The first scene after the cold open sets the tone. As opposed to Davies' show, which presented the magic of Doctor Who as an escape from the mundane normal life, The Eleventh Hour, from its first shot in Amelia's garden, makes it clear that there is magic everywhere. Amelia's prayers to Santa are key to establishing this sense of wonder immediately. And the Doctor arriving at that moment in that fashion establishes him as the whacky magical madman who she can put her trust in.
Of course, that trust appeared to be misplaced, as the Doctor isn't back in five minutes but in 12 years. This misplaced trust is vital to who Amy is at the beginning of the episode. Being let down leads to a failure to commit to anyone - she is embarrassed to call Rory her boyfriend. It's key, however, to her "growing up". After giving up hope for the Doctor's return, she shuts the magic out of her life, changing her name from Amelia Pond to Amy Pond precisely because the Doctor referred to it as being like something from a fairy-tale. Yet it's clear that sense of magic hasn't been shut out altogether, only suppressed by her mind.
It also establishes immediately the spooky threat that looms over this series: the crack. Making normal things into creepy monsters is a key theme of Moffat's, and the crack is a particularly good example, as despite being the series' overarching threat, it isn't technically a monster. And yet it feels like one, looking like a menacing smile. It doesn't feel inanimate when you see it in Amelia's bedroom, though it is. The Doctor refers to it as 'two parts of space and time that should never have touched pressing together', and that's true in more ways than one: the crack represents the reality of monsters and danger and the Doctor pressing into the reality of normal life.
This contrast between the two realities of a child's normal life and the world of the Doctor is something Moffat explored before with CAL, but it plays a more prominent role in this series with Amy's Doctor toys. Similarly to how CAL subverted the idea of a parent reminding their child that Doctor Who isn't actually real, here the man Amy would have been told all her life didn't exist pops back into her life, vindicating her belief in the raggedy man. As with the crack, Moffat is interested in the intersection between fantasy and reality and a child's mind is the perfect way to explore that. And there is a sense that it is beneficial to believe in the fantasy. As a child, Amy prays to Santa to sort out the crack in her wall, and the Doctor lands in her garden. As an adult, in order to let the Doctor save the world she has to regain her belief, her trust in the Doctor, by releasing him from the car door. And later, her belief is rewarded when just as Prisoner Zero says her magic Doctor won't return this time, he does. Her trust in the Doctor also manifests when Prisoner Zero assumes the role of the Doctor and her, not just her. And tellingly, it's her child self that is by the Doctor's clone, suggesting Amy has gone full circle and become Amelia again.
This is the arc she goes through in this episode, from having a sense of wonder and a belief in the fantastical, to losing it because it seemed to be misplaced, to regaining it again. The sight of Doctor toys suggests Moffat is messing with fantasy and reality in a more meta way, too. When she becomes an adult Amy goes through what many people may go through in how they regard a show like Doctor Who. Maybe Moffat is suggesting we should recapture that sense of wonder and enjoy the ride as a child would. This episode is a manifesto for that, for sure. The Doctor is definitely in favour of that sense of wonder - is it a surprise that he gets on well with Amy as a child better than he does with her as a suspicious adult?
The sense of something almost normal but also very wrong is a motif that is used in various ways in this episode and in the wider series, each time creating a creepy tone that fits somewhere between fantasy and sci-fi and horror. There's the crack already discussed, but there's also the sixth room on Amy's floor, hidden in plain sight by a perception filter, which hides Prisoner Zero. The idea of something hidden in plain sight is itself something Moffat plays on elsewhere in this episode and in this series. And then there are the bodies Prisoner Zero inhabits, with the barking swapped between dog and owner, or speech swapped between mother and child. And Amy herself, on her own when the Doctor arrives, without a mum and dad. And a duck pond without any ducks. This one's surprisingly interesting. First, it's the setup for one of the episode's better jokes. But the missing ducks also fit well into the crack storyline. Moffat is much better at series-long plotting than Davies ever was.
A key change in this episode is in the Doctor himself, his transformation from the Davies-era Doctor to the new one. Seeing the interior of his TARDIS in the cold open allows us to appreciate more directly the redecoration. Seeing him fall into Amelia's garden as the 'raggedy man' highlights his reinvention when he changes into a new suit, giving a mighty speech placing himself in the context of the previous Doctors. This is no doubt his great defining moment of the episode. When he tells the Atraxi to run it is a subversion of the line he has previously spoken to companions. This subversion foreshadows the Doctor he is going to become in A Good Man Goes to War, yet it also feels like a natural progression after Tennant's Doctor got too egotistical near the end of his run. This continuity is also highlighted when the Doctor tells the Atraxi to look him up, a tactic he used against the Vashta Nerada in Moffat's Forest of the Dead, and a tactic he will use again, with varying results. It's actually very impressive how gracefully Moffat's characterisation of the Doctor follows on from Davies'.
The episode at its core seems to be about the change in how Amy sees the Doctor, and also him finding his own identity. These two themes play off each other nicely. In the TARDIS, Amy wonders whether the Doctor is a madman with a box, which he then confirms. During the Doctor's big showdown speech with the Atraxi you can see how delighted Amy looks seeing that he really did live up to and exceed her dreams. The Doctor's assertation of his own identity acts not just as a climactic moment for his own character, but a climactic moment for Amy. It's great character development. And amusingly, the Doctor first finds out what he looks like by seeing a clone of him formed from Amy's mind.
Not everything works perfectly. The CGI Prisoner Zero itself looks a bit rubbish - I was never sold on it as a real threat that actually existed as it really does look like something that was added afterwards by a computer. And while when the jokes land, they're great, they're a bit hit-or-miss. The alien plot itself is one of Moffat's weaker stories, despite serving its purpose by creating an urgent threat that allows us to see what kind of characters Amy and the Eleventh Doctor are. But it definitely doesn't carry the episode - it's the characterisation and the exceptionally sharp script that do most of the work.
The Atraxi are an interesting foe, however. It's ironic that such an advanced alien police force isn't able to identify Prisoner Zero among the humans, considering what the symbology of a giant eye invokes. The Doctor has to do some pretty extreme things to try to get their eye on Zero. Furthermore, the fact that they were willing to obliterate the world to execute one prisoner suggests such a powerful, advanced, police force with... such big eyes... may be looking too much at the big picture and failing to see the importance of the small yet significant human lives.
Some extra notes
-that the Atraxi come only when the Doctor does brings to mind Reinette's comment that you cannot have the Doctor without the monsters
-the end of Prisoner Zero is particularly effective, both the Doctor and Amy being necessary to expose him to the Atraxi
-the Doctor was willing to delegate to someone he has just met - Jeff - a key role without which his plan would have failed
-why is the Doctor so keen on taking Amy with her? The conversation they have at the end suggests it isn't just because he's lonely. Yet another example of the excellent arc construction throughout this series
-the Doctor opening the TARDIS with a click of his fingers is a nice way of recalling the library story
-I think Karen Gillan gives one of the best performances as a companion that Doctor Who has ever had.
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