The Eleventh Hour (TV story)

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The Eleventh Hour was the first episode of Series Five. It featured the debut of Karen Gillan as new companion Amy Pond and Arthur Darvill as recurring character, Rory Williams.

Though not the first episode filmed of the 2010 series, it was nevertheless 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. It was also the public's first exposure to director Adam Smith's work on a Doctor Who universe programme.

The episode 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, and special pre-broadcast screenings on both the east and west coasts of the United States. The first minute of the episode was released as a special preview on the digital Red Button service in the week prior to its first BBC One broadcast.[1][2]


Synopsis

The Doctor has regenerated into a brand new man, but danger strikes before he can even recover. With the TARDIS wrecked, and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, the new Doctor has just 20 minutes to save the whole world - and only Amy Pond to help him.


Plot

The newly regenerated Eleventh Doctor is hanging from the edge of his damaged TARDIS, which is hurtling towards the city of London. The TARDIS nearly crashes into Big Ben, but the Doctor manages to use the sonic screwdriver to turn the TARDIS away from it.

The 11th Doctor eating fish fingers and custard.

At Easter time in 1996, a young Scottish girl with red hair prays to Santa in her bedroom. There is a crack in her wall and she wants it mended. Suddenly, she hears a noise in the garden. She runs over to the window and sees that the TARDIS has crashed in her garden. The young girl, Amelia, comes to investigate and sees the bedraggled Doctor struggling from the burnt out TARDIS. He claims to love apples and as such Amelia gives him one. It actually turned out he hates apples, yoghurt, bacon, beans and buttered bread. Amelia helps him to find what his favourite food is. It turns out to be fish fingers and custard.

A crack in time and space.

He then goes and investigates the crack in Amelia's wall. He quickly deduces that it is a crack in time and space. Listening, he hears a voice saying "Prisoner Zero has escaped". He presumes that there is a prison on the other side of this crack. To fix it he uses his screwdriver to open the crack, as he knows that by opening it, it will soon close itself, sealing itself at the same time. While its open, the Doctor calls through, and a giant eyeball appears. It sends some blue energy through, which seems to zoom towards the Doctor's pocket. The crack then seals. The Doctor pulls his physic paper out of his pocket and sees that the words 'Prisoner Zero has escaped' written on it. He guesses that he has been sent this, because Prisoner Zero had escaped through the crack. He investigates the corridor and scenes he's missing something, on the corner of his eye. Just before he spots a room, he hears the cloister bells from the TARDIS. The Doctor then goes back to the TARDIS in an attempt to fix it. He promises he will be back in five minutes, as a quick trip to the future will help fix the engines and then promptly de-materialises. An excited Amelia goes to pack her things, not noticing that the door the Doctor was about to discover has mysteriously opened.

The Doctor once again shows up at the bottom of Amelia's garden and runs into Amelia's house, exclaiming that he's figured out what he was missing and that Amelia's life was in danger. He is looking around the house when someone comes up behind him and whacks him on the head using a cricket bat. When he wakes - hand-cuffed to a radiator - the Doctor is confronted by a young woman dressed in a police uniform. When the Doctor asks about Amelia Pond, the woman tells him that Amelia hasn't lived in the house for six months, and that she lives here now. The Doctor asks her to count the number of rooms on the floor. She counts five, but the Doctor reveals that there is six as one of them is protected by a perception filter so that no-one but the trained few can see it. The woman is shocked at this and investigates the room, ignoring the Doctor's warnings not to. There, she finds the Doctor's sonic screwdriver on the table, picks it up and comes face to face with Prisoner Zero, seemingly in its natural form, as a floating eel-like creature. Startled, she runs back to the Doctor and gives him his sonic screwdriver.

As he tries to free himself Prisoner Zero breaks through the door and emerges as a human form with a dog. However, the creature doesn't seem to be able to copy two voices at once, and so both the human mouth and the dog mouth bark. While trying to keep the creature at bay, he says that the policewoman had called for back up. Unfortunately, the woman, not realising that the Doctor is trying to gain time, tells him that the radio was fake, she hadn't called for backup, and she isn't a police woman, but a kiss-o-gram. She then whips of her police hat, revealing long bright red hair. The Atraxi captain is then heard saying "Attention Prisoner Zero the human residence is surrounded" followed by "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated" and keeps repeating it. Back at the local hospital several patients in comas keep repeating one word; "Doctor". One of the people in a coma is a direct double of the form that Prisoner Zero has taken.

