On April 3rd, I spent four hours sitting in a very uncomfortable chair at WonderCon in San Francisco to be one of the first set of eyes in the country to see the premiere of Matt Smith in Doctor Who.  Premiering in the U.K. about eight hours prior, and on BBC America April 17th, I had no idea what kind of experience I was in for!

The room started filling with Who fans a good three panels in advance of its 6:30 pm start time, but it was the panel directly before when things got crazy.  There were men dressed as Doctors number 3, 4, 6, and 10, a Dalek, various Tom Baker inspired scarves from five feet long to 20, dozens of TARDIS shirts, and a girl who made a TARDIS hat complete with lights and spinning action!!  The room felt as if Led Zeppelin was about to hit the stage.  We were at capacity (about 1200), all of us crammed into some rather unforgiving convention center chairs and staring at the new Doctor Who logo on the giant screen waiting for any sign that the show was about to begin.  When a special introduction video from Matt Smith and Karen Gillian came on, I couldn’t even hear what they were saying to us, the applause was so thunderous.

They say you never forget your first Doctor.  For many fans here in the U.S., that Doctor would be number 10, David Tennant.  He is the one that took the reboot over and shot the Who-niverse into the cultural zeitgeist.  When the time came to say goodbye to “Ten,” there was a collective sobbing throughout fan’s living rooms across the globe.  I for one was a little weary of their new choice, Matt Smith, and was unsure how I would move on into the 11th Doctor’s realm.  I thought it would be hard.  I thought it just wouldn’t feel the same.  I thought way too much.

Fear not, without a doubt, Matt Smith is the Doctor.  Now, I do still think he is borrowing Tennant a bit, which annoys me in that Smith doesn’t carry the same dashing charm of David, but he is surprisingly authoritative while bringing a broader sense of comedy to the role.  Think of Ten as Ricky Gervais, thoughtful and snarky, and Smith as John Cleese, not afraid to do a “silly walk.”  I’m sure Smith will grow into the role as the season progresses and I don’t think the ladies have a problem with him either.  When he finally gets into what will be his iconic Doctor costume in the final scene (bow tie, braces, tweed jacket etc.), the three girls next to me wearing, in order, shirts that read “Got Who?

“, “I *heart* my Doctor,” and “Are You My Mommy” complete with gas masked child image, started squealing like it was the Twilight premiere.  I felt like the guy sitting next to the screaming girls when The Beatles played Sullivan!  All across the room feet were stomping with delight and octaves uncomfortable to human ears were being struck.  As a long time fan, I was blissfully unaware at how much a young female phenomenon Doctor Who had become!

The episode itself is a near perfect script.  Taking over as showrunner is Steven Moffat, and it is obvious he put a ton of hours into the story to make sure it hit every note just right.  The episode, with a rather clever title of “The Eleventh Hour,” is fast paced and kinetic.  You jump into the Doctor’s world very quickly and don’t stop until the final frame.  In fact, fans will notice the episode picks up exactly where “End of Time” leaves off, with the TARDIS crashing and the regenerated Doctor trying to figure out who he is this time around.  The rest of the show is a journey with Smith as he experiences the first hour of life as the 11th Doctor.  It is very very funny, with enough one liners to keep a fan in homemade quote inspired t-shirts for a year.  “I’m the Doctor, I’m worse than anyone’s aunt” or “You said six months” “You said five minutes!!”  My personal favorite was, “You’re Scottish, fry something.”  If Moffat continues to put the work into Who like he did with “Eleventh Hour,” the season is very promising.

Moffat also took great care to insert some geeky fan moments.  The main one being a nod to all the previous Doctors that while mildly cheesy, is also clever and fits in with the plot very well.  It was the kind of entrance any actor would dream of.  Combine that with a brand new TARDIS that remains very much the familiar TARDIS, a slight sonic screwdriver upgrade, and the universe centering around London, and there is more than enough to appease the long time fan, while providing the best opportunity for new fans to jump aboard since the reboot with Eccleston in 2005.

Amy Pond is a terrific companion.  Even the way the Doctor meets up with Pond is something so perfect and so appropriate to the Doctor’s existence.   She is ginger (yeah!), very easy on the eyes, and has a nice cross of Martha Jones’ brain and Donna’s street wit.  She is an interesting character, one you want to journey with yourself, let alone the Doctor, so I felt an immediate connection and that is a great feeling as the companion has always served as the touchstone between the audience and the Time Lord.  At the end of the episode, you get a little nugget into Pond’s reality that while setting an almost fetishistic precedent in the Doctor’s life (you Donna fans will get it), sets up some limits between the two that can either be broken (shocking) or adhered to (maybe saddening?) during their run.  All in all, very enthused after spending four specials A) without my beloved Donna Noble, B) with rotating companions and C) knowing Rose will never come back.

At the end, and I assume this will play with the premier on April 17th, we got a longer version of the season trailer with plenty of images to work up the crowd.  All the familiar baddies new and old were present, lots of guest stars, the Doctor firing a gun (big deal), and the woman who holds the key to all the answers I have at present, River Song, or the Doctor’s wife?  So many rumors about that character!  Trust me, I went from tepid reluctance to full on impatience and anticipation for this new journey to begin!  It looks to be a brilliant kind of season.

I hope I didn’t spoil anything for you, I tried to keep it free of such things because Doctor Who really is about the journey more so than a lot of shows out there.  You have to experience it for yourself.  I had a lot of reservations going in.  Saying goodbye to Tennant (especially after they wrote in “I don’t want to go” as his final line!) was more emotional than I thought it’d be, but after “The Eleventh Hour,” I am fully charged and ready to go with the 11th Doctor.  I can’t wait for you guys to see it!