This ep wasn't as good as The Eleventh Hour but it never would be, it's the second ep so it needed to be used to try & establish Amy's character after the premiere (which would have had a higher budget than this ep) in which the newly regenerated Doctor was the center of attention.It was again a very well written episode, when things from earlier in an episode are given significance or shown to have had significance (The Doctor talking to the lonely child) & done so with intricate writing I usually find the show enjoyable because it means the people behind it are competent.
I found the opening of the episode slightly disturbing, I know children have been killed on Doctor Who before, Journeys End is an example, when the Dalaks blew up that house but you didn't actually see it. It was done outside the house. Here they showed the floor disappearing right under the kids feet. The fact he was later revealed to be alive was insignificant, I went half the ep thinking he was dead & it had settled in by the time I saw him. I am not trying to criticise them for doing this in fact I applaud them because it's a brave thing to do on a family show being shown at 18:15 on a Saturday night but it was chilling.
For the first time I think Smith showed signs of weakness in the role, I noticed it in The Eleventh Hour & thought it was more evident here. He seems to me to not really know what to do when Amy asks him about The Doctors past. There's no emotion on his face whatsoever. Only time will tell if this is a character trait of the new doctor but my initial reaction to it is Smith's caught in the headlights so to speak. I know the Eleventh Hour was the third ep they filmed so I think this was the first or second. He showed more but still not enough emotion when he decided he was going to kill the space whale.
Everything about Moffets effect on the show is impressing me, loved the way the next episode effectively started at the end of this one. The titanic crashing into the TARDIS is the closest example I can think off that hints at the next ep in prev seasons but this was done very well. Seeing the outline of a Dalak was cool, it gives you a hint of the danger instead of overdoing it.The masks that turned were creepy although i didn't really understand the point of them.
Moffet is doing a great job re inserting aspects to the show that will be scary for kids after the hammy way RTD tried to do it.
