Join Tabz and Emma as they discuss the Doctor Who Season 4, episode 11, “Turn Left.”

TV.com Recap:

Whilst attending a carnival on the Chino-planet of Shan Shen, Donna is cajoled into having her fortune read, where her past is carefully examined. With the Doctor missing, Donna must work with Rose, a traveller from a parallel universe, to prevent darkness encompassing the whole of the universe.

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(Photos from Emma-Jane)

Quote of the Episode
I’m saving the world.
I need a decent shirt. – the Doctor

Non-Spoilery Review:
After what seems like a millennia Matthew Smith has taken over as the 11th Doctor. This episode, penned by the new show-runner Stephen Moffat takes everything we love about Doctor Who and promises eager fans that, while actors may change, Doctor Who is always the same.

Recap:

The Doctor has regenerated into a brand new man, but danger strikes before he can even recover. With the TARDIS wrecked, and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, the new Doctor has just 20 minutes to save the whole world – and only Amy Pond to help him.

- TV.com

Spoilery Review
I must admit, I was not one of the skeptics when it came to “can Matt Smith pull off the Doctor”. As much as I’m a David Tennant fangirl, I was very excited for Doctor Who to be run by Steven Moffat (who wrote my all-time favorite episode of Doctor Who: Blink and a close second: The Girl in the Fireplace). I will give Russel T. Davis his due for having revamped a classic TV show and made it even more relevant and timely than it’s previous incarnation, but Moffat really holds the qualities of storytelling that I find so fascinating.

That said, Eleventh Hour surpassed my expectations. The episode highlighted the very thing most fans love about the Doctor, through young Amelia Pond we have a picture of the average Doctor Who fan. Some one fascinated with the mythos of a mad man in a blue box who can come and save the world. The childish innocence and strength of young Amelia was clearly accentuated through her interactions with the Doctor. Those are, after all, the Doctor’s favorite things about humans.

And, of course, the ever present (and very needed) element of humor was throughout the episode. From the crash landing (apples, swimming pools and the like) to the Doctor’s final choice of outfit (bowties are cool). My favorite moments were the food tasting, especially hurling the plate of bread and butter out the door and commanding it not to come back.

The alien was great too, the perfect combination of scary enough (the corner of your eye bit was fantastically done), but not overwhelming to the main part of the story (The Doctor and Amy’s journey together). Some great special effects too with the same voice coming out of  the mother and both girls at the end and with the teeth.

I also like the set up for what promises to be the series arch (the Silence, the crack appearing on the Tardis’ screen, the duck pond… okay, maybe not the duck pond). Also loved the Doctor’s ability to help random strangers (like Jeff). It’s something I’d missed from previous seasons.

Matt Smith has big shoes to fill, and I don’t envy the microscope his acting will be under for the next few months, but I am very happy to see a lot of doubting Thomas types now sold on Matt being a great Doctor.

Doctor Who – The Complete First Series || Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series|| Doctor Who Encyclopedia (BBC Hardcover)

You can’t spend much time in the SciFi community without hearing about the cult classic – Doctor Who. This British television series originally ran from 1963 to 1989 and is listed in the Guinness World Records as being the longest-running science fiction television show in the world. While there’s much to say about the first 8 doctors, this review is only going to focus on the 2005 relaunch of the series, affectionally known as the New Who. While it’s nice to see the original Doctor Who, it’s not necessary if you want to start with the more current series.

Doctor Who revolves around the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveler known only as “the Doctor”. The Doctor travels in a blue 1950s police box which is, in reality, a space and time ship called the TARDIS. The Doctor can travel alone, but a majority of the series he has “a companion”. A usually human traveling with the Doctor through time and space aiding the Doctor in saving the universe, solving problems, fighting aliens and righting wrongs.

The New Who series starts on Earth, with an alien attack and immediately viewers are thrown into the action without a lot of explanation. We meet our first companion – Rose, played by Billie Piper. Rose is spunky, spirited and matches wills with the Doctor on more than one occasion. We also meet Rose’s boyfriend Micky, and her equally spunky mother – Jackie.

Throughout the first season (and later seasons) we’re treated to a string of stories set in various time periods. One episode might take you to Ancient Rome and the next episode to the far flung future and the end of the planet Earth.

Now, I must warn you that Doctor Who can be incredibly silly at points. One of the first series’ aliens are large green creatures who fart a lot. But, as time goes on, you learn that Doctor Who has a lot of dark themes and explores some hard concepts. So while there is some cheese-factor, these are overshadowed by great characters and a real sense of epic story telling.

Doctor Who is a show known for it’s humor. And it’s a show that never takes itself incredibly seriously, so there’s often internal as well as meta references. The writers are not afraid to make jokes at their own expense or at the expense of their actors.

Because of their constant time traveling there’s often pop culture references made that aren’t caught by the locals. The Doctor also seems to be a pop culture junkie who is familiar with Harry Potter and Agatha Christie.

Doctor Who also has intricate story lines that often refer back on previous series. What might seem insignificant in a stand-alone episode may be extremely important later down the road.

Also, Buffy fans will love seeing Anthony Stewart Head in the Series Two episode “School Reunion”. ASH also lends his voice to the animated Doctor Who special, “The Infinite Quest”, the audio version of the Doctor Who Novel, “The Nightmare of Black Island”, the third and forth series of Doctor Who Confidential, and to two Doctor Who audio dramas produced by Big Finish Productions.

There are currently four series in the New Doctor Who, including a handful of specials. Most of which are available on DVD, Nextflix or iTunes. If you’re in the US you can watch repeats on the SciFi Channel or PBS. In the UK you can try looking for repeats on BBC 3 or watch online with the BBCi player.