The Doctor and the woman go outside to the TARDIS. However the Doctor can't open it because its repairing itself. He then notices the shed which he had previously smashed when he had crashed landed. He licks it and (using an ability he seems to have inherited from his previous self) deduces the shed is twelve years old. He asks the woman why she had said six months had passed, when in fact twelve years had. In reply, she angrily yells "Why did you say five minutes!?" - in a Scottish accent. At this point the Doctor realises that the young woman is an adult Amelia Pond, who is exceptionally embittered and angry about the Doctor leaving her all those years before and the resulting psychological trauma it caused her. Seeing that Prisoner Zero had left the house, they flee into the street, where they discover that the message from the Atraxi is repeated over and over again, on all wavelengths, throughout the world. The Doctor realises that that means that when the Atraxi are saying that they are going to incinerate the human residence, the human residence is not Amelia's house, but the Earth.


The Doctor and Amelia investigate the transmissions, which are being broadcast across the globe, entering the home of Amelia's friend Jeff Angelo and his grandmother, They both recognise the "Raggedy Doctor" from the drawings Amelia did as a child. While in the Angelos' home, Amelia also reveals that she is now calling herself Amy.

The two reappear on the green. Suddenly Amy, slamming the Doctor's tie in a car door so that he cannot escape, demands he tell her who he is. The Doctor persuades her to trust him by showing her the apple she gave him when she was seven, still fresh.

With the help of Amy and her "sort of boyfriend", Rory Williams, the Doctor locates Prisoner Zero, and determined not to let him bring the world down in flames, uses his sonic screwdriver to attract the attention of the Atraxi. With light fixtures and telephone booths exploding, his plan seems to be working, until the already-damaged screwdriver overloads and burns out into a useless piece of charred metal. With the distraction gone, the prisoner escapes into a sewer and disappears. Figuring that it would take approximately twenty minutes for the Atraxi to power up their weapons and then incinerate the planet, the Doctor rushes Plan B into action: Using Rory's phone, he writes a virus to turn every single digital display in the world into a list of zeroes, uploads it to the web via a laptop, and along with Amy and Rory, confronts Prisoner Zero at the hospital. With nowhere left to turn, the prisoner attempts to take on the appearance of a young Amy with the Doctor. However, with prompting from the Doctor, the unconscious Amy begins to dream of the prisoner's true form, which she saw in the unnoticed room in her house, and he is tricked into disguising himself - as himself. Before he is taken away by the Atraxi, Prisoner Zero snarls ominously at the Doctor "The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall... Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall".

With the threat ended, and Amy awakened, and the Doctor newly dressed in stolen hospital clothing, the Atraxi turn to leave but are summoned back under the rules of the Shadow Proclamation. The Doctor informs them that under no circumstances are they to ever come back to earth again - Earth is under his protection, and he is the Doctor. With the Atraxi gone, the Doctor notices that his key-fob is glowing - the TARDIS has recovered and is waiting for him. Suddenly bursting with excitement, the Doctor, wearing his new outfit, dashes off to the rebuilt TARDIS, see what is in store for him, and his eyes open with wonder as he beholds the newly repaired console room. Amy, realising that he is gone, runs back to her garden followed by Rory, only to find the TARDIS fading away. She is clearly upset although she sheds no tears.

Two years later, Amy Pond, dreaming of her younger self waiting for the Doctor to return, is suddenly startled awake by the sound of the TARDIS returning. Running out of the house in her night clothes, she finds the Doctor standing in the garden with the TARDIS. He said that he took the TARDIS for a "quick trip to the moon" to break in the engines. Amy angrily informs him of the amount of time (two years) she has been waiting for him since his last visit. The Doctor states that she's waited long enough, and welcomes her to join him as a companion. Highly skeptical after waiting all this time, she initially refuses, but changes her mind when the Doctor snaps his fingers to open the TARDIS, and Amy sees TARDIS interior for the first time. She relents on the condition that the Doctor brings her back to Leadworth by "tomorrow morning". The reason becomes clear soon enough, when her bedroom is revealed to contain a few slightly packed suitcases.... and a wedding dress hanging on the wardrobe door.

Cast

Crew

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
          

Anthony Dickenson was credited as the "Stop Frame Director" during his interview on CON: "Call Me the Doctor", but he was not credited in the episode proper. He was responsible for the "Doctor's eye view" sequence on the Leadworth village green, which leads to the Doctor noticing that Rory was taking pictures of Prizoner Zero.


