N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
When I wrote my initial post on The Eleventh Hour, I held back (and indeed cut out) some of my concerns about it, mainly regarding the trajectory of Amy’s character and the inclusion of sex jokes perhaps more appropriate to Coupling.
Were those concerned allayed?
Based on what I wrote for The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone, probably not, although that story’s final scene is absolutely Series Five’s nadir. (I really would cut that attempted seduction scene, but Rory’s reaction to it is baked into The Vampires of Venice, so I can see how the damage can’t be undone.)
“It’s a long story and I don’t know most of it.”
The Doctor, The Time of Angels
But Series Five is a solid season, with no real clunkers — strong stories have weak moments, weaker stories strong ones. You can really see how it’s been thought about as a whole season, although at least one question does remain unanswered.
As a friend of mine, on first viewing of The Eleventh Hour back in 2010, once asked (and I may be paraphrasing) – how much kissogram work is there to be found in a sleepy English village?
Perhaps the cracks in the universe are there to distract us from the cracks in the plotting?