Atraxi as to the whereabouts of Prisoner Zero, as all the clocks and electronic displays in the world will be set to zero by the virus. But bewildering things start to happen...
Not wishing to give too much away regarding the ending, the Doctor approaches the Atraxi and tells them that the inhabitants of Earth are no pushover, and we get to experience the Doctor's eccentric dress sense and see the refurbished TARDIS, in which Amy decides to enter. A white dress hints of Amy's forthcoming wedding, but we shall see...