My ode to the Eleventh Doctor
Dec. 24th, 2013 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dbskylerWe say goodbye to the Eleventh Doctor tomorrow -- sniff! -- and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
honeynoir inspired me to make a post about all the things I love about him. So, here we go. Geronimo!
"Can I have an apple?" With his first appearance to Amelia, sticking his head up over the edge of the crashed TARDIS, Eleven won me over. (Okay, actually, I was pretty much won over from his very first moments at the end of "End of Time." But this cemented it.) "The Eleventh Hour" is my favorite introductory episode for a Doctor so far -- although, to be fair, some of them aren't hard to beat (*cough* "Time of the Rani" *cough*). But let's face it, it's an awesome episode, and a stellar performance from Matt Smith. Right away, you see his quirkiness, his kindness, his cleverness, and his ability to absolutely take charge of a situation. "I'm the Doctor. Basically . . . run."
Eleven is an alien. Okay, the Doctor is always an alien, but Eleven makes the other Doctors look practically human by comparison. Seriously, this Doctor can give even Four a run for his alien money. Just look at "The Lodger" for proof. And, he seems to almost revel in it. "I am most definitely a madman with a box!"
Speaking of reveling, Eleven is like a big kid. He doesn't just get excited about new things; he gets positively gleeful. Remember that scene in "Impossible Astronaut" where they find the spacesuit? "Look at how cool this stuff is!"
He's also incredibly kind. He cares. He cares about everyone he meets. "Nine hundred years of time and space and I've never met anyone who wasn't important." You believe that about him. And, we get some marvelous scenes showing it, like that bit in "The Lodger" where he was feeding Craig tea.
But, in amongst the caring and the kindness, there is still that capacity to be absolutely terrifying. Remember in "A Good Man Goes to War," that whole "Colonel Runaway" speech? Shivers, every time.
The Doctor is the smartest person in the room, and no matter how silly or naive Eleven acted, you never forgot how clever he is. More than once, what seemed to be a quirk was simply his cleverness. Remember "Asylum of the Daleks," when he kept asking where Oswin got the milk? As Eleven himself said in a different episode: "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."
And, speaking of not keeping up, I need to say something about the sheer physicality of Matt's performance. It's absolutely amazing, and it really contributes to our sense of Eleven as funny, and clumsy, and very alien. "Can you talk without flapping your hands about?" "Yes . . . no."
Also, while I'm praising Matt, I have to mention that I never once questioned the Doctor's age. Yes, he's silly, and gawky, and like a big kid, but also, and always, old. I sometimes come across fanfic that makes a joke about the Doctor looking young -- getting carded, or being taken for River's son, or something like that -- and it always strikes me as wrong, as fic-level OOC. Who cares how much older Alex is than Matt? The Doctor is older than River, and you can see that in every scene they have together. Thanks to Matt, we believe that Eleven is old and naive, at the same time.
So, here's to Eleven; the one who can hold back the Daleks with a Jammie Dodger. The one who gets a phone call about the internet while he's living with monks in the middle ages, and then actually tries to troubleshoot the wifi problem. The one who eats fish fingers and custard. The one with the fez. (Oh, fez! I'm going to miss you most of all.) The one you don't put in a trap. The one who changed his mind about destroying Gallifrey.
"We're all stories in the end." Thank you, Matt, for making it a good one.
honeynoir inspired me to make a post about all the things I love about him. So, here we go. Geronimo!"Can I have an apple?" With his first appearance to Amelia, sticking his head up over the edge of the crashed TARDIS, Eleven won me over. (Okay, actually, I was pretty much won over from his very first moments at the end of "End of Time." But this cemented it.) "The Eleventh Hour" is my favorite introductory episode for a Doctor so far -- although, to be fair, some of them aren't hard to beat (*cough* "Time of the Rani" *cough*). But let's face it, it's an awesome episode, and a stellar performance from Matt Smith. Right away, you see his quirkiness, his kindness, his cleverness, and his ability to absolutely take charge of a situation. "I'm the Doctor. Basically . . . run."
Eleven is an alien. Okay, the Doctor is always an alien, but Eleven makes the other Doctors look practically human by comparison. Seriously, this Doctor can give even Four a run for his alien money. Just look at "The Lodger" for proof. And, he seems to almost revel in it. "I am most definitely a madman with a box!"
Speaking of reveling, Eleven is like a big kid. He doesn't just get excited about new things; he gets positively gleeful. Remember that scene in "Impossible Astronaut" where they find the spacesuit? "Look at how cool this stuff is!"