References

The Doctor

  • The Doctor says "What? What? What?" and "Wibley wobley, timey wimey" much like his previous incarnation.
  • The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors with a snap of his fingers for the first time since Forest of the Dead. According to River Song in the same episode, he will begin to do so regularly at some point in the future.
  • When Jeff states "You can't just hack in on a call like that." the Doctor responds with "Can't I?". This is the Fourth Doctor's same response and mannerism to Sarah Jane's and Brigadier's protests when he first regenerates.
  • Perhaps due to his new appearance, the Doctor finds it necessary to prove to the online conference that he has the credentials to solve the problem, despite the fact the name "The Doctor" would have been well-known in these circles at this time (per DW: The Christmas Invasion, and other events).
  • The Doctor mentions "cowboys," a phrase used by his previous incarnation in DW: The Girl in the Fireplace.

Food and Beverages

  • The Doctor craved many different types of foods whilst still undergoing 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 & butter, and rejected carrots without even trying them, but did like fish fingers and custard, a combination he dubbed "fish custard".

Galactic Law

Earth locations

Mathematics

  • The Doctor uploads the "real" proof of Fermat's theorem, and the formula for faster-than-light travel as a way to prove to the experts on the secure video conference that they should trust his advice about how to deal with the Atraxi threat.

Music and Songs

  • The Ice-Cream man mentions that the song that was originally supposed to be playing from the Ice-cream truck's speakers was meant to be 'Claire De Lune' before the Atraxi had hijacked it.

Technology

  • The Doctor notes there is a perception filter around the door so that it is only visible out of the corner of Amy and his eye.

Theories and concepts

  • Prisoner Zero mentions that the Pandorica will open.

Story notes

  • Matt Smith revealed that there are five things in this story to look out for over the course of the series, the cracks being one of the five things.
  • The opening scene, which was released on BBC Red Button, was actually a pick-up. Not originally included in the final shooting script of the episode, it was written months after principal photography had wrapped on the episode. It technically had its own script, subtitled "Opening Sequence". At least two drafts were written, with the second being dated 17th December 2009. The sequence was in fact its own production. Unlike the episode proper, its producer was Nikki Wilson, its director was Jonny Campbell, and its director of photography was Tony Slater-Ling. Wilson received a credit of "special thanks" in the end credits. The involvement of Campbell and Slater-Ling were established by behind-the-scenes footage of clapperboards. (WC: Doctor Who Video Explorer)
  • According to Russell T Davies in Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, Moffat informed him in January 2008 that he had begun writing the first episode of Series 5.
  • This is the only televised story starring a single incarnation of the Doctor to refer to the number of that incarnation in its title.
  • The episode included a sequence showing all previous ten incarnations of the Doctor.
  • The episode introduces a new Doctor Who theme arrangement, an unprecedented third by Murray Gold (not counting several other closing-credit and non-series arrangements). A new opening titles sequence is also introduced, along with the first on-screen use of a new Doctor Who logo. Other cosmetic changes as of this episode include a new TARDIS interior design, slight modifications to its exterior, and the introduction of a new sonic screwdriver.
  • This story reveals that at least some sonic screwdrivers are grown/built by the TARDIS.
  • Amy Pond is the first modern Earth companion since the series' revival to not be from London. In the Confidential for this episode, Steven Moffat says that London-set stories had become a cliché and this was an attempt to avoid it.
  • The TARDIS scene in which the characters are viewed through the central column mirror those seen in the film.
  • Prisoner Zero states that "The Pandorica will open", and repeats "Silence will fall".
  • In the final scene, the Doctor is standing next to a monitor in the TARDIS that shows a waveform. The waveform appears to be the same shape as the crack in Amy's wall.
  • To write the virus, the Doctor uses Rory's BlackBerry Storm (confirmed by Engadget-4/04/10).
  • The monitor in the new TARDIS console has a Magpie Electricals logo on it.
  • Like the Eleventh Doctor, the Tenth Doctor also had a distaste for certain foods: particularly pears. (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood)
  • Lots of speculation began concerning Rory William's 1990 badge date and how it conflicted with many things seen and heard on-screen (slim camera-phones, Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, and the very 2000s technology); however, Steven Moffat later confirmed that the badge date was a mistake that went unnoticed until after the episode aired. [3] The year of this story was later confirmed in Flesh and Stone.
  • When the Doctor and Amy leave her yard in the TARDIS at the end of the episode, the clock in the TARDIS is shown changing from 11:59am to 12:00pm, despite the fact that it is clearly night outside. This would not usually be notable (this *is* Doctor Who), except that an identical effect is observed on the clock in Amy's bedroom at the end of DW Flesh and Stone.
  • This is the first time the Doctor doesn't use a mirror to find out what he looked like after a regeneration (as part of one of Prisoner Zero's forms was him).

