Bananaman

"I want the old Doctor back!" they all screamed. "I'll never accept Matt Smith as the Doctor." Twitter was full of comments like this on New Year's Day from non-Doctor Who fans (ie casual viewers), demanding the immediate return of their Scottish hero. Yes, Sylvester McCoy has his fans.

Some weeks ago, The Eleventh Hour kicked off the Matt Smith/Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who, and it became clear straight away that the new leading man owns the role. He is brilliant, and everything that the Grand Moff claimed since his announcement, equal parts action man and eccentric professor, old man in a young man's body, a breath of fresh air.

His bizarre banana-shaped head does not distract at all from how quickly and easily he has slipped into the role, only the occasional script editing lapse allowing Tennantisms into his dialogue. But, he is so utterly different from his predecessor in his mannerisms, style and substance, all is forgiven. Well, nearly.

So eight episodes in, and how is the 31st series shaping up? Pretty damned well, as it happens. The first thing to be thankful for is that the threatened catchphrase, "geronimo!", has so far only appeared twice. Episode by episode, we've had a good run so far; The Eleventh Hour was a great segue between the Tennant/RTD and the Smith/Moffat eras, kicking off with a bombastic Murray Gold score that wouldn't have been out of place in any of Davies's plot-holed tales, all pomp, no matter the circumstance, as the TARDIS flew out of control over London (so far, the city's only modern-day appearance), leading him to 7-year-old Amelia Pond, a crack in the wall (this season's Bad Wolf), fish fingers and custard. The Doctor's post-regeneration trauma was brilliantly handled, right up until the fan-pleasing Doctors montage (and, very tellingly, the Eleventh Doctor walking through and overshadowing the image of Tennant), and a brand new TARDIS. A great start, although the new theme and opening titles have yet to grow on me.

In a similar pattern to Christopher Eccleston's series, the Doctor heads to the far future for the second episode, The Beast Below, in a well-worn but well-handled theme, reminiscent of Discworld and many other things, but the main thing of note is the new Doctor's eccentricity coming to the fore. The Smilers were a good new villain, looking like something directly out of 70s Who. Liz 10's cringeworthy accent grated, but otherwise a good episode.

Victory of the Daleks saw a return to World War II in a script from Mark Gatiss, with a well-portrayed (though slightly mumpy) Winston Churchill, and the controversial Power Rangers-esque new Daleks. A nice innovative use of a Jammie Dodger, and the very unsubtle retconning of the RTD era, combine to make a reasonable but scientifically fucked episode. Spitfires made spaceworthy in five minutes? Ahem.

The two-part The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone saw the return of two Moffat creations, River Song and the Weeping Angels. Tying in directly with Song's own 'spoilers' dialogue from Silence in the Library, two very nice episodes, old-Who in feel, but then, Moffat drops the ball. Moon-faced companion Amy suddenly kisses the Doctor. Oh, bugger, the old companion-fancying-the-Time-Lord motif which I hated so much with RTD's first two co-stars. 

Which leads us to Vampires of Venice, in which the Doctor starts off by showing his alien side after leaping out of a giant cake, taking Rory off in the TARDIS (very Rose and Mickey, sigh) so he and Amy can have a date. Nice looking episode, the giant fish were a bit of a CGI failure, the resolution was a bit RTD, but overall quite enjoyable.

Amy's Choice is an oddity. A good oddity, but an oddity nonetheless. I did cringe somewhat at the treated voices of the very Shaun of the Dead old people, but I'd say this is the first episode in some time that wasn't as predictable as it can sometimes be, involving the mysterious Dream Lord, dual realities and a satisfying conclusion. I thought it was to do with the Celestial Toymaker during most of the episode, but if that wasn't a Valeyard set-up, I'll be very surprised.

Finally, so far, we've had The Hungry Earth, the first of a two-parter from Chris Chibnall of all people. However, it's shaping up to be far superior to 42, his other episode from midway through the Tennant era, one of my least favourites since the show came back. The returning Silurians are fine, not perfect, a little generic I'd say. The original Silurians weren't evil as such, and opened a moral dilemma in that they were the dominant species before Man, so did they have the right to claim it back? It's been touched upon in the first part of the new story, but perhaps not enough, settling into Villain Of The Week. Perhaps part two, Cold Blood, will rectify this somewhat.

Opinions so far? We have a great Doctor on our hands, quirky and eccentric, with shades of Troughton, McCoy and Davison in his make-up, the first truly alien Doctor we've had in some time, certainly the first since 2005. The tone overall has shifted, muted colours replacing the primary coloured explosion of the RTD era, the incidental music no longer drowning out the dialogue. Tennant is now a distant memory, gone but not forgotten. As I said, the theme tune is a grower, but it's still not grown on me enough. It's currently down there with the Trial of a Time Lord era theme tune. The new TARDIS has brought back that feeling of depth and infinite space that was lost in the previous incarnation, though it looks a little too similar. Plus, I'm not a fan of the household items all over the console. Given that the TARDIS itself regenerated, they make absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is nice to see the McGann-era viewscreen making a comeback, though.

The companions... hmm. Amy, despite showing promise, has devolved into the generic, needy hanger-on, and the kissing was unforgivable. Rory is proof if proof be needed that comic relief companions never, ever work. Bad choice, bad decision. Moffat is not infallible, let's not be under any delusions. He is exactly what Doctor Who needed after RTD, but even the great make mistakes. Something is lacking, I can't quite put my finger on what it is... but whatever it is, it's not enough to detract from the show that got its groove back. With a bow tie.

Five episodes left, not including the Christmas special. Between now and then, we've got River Song returning again, along with the Sontarans, the Sycorax and (sigh) the Cybus Cybermen. Hopefully they'll get retconned out of existence and we'll get updated versions of the Mondasian Cybermen back in place. This is still a great show, but with a completely different feel to even a year ago. It will run and run, keel over, and regenerate again. Mistakes will be made, amidst utter genius. But that's why fans love it so much. The right man is in charge.

One thing that did come to its natural conclusion last week was Ashes to Ashes, but that's another story for another blog entry. Soon-ish.