 This story is the Eleventh Doctor’s first full adventure starring Matt Smith in the lead role, in which he meets Amy Pond for the first time. It featured the debut of Karen Gillan, as new companion Amy Pond, and Arthur Darvill as recurring character, Rory Williams.
This story guest stars: Nina Wadia (Goodness Gracious Me, EastEnders) as a doctor and Annnette Crosbie (One Foot in the Grave, Little Dorrit) as Mrs Angelo. Also starring are Marcello Magni (The Tudors) as Barney Collins and Tom Hooper (Biker Grove) as Jeff.
Arthur Cox (who played Mr Henderson) previously played the part of Cully in the 1968 Second Doctor story "The Dominators".
Early press reports have speculated that Sir Patrick Moore's appearance in this story actually indicated that he had a larger part to play within the context of entire story.
The title of this story comes from the phrase ‘the eleventh hour’ which means something completed or done at the last possible moment and usually refers to a dramatic moment. Something done in the ‘nick of time’ would be said to have been done at the eleventh hour. The origins of the expression are said to date back centuries when the eleventh hour was the final sixty minutes in a work shift.
This is the only televised story starring a single incarnation of The Doctor to refer to the number of that incarnation in its title.
Though not the first story to be filmed for Season Thirty One (New Series 5), "The Eleventh Hour" is the first story of the new season to be transmitted and so the public's first full exposure to a new production ethos, as shaped by then-new executive producers Steven Moffatt, Piers Wenger, and Beth Willis. The first story of this season to be recoded was "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" – the fourth story of this season. It is not unusual in the show for the first story for a new Doctor not to be recorded first. As far back as the Fifth Doctor's first season in 1982, his debut story, "Castrovalva", was recorded after his second adventure, "Four to Doomsday".
This story contains a wealth of new elements: a new look TARDIS exterior, a new TARDIS control room, a new companion a new enemy and of course a new Doctor. But several familiar aspects are in evidence. There's the sonic screwdriver, a version of which first appeared in the 1968 Second Doctor story "Fury From the Deep", and we glimpse representations of the first ten Doctors. We also see The Doctor's psychic paper which debuted five years earlier in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "The End of the World". We also get to hear Cloister Bell chimes once again. This was first heard in the Fourth Doctor's final story, "Logopolis" in 1981.
The TARDIS exterior features the logo of the St John Ambulance, last seen in 1965.
Amy Pond is the first modern Earth companion since the show was revived in 2005 not to originate from London. In the Doctor Who Confidential episode for this story, Steven Moffat reveals that London-set stories had become a cliché and this was an attempt to prevent this from continuing.
Amelia, or young Amy, is played by Karen Gillan's cousin Caitlin Blackwood.
This story features a brand new new logo. Appropriately, it's the eleventh Doctor Who logo. It was first ‘unveiled’ in October 2009. As well as a new logo this story is the debut of new opening titles and theme tune.
This story is directed by Adam Smith whose previous credits include Little Dorrit.
According to Russell T. Davies in his book "Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale", Steven Moffat began writing this story in January 2008.
It has a longer running time than the usual 45-minute instalments, clocking in at approximately 65 minutes.
The scenes around Amy's home in the fictitious village of Leadworth were filmed on the Cathedral Green in Llandaff - the same part of Cardiff where the remembrance service in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Human Nature/The Family of Blood" was filmed.
Scenes with Amy Pond in a police uniform and the Eleventh Doctor still in the Tenth Doctor's outfit were shot in Cardiff in October 2009.
The last part of this story to be completed was the opening titles. A different version was used for press screenings and during The Doctor Who Tour.
Interestingly when The Doctor intends to return in 5 minutes but actually it takes him 12 years is similar to the first time he takes Rose home in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Aliens of London/World War Three". However, in this earlier story instead of taking 12 hours, it was 12 months.
An amusing scene with Amelia has The Doctor craving for many different types of foods whilst still undergoing the final stages of his regeneration. He attempted to try many until he finally decided which one he liked. The Doctor didn't like Apples, Yoghurt, Bacon, Beans or Bread and Butter but did like Fish Fingers and Custard.
Prisoner Zero is heard to mention that ‘The Pandorica will open. The creature then repeats ‘Silence will fall’. Who or what the Pandorica is was not revealed.
The Doctor is heard to say to a young Amelia ‘you've had some cowboys in here", a line he previously used in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Girl in the Fireplace".
The Doctor is heard to use the phrase ‘Wibbley Wobbley, Timey Whimey’ which was first used by the Tenth Doctor in "Blink" and again by both the Fifth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor in the 2007 Children in Need special scene "Time Crash".
Similar to the Third Doctor, in "Spearhead from Space", and the Eighth Doctor, in the 1996 television movie "Doctor Who: The Movie", the Eleventh Doctor steals his outfit from the changing room in a hospital (which, outwardly, also resembles the hospital from "Spearhead from Space").
The Doctor mentions that one of the rooms in Amy Pond's house has a perception filter around the door that stopped her from noticing the room, much like the TARDIS keys ("The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords") and the Torchwood Three lift. (Torchwood story "Everything Changes").
In trying to signal the Atraxi ship, the Tenth Doctor's sonic screwdriver, which the Eleventh Doctor inherits from his previous self, is destroyed. This is not the first time The Doctor's sonic screwdriver has been destroyed. It was previously destroyed in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Smith and Jones" (a story which was also the first of a new season and also introduced a new companion) and in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "The Visitation".
When The Doctor calls back the Atraxi, he refers to their threat to incinerate the Earth as illegal under the Shadow Proclamation. This space police organisation was first mentioned in the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose", and The Doctor finally visited them in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End". The Shadow Proclamation was also mentioned in The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Prisoner of the Judoon".
When the Atraxi ask about Earth, The Doctor is heard to respond with ‘I've put a lot of work into it’. These are the same lines used in the Red Nose comedy sketch "The Curse of the Fatal Death" (also written by Moffat) with regards to the universe.
Whilst proving, to the Atraxi, that Earth is protected, flashbacks included not just moments from the revived show but also those from the original run of the show, including all previous ten incarnations of The Doctor and classic monsters such as including the Sea Devils, Sontarans, Cybermen, Ood and Daleks.
This story contains minor references to previous episodes written by Steven Moffat. Libraries are mentioned on numerous occasions, a potential reference to the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead". The concept of meeting a person at different points of their life - as The Doctor accidentally does to Amy Pond - was a major theme in "The Girl in the Fireplace". Similarly it is revealed that River Song also meets The Doctor at different points in his life.
The Doctor opens the TARDIS by clicking his fingers - a technique River Song recalled from The Doctor's future in "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead". Additionally, when departing at the end of this story The Doctor uses the phrase ‘next stop, everywhere’ echoing a line by River Song in the same recollection scene.
This story reveals that at least some sonic screwdrivers are grown/built by the TARDIS.
Look out for the scene with the new TARDIS interior as the monitor in the new TARDIS console has a Magpie Electricals logo on it. Magpie Electricals was the name of the shop in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Idiot's Lantern". Also in this final scene, the monitor is showing a waveform which uncannily appears to be the same shape as the crack in Amelia's wall.
The story was extensively previewed prior to broadcast, with special screenings in several British cities as part of a special promotional tour at the end of March 2010. The first minute of the story was also released as a special preview on the digital Red Button service in the week prior to its first BBC One broadcast.
This opening scene, with the TARDIS flying over London as it crashes down to Earth, was actually a pick-up. It was not originally included in the final shooting script of the story and was written months after principal photography had wrapped on the story. It technically had its own script, subtitled "Opening Sequence". At least two drafts were written, with the second being dated 17th December 2009.
Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the first chapter of the fifth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "Call Me The Doctor" which looked into the making of this story and the introduction of the new Doctor. It was presented by Alex Price.
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The Firsts:
The first story of Season Thirty One (New Series 5).
Matt Smith's first full story as the Eleventh Doctor.
The introduction of companion Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan.
Amy Pond is the first modern Earth companion since the series' revival to not originate from London.
The introduction of regular supporting character Rory Williams, as Amy Pond's boyfriend, (played by Arthur Darvill)
The first story using a new title sequence featuring Matt Smith as The Doctor.
The first Doctor Who story, starring a single incarnation of The Doctor, to refer to the number of that incarnation in its title.
Steven Moffat's, Piers Wenger's and Beth Willis' first involvement in the show as Executive Producers.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Adam Smith.
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(Position = 2 out of 10)
(Position = 17 out of 241)