Ratings

  • 8.4 million - First viewing in the UK (36.9% audience share)
  • 10.08 million viewers - Final BARB figure[4]

Filming locations

  • The White House, Llandaff, Cardiff
  • Old Cemetery, Rhymney, Gwent
  • The Vicarage, Rhymney, Gwent
  • Abertillery Hospital, Aberbeeg, Abertillery
  • The Cathedral Green, Llandaff, Cardiff

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • In the opening scene, there are several errors.
    • When the the Doctor is hanging from the TARDIS across London, every wide shot shown depicts the TARDIS rotating, but whenever a close-up of the Doctor is shown, the background does not rotate.
    • When the camera initially looks down on the Doctor, the floor is at slightly different levels, but when it cuts to the Doctor pulling himself inside, the floor is all the same level.
    • The St. John's Ambulance logo is visible on the CGI wideshots of the TARDIS, yet on the live-action close-up, the doors remain how they have been since 2005.
  • On several occasions editor James Pearson mismatches footage of the same scene-parts, as recorded by different cameras or in different takes.
    • When the Doctor leaves Amelia for his TARDIS-stabilizing, five-minute hop into the future, Caitlin Blackwood's closeup shows her hair being whipped around by the TARDIS' departure. When Pearson immediately cuts to an over-the-shoulder shot of Blackwood watching the departure, her hair is totally unaffected.
    • During the Leadworth hospital rooftop scene, the Doctor progressively throws away a variety of neckties as he whittles the options down. The last of these neckties is yellow, which we see in a frontal mid-shot. When Pearson switches to footage taken from the side in a long shot, the tie is not present. When he again switches to the frontal mid-shot, the tie reappears. Later in the same scene, Pearson has a similar problem. The wide shot of the departing Atraxi vessel shows Smith reaching into his coat pocket for the TARDIS key. When Pearson cuts back to a close-up of Smith, he hasn't yet reached into his pocket, and it takes several seconds for him to complete the same action from that angle.
    • When trying out food in Amelia's kitchen, the Doctor's hair switches from being swept back to hanging in front of his forehead. Several times when the hair is in front of his forehead, the number and size of hairs also changes.
  • When Prisoner Zero takes the form of the mother with two daughters, the older, longer haired girl always appears to the right of the mother. When the Doctor crashes the fire engine's ladder through the window and Prisoner Zero looks on, the two girls have switched places.

Continuity

International broadcasts

The Eleventh Hour received its international broadcast debut on 17th April 2010 when both BBC America in the US and Space in Canada broadcast it, followed by ABC1 in Australia on 18th April.

However, it had several pre-broadcast public screenings in North America prior to its official broadcast launch. On the west coast, it premièred on 3rd April at WonderCon in San Francisco.[2] Its east coast debut was on 14th April 2010 at the Village East Cinema in Manhattan. This latter screening was sponsored by BBC America, and was attended by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Steven Moffat, who fielded questions after the showing.[5] An additional showing occurred on 16th April at the C2E2 convention in Chicago. In addition there were also press screenings, such as the Canadian one held in Toronto 8th April after which Moffat participated in a Q&A via Skype.

Home video releases

Doctor Who Series 5, Volume 1 (DVD).jpg

BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume One was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 7th June 2010 (UK only), featuring The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and the featurette The Monster Diaries. [6] A full-series box set is expected for DVD and Blu-Ray release in the future, though BBC Video has yet to announce a release date.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Red Button Preview of Eleventh Hour". Doctor Who News Page
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Who Preview at WonderCon. Gallifrey News Base.
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ The Doctor Who News Page - The Eleventh Hour Figures accessed 14th April 2010
  5. ↑ "Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in New York" Doctor Who News Page. 31 March 2010.
  6. ↑ Doctor Who News Page - Matt Smith First DVD Release Date, accessed 3rd March 2010

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