The casting of Smith was controversial, but after “The Eleventh Hour”, the first episode of the “fifth” season will air on BBC America on the 17th April. I can guarantee that if you had a dubious mind regarding Smith, it will be set to rest. He was good. Scrap that, he was awesome. Smith acting was a new type of quirky for the show, and definitely coincides with the shows new direction. Along side Smith, Karen Gillian’s Amy Pond looks as if she’s shaping up to be one of the best companions we’ve ever seen on the show: her feistiness lived up to that of old companions but she also possessed that intuitive personality that slots her perfectly into the Doctor Who world.
Moffat’s script was fantastic as predicted: he wrote a fantastic script that was fast paced, had some fantastically quotable dialogue that really made the characters their own, set up the over arcing story for the rest of the series and even manage to make it slightly scary, all the while including the much loved technobabble needed for the show. New director on the block Adam Smith also succeeds in filming the episode with creative techniques and the stop/start photo technique used was incredibly effective and insightful. While the episode surely didn't lack in the imagination department, it was obvious that parts of it were limited by budgetary constraints and weren't up to the standard of some of the previous seasons(although this could be because they need it for future use. I have faith).
Basically, the show rocked. It really made clear the fact that while it is "Doctor Who", it did make sure that we knew that it is it's own series and the upcoming series looks like is gonna be, in the words of the Ninth Doctor, "Fantastic!"