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Matt Smith's Debut 'Doctor Who' Episode Was Based on Moffat's Childhood Dream

And little Amelia hasn't tried fish fingers and custard.

By Lewis JefferiesPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Doctor Who [Credit: BBC]

Doctor Who is one of the most popular shows ever since it began back in 1963. From a regenerating Time Lord to deadly enemies, Doctor Who has a lot to offer if you've never watched the show before. The BBC cancelled the show in 1989, but Russell T. Davies brought the show back in 2005 and it was bigger (and better?)!

Fans know that when a Time Lord is dying, they have the ability to regenerate. By doing this, not only do they heal their body, but sport an entire new face at the same time. That being said, a lot of fans know that David Tennant's regeneration in "The End of Time" is one of the saddest episodes to date (some might disagree).

We were introduced to Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor when Tennant departed, and Smith's debut episode has an interesting backstory, which sparked the plot to the hour-long episode.

Doctor Who [Credit: BBC]

Series 5 of Doctor Who saw a new show runner take over the show when Davies left with Tennant after "The End of Time." Steven Moffat, who wrote for the show in the past, was given the job as showrunner/head writer and took the show into a new darker era.

As a child, Moffat had a recurring dream, which sparked the plot line to his first episode as Doctor Who showrunner "The Eleventh Hour." Moffat's childhood dream consisted of a lost room in his grandmother's house that he could never ever find. Fans know that Amelia Pond's big house had a secret door upstairs that you could only see out the corner of your eye due to the door being hidden by a perception filter.

The crack in Amelia's wall was also based on Moffat's own experience. Moffat's son, Louis, had a crack in the wall, which left Moffat wondering if a child, like Louis at the time, might not see the crack as just a crack, but that something is actually living inside it. In "The Eleventh Hour," the Doctor described the crack as "two parts of space and time, that should never have touched, pressed together." It was a crack in the wall that would still be there if the wall was knocked down/removed.

Doctor Who [Credit: BBC]

That's not the only interesting fact about "The Eleventh Hour." One of the most popular scenes seen in Matt's first full episode is the scene where the Doctor eats a variety of food before being dissatisfied with them and throwing those foods away. This eventually ended up leading to the Doctor eating fish fingers and custard. The scene where the Doctor chucks all the food away is based on A.A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner. When Tigger comes into the forest and tries something for breakfast that all the forest friends love to eat, Tigger quickly throws those selected food away before settling on Roo's medicinal extract of malt.

It may also appear that the Doctor is eating fish fingers and custard, it is said that Smith was instead given a specially-made coconut confection to dip into the custard instead of fish fingers. On Caitin Blackwood's (little Amelia) blog, the header says "I have never tried fish fingers and custard." But has she?

Doctor Who [Credit: BBC]

Those interesting facts about the opening episode of Series 5 are just a few to name. An entire list of facts about "The Eleventh Hour" can be found right here. Take a look at each episode and read all the facts about them until the new series of Doctor Who airs in early 2020, when Jodie Whittaker will return as the Thirteenth Doctor, along with her three companions, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz.

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About the Creator

Lewis Jefferies

MA Media and Communication graduate from the University of Portsmouth - Massive Doctor Who Fan.

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