Doctor Who - Series 5 begins with a glorious start

Doctor Who returned to BBC 1 on Easter Saturday with an amazing opening episode. The Eleventh Hour introduced UK Viewers to the Eleventh Doctor, as played by Matt Smith. I won't give a proper review now, but even though this is only the first episode since the departure of head writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies, already Steven Moffat is giving us barnstorming classic episodes. In fact, straight away I will say that in my view this story is already one of the top 5 best Doctor Who stories ever made since the program's return in 2005.

Of course, the brilliant writing of Steven Moffat has a lot to do with it. A very clever, and wonderfully witty script entertains non-stop throughout. Moffat also gives the script an enchanting fairytale feel that makes you feel you're watching something special, and the episode really. Although, the main story is simple in itself, this is more than made up for by the intricate and moving individual stories of both The Doctor and Amy Pond that weave beautifully in and out of the main plot.

The other huge reason for the success though are it's two new regular actors - Matt Smith and Karen Gillan who portray possibly the best Doctor and companion partnership since Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. I fell in love with Matt Smith's Doctor almost instantly. Quirky, clever, charismatic, joyfully energetic, but at the same time gloriously retro. He has the quirks of the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton), the breathless enthusiasm of the 5th (Peter Davison), the joyful flamboyances of early 7th (Sylvester McCoy), the cool joviality and forthrightness of the 9th (Christopher Eccleston), and the sharp tongue and child-like erratic behaviour of the 10th (David Tennant), which seemed to work better with Matt Smith than it ever did with David Tennant. And yet there were subtle new traits that Matt brought to the role of the Doctor himself, such as his endearing eccentricity as an old-fashioned, but youthful gentleman; a layer of charmingly underplayed vanity; and a lovely occasional cheeky edge. Karen Gillan on the other hand is also an equally great companion. Sassy, intelligent, but wonderfully enchanting, Amy Pond is a great foil for the Eleventh Doctor, but also a joy to watch.

And that wasn't all. The new TARDIS is absolutely gorgeous and amazing. I'm glad that the TARDIS actually looks more futuristic on this occasion, even if some of the console controls are a bit odd.Murray Gold was also on top form as music composer once more, well apart from the theme music, but anything is probably better than the aural mess we had during Series 4. Still his score, although melodically simple was evocative, wonderous, subtle, rousing, and moving. Sometimes all at the same time.

All this brilliant material, and yet it's only the beginning! If Series 5 can get better than this, than Doctor Who will surely be the TV event of the year! I can't wait. Let the journey commence!