November. Eleventh month, Eleventh Doctor. Simple really. For me (and it’s boring I know) modern Doctor Who peaked with the Tenth Doctor. This doesn’t mean no other stories were worthwhile, far from it. It’s just my view. As you’ll see (if you carry on) I liked a lot of the Eleventh Doctor. Let’s dig a little deeper..

The Eleventh Doctor in retrospect

The big page of reviews is here: Matt Smith 2010–2013. On a quick look I’m surprised how many 5* reviews they give, but I also agree with at least some of them. They’ve also a best moments post. We’re well into episodes I reviewed at the time, so I’ll put a few links in. The first Matt Smith series is in a single post.

The 5* reviews

The Radio Times has gone for:

• Eleventh Hour
• Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone
• Vincent and the Doctor
• Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
• A Good Man Goes to War
• Asylum of the Daleks
• Angels Take Manhattan
• Crimson Horror
• Name of the Doctor
• Day of the Doctor.

I most disagree with the Weeping Angels ratings. Yes, Blink is brilliant on many levels, but having more angels dilutes the effect for me rather than magnifying it. I also felt the relaunch in Eleventh Hour tried too hard, something I feel happened a lot post RTD.

The 1* and 2* reviews

At the other end of the scale, they’ve given the following 1* reviews:

• The Rings of Akhaten
• Nightmare in Silver.

I definitely disagree about Rings of Akhaten. I found this emotional and rather beautiful to watch. Yes ridiculous in places but a far cry from one measly star!

The 2* list is:

• Beast Below
• Curse of the Black Spot
• Rebel Flesh / Almost People
• Night Terrors
• Town Called Mercy.

I liked Liz 10 in Beast Below, but mostly agree with these. A mixture of trying too hard or just didn’t work for me.