Doctor Who: Moffat's inaugural outing fails the girlfriend test

Considering Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour

Steven Moffat's debut shows promise
but fails the girlfriend test

The girlfriend fell asleep.

Steven Moffat's maiden voyage as the 'show-runner' behind the venerable franchise was a long way from a disaster, but by no means was it a triumphant success, either.

Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) and the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), exploring the new, steam-punkish TARDIS.

Granted that, following on the heels of Russell T Davies', bloated and self-indulgent finale, my expectations were running pretty high. After all, Moffat was responsible for both "The Doctor Dances" and "Blink" (the latter of which even the girlfriend enjoyed; and she is not much interested in SF or even science fantasy when you get right down to it) and so it was that I'd more and more often taken to shouting "Doctor Who!" or mumbling bars of the theme song at random moments with an ever increasing frequency as "Easter Saturday" approached.

Now, with Easter past, the Moffat era is officially upon us.

And the girlfriend fell asleep. In that unintended critique lies a most accurate appraisal of Moffat's opening salvo.

At nearly 70 minutes long, "The Eleventh Hour" was either 20 minutes too long or 30 minutes too short. ( Very mild plot spoilers, but one major visual spoiler, below. )

Doctor Who: Moffat's inaugural outing fails the girlfriend test

Considering Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour

Steven Moffat's debut shows promise
but fails the girlfriend test

The girlfriend fell asleep.

Steven Moffat's maiden voyage as the 'show-runner' behind the venerable franchise was a long way from a disaster, but by no means was it a triumphant success, either.

Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) and the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), exploring the new, steam-punkish TARDIS.

Granted that, following on the heels of Russell T Davies', bloated and self-indulgent finale, my expectations were running pretty high. After all, Moffat was responsible for both "The Doctor Dances" and "Blink" (the latter of which even the girlfriend enjoyed; and she is not much interested in SF or even science fantasy when you get right down to it) and so it was that I'd more and more often taken to shouting "Doctor Who!" or mumbling bars of the theme song at random moments with an ever increasing frequency as "Easter Saturday" approached.

Now, with Easter past, the Moffat era is officially upon us.

And the girlfriend fell asleep. In that unintended critique lies a most accurate appraisal of Moffat's opening salvo.

At nearly 70 minutes long, "The Eleventh Hour" was either 20 minutes too long or 30 minutes too short. ( Very mild plot spoilers, but one major visual spoiler, below. )