He's also incredibly kind. He cares. He cares about everyone he meets. "Nine hundred years of time and space and I've never met anyone who wasn't important." You believe that about him. And, we get some marvelous scenes showing it, like that bit in "The Lodger" where he was feeding Craig tea.
But, in amongst the caring and the kindness, there is still that capacity to be absolutely terrifying. Remember in "A Good Man Goes to War," that whole "Colonel Runaway" speech? Shivers, every time.
The Doctor is the smartest person in the room, and no matter how silly or naive Eleven acted, you never forgot how clever he is. More than once, what seemed to be a quirk was simply his cleverness. Remember "Asylum of the Daleks," when he kept asking where Oswin got the milk? As Eleven himself said in a different episode: "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."
And, speaking of not keeping up, I need to say something about the sheer physicality of Matt's performance. It's absolutely amazing, and it really contributes to our sense of Eleven as funny, and clumsy, and very alien. "Can you talk without flapping your hands about?" "Yes . . . no."
Also, while I'm praising Matt, I have to mention that I never once questioned the Doctor's age. Yes, he's silly, and gawky, and like a big kid, but also, and always, old. I sometimes come across fanfic that makes a joke about the Doctor looking young -- getting carded, or being taken for River's son, or something like that -- and it always strikes me as wrong, as fic-level OOC. Who cares how much older Alex is than Matt? The Doctor is older than River, and you can see that in every scene they have together. Thanks to Matt, we believe that Eleven is old and naive, at the same time.
So, here's to Eleven; the one who can hold back the Daleks with a Jammie Dodger. The one who gets a phone call about the internet while he's living with monks in the middle ages, and then actually tries to troubleshoot the wifi problem. The one who eats fish fingers and custard. The one with the fez. (Oh, fez! I'm going to miss you most of all.) The one you don't put in a trap. The one who changed his mind about destroying Gallifrey.
"We're all stories in the end." Thank you, Matt, for making it a good one.
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(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-25 01:11 am (UTC)And I just found out that we actually do get BBC America, and they're showing several Eleven Christmas episodes back to back . . . so I'm going to watch them!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-25 04:47 am (UTC)Speaking of which . . . I'm actually not a huge fan of most of Eleven's Christmas episodes. The only one I really liked was the last one, "The Snowmen." But if you do decide to watch, I'd be curious to know what you think!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-25 02:13 am (UTC)Matt's been absolutely brilliant in the role: gawky, alien, old-young, engaging, kind, calm, mad, daft, smart, scary - everything a Doctor should be. I'm going to miss him for a long time.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-25 04:54 am (UTC)I feel exactly the same way! I keep thinking, "But Eleven just started! He's only been around since S5, and it's currently the end of . . . oh, it's the end of S7. I guess he hasn't just started after all."
Matt has indeed been brilliant, and I too am going to miss him as Eleven. I hope he comes back for the next big anniversary of Doctor Who! And, if that anniversary should happen to celebrate Year 55 of the show, I for one would not complain. ; )
(no subject)
Date: 2014-01-04 09:48 pm (UTC)Eleven is an alien. Okay, the Doctor is always an alien, but Eleven makes the other Doctors look practically human by comparison. Seriously, this Doctor can give even Four a run for his alien money.
Yes, this! Oh, how I love this about Eleven!
The Doctor is the smartest person in the room, and no matter how silly or naive Eleven acted, you never forgot how clever he is. More than once, what seemed to be a quirk was simply his cleverness. Remember "Asylum of the Daleks," when he kept asking where Oswin got the milk? As Eleven himself said in a different episode: "I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up."
I love the milk thing in particular, because it's such a perfect way of showing how quick his mind really is.
And, speaking of not keeping up, I need to say something about the sheer physicality of Matt's performance.
Matt is physically brilliant! All those times when it looks like he's going in four directions at once, but it somehow works and he ends up exactly where he means to...
The Doctor is older than River, and you can see that in every scene they have together.
It really is so obvious... who knew River's "you're so young" to Ten would be realised like this. (I never really got that same feeling that Ten was older than River.)
So, here's to Eleven; the one who can hold back the Daleks with a Jammie Dodger. The one who gets a phone call about the internet while he's living with monks in the middle ages, and then actually tries to troubleshoot the wifi problem. The one who eats fish fingers and custard. The one with the fez. (Oh, fez! I'm going to miss you most of all.) The one you don't put in a trap. The one who changed his mind about destroying Gallifrey.
This is just gorgeous. ♥♥♥
(no subject)
Date: 2014-01-06 12:26 am (UTC)