What we only suspected in The Eleventh Hour has come more to the fore in The Beast Below, namely that the first story of the season had a deliberately hybrid-ized tone to it, a mix of RTD's style and the thoughts truer to Moffat's own personal style, more of which we'll no doubt be seeing in subsequent weeks. 

The Beast Below shows the way forward much more clearly, and yet had plenty of earmarks of some 'classic' stories as well.  I picked up threads from The Happiness Patrol, The Sontaran Experiment, Tooth and Claw, and The Idiot's Lantern (the author of which we'll be seeing next week). 

Another story where children form the crux of the story, if somewhat obliquely here.  This is a story centrally about the very young and the very old, and it took someone who is both in a sense, Amy, to figure to out.  We were moved at Amy's redemption in the eyes of the Doctor (although it sure seemed his dismissal of her was far too abrupt to begin with).

Next week it's the Daleks (again) but for now images and caps for The Beast Below are now online.

If there was anything The Eleventh Hour affirmed, it was the enduring power of change in Doctor Who.  Whereas the remit of Rose was to update Doctor Who in terms of format, pacing, and storytelling style 15+ years after the fact for a general audience, there simply couldn't be a sense of regime change for anyone except the long-term fan.  The Christmas Invasion played against audience expectations by removing the physical presence of the Doctor for 2/3 of the story, but because the production team, save Tennant for Eccleston, remained significantly intact, it now seems in retrospect that the level of change overall was less than we all imagined at the time. 

Of course it remains to be seen what degree of change we'll be experiencing this time around, but if first impressions based on The Eleventh Hour are to be trusted, the tonal change may well be akin to Innes Lloyd's tenure in the 60's or Philip Hinchcliffe in the 70's.  Comparisons to Hinchcliffe are usually, and the THT Brain Trust is no exception in this regard, high praise.  And that can only heighten the anticipation all the more.

Some other impressions … while we were completely prepared to be wowed by Matt Smith, we honestly had no idea how good he was going to be, or by how lively his eyes are.  The wonder, joy, wit, and concern were all there in his eyes.  More please Mr. Moffat.

As for images, The Eleventh Hour marks a new record for initial image offering with over 800 images assembled, and we didn't skimp on the caps either.  Images and caps for The Eleventh Hour are now online.