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Matt Smith and Karen Gillan star as the new Doctor and his companion in an all-new series of Doctor Who coming to DVD and Blu-ray. After his explosive regeneration, the Eleventh Doctor awakes to discover his TARDIS is about to crash! After falling from the sky, he pulls himself out of the wreckage to come face-to-face with young Amy Pond. The Doctor promises to take Amy to the stars. But first they must divert an alien plot that could destroy the Earth. The Doctor makes good his promise, and Amy boards the regenerated TARDIS, ready to take to the stars on a series of wild adventures that will change her life. As always, wherever the Doctor goes, his oldest enemies, the Daleks, are never far behind. They are hatching a new master plan from the heart of war-torn London in the 1940s. But they are not the only strange creatures the Doctor and Amy must face – there are also alien vampires, humanoid reptiles, the Weeping Angels, and a silent menace that follows Amy and the Doctor around wherever they go.
As for the new companion characters, the lovely Karen Gillan (Amy) and Arthur Darvill (Rory) prove to hold their own with Matt Smith. To me, it was nice to see a different companion dynamic for a change. I liked that Amy and Rory were a couple as it made their scenes more interesting and provided some great drama.
Going back to Steven Moffat, I felt he did a fine job running the show in his debut season, but I do have to admit that none of these episodes compared to his previous scripted work for episodes like “Blink.” With that said, there are some great episodes here especially “Vincent And The Doctor” and “The Lodger.” ‘Vincent’ is arguably the most emotional and touching episode in ‘Who’ history. As a friend of mine said, “it’s the only ‘Who’ episode to make me cry.” As for “The Lodger,” this is a fun, comedic episode in which the Doctor tries to live life as a human to investigate a mysterious flat.
(check out clips from the blu-ray)
The only real downside to this season is the Silurian 2-parter (“The Hungry Earth” and “Cold Blood”) which fell completely flat. Not only was it a missed opportunity to bring back the Silurians in the new series, but the characters in this two parter are just insufferable.
Like the previous four series/seasons of the new “Doctor Who” series, the fifth season is a must-buy set.
Special Features
Meanwhile in the Tardis – Newly filmed scenes written by Steven Moffat telling what happens between the episodes
Doctor Who Confidential – An inside look at each episode
Monster Files – Get under the skin and inside the minds of the new Doctor’s most challenging opponents – A behind-the-scenes look at the villains of Doctor Who, including the freaky Weeping Angels and scary Daleks.
In-Vision Commentaries – If you are a fan of commentary, this one’s for you.
Outtakes
Video Diaries – Go behind-the-scenes with the cast.
