Geronimoooo! It’s the History of the Eleventh Doctor, with Matt Smith!
With the word “Geronimo!” Matt Smith signaled a new era in Doctor Who. For a lot of people the thought of losing Tennant as the Doctor was a death nail for the show, especially considering the BBC took a year off from filming Doctor Who between Ten’s regeneration, and Eleven’s first season. Little did the fans know that Smith’s Doctor would be responsible for a revitalization of the show unlike anything seen prior.
Eleven is, well, different. He is energetic, childish, fast thinking and extremely eccentric. He is also caring, warm, welcoming and understanding. But lurking under all of that, he shows the weight of the hundreds of years that he has been alive. Underneath his witty, often immature, exterior the monster is waiting to be freed. Eleven has the ability to be downright dangerous. Tennant and Eccleston laid the seeds for this with their sometimes ruthless Doctors, but Smith mastered it and made it a huge part of Eleven’s character.
Eleven has had some of the most beloved companions in the new Doctor Who. He started with Amelia Pond, the girl who waited. He initially met her when she was a child, but after promising that he would return in five minutes, he met her again twelve years later. Amy was strong-willed, but compassionate. Often she would be the balance to Eleven’s darker nature. Despite this, she was an absolute terror to her boyfriend, eventual husband and fellow companion Rory Williams. Rory is essentially an everyman. He represents the fans of Doctor Who, and dies about as often as any of us would if we actually got to adventure with the Doctor. Despite this Rory develops into one of the Eleventh Doctor’s strongest and most dependable companions.
The Doctor has had two other notable companions in his eleventh incarnation, but I would rather not spoil the story of either. One is River Song, who claims to be the Doctor’s wife, though he’s only met her once briefly during his tenth incarnation. The other is Clara, the impossible girl. Both of these companions bring a breath of fresh air to Doctor Who by being mysteries for Eleven to solve.
Eleven, like Ten, has encountered numerous foes, both old and new. Notably he faces off against the Weeping Angels, Daleks, and Cybermen as well as nearly every Doctor Who villain ever when he is sealed inside of the Pandorica.. He also battles new foes like the Silence, Order of the Headless, and Madame Kovarian.
As important as the Tenth Doctor was for the resurgence in the popularity of Doctor Who, Eleven is just as important for it to become the juggernaut it is today. The great part about this: Eleven is really just an amalgamation of Nine and Ten. Smith was genius in combining the best parts of his two immediate predecessors, and I genuinely believe that is part of what made Eleven so great. Well that and the fez.
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