Doctor Who: Series 5 - Volume 1 (2010)

Matt smith has done a brilliant job already of filling the shoes of the doctor in this classic sci-fi series, he plays the character with a fresh approach and steals aspects of all the previous actors who have played the doctor, hes the first doctor so far of the series who has settled into the role quite quickly and comfortably I think. But his performance is boosted along the way with the help of Karen Gillian who is the best assistant so far in the new series since 2005, she plays the role of the still mysterious Amy Pond who has such a great approach to her role too, the pair are great on screen together in all the episodes, the stories are fantastic so far, darker and with great dialogue and the odd humour. Victory of the daleks alone is one of the greatest stories ever in the series, fantastic acting from all involved, great story and an epic and inventive return of everyones favourite enemy the daleks! Great show certainly for the true doctor who fan, but its worth waiting for the box set at the end of the year.

As the curtain fell on the David Tennant/Russell T Davies era, many approached this new series very wairly. I had a very positive vibe about Matt Smith and it was completely justified. From the moment he climbed out of the TARDIS in The Eleventh Hour, his place in Doctor Who history was assured. A vibrant, energetic Tennant-esque performance, ably supported by Karen Gillan, made this story the strongest regeneration episode since Robot in 1974. The Beast Below only cemented the relationship of The Doctor and Amy Pond as the dream team in a story about kindness, compassion, innocence and ignorance. With the return of The Daleks, Steven Moffat's era as lead writer is off to the best start possible...things can only get better!

The best thing about these 3 episodes is Matt Smith. He is just wonderful, nailing the essence of the Doctor from the second he appears.

Sadly however, the start of series 5 is in no way comparable to the far superior prevous 4 series. The new production team under the guidance of Stephen Moffat have lost their way already and this reboot to a very successful BBC series is unwarranted and unnecessary.
The scripts are lacking any depth as viewers have become accustomed to. There are plotholes aplenty and the stories jump from place to place without any particular explanation as to why.
Direction is dire and there are many continuity errors in the scenes. Surely the producer should have noticed all these before transmission? This series has had far too many already in the these first 3 episodes, more than the previous 4 series put together.
I was always worried about Stephen Moffats appointment to Doctor Who as in the late 1990s, when he was interviewed by DWM, he said that if he was in charge he would reboot everythig, Doctor 1, day 1. Over 10 years later, he has done just that more or less with an awful new title sequence and rearrangement of the theme and a terrible new logo leading the way. More importantly, TARDIS redesigns I can live with, but the actual overhaul and redesign of the Daleks in epside 3? Absolute nonsense - not needed at all. They now look like Renault Meganes.
The CGI, for once, is also highly questionable... its no way near as good as it was - why??
These first three stories also lose the pace and colour of the superior previous series and whereas Doctor Who used to leave you wanting more, this series seems to plod on ... we are only just finished ep 3 as i write and it feels like its been on for far longer! I'm almost bored with it now.

As for the colour. If you are going to make a series for HD, then lets see the colours! They seem to now be shooting it in drab, unexciting, grainy styles. Awful.

This is certainly not the Doctor Who I've been watching all these years and even though I know Stephen Moffat has his fans who will argue he can do no wrong, I would disagree. This series of Doctor Who in these first 3 episodes is dull, boring, inconsistent, drab, slow and just plain self congratulatory. His philosophy of "if it aint broke, lets fix it anyway" just doesn't sit well.

A leading man like Matt Smith needs much better scripts. Very disapointing.
RTD - come home!

Mr. Smith isn't as bad as Ms Gillian, who is just a lousy actress, but close. What irritates me most are the poor scripts. The season opener is just a re-make of 'Smith and Jones' (the Rhinos on the moon). From a new team I expected something new and less predictable.
I just had expected more from Mr Moffat, later in the season he even managed to change the weeping angels from really scary to really exchangable.
Doctor Who is a children's programm again.

The new Doctor is here and he's fantastic. Matt Smith and Karen Gillian have filled large shoes that Tennant and Piper/Agyeman/Tate left behind, proving to audiences that they are capable of re-creating Britain's greatest characters.
The new series of Doctor Who is darker, bolder and more immersive than previous outings and these first three episodes are a great start, but the best is yet to come!