We’re nearing the end of Doctor Who for this year, after the year of Dr Who hiatus. I had become such a David Tennant fan during his reign as the Doctor that I had severe trepidations on what a new Doctor would bring. While I knew we were getting Moffat as a show running, Matt Smith just didn’t look the part to me. After 11 episodes, I have to say, I’m enjoying this year of Doctor Who possibly more than any other since the return to TV.

Matt Smith is just awesome. He’s a more alien doctor, like Tom Baker was. He’s very clearly not human. He’s also not quite as invincible as the Doctor has been in recent years. There are things that actually scare him, and that fear is felt by the audience. That real sense of fear means real tension, and the belief that things might not always turn out right in the end.

This season also finally embraces the rich history that is Dr Who. We never got a reference to past incarnations of the doctor until this year’s season premier. We are finally getting glimpses of past doctors (I think we’ve seen William Hartnell’s picture 3 times this year), which puts Dr Who back in the context of the much larger history of the series, instead of shooing it off like Russel Davies did. Getting the Silurians back this year was definitely part of that.

I eagerly await the season finale, which Moffat himself will pen.  Given everything great we’ve gotten so far, I can’t wait to see how we’re going to wrap this up this